A Bit More on the Red Clover Inn

We're home from our week of wandering north of here and I have had a chance to yank photos from the trip off my camera. Many are of the Red Clover Inn, which we felt we helped pioneer this past week with our friends Andy and Lynn and our collections of daughters.

That's the main Inn building to the right there. Andy and Lynn and their girls had rooms in the main building. Karen and I stayed in a large room in a separate carriage house. Colleen and Christina were in the carriage house as well. Their room was above a dedicated room where our old friend Andrea, a massage therapist we visited for years at The Tyler Place, has begun to create a new spa.

The Red Clover Inn is an old Inn that was built on an even older farm. It served vacationers for many years and developed a strong reputation. The owners turned their Inn over to new managers and retired some years ago and the place seems to have declined. In the last year, the owners sold the property to the Tyler family who spent eight months fixing and mending and redecorating; they created a lovely new/old Inn which reopened just a few weeks ago.

A major attraction of the Inn is a wonderful restaurant that integrates gently into the main building. The Tylers found a great chef and he has put together a tasty menu that features local ingredients and sustainable foods. The restaurant seems to do a steady business beyond the Inn guests; that's a good thing.

There is also a comfortable lounge, with a fireplace and sofas and chairs and games and windows overlooking the property. A comfortable spot after a day of skiing or hiking or golfing or which-ever of the attractions of this part of Vermont you choose to enjoy.

The guest rooms vary from spacious and elegant to small and cozy. Several have fireplaces. Some feature hot-tubs (fabulous for aching old-guy muscles that hadn't been on skis in 30 years).

Am I gushing? yes, I am. But with good reason. The Tyler family are great inn-keepers and they find and support high-level employees. We've spent the last decade getting to know these folks. They give us vacations to celebrate and I think it is only right that I pass on to you information about those vacation opportunities.

Vacation Report #4: At the Tyler Place

This summer was our ninth, and might have been our last, at The Tyler Place family resort, at Highgate Springs, Vermont. Not our last because we don't like the place; we love it. But Colleen next year will be too old for the kid's programs and too young for the adult. The Tyler Place is wonderfully well designed for families with younger kids. Unfortunately, we're starting to leave that demographic.

But let us not dwell on that thought. Let me tell you about our week.

We took two days to drive around Lake Ontario from Niagara Falls. We spent a night at Trenton, Ontario; a small town about half-way around. The next morning, we continued around the lake, crossing the St. Lawrence River at Cornwall and re-entering the US at Rooseveltown. We drove along the very top of New York State, crossed the top of Lake Champlain from Rouses Point in New York to Alburg in Vermont and drove through Swanton to The Tyler Place.

Over the years, we've tried most of the activities that are possible at the Tyler Place. We have our favorites, and we indulged ourselves with walks in the woods and along the lake shore. We went on canoe and kayak trips. We enjoyed sunsets. Karen played tennis. I played golf. We went on a mountain hike that ended in a clear, cold mountain stream. We did all the great things that one can do in Vermont in the summer.

We also met great people and reconnected with old friends. Folks stay at the Tyler Place for a week at a time, and most return the same week each summer. Each year, there are a few new couples joining the group. In our time, Karen and I and our friends have tried to meet at least one, if not two, of the new couples in our week. Entering that group of vacationing families can be daunting, but the Tyler Family makes a point of welcoming everyone. We have found great pleasure, and many new friends, by trying to be as welcoming as possible.

At the end of our week this year, someone called me a "camp counselor." It was a nice complement.

I think I find my greatest joy in the waters of Lake Champlain. The Tyler Place includes a variety of boats and water sports. I played around with the hobie cats and made sure to slide off the lake-slide. And at the end of almost every afternoon, I swam from the dock above out to one of the blue and yellow floating trampolines for a water-born loaf.

The lake waters were remarkably refreshing.

And then we drove home. I've posted many photographs. And I'm back at work.