Book a Room at the Three Mountain Inn
In 2004, I wrote a cover story for the Boston Globe Sunday Magazine called, “So You Want to Own a B&B.” During my research, I met a great couple, Jennifer and Ed Dorta-Duque, who were taking a course on the ups and downs of running an inn. At the time, they had quit their jobs as software developers in Baltimore and had been searching for an inn for over 1 ½ years, looking at more than 50 properties in Annapolis, Pennsylvania, Cape Cod, Nantucket, and New York’s Finger Lakes region. Finally, they came upon the Three Mountain Inn in Jamaica, Vermont, and made the purchase. One visit to Jamaica, a quiet hamlet on the backside of Stratton Mountain, and you understand why. It’s close to the Grafton Cheese Company and the West River Trail in Jamaica State Park, which I included last year in a story on ten favorite foliage walks in New England for The Boston Globe.
In the seven years, they’ve run the inn, Jennifer and Ed earned accolades for their hospitality and food in such publications as Travel & Leisure and the London Telegraph. Then they got slammed by Hurricane Irene and their inn transformed into the Emergency Operation Center, the Firehouse, and shelter for displaced victims. The Route 30 bridge north of town is out and will most likely be out for the rest of the year. However, they’ve already created a bypass around the collapsed bridge, and, as of this week, the Three Mountain Inn is open for business. If you’re searching for a fall foliage retreat, this is one place that’s worthy of your support!
I’m off to the Atlantic Maritimes in eastern Canada the next week to fish for salmon on the Miramichi in New Brunswick, go oystering on Prince Edwards Island’s Malpeque Bay, tidal bore rafting in Nova Scotia, and sea kayaking off the coast of Newfoundland. I’ll be back September 28th. In the meantime, keep active!