Getting into this blogosphere and am supposed to add this claim code to my blog – so, here it is! Y2JH9ZHGTH28

This past Sunday, Feb. 21, I had the pleasure of participating in one of the specialty cooking classes offered by Chef-Owner Doug Mack of Mary’s Restaurant at the Inn at Baldwin Creek in Bristol, VT. Classes are offered on a monthly basis, on at least two days. February’s classes were all about PASTA! During the 3.5 hr afternoon class, the class of ten learned to make five different types of pasta, including ravioli stuffed with ricotta served with Bolognese sauce, paparadelle with duck ragout and a desert of fried pasta napoleons layered with vanilla whipped creme and zabaglione. Are you drooling yet?? The environment, teaching, company and food were all outstanding. This is a Vermont experience not to be missed!

Classes are $75 for one or $140 for a couple, but reserve your spot early! You can find the year’s schedule of classes here. Upcoming topics include “Cooking Vermont’s Heritage” (incorporating Algonquin, English and French-Canadian traditions), “Free and Good for All” (how to cook with dietary restrictions), and “Smoked and Grilled” (meets out on the patio!).  Chef Mack also offers Wine Pairing Dinners to accompany some of the weekend classes.

The Inn at Baldwin Creek is a wonderful place to stay if you are coming from a distance or if you’d like a romantic getaway. The have five beautiful rooms and a stay includes a three-course, farm-fresh breakfast as well as a discount for dinner at Mary’s. You can check their availability here.

Here are some pictures from the pasta class…Chef Mack is the one in white!

TripAdvisor® is a website that “provides recommendations for hotels, resorts, inns, vacations, travel packages, vacation packages, travel guides and lots more” worldwide. They use the opinions and experiences of travelers to calculate ratings. Depending on who is writing the review, and what their motives are, sometimes the ratings can be erroneous and provide inaccurate results (either for better or worse).

Susan Breslow Sardone is the Honeymoon and Romantic Travel Guide for About.com and she shares some useful information on how to use TripAdvisor.

• Trip Advisor is a unique, timely, populist travel resource
• Trip Advisor enables a variety of opinions to be voiced
• Trip Advisor’s Quick Check is a well-integrated search engine for online booking

• Widely diverse opinions (“Loved it!”…”Hated it!”) make it hard to objectively evaluate a place
• Dissatisfied guests use Trip Advisor as a venue to broadcast bad experiences
• Trip Advisor has many poorly written trip reviews
• Bogus positive reviews posted along with honest ones can confuse users

• Some 490,000 hotels and attractions and 22,000 cities are in the Trip Advisor database.
• Trip Advisor’s Hotel Popularity Index provides a ranking of the top hotels in a city.
• Trip Advisor also links to travel guidebooks and Web articles.
• Got a question? Nearly 2/3 of Trip Advisor forum posts get an answer within 24 hours.
• Candid photos by Trip Advisor members provide fresh perspectives.
• Free Trip Advisor emails include Trip Watch, a personalized newsletter, and Weekend Getaway Guide.
• Smart Deals on Trip Advisor indicate highly rated hotels with good prices.

Trip Advisor features some 25 million reviews, including both rants and raves about destinations, hotels, attractions, and restaurants.

If you’re like most travelers, when planning a trip you appreciate hearing or reading others’ opinions before you choose a place. Yet a surfeit of (often conflicting) voices can create cacophony and confusion. I recently received an email that said:

I am so happy I came across your info on About.com. I am trying to plan a destination wedding, but get so discouraged after reading negative reviews on Trip Advisor about every place I look in to. (Except for Four Seasons and the Ritz, which are too expensive for me).

Here’s my advice to get the most from Trip Advisor:

• Take what you read on Trip Advisor with a grain of salt. If you see a scathing one-star review but no other writers complain about the same problem(s), it’s safe to write it off as an isolated incident.
• However, if you encounter the same complaint about a hotel repeatedly on Trip Advisor (e.g. “terrible service,” “dirty bathroom”), I’d trust it.
• Conversely, a glowing, this-place-couldn’t-be-better report on Trip Advisor — especially when it’s surrounded by others’ complaints — could have been written by a ringer.
• Use Trip Advisor as one — but not your only — resource for travel information. You can get a balanced picture by speaking with trusted friends and acquaintances, talking to a travel agent, and visiting other travel sites in addition to a property’s own Web site.

Original Source: Should You Trust Trip Advisor at About.com

The biggest sled dog race in the lower 48 is coming up, Sat. and Sun, Feb. 27 & 28 on the Kingdom Trails at Burke Mountain Ski Resort. It is a family oriented event and a great weekend for pet enthusiasts. There will be hot food and children’s activities; have your kids bring a helmet and they can participate in 1-dog sled events. Bring your snowshoes too! You can watch from either the start or finish, or find a spot along the trail to watch the dogs dash by.  All events are free, but donations will be accepted to benefit a community center project for Northeast Kingdom kids. Click here for directions and a schedule of events.

The night before the race, Friday, Feb. 26, is the Wafer Family Foundation’s annual benefit dinner and Chinese auction. Clark Gillies (an NHL Hall of Fame member formerly of the NY Islanders) will be there and all proceeds from the dinner and auction will benefit local Northeast Kingdom children. Adult admission is $30 and kids are $15.

Looking for a place to stay while you’re watching the race? Check out the Inn at Mountain View Farm in East Burke, VT or the Wildflower Inn in Lyndonville, VT.

Forget the groundhog…in Vermont we celebrate Woodchuck Day on February 2nd!  Sponsored by Woodchuck Cider, Woodchuck Day is a celebration of more winter to come. There are events throughout VT  (and the US) with the kickoff woodchuck competition and live broadcast today at the Rusty Parker Memorial Park in Waterbury from 7am-2pm.Participants are encouraged to dress up as hearty Vermonters (aka “woodchucks”) and have fun!  All funds raised will benefit the Vermont National Guard Charitable.

Here is a partial list of area events:

Stowe @ The Den, 2/2,  3pm-5pm
Stratton Mt. @ Grizzly’s, 2/2, 3pm-5pm
Jay Peak @ The Tower Bar, 2/2, 3:30pm-5:30pm
Pint Night @ Mr. Up’s, 2/2, 5pm-7pm
Pint Night @ Big Moose Pub, 2/2, 5pm-7pm
Pint Night @ the Reservoir, 2/2, 5pm-7pm
Cider Party @ Cider House Barbecue & Pub, 2/2 5pm-7pm
Mt. Snow, 2/5, 3pm-5pm
Magic Mt., 2/6, 3pm-6pm
Jay Peak @ International Restaurant, 2/6, 3:30pm-5:30pm

Need a place to stay, but don’t want to stay on the mountain? Check out the beautiful Thatcher Brook Inn, centrally located in Waterbury, VT.

This is a post by Marc  Roth for BussinessWeek. While some readers found his language and/or content to be a bit offensive, (check out the comments on his original post)  his point is worth thinking about. Interest rates are extraordinarily low for those who qualify, and if you are one of those people, purchasing a home may be a very smart move in the near future. Remember, the $8000 or $6500 tax credit is good on purchases made through April 30, 2010.

If You Don’t Buy a House Now, You’re Stupid or Broke

Well, you may not be stupid or broke. Maybe you already have a house and you don’t want to move. Or maybe you’re a Trappist monk and have forsworn all earthly possessions. Or whatever. But if you want to buy a house, now is the time, and if you don’t act soon, you will regret it. Here’s why: historically low interest rates.

As of today, the average 30-year fixed-rate loan with no points or fees is around 5%. That, as the graph above—which you can find on Mortgage-X.com—shows, is the lowest the rate has been in nearly 40 years.

In fact, rates are so well below historic averages that it should make all current and prospective homeowners take notice of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

And it is exactly that, based on what the graph shows us. Let’s look at the point on the far left.

In 1970 the rate was approximately 7.25%. After hovering there for a couple of years, it began a trend upward, landing near 10% in late 1973. It settled at 8.5% to 9% from 1974 to the end of 1976. After the rise to 10%, that probably seemed O.K. to most home buyers.

But they weren’t happy soon thereafter. From 1977 to 1981, a period of only 60 months, the 30-year fixed rate climbed to 18%. As I mentioned in one of my previous articles, my dad was one of those unluckily stuck needing a loan at that time.

Interest Rate Lessons

And when rates started to decline after that, they took a long time to recede to previous levels. They hit 9% for a brief time in 1986 and bounced around 10% to 11% until 1990. For the next 11 years through 2001, the rates slowly ebbed and flowed downward, ranging from 7% to 9%. We’ve since spent the last nine years, until very recently, at 6% to 7%. So you can see why 5% is so remarkable.

So, what can we learn from the historical trends and numbers?

First, rates have far further to move upward than downward; for more than 30 years, 7% was the low and 18% the high. The norm was 9% in the 1970s, 10% in the mid-1980s through the early 1990s, 7% to 8% for much of the 1990s, and 6% only over the last handful of years.

Second, the last time the long-term trends reversed from low to high, it took more than 20 years (1970 to 1992) for the rate to get back to where it was, and 30 years to actually start trending below the 1970 low.

Finally, the most important lesson is to understand the actual financial impact the rate has on the cost of purchasing and paying off a home.

Every quarter-point change in interest rates is equivalent to approximately $6,000 for every $100,000 borrowed over the course of a 30-year fixed. While different in each region, for the sake of simplicity, let’s assume that the average person is putting $40,000 down and borrowing $200,000 to pay the price of a typical home nationwide. Thus, over the course of the life of the loan, each quarter-point move up in interest rates will cost that buyer $12,000.

Loan Costs

Stay with me now. We are at 5%. As you can see by the graph above, as the economy stabilizes, it is reasonable for us to see 30-year fixed rates climb to 6% within the foreseeable future and probably to a range of 7% to 8% when the economy is humming again. If every quarter of a point is worth $12,000 per $200,000 borrowed, then each point is worth almost $50,000.

Let’s put that into perspective. You have a good stable job (yes, unemployment is at 10%, but another way of looking at that figure is that most of us have good stable jobs). You would like to own a $240,000 home. However, even though home prices have steadied, you may be thinking you can get another $5,000 or $10,000 discount if you wait (never mind the $8,500 or $6,500 tax credit due to run out next spring). Or you may be waiting for the news to tell you the economy is “more stable” and it’s safe to get back in the pool. In exchange for what you may think is prudence, you will risk paying $50,000 more per point in interest rate changes between now and the time you decide you are ready to buy. And you are ignoring the fact that according to the Case-Shiller index, home prices in most regions have been trending back up for the last several months.

If you are someone who is looking to buy or upgrade in the $350,000-to-$800,000 home price range, and many people out there are, then you’re borrowing $300,000 to $600,000. At 7%, the $300,000 loan will cost just under $150,000 more over the lifetime, and the $600,000 loan an additional $300,000, if rates move up just 2% before you pull the trigger.

What I’m trying to impress upon everyone is that if you are planning on being a homeowner now and/or in the foreseeable future, or if you are looking to move your family into a bigger home, then pay more attention to the interest rates than the price of the home. If you have a steady job, good credit, and the down payment, then you really are being offered the gift of a lifetime.

Marc Roth is the founder and president of Home Warranty of America, which touches just about every part of the real estate industry since it sells through builders, real estate agents, title companies, mortgage companies, and directly to consumers.

As part of the expansion of the homebuyer tax credit, existing homeowners are eligible for a $6500 tax credit (versus the $8000 credit for new homeowners). Here, Jeff Teplitz, a mortgage consultant with PrimeLending in South Burlington, answers some common questions and helps clarify this new feature of the bill. To see the full listing of changes, click here.

Question: Existing homeowner credit: Must the new house cost more than the old house?

Answer: No. Thus, for example, individuals who move from a high cost area to a lower cost area who meet all eligibility requirements will qualify for the $6500 credit.

Question: I am an existing homeowner. On October 25, 2009, I signed a contract to purchase a new home. I have lived in my current home for more than 5 consecutive years and am within the new income limits. I will go to settlement on November 20. If President Obama has signed the bill by the time I go to settlement, will I qualify for the new $6500 tax credit?

Answer: Yes. The existing homeowner credit goes into effect for purchases after the date of enactment (when the bill is signed). There is no reference to the date of contract for the new credit. The provision looks solely to the date of purchase, which is generally the date of settlement.

Question: I am a first time home buyer but was not within the prior income limits at the time I entered into my contract to purchase on October 30, 2009. I will be covered,however, by the new income limits. If the new rules have been signed into law by the time I go to settlement, will I be eligible for a credit?

Answer: Yes. The new income limitations go into effect as soon as the President has signed the bill. The income limit and other eligibility rules will look to your status as of the date of purchase, which is the settlement date. So if the new rules have been signed when you go to settlement, you should be eligible for the credit (or a portion of the credit if you’re within the phaseout range).

Question: I am an eligible existing homeowner. I have a fair amount of equity in my home. I have found a home with a nonnegotiable price of $825,000. Will I be able to use any of the $6500 tax credit?

Answer: No. The $800,000 cap on the cost of the purchased home is firm at $800,000. Any amount above $800,000 makes the home ineligible for any portion of the credit. The $800,000 is an absolute ceiling.

Question: I owned my home for 10 years, but sold it two years ago year and have been renting since. If I purchase a home, will I be eligible for the $6500 tax credit if I meet all the other eligibility tests?

Answer: Yes. Because you lived in the home for more than 5 consecutive years of the previous 8, you will qualify for the $6500 credit. For example, Say John and his wife bought a home in 2000 and lived there until 2008 when he got a divorce. Whether John has been renting or bought in the interim, he WOULD INDEED be eligible for the credit because he owned a home and occupied it as his principal residence for 5 consecutive years out of the last 8 years. The keyword here is “consecutive.” As long as he lived in that house for 5 years straight what he did since 3 years doesn’t impact eligibility.

Question: I am an eligible first time home buyer. I entered into a contract to purchase on November 1, 2009. Do I have to go to closing before December 1? How does the extension date affect me?

Answer: You do not have to close before December 1. Once the legislation has been signed, it will be as if the Nov 30 date had never existed. Therefore, so long as the contract settles before April 30
(or July 1, worst case), the purchaser will be eligible for the credit.

Just this week, Congress voted, almost unanimously, to extend and expand the homebuyer tax credit. The exptension changes the cut off date from Nov. 20, 2009 to Apr. 30, 2010. The expansions includes an increase in the income limit as well as a the inclusion of a $6500 credit for existing homeowners. For a complete list of changes , check out this comparison chart issued by the National Association of Realtors (NAR). You can also listen to the president of NAR, Charles McMillan’s podcast about the bill passing.

Fall is a wonderful time to visit Vermont’s wineries. Grapes are harvested in September and October, which also happens to be when Vermont’s landscape is exploding with vibrant, warm color. Many may not think of Vermont when they think of vineyards, but thanks to an active grape breeding program at the University of Minnesota, there are several varieties of grape that can withstand the long cold winters. There is no need to travel to enjoy vineyard tours and tastings when there are so many right in Vermont! The Vermont Grape & Wine Council has a very informative website dedicated to teaching people about the different types of wine grapes that grow well in Vermont.
Grape-growing and wine-making is fairly new to Vermont; to read about on of the first vineyards, check out our past blog on the Lincoln Peak Vineyard.

Here’s a list of some of the vineyards in the northern Vermont:

Boyden Valley Winery, Vermont 104 Cambridge, 644-8151, www.boydenvalley.com

Charlotte Village Winery, 3968 Greenbush Road, Charlotte, 425-4599, www.charlottevillagewinery.com

East Shore Vineyard, 69 East Shore North, Grand Isle, (877) ESV-VINO, www.eastshorevineyard.com

Galloping Hill Farm & Vineyard, 344 Moody Road, Huntington, 434-3332, www.gallopinghillfarm.com

Grand View Winery, 2113 Max Gray Road, East Calais; Tasting Room: Vermont 100, Waterbury Center, 456-7012, www.grandviewwinery.com

Honey Gardens Apiaries, Inc., 2777 VT Route 7 in Ferrisburgh, 877-6766, www.honeygardens.com

Lincoln Peak Vineyard, 142 River Road, New Haven, 388-7368, www.lincolnpeakvineyard.com

Shelburne Vineyard, 6308 Shelburne Road, Shelburne, 985-8222, www.shelburnevineyard.com

Sugar Bush Vineyard and Butler Island Vineyard, Hillis’ Sugarbush Farm & Vineyard. Colchester, 893-292

Snow Farm Vineyard, 190 West Shore Road, South Hero, 372-9463, www.snowfarm.com

Source: Vermont Grape & Wine Council, www.vermontgrapeandwinecouncil.com.