April 1st, 2021

One of Christopher’s favorite things to do is snowboard. He grew up in the snow in New Jersey and learned to ski and snowboard as a little kid. When we were first dating and Chris learned that I hadn’t ever skied or snowboarded before, he promised me that he would take me and get me lessons as soon as possible. I thought it was terribly romantic that he wanted to share this part of his life with me and I was excited to finally learn!

Which is why for my birthday this year, Christopher planned a weekend getaway to Killington, Vermont. Did I mention I had never skied before? With my birthday trip already planned out, Chris booked me two lessons to get me up to speed. With those two skiing lessons under my belt, luckily I was actually a natural and picked it up quickly so we were ready for the big trip!

The weekend of, we hopped on a red eye at LAX, landed in New Jersey, rented a car, and headed for Vermont. On our way there, I googled and found out that we would be passing Lake George, NY. I’ll be honest, earlier that week a new episode of Real Housewives of New Jersey came out and the ladies were seen vacationing in Lake George which in the show, looked gorgeous! I wanted to check it out for myself. Chris suggested a restaurant called the The Log Jam, a place he remembered going to as a kid so we entered the new address into Waze and made a straight shot there.

The Log Jam sincerely was THE BEST restaurant we could have stumbled on. It was everything I wanted for the snowy, cozy, fireplace-romance that I envisioned for my birthday dinner. And the food was incredible. The sautéed shrimp skillet appetizer so decadent with extra butter and garlic-y goodness. For dessert, I was served a massive slice of this chocolate chip, Oreo crust, peanut butter chip cookie pie that was straight from my dessert dreams.

The morning of my birthday, we popped a bottle of Veuve, got suited up in our snow gear and headed to the mountain to get there early. The whole way there in the nicely heated car, we rocked out to my birthday playlist, singing and laughing with each other, enjoying every minute of a slightly tipsy birthday morning. We arrived to our destination as I admired the glorious scene of lightly falling snow and the morning sun sparkling on the horizon of white blanketed mountains.

And then I stepped outside of the car. And froze. Seriously, I completely froze up. I was in sheer shock at the freezing cold, 15 degree air that rapidly replaced the warmth of the heated car.

I slowly allowed Chris to coax me out of the car and we ran to the nearest resort clothing store to get me a second snow coat. With my new third (fourth maybe?) layer now keeping me alive, we headed for the mountain.

After the first run, I found my footing and surprisingly acclimated to the cold. We spent the day skiing and snowboarding side by side, climbing higher and higher up the mountain to get to the top. At each landing on the ay up, there were charming lodges you could stop at for a drink or warm pretzel to leisurely take in the views before getting back on your skies (or board).

There is, like, the granddaddy of lodges nestled up at the top, between the snowy mountains where you can see the picturesque views of Vermont in panoramic glory. You have to make it to the top of mountain to get there, which for me took all day, but the view is worth it.

It’s hard to compare to my experience skiing in California to the natural snow and beauty of the Vermont mountain range.

While Big Bear is perfectly fine with it’s relaxed atmosphere and easily managed slopes, Vermont is truly just on another level. My overall takeaway – Vermont is it is like a snow covered Disneyland for those who love snow sports and are willing to take on very very cold weather.

Honestly, I ended up really enjoying the new adventure and most of all, I appreciate Chris for putting it all together to show me a new part of the country that I had never explored before. Now that I have Killington under my belt, I am excited to see where we ski next!

Have you been to Vermont? Tell me if you got to the top of the mountain at Killington and saw the panoramic views from the lodge!

With love,

Ashley Jo