A Weekend Getaway With Perfect Vermont

A couple of weekends ago, Tim and I headed north for a little unplugged weekend getaway.

We were invited for a complimentary overnight with some other healthy living and travel bloggers through a new company called Perfect Vermont. Perfect Vermont is located in Pittsfield, VT (near Killington) and owned by a young couple, Tom and Erlin. Tom and Erlin are seriously two of the most down to earth, nicest people I’ve ever met, and they run pretty much the coolest business ever: hosting wellness retreats on local farm property.

Tom and Erlin had a warm welcome ready and waiting for us upon arrival. There was a basket of local Vermont goodies, a sign welcoming all the bloggers with a hashtag to use throughout the weekend (#PerfectVT if you want to check out some of the other bloggers’ pictures), and healthy snacks to enjoy during the welcome social.

When staying with Perfect Vermont, you can choose to stay at any of the Riverside Farm accommodations. All of the bloggers and guests stayed at the Amee Farm Lodge together. Amee Farm is a quaint, restored farmhouse with 15 guest bedrooms and plenty of common areas.

Tim and I weren’t sure what to expect since neither of us have stayed at a bed and breakfast before, but our room was spotless upon arrival. We liked the wood furnishings, brightness, and the comfy mattress.

 

We were room #1 (Hannah), and we were pleased with how spacious yet cozy our room felt.

Even our bathroom was really cool. Check out this shower!

One of my favorite features of the lodge was the large, wrap-around porch with Adirondack chairs. Unfortunately we didn’t get to spend too much time out there because the weather wasn’t so cooperative, but I bet it’s so fun to hang out on during the nicer seasons.

After settling in and chatting with all of our new friends during the welcome social, the group headed out for a tour of the Riverside Farm properties. Riverside Farm is actually a wedding venue spread out among a ton of land and three different barns (brown, white, and red). The owners, Joe and Courtney, wanted to expand their property to be used for more than just wedding events, which is kind of how Perfect Vermont came to be. Here are some pretty pictures from our tour and the different venues/accommodations that are used for not only weddings now, but wellness programming during the retreats, corporate events, and more.

I even snapped some pictures of the horse paraphernalia for Julia:

After the tour, everyone headed back to Amee Lodge to freshen up before dinner. When we got downstairs, we saw that Tom and Erlin set up two big tables and decorated with pretty lights for the night.

A local musician named Dave Clark was playing live music throughout dinner, and one of the bloggers joined him on his trumpet. Pretty cool.

Dinner was provided by Vermont Farms Catering, and everything was absolutely wonderful. The menu was right up my alley, except for dessert (not because it tasted bad, but because I’m just not a grapefruit fan. I ate around it.). The risotto was to die for!

Tim and I spent some time chatting with Kevin, the chef, and his event director and partner, Katie. They told us they work with local farmers for fresh ingredients, which was obvious when eating. They also told us that they are working on starting up some local culinary classes to offer as part of the wellness retreat itinerary, which I think would be an excellent addition to the weekend activities.

The rest of the night was great, and other local folks from the town stopped in to join us. That’s the kind of place Pittsfield is – everyone knows each other, and it’s like a small family. There are really only a couple of streets in the town, with the General Store being one of the main attractions, you know? It’s just a completely different way of life, and I loved every second of it that weekend. We chatted the most with two guys named Dennis and Miguel, who are sponsored athletes living in Pittsfield while training for the elite Spartan races. I learned that Pittsfield is actually the home of the Spartan races, which I didn’t realize before. I’m sure you guys can imagine how much I enjoyed hearing their stories of their grueling workouts (climbing buckets of rocks up the mountains, running through the ice rivers, you get the idea). It was just so wonderful getting to meet and mingle with so many different and interesting people, and it didn’t hurt that the wine was flowing the entire time.

Tim and I headed up to our room around 10:30 since we had an early wake up call. We were one of the first guests to get up, and when we headed into the main rooms around 8am, we were greeted with a spread of breakfast and coffee. I made myself a bowl of yogurt and fresh fruit and enjoyed a delicious blueberry muffin too. Tim and I hung out in the cozy living room and watched the rain fall outside until everyone woke up. We were laughing about how our vanilla yogurt tasted like such a splurge compared to our usual non-fat plain. Too funny.

The morning’s activity was either a yoga class taught by Erlin or a guided snowshoe hike led by Tom. I originally was going to shoot for the snowshoe because I have never tried snowshoeing before, but I really didn’t have appropriate footwear for the slushy conditions outside. And let’s be honest, yoga in the dry comfort of the lodge sounded a lot more appealing first thing in the morning. The class was an Ashtanga style flow, which I enjoyed. I could definitely tell I haven’t taken a yoga class in a while, as I was tight in places I used to not be so tight in. However, I could feel a visible difference in my upper body strength during poses like crow and plank holds. Heavier lifting for the win. Yoga was the perfect way to start the day.

Tim decided to venture out on the snowshoe though. He and Tom trekked about a mile and a half through the slushy trails. He said it was awesome, and Tom said Tim was a good sport. In the nicer weather, I’m sure these trails are beautiful for hiking and snowshoeing in better snow conditions.

After yoga and snowshoeing, we headed across the street to Sweet Georgia P’s, a local organic farm.

We met the owners, Rebecca and Joe, who used to be from the Boston area and then moved north to start their farm business. I learned that they have a community supported agriculture program and actually ship to both New York and Boston too for any F&F readers that might be interested. Rebecca and Joe showed us all around their farm and explained a lot of their farming process to us.

I wish the weather had been nicer so we could have seen more! At the end of the tour, we trekked through a lot of mud to see their goats.

 

Finally, we wrapped up our weekend with lunch at the General Store. After hearing so many great things about the hub of Pittsfield, we just had to go. I ordered a turkey wrap and a smoothie to enjoy on the ride home.

After the stress of my taking my wellness coaching exam that week, this weekend getaway was exactly what I needed. I left feeling refreshed and rejuvenated from being in the fresh mountain air. I felt content and in my element after being surrounded with like-minded people all weekend. Everyone had such an interesting background, and I loved hearing everyone’s stories. Tim and I got to spend some quality time together not worrying about anything. I am really grateful that I was selected to be a part of this beautiful weekend and retreat space. I would absolutely love to organize a retreat for folks at my company or interested F&F readers someday.

Thank you to everyone in Pittsfield, VT for this experience!

—Let’s chat–
Have you ever heard of Perfect Vermont? Would you want to go on a wellness retreat? What part of my weekend looks like the most fun to you? When’s the last time you had a weekend away to relax and unplug from the daily grind?

Disclaimer: I was not paid to write this post, but I was provided a complimentary overnight stay with Perfect Vermont, including two meals and activities, in exchange for writing this review. As always, all opinions are my own. There are no affiliate links within this post.