Vermont Maple Open House Weekend 2019

Today I am sharing the final post of my recent snowy weekend to Vermont. Every year I look forward to the annual Vermont Maple Open House Weekend. It's a rite of Spring for me.......as well as a rite of Spring for the Vermonters as well, I would imagine. Some years I go up with my family, and other years I go up with friends. This year I led 11 members of my camera club on a photographic road trip to everything maple......and as Mother Nature had her own plans.....everything snow!!

We woke up Saturday morning to the most brilliant Winter Wonderland. There were still some light flurries in the morning, which quickly ended, and by the afternoon the sun came out. It was as if we were opening the pages of a beautiful story book and stepping into the book itself.

Our first stop of the morning was to visit Three Peaks Maple Syrup in Newark VT

This was my first time here. It's a beautiful sugar house, and much more industrial than any of the other sugar houses I've visited. The workers were friendly and informative.

 There was plenty of food to sample and their syrup was absolutely delicious. We learned this sugaring operation is owned by a couple who spend most of their time over seas. They bought this huge acreage of land, and wanted to do something with it that was eco friendly. (I LOVE that they cared so much about protecting the land) They soon found themselves in the maple syrup business, which they previously knew nothing about. 

Freshly popped Maple popcorn was served.....

As well as freshly made maple cotton candy!

We were on a quest for more maple sweetness. I had read that Jed's Maple up in Derby VT was going to be serving wood fired maple pizza.......so that was the next stop on our itinerary. It was so worth the drive up there on the snowy roads. This is Route 114 in Newark, which is fairly unrecognizable due to the snow.

Here's a few photos taken at Jed's Maple. Again, the workers were friendly, informative, and welcoming. I just love to see the pride of the Vermonters.....It truly warms my heart.  Here is the wood fired maple pizza. Oh my Lord, it was absolutely delicious.

Here is an order of "Sugar on snow" being served up. 

And here are my friends enjoying it....

A few more photos from Jed's Maple....

And believe me when I tell you that everything they served was delicious.

Our final stop of the day was at Monroe's Sugarin' in Barton VT. If you are a regular follower on the blog, you will recognize this place from previous blog posts. My husband and I have become very good friends with the Monroe's and it's also become a favorite place of my camera club friends. The Monroe's are such a warm, generous, and welcoming family. I'm so blessed to have them in my life. Open house day for them is such a special time, and due to the cold temperatures, the other sugar houses we visited weren't boiling as the sap wasn't running. But the Monroe's SAVED some sap from earlier in the week just so they could be doing a boil during the Open House. I told you I loved these people!

As always, my favorite part of their open house......freshly hot boiled maple syrup served with a warmed raised donut to dip in it. Simply divine!!!!!!

Sugar On Snow.......it's the best at Monroes 

The hot dogs have been boiled in Maple Sap and then grilled....

Wow....this has been one long blog post. It was such a fun weekend shared with good friends. I'm already looking forward to next year's Open House Weekend.

Here is a final photo of all of us taken with the moose located in Glover's Market in Glover VT. I set the timer on my point and shoot to get this photo.

Only in Vermont!