Memorial Weekend Pictures

Penny and I thought it would be a fun idea to paste pictures of the yard on this beautiful weekend.....and so the next few posts will be mostly pics of the inn from the outside, the general area, and general happenings of the area

Pics of Inn Victoria Chester Vermont, outside....you'll notice I don't go anywhere without my American flag & flowers!

OOOOPPPPPsssss....how did that photo get in there??!!

........................CHEERS!

Two Days to High Tea at Inn Victoria

Memorial Day Weekend, May 29, 30, and 31 is the start of High Tea at Inn Victoria Chester Vermont!!!  We are thrilled to offer this package to people in the community as well as tourists.  Lets face it; Inn Victoria Chester Vermont is such a unique and beautiful property that it would be a shame not to share it with people who wish to experience the Victorian lifestyle for even a short hour or two.  Each weekend from 3PM to 5:30 we will host High Tea in the style of old. 

Although our inn guests receive this benefit at no additional charge, walk-in visitors who want to see the property can now do so and for a modest fee enjoy High Tea as well.  Many people in the community have expressed interest already.

High Tea at Inn Victoria will retain the Victorian flavor, offering:

Savories - Tiny sandwiches and appetizers

Scones - Served with jam and Devonshire / clotted cream

Pastries - Cakes, cookies, shortbread and sweets

and of course.....Tea!  

We have partnered with a fabulous bakery in Proctorsville; Crow's Bakery is creating specialty pastries for our weekly events.  In Keeping with our tradition of "Exceptional Experience" we chose to seek out a partner that can add tremendous value...Crow's Bakery will add that perfect touch for our guests.   

High Tea at Inn Victoria

Memorial Day Weekend, May 29, 30, and 31 is the start of High Tea at Inn Victoria Chester Vermont!!!  We are thrilled to offer this package to people in the community as well as tourists.  Lets face it; Inn Victoria Chester Vermont is such a unique and beautiful property that it would be a shame not to share it with people who wish to experience the Victorian lifestyle for even a short hour or two.  Each weekend from 3PM to 5:30 we will host High Tea in the style of old. 

Although our inn guests receive this benefit at no additional charge, walk-in visitors who want to see the property can now do so and for a modest fee enjoy High Tea as well.  Many people in the community have expressed interest already.

High Tea at Inn Victoria will retain the Victorian flavor, offering:

Savories - Tiny sandwiches and appetizers

Scones - Served with jam and Devonshire / clotted cream

Pastries - Cakes, cookies, shortbread and sweets

and of course.....Tea!  

We have partnered with a fabulous bakery in Proctorsville; Crow's Bakery is creating specialty pastries for our weekly events.  In Keeping with our tradition of "Exceptional Experience" we chose to seek out a partner that can add tremendous value...Crow's Bakery will add that perfect touch for our guests.   

OH......last minute addition to blog:.........Penny just bought 9 more ( as if we need more!?) tea cups and saucers from the Stone House Antique Center, here in Chester Vermont.

Quechee Vermont Balloon Festival June 18,19, 20

 Almost four weeks away, the Quechee Vermont Balloon Festival is sure to be a BIG success.

We have enjoyed the fellowship of two guests in the last week that are having their balloons inspected by a local expert; Paul Stumpf.  Both guests came to Inn Victoria Chester Vermont by suggestion of   Paul from:   http://www.stumpfballoons.com/                                 .

Take the time to serf at Quechee Vermont Balloon Festival June 18,19, 20

Balloon Flights

6:00 p.m., Friday June 18, 6:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, June 19 and Sunday June 20

Five flights over the weekend -- wind and weather permitting.

 

Over twenty colorful balloons ascend over the Quechee valley

and beyond.  What a sight!  

 

 

Entertainment

Enjoy the Balloon Glow on Friday evening, continuous bands, comedy acts, dance routines all weekend and the "kids zone" (put on by the Green Mountain Children's Center this year!!) with games, rides, playground, face-painting & more.

Watch the Green Mt. Volleyball Tournament, the amazing New England Disc Dogs & the Jumptown Parachute Demonstration Team. 

Fun!

Admission & Parking

Admission Tickets are good for the entire weekend. 

Adults -- $10.00, Children 6-12 --$5.00 and children 5 and under are FREE!! 

On Sunday, Dads accompanied by a child get half-price admission.  Happy Father's Day!!

Parking is available on the Green for a small fee.  

 

Go to the web site and find your pleasure!


 http://www.quecheeballoonfestival.com/

Intimate Weddings at Inn Victoria

We are receiving several requests to host weddings and family gatherings of an intimate nature; hosting up to 20 guests.  Group gatherings of this size for family events and Intimate weddings are growing in popularity these days, perhaps due to the economy or simply because people want to be more realistic.  I've been reading about this growing trend and from what I can find, Inn Victoria fits the Intimate Wedding niche perfectly!   Why?

