Maybe February Is Better

We love our spot in Grafton, Vermont. It feels like we're home when we see that corner church spire and walk into the main inn to check in before unloading our (insane amount of) stuff into our room across the street. We really like to move in when we go there.

Last year, we went in February because we'd just moved, and it was too overwhelming to think of doing Christmas away (we'd booked it well before realizing the timing of selling our house and moving into the new one).

This time, we realized that maybe February is a better time to go, in general.

It was still relaxing and we enjoyed the bookshops and walks around town and up the hills. But...

1) February has more snow. There was a bit, but it kept icing and we actually had to cut the trip short a day thanks to an ice storm that came through Sunday night to Tuesday (we were supposed to leave Monday). The ice made it hard to hike, and warmer temperatures meant more mud.

2) There are fewer giant families in February. They're were maybe three different giant multigenerational parties there, which made everything feel a little...crowded. We could never quite find a time to use the common area with the fireplace in our building. Breakfasts were very, very full and there were many high chairs (filled with adorable tow-headed children that tugged at my heart scars) and self-absorbed people who left their strollers right in the middle of busy entryways. The game room was almost always full of people, and by the time we snuck in for a game of ping pong, there was an odor that seemed to be either a) a spill of something terrible or b) pee (also terrible). We reported it, in part to make sure it was clear we didn't go around stinking up the place, but with all the large families with small children they said it happens. That and being left with the dregs of the eggs at the buffet Saturday morning due to a large party that came in ahead of us, I was more than a little resentful of the large family influx.

3) We just really love our house at the holidays. The weird thing is, in our house we can have a fire with no one else around, there's ping pong in the "basement," we can read and be cozy... We sort of recreated Grafton in our home.  The only things missing are the lovely people we see who work at the inn, housekeeping services, and dining options we can walk to. And creeks and rocks and pine trees, of course.

Grafton

Grafton

Oh wait, that's not Grafton, that's home!

So, we decided that perhaps we will shift our cozy winter stay in Vermont to February break from now on. More snow, presumably less large family gatherings, and more time to enjoy our home at the holidays.

See ya next time, covered bridge! 

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