Aimee and I spent a terrific weekend in Stowe, where I’d never been before but where Aimee had spent many a childhood summer. The weather was great, with appropriately low temperatures and plenty of snow on the ground to help us enjoy snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, and downhill skiing. All three were new to Aimee, in the modern era of her life, and she was a quick study with all of them, as we moved from tromping through snow to gliding over it to sliding down it. Our stay in the Carriage House of the Gables Inn was great, mainly for the fireplace in our room and the great breakfast every morning. We had lunch (including the amazing Linzertorte) at the Austrian Tea Room at the Trapp Family Lodge, fondue worth waiting (two hours) for at Restaurant Swisspot, great pizza at Pie in the Sky, and then worked it all off on the trails and slopes. It was a great getaway from Boston for a long weekend.



Flat Stanley, on loan from one of Aimee’s cousins, visits the Ski Museum.



We take a break from snowshoeing at the Chapel in the woods of the Trapp Family Lodge.



I make our first fire Friday night. “That’s how it’s supposed to look…mostly black, with a little tiny glowing red ember.”



The view from the chairlift: my skis, our shadow.