Okemo Vermont Ski Vacation
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Okemo Blog by Melissa Lawlor on Tuesday, January 25, 2011 at 9:19am 1/25/11 It started out last year in Crested Butte, Colorado - a ski vacation with our family friends the Hogans. The tradition has begun and is being continued this year in Okemo, Vermont. Of course our children really wanted to go back to Colorado. However, their wallets being thin and they don't work, we opted for skiing closer to home. A drivable distance not involving airplanes, luggage fees and Xanax. I put word out to my FB friends, neighbors, Tripadvisor.com, and ski magazine as to where a great family place to ski in the Northeast would be? Responses ranged from Stratton, Smuggs, Bretton Woods, and Okemo. I was gunning for Smuggs myself as the reviews looked really good. And lets face it, the spa looked wonderful. But family vote came out and Okemo it was. Okemo is located in Ludlow, Vermont. About a 3 hour drive from us in Pleasant Valley. I put some hours into research and opted for staying in their hotel which offers 1,2,&3 bedroom condo's. Last year I had rented a lovely home in Crested Butte off VRBO.com. I was very satisfied with the 5 bedrooms and space it afforded our family of 5. Plus the ski bus came by the house every 15 minutes. Which was perfect. That wasn't happening here. And I wanted maid service. Its my vacation too. I called the Reservation line at Okemo, apparently the same day Ski magazine put out an article about Okemo being the Best Family Ski Vacation. The phone lines were ridiculously busy and couldn't get through. However, after leaving a detailed message about what I required, a lovely woman named Chris/Kris called me back. We got a 3 bedroom, 3 bath condo, full kitchen, 2 fireplaces and dining room, living room, mudroom, laundry, $75 resort credit, and % off the restaurant here on site. Also included lift tickets for 4 days. The 1/2 day skiing on our arrival day is free. I felt we got a great deal! Now anyone who has EVER packed up a family for skiing, knows it takes bags upon bags of gear. A Big Huge Thanks goes out my oldest son Jake. This summer while he was mowing lawns, he earned a Thule ski travel carrier for the top of the car. Matt got it hooked up on the Pilot. And we were all set. Only thing being, we needed to pack the truck. And Mother-nature decided to be -17below zero the night before. Freezing the locks on the Thule. But my husband is resourceful and used a lighter to unfreeze the locks. We packed and were off. The drive up to Ludlow, Vermont is a beautiful ride. The only highway portion is the TSP. The rest of the 2 hour is two lane roads, lined with snow covered mountains, farms, and gorgeous Big house, little house, barns. We drove through little towns and stopped at a farm to buy raw milk products. Shane and I tasted our way through the raw-milk cheese shop and decided to buy mozzerella and a wonderful, creamy gouda. Both made onsite using the farms raw milk. Also bought some home-made pepperoni amd 1/2 gallon raw-milk. We arrived in Ludlow, Vermont just in time for hungry belly's requiring lunch. After driving through Main Street, which is about 1/2 mile long, we settled on Trapper's. It has now been nicknamed Crappers by Jake. Typical dive with dive food. It has definately seen better days. The waitress was friendly and accomadating. Just the food left much to be desired. Oh and it was cold in the dive! -5 oustide and about 60 inside. The decor in the dive was cool. Loads of antiques and crazy looking stuff. It was a great place to play "I SPY". We won't be eating there again. Checking into Okemo was slightly confusing. I would recommend the management look into making that process flow smoother. There is the main base and then there is the base area for the Jackson Gore Inn & Condo's, which is about about 1.5 miles north of the base. Check-in time was 5pm. We were early, so they let us gear up in the lodge/bar area, and the boys headed out on the slopes. Matty, Shane and I stayed in the lodge relaxing. It was freezing cold! Our room got ready about 4:30pm and again, getting to our room was confusing. We lugged 2 luggage carts full up and down elevators, into other buildings, and back again, before we found our room. By that time I was feeling VERY frustrated! We finally got settled into the condo. Headed out to Killarney's Pub for dinner. Cool Irish ambiance and decent food. Matt's Shepards Pie was delicious. I got Corned-Beef and Cabbage, which was good. Jake's hot wings were really good - the heat tickled my throat and I felt the warmth in my belly. The fried calamari G&S ordered left alot to be desired. They ate my Corned Beef instead! We woke up this morning to light snow falling and kids VERY eager to get out on the slopes. I am going to explore this resort a little more and see what I can find.
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