Okay, truth be told, this list does tend to take over my life to some degree. When our 10th anniversary approached and Paris was still a ways off, we decided to plan an overnight trip somewhere. “What things can we do on my list?” I immediately thought. Granted, Husband is on board and we end up doing fun things that we otherwise wouldn’t do because of the list, but still…it does tend to take over. Our overnight trip to Stowe, VT helped knock three things off my list: stay somewhere haunted, go ziplining, and take photos in a photo booth!
For our anniversary, I knew we would be doing an overnight trip only. (After all, we are saving for Paris.) Since we were restricted to no more than 36 hours away, I didn’t want to travel more than three hours. Also, I wanted to stay somewhere haunted because it was on the list and Husband likes haunted things too. Finally, it’s New England. There are a ton of places within three hours that must be haunted, but also fun for other anniversary-ish plans.
I narrowed things down through a few “most haunted New England” type articles and availability over Memorial Day weekend. In the end, we chose the Green Mountain Inn in Stowe, VT because not only was it haunted, but it was close to one of the country’s best ziplining tours.
The ghost story was a bit silly. According to the website:
The Legend Of Boots Berry And The Green Mountain Inn
Storm sounds from your average run-of-the-mill winter snowstorm or the fancy footwork of an 1800’s spirit who supposedly haunts the Inn?
The story of former Inn horseman – now ghost – Boots Berry and his need to tap his way across the Inn’s roof in bad weather is the stuff of intrigue no self-respecting historic New England Inn should be without.
The son of an Inn chambermaid and horseman, Boots was born in 1840 in Room 302 of the Inn’s third floor servants’ quarters and grew up to be a respected horseman himself. He realized local fame when he saved stagecoach passengers from certain doom when the coach’s horses bolted down Stowe’s Main Street one day. Deemed a hero and awarded a medal, Boots was lauded throughout the county and from then on found he was never in need of buying his own drinks again.
Drink proved his downfall, however, and Boots was dismissed from the Inn for neglecting his duties. He took to wandering the country and got his nickname when a fellow prisoner in a New Orleans jail taught him to tap dance.
Boots eventually drifted back to Stowe. As fate would have it, in 1902 Boots happened to be on hand to save a little girl who was stranded on the Inn’s roof during a snowstorm. Remembering a secret childhood route to the rooftop, Boots reached the girl and lowered her to safety before slipping and falling to his death – from the roof above Room 302.
Legend has it that Boots’ rooftop tap dancing steps can still be heard today during a snowstorm.
So what we have is basically a tap dancing ghost. It’s not quite the Stanley Hotel that inspired Steven King’s The Shining, but it was haunted. We may even get a poor night of sleep from all the tap dancing on our roof!
The Green Mountain Inn was fabulous. We weren’t there long enough to use all the amenities it offered (including an outdoor heated pool), but it was a great place to stay overnight. The room was one of the nicest I’ve stayed in for a very reasonable price, especially considering that it was a holiday weekend and the unofficial start of summer in New England.
We did hear a few bumps in the night, but nothing that truly spooked us. (I will admit here though that we were exhausted. EXHAUSTED. So unless the ghost was tap dancing on my face, I wouldn’t have woken up). Did anything spooky happen? Well, when we checked out, they printed our bill, but the bill for another room printed. I blamed the ghost! The front desk staff agreed.
Husband and I did some ghost hunting before we left. We wandered around trying to find the Boots Berry room, which lead to lots of silliness and laughter. I clearly don’t have a future in ghost hunting.