We are in Southern Central Vermont, easily accessed within a few hours from major East coast cities from the South and Montreal & Quebec to the North.

We are knowledgeable and experienced at hosting these events

We have a servants heart....ensuring our guests of high quality service

Inn Victoria Chester Vermont is an amazing Victorian suited for Intimate weddings of 20 people

We are able to support inn chef food or catered chef food

And the list goes on......

We have partnered with Cindy Beaulieu Photography to provide high quality photos & a fun experience at an affordable price.  Below are two links to her photo library; one shows some of her work and the other shows some of the locations near Inn Victoria where pictures may be appealing.

enjoy!............look for more on Intimate weddings and Cindy Beaulieu Photography later..!!



http://gallery.me.com/cindybeaulieu#100098



http://gallery.me.com/cindybeaulieu#100043

Jack's Diner in Chester Vermont

Jack's Diner in Chester, Vermont

I love home cooked food....!  I know everybody does and that is why I featured Jack's dinner in my May Newsletter.  Penny and I like the food and people who work there so much that we wanted to post a special about them in our blog as well!  ....I promise you'll love this place! 

First of all it is no more than a mile walk from the Inn Victoria.  But most important....the food is GREAT home cooking!  If you are fortunate enough to roll into town on a Friday evening, you have to eat their seafood.  It is absolutely outstanding.  Keep in mind that this is a reasonably priced home cooked meal....with the freshness of seafood direct from the docks in Boston every Friday.  I have twice enjoyed the best fried clams I've ever had; several times Penny and I have shared a plate of scallops so large that one person can't finish a meal alone.  The fried haddock....well, I used to pride myself in preparing the finest fried haddock in Maine.  I've been put to shame...Jack's is far better!  FRESH seafood is important, and Jack's diner, has that figured out.  Ohhh, but the other meals are just as fine....and the soups are fantastic.  I've eaten soups at Jacks diner for half the price of many fine eateries I've enjoyed around the world...and offering a tremendous value.  Tonight I had cornd beef and cabbage soup....yuuummmm!

Jack Dodier, a French Canadian is the owner and has instilled a wonderful service and quality attitude in the business.  It is well worth a try.!  This little diner seats maybe 50 people.....go hungry and go early!  Sorry, no website...You'll just have to give it a try!

Princess Beatrice

It is done!!!!!!  Princess Beatrice at Inn Victoria Chester Vermont now has its own private bath.  Take a look at the pictures below!  A 36" shower with Victorian polished bronze fixtures,  a TOTO energy efficient toilet, and a beautiful above vanity top porcelain bowl sink with raised Victorian bronze fixtures.
Ahhh and best of all an ultra quiet exhaust fan.  The 15 panel french glass door is over two hundred years old, removed from a local building.  We preserved the chipped paint with a coat of polyurethane and secured the door to the wall as an aesthetic divider between the TOTO and the rest of the room.  I love the door!...Penny's idea.

Take a look!.......in a few days when the room is empty I'll post a picture of the vanity.  The day we finished it, a guest moved in and the room has been booked since.  YES!!!!!!!

Mam Papaul's visits Inn Victoria Chester Vermont

   I have several friends that can cook very well, and they swear by Mam Papaul's dried mixes to make special meals like:
Creole Etouffee
Dirty Rice
Gumbo
Jambalaya
Crawfish Pie
Red Velvet cake
and much more!!!!!........well today, Penny and I had the opportunity to meet the creator and owner of Mam Papaul's products; Nancy Wilson of Louisiana.  She and her husband Charles, stayed at Inn Victoria Chester Vermont while doing business at the Vermont Country Store in Weston Vermont.

Both are delightful people!  Go to their website and check out the goodies.  I asked Penny to buy me some Red Velvet Cake and Crawfish Pie.....just to start!
   Ahhhh, I love this job!

 http://www.mampapauls.com

Barnaby's Bluegrass Blowout

The weekend of May 21, 22, 23 means Bluegrass in Vermont.  This is the BIG Bluegrass event for Rockingham, Vermont.  You can only get tickets at:
http://www.jambasetickets.com/events/79729/Barnaby-s-bluegrass-blowout 

Or simply to to the event website for information!
www.barnabysbackroadjamboree.com

Take a look at the bands that will be playing just 10 minutes from Inn Victoria Chester Vermont, in the town of Rockingham, Vermont.
Gordon Stone Band
Hot Day at the Zoo
Jatoba
Pluckin Grassholes
Cabinet
Steel Rail Bluegrass
Stockwell Brothers
Rockspring
The Gleaners
The Bondville Bpoys
Jandee Lee Porter
Coldtown
Concealed Pickins

What a FUN time!!!!!!!!!

Mothers day Family Gathering

Here is one happy family!  Clair Durgan and her family gathered together on Mother's day weekend to watch a family member play his last high school concert at a local school prior to moving on to college.  It turns out that the concert was on Mother's day weekend; and so the family took advantage of the time to gather together and reunite for a very special time together.

Huummmmm, just maybe, Inn Victoria Chester Vermont is a great place to come together for intimate family reunions!  We all had a GREAT time!

Vermont Intimate Weddings & Gatherings

Penny and I just enjoyed a wonderful evening and morning with a couple in search of just the right place to host their wedding.  What brought them to us?....Vermont is the perfect natural wonder for vacationers and anyone who enjoys the out of doors, and of course, Inn Victoria Chester Vermont's Intimate Wedding packages.  Here is what we shared with them; please let us know what you think or how we can enhance this list!

Intimate Weddings

Inn Victoria is all about Romance.  Make your special time together an Exceptional Experience.  Simple or elegant, we will transform this beautiful, 150 year old Victorian into your personal palace.

1. KIS Package (Keep it Simple)

      Two nights in a deluxe room of your choice

      We will make arrangements with a lical JP (JP fee not included)

      Assistance with license application

      Flowers and chocolates in your room

      Wedding music

      Ceremony in the Victorian parlor decorated with fresh flowers

      Wedding cake and sparkling beverage toast (for two)

      Dinner for two at local restaurant or by Inn Victoria

      Elegant breakfast each morning

      Afternoon tea

                              Nov - June   $800

                              July - Oct  $1000     (JP & photos not included)

2.  I did it MY Way

     All of KIS

     Invite friends at the seasonal room rate

     Do photos on site and off (call for photo packages at $200, $300, & $500

     Dinner for all by Inn Victoria or catered by local Chef

     Tent on the lawn

3.  Elegant Package

     Includes the entire inn property with on site chef and any special 

     arrangements you desire.  This is a unique, "fully catered service 

     to your specifications".  Telephone for details.  May only be 

     booked by phone or in person.

So, tell us what you think?.....we have been working with Wedding USA to understand more about Intimate weddings, you can view their web site at   http://www.weddingusa.com/wedding_services/Vermont/Lodging/

      

WAAWWE

Oh yes, I did say; WAAWWE.  Just a ten minute drive from Inn Victoria Chester Vermont, is the WAAWWE Farm Market in Gassetts, VT  ...and the third place winner of the 2010 World Championship Cheese Contest.  The event is hosted each March by the Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association in Madison, Wisconsin.  Lisa Kaiman is the owner of the cows that produced the milk for the cheese and she owns WAAWWE Farm Market.   www.waawwe.com

We Are All What We Eat; WAAWWE.  A wicked cool name for a farm and market that just won the third position out of a field of 2318 entries from 20 countries.  I've not yet had the pleasure of meeting Lisa, but do plan to visit with her this week.  It seems to me that Inn Victoria Chester Vermont should be serving our guests a world championship cheese!....don't you think so?

More on WAAWWE  in a week or so!

Dan's Plumbing Exploits at Inn Victoria in Chester Vermont

ok  ok.... I understand that a blog about plumbing at Inn Victoria in Chester Vermont, may not be an exciting topic for many folks.  Stay with me on this, it is worth it!

As I reported in a few blogs back, I've been building one bathroom from scratch in order to add an additional room & remodeling another.  Well this is a 161 year old Victorian, and so electrical and plumbing is dynamic to say the least.  So I hired two good professionals to help me.  Rich Stocker of Stocker Plumbing and Frank Gould of Gould Electric in Springfield Vermont, are both great guys and at the top of their profession.  I can do the rest, fixture installation, new walls, finish, exhaust fans, etc.  I've worked hard to weave my work in between these two guys so that I am constantly one day ahead of them so they are efficient with their time when here.

Yesterday i felt so good about being ahead of the plumber when I finished screwing my last floor board down over his work....ready for finish flooring I said to Penny!  The next day Rich walked in and asked if I would remove the flooring underlayment near the shower.  "I think there is a nail in the drain pipe"..says Rich.  No way...can't be, say I as i undo the flooring to prove my point.

Well........I am just glad Rich is a great guy as well as a professional plumber.  Look closely at this picture.  I screwed the flooring down directly over the dead center of this pipe.

Fun times at Inn Victoria!