That’s why I was so intrigued when a friend of mine who works in downtown Brattleboro told me I have to check out Cafe a la Cart, a brand new “upscale street cart” on Elliot Street right next door to one of our other favorites, Peter Havens.

I stopped by the bright white cart (which is more like a trailer, complete with a grill, prep station and lunch counter) last week and was immediately drawn to the colorful menu propped up against it. It soon became clear why this curbside chow stop was branded “upscale”. While the menu consisted of basic items like burgers, quesadillas, hot dogs and sausage, peppers and onions, the ingredients and preparation were anything but typical.

I went for the “Vermont Farm Burger,” made with all-natural, Vermont-raised beef. Instead of a roll, it’s served on a Portuguese muffin, a crisp and slightly sweet bun. For extra zing, chef/owner Zach Corbin-Teich adds homemade pickles that he cures himself. A fixins bar on the lunch counter is complete with the standard mustard and ketchup, plus a variety of hot sauces, relish and fresh chopped onions.

For the veg-heads, Zach, who has served as chef at several upscale Vermont restaurants over the years, includes a veggie burger on the menu. There is also an “Egg McZach” breakfast sandwich served all day.

Wherever possible, Cafe a la Cart uses fresh local ingredients, all homemade.  As innkeepers, we really appreciate that.  We do the same for our breakfasts and really try to support others who support the local farms and farmers.  The carts daily specials are always listed on a separate chalkboard (when I visited, homemade potato salad and chocolate cookies were waiting). The only drink on the menu, beside bottled water, is fresh-squeezed lemonade, squeezed to order before your eyes (soooo good). Newbies to the Cart may not notice, but there is a shaded picnic table hidden just behind it. Have a seat and relax while you eat, watching the world go by on Elliot St.

You might expect to pay upscale prices at an upscale cart, but nothing on the menu is more than $6. It’s a cash-only establishment, and Zach keeps the windows open from 11 – 5 every day but Sunday and Monday.

So if you’re thinking of coming up to visit Brattleboro this summer, make sure you stop by Cafe a la Cart.  Just a short stroll from our Brattleboro inn and the perfect spot for a casual but delicious lunch.

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Now the good people of the Brattleboro Country Club have helped us to sweeten the pot for our fellow golfers.  They are offering our guests $20 off of greens fees and 10% off of food and beverage at their Fairway Tavern.

The Brattleboro Country Club has been member owned and operated since 1914 and is less than 5 minutes from our Brattleboro Vermont Inn.  With our $20 discount you can play 18 holes for just $25! How can you beat that?

If you are traveling, they have clubs to rent available and of course carts are available for those not looking to take on the somewhat hilly course on foot.  There is even a small grass range if you would like to warm up or just hit a bucket.

But wait, as the legendary Billy Mays would say, that’s not all…  They are even offering preferred tee times for our guests!

So if you are heading to Vermont this summer and enjoy playing a round – stay with us at Forty Putney Road Bed and Breakfast and take advantage of our great deals over at the Brattleboro Country Club.    As for us, we have an 1:10 tee time this afternoon (squeezing in 9 holes before check in time!) so we have to run – thanks for reading InnBrattleboro.com – the best information about Southern Vermont!

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1. Great downtown – stroll through our active downtown with all of its big city amenities
2. Live theater – 3 Theaters for live performances downtown (Hooker Dunham Theater, Latchis Theater, New England Youth Theater)
3. Caffeine – 3 Independent Coffee Shops (Mocha Joe’s, Coffee Country & Cafe Lotus)
4. Food – 30+ Restaurants to choose from
5. Pizza – 8 Pizza Shops (what can I say we like pizza around here)
6. Sushi – 3 restaurants to get great Sushi
7. Brattleboro Museum and Art Center
8. Martinis – on the deck at Alici’s Bistro in the summer
9. Vermont Jazz Center
10. Galleries – Gallery in the Woods, Artisan Design, Gallery 215, Artist Loft Gallery…just to name a few
11. Architecture – Beautiful historic architecture
12. Beer – McNeil’s Brewery in the historic fire house
13. More beer – 40 Tap Handles at Flat Street Pub
14. Cheap beer – $2.75 Draft Beer on the Fridays on the roof top deck at the Riverview Cafe in the summer
15. Movies – Check out the Art Deco Latchis Movie Theater
16. Only a 2 hour drive from Boston, MA
17. Only a 3 hour drive from New York City, NY
18. Only a 5 hour drive from Philadelphia, PA
19. The Vermonter - Amtrak service from Washington D.C., Philadelphia and NYC to Brattleboro Vermont!
20. Small town – only 12,000 residents
21. How Tom at Peter Haven\’s Restaurant met me once and remembered my name 2 years later
22. Countless Boutiques – Beadnicks, Altiplano, Blue Moose, Knit or Dye, Distinctive Decor…just to name a few
23. So many books – 5 Book stores downtown (Baskets Paperbacks, Book Cellar, Brattleboro Books, Everyone’s Books, & Mystery on Main)
24. Community Appreciation Day – free lunch served by the Brattleboro Savings and Loan
25. Brattleboro Food Coop – local and fresh food!
26. The Hospital – yes, best experience I ever had at a hospital (kind, courteous and only waited 5 minutes to be seen)
27. Our Local Butcher Shop – North End Butchers
28. Gallery Walk – 1st Friday of every month – over 40 galleries, shops and restaurants displaying local art
29. Local newspaper daily – all the news I need in the Brattleboro Reformer
30. Drive in Movies -  Northfield drive-in theater
31. Wantastiquet – great hike with an odd name
32. Chesterfield Gorge
33. The Retreat Trails – hike them right from our backyard
34. Mount Monadock - sure it’s not in Brattleboro, but it’s close and awesome
35. Picking Berries – love Dutton Farm
36. Road Biking along the West River
37. Strolling of the Heifers (ever seen cows strolling down main street before, well see it here)
38. Spofford Lake
39. Mountain Biking
40. Tubing down the West River
41. Swimming holes on the West River
42. Kayaking on the Connecticut River
43. Hogle Wildlife Sanctuary
44. Canoeing in the Retreat Meadows
45. The Treasured Tree Tour – including our enormous Japanese Maple Tree – you have to see it to believe it!
46. Golfing at the Brattleboro Country Club
47. Hogback Mountain Scenic Overlook
48. Fishing
49. Fall Foliage
50. Corn Mazes – including the Gaines Farms’ giant cow
51. It’s haunted… The Spooky Side of Brattleboro (Madame Sharri\’s Castle and the Retreat Tower)
52. Shelburne Falls – Pot Holes and Bridge of Flowers
53. Picking Apples  – love Scott Farm
54. Cider – Donuts & Fresh Apple Cider from Green Mountain Orchards
55. Snow
56. Ski Jumping – Harris Hill Ski Jump
57. Ice Fishing on the Retreat Meadows (I love watching them from our 2nd Floor Sun Porch, like a Norman Rockwell painting)
58. Snow Shoeing
59. Cross Country Skiing at the Brattleboro Country Club
60. Down Hill Skiing at Mount Snow (just a short 20 minute drive)
61. Diversity
62. The Circus is always in town at the Nimble Arts Circus School
63. School for International Training
64. Protests – who doesn’t dig a good peaceful protest
65. The smelly hippies
66. Bartering – check out