Our group will be traveling to Vermont for a unique winter weekend experience!!!

The Essex Resort and Spa, just a 3 hour drive from Albany, offers spa facilities, culinary classes, free snow shoeing and much, much more! The resort is located on 18 wooded acres in Essex, Vermont just outside of Burlington.

The Essex Resort and Spa restaurants offer innovative cuisine prepared by NECI-trained chefs as well as hosting culinary classes for guests. It's close to both cross country and down hill skiing. The Essex features a new full-service spa, an outdoor hot tub, fitness center, 11 treatment rooms, a salon, an indoor pool and relaxation lounges. Right in their backyard is Northern Lights, which offers outdoor rock and ice climbing walls, rock climbing pinnacle, dual 450 ft zip wires, tubing, survivor challenges and geo-caching. The Essex is also within walking distance of many shops and ethnic restaurants for those wanting a lighter adventure. There is something for everyone!!!

Our plan is to arrive Friday night and leave on Sunday. Our group will gather on Friday night in a spot reserved just for us for socializing, food and drinks at the resort. Saturday and Sunday there are many options including free snow shoeing at the resort, optional spa treatments, culinary classes, skiing, shopping in town, adventures at Northern Lights, etc. Wanderlust participants receive a 20% discount on all culinary classes and spa treatments. Saturday evening's options include free live entertainment in The Tavern or a bonfire with s'mores (weather permitting). Check out their calendar for more details.

You will need to sign up as a member of Wanderlust for the classes when you pay the resort. I've already signed up for the "Party in Spain" cooking class from 7pm to 9pm Saturday evening. The cooking classes are small and I expect them to fill up quickly, so don't wait to sign up for them!

If you have someone you want to be your roommate, please state so in your RSVP answers. If you do not have a roommate, let me know and we will plan to arrange it so everyone will be able to have one from the people who sign up. The sooner you sign up, the more likely I'll be able to find you a roommate.

This is a very reasonably priced weekend!

1. To hold your spot, we will need a $15.00 payment through the Wanderlust site, which is payable through Amazon payments.

2. The remainder of the payment must be paid directly to the resort by calling [masked]. The remainder due is $107.91 per person for the weekend (2 days) if sharing a double room. That final amount should be paid directly to the resort by credit card. This price includes ALL fees... the room for two nights, the resort fees and the taxes! Spa treatments, cooking classes, food, drinks, etc are obviously extra. Again, we are getting a HUGE discount. The price per room, including all fees, is normally $375 and up.

- You can opt to have your own room. In that case the cost will be $30 paid to Wanderlust and $215.82 to be paid directly to the resort.

- If you wish to bring a guest, just RSVP +1, pay $30 to Wanderlust and $215.82 to the resort.

Please fill out the questions after you RSVP. Anyone planning on going or sharing a room must be a Wanderlust member and sign up through our website to receive the discounts. I am inviting other meetup groups to join us, but everyone still needs to sign up through the Wanderlust website to get the discount (it will be much easier for me to track everything this way).

The Essex Resort has been very welcoming, flexible and generous to our group. Refunds are possible if cancellation is 14 days prior to our group’s arrival. We are, however, looking for firm commitments for this trip. This is a great trip so please only sign up if you are very committed to going. Thanks and I hope to see you there!! :)

For more information on the resort, please visit: http://www.vtculinary...
For reviews from a Boston meetup group that had a fabulous time at the Essex Resort, visit: http://www.meetup.com...

Please note that the discounted room rate is only guaranteed until 3/12/10. After 3/12 you will still be able to sign up if there are rooms available, but the price will increase (normal rates may apply).

- Don't forget we get 20% off culinary classes and at the Spa! Please make sure to mention you are a member of Wanderlust when you reserve spa treatments and cooking classes so that you get your discount.

- The resort is completely smoke free!

- The resort is pet friendly!
Here's the room list for everyone signed up so far:
Room #1: Liz A. + Melissa H.
Room #2: Lisa (booked a single) *Owes $15 cash to Wanderlust
Room #3: Elizabeth A + 1 (Emily A.)
Room #4: Amy Johnson + 1
Room #5: Terra + 1
Room #6: Renzie + Fey
Room #7: Felicia + 1

The resort does still have double rooms available so more are welcome to sign up, but if you don't have a roommate, you may need to pay the single rate if we don't get more singles signed up. Right now all singles have been assigned a roommate.

Carpooling: Many of you have expressed interest in carpooling. Please post where you live and what time you can leave, so you can coordinate the carpooling with others in your area.

If you haven't signed up for any of the cooking classes, but want to, please don't wait because many are already filled for that weekend.

We'll start out the weekend with a group dinner on Friday night around 7pm. They will be providing separate checks to everyone for the dinner to make things easier. Then we'll end the weekend with our private brunch (note the class size is limited). Everything else in between is free time for you to do whatever you want... either with other meetup members, or on your own. Friday night we can all figure out some group activities. If there's snow and enough interest in snow shoeing, we may do that as a group event for those interested on Saturday. There's also shopping in town within walking distance, spa treatments and ice climbing at Northern Rocks. It's totally up to you whether you want to have a massage then curl up with a book and spend some quiet time alone, or join other members of the group on other activities!