Jay Peak

Thanks to the Vermont Tourism Board, I won a four night stay at the Hotel Jay with lift tickets last March or April.  I had entered a contest, I think, by liking their sweepstakes on Facebook, and was shocked when I got the e-mail from them saying I had won.  Honestly, I hadn't remembered entering the contest.

So we made plans to go up from Thursday (1/24) - Monday, (1/28).  Nancy and the boys had the day off on Friday the 25th due to a teacher's workshop, so they would actually end up missing just one day of school.  The Mulvaneys also came up that weekend as well.

We left Thursday after school during one of the coldest stretches in recent memory.  After a 3.5 hour trip up, we pulled in and the temperature was -6.  With the wind chill, it was -25 to -30.  We quickly unloaded the truck and got our gear inside, handed the keys to the valet, and didn't see the truck again until Monday when we left.  The free valet service was unexpected, and it was really the first of a long line of amenities at the Hotel Jay that left a great impression on us.

A game of "left, right, center"

Our room was a one bedroom suite on the fourth floor.  It had a full kitchen, with full appliances, two full baths, a dining area, a king sized bed (very comfortable), a sofa sleeper, and lots of closet space.  We also got a roll away bed for Liam.  The Mulvaneys were right across the hall, so the kids could hang out wile we went to the pub.
 


Friday we went out skiing, and it was soooo cold.  We did a number of runs in about two hours, then headed in for some corn chowder Nancy had made for the trip.  Going in and out was a breeze too, as the hotel is right on the mountain, and all hotel guests get their own ski lockers in a locker room down by the lifts.  For the afternoon run, Liz came out with the boys, and we got another couple of hours in.


For dinner that night, Liz had brought up some spaghetti and meatballs, and we all chowed.Then we headed down to the indoor water park.  Nancy and I stayed up in the observation bar, while the boys did the water slides, the flowrider, the lazy river, and used the hot tubs. 
Saturday was a little busier on the mountain, but we knew to head over to the Bonnie Quad and the Jet Triple where it was less crowded and less windy.  It was still brutally cold, but we were loaded up with hand and foot warmers.  The skiing was fantastic, even though the mountain hadn't received a ton of natural snow yet this year.  A few spots were rocky, but overall the conditions were great.  Thomas had entered a freestyle skiing contest that was held on a particularly tough trail, and he did great.

 We hung in for a bit, after eating pizza from the hotel's own pizza restaurant, then the adults went down to the lobby area where a Vermont version of the Dave Matthews Band was playing.  Nancy and Liz were showing off their "white woman" dance moves when they got asked to dance by a number of 40 something guys out on a guy's weekend.  Tom and I hung back in out matching HUDL shirts laughing at some of the whitest dancing you'll ever see.
Sunday we were back out on the mountain, while Nancy and Liz went to the spa. Mixed reviews on the spa, as the massages were ok but the pedicure left a lot to be desired.  Once again, the skiing again was great, and it was slightly warmer.  The only bummer was when Liam tripped while walking back in, slicing his finger something nasty on his snowboard.

Owen on the flowrider

That night we all went to the water park, and it was like we had it all to ourselves.  After endless taunting and prodding, Nancy finally went on the watersides, with her screams reverberating throughout the building.  The best was when Liz and Nancy went together - and we did catch that on video.  We also got a lot of great film of the boys doing the flowrider, quickly mastering how to do some tricks.

Owen, Liz, Evan, & Liam in the backround

Monday was our last day, so we headed out early to get some skiing in.  The weather was a lot warmer (mid 20's) and it was our best day.  We found a cool section of glades off to the right that weren't too steep, and the boys and I plus Liz played in those most of the morning. 

We ended up leaving around 2, just as snow had started to move in to the area.  Unfortunately, the snow would travel with us all the way home, making the trip just about 5 hours of white knuckle driving.

All in all, this was, in my opinion, one of the best trips we had been on.  The hotel had everything you needed, without ever needing to step outside.  The skiing was fantastic, the water park was unreal.  Our rooms were so nice, and the hotel staff was great.  We'll have to do this one again.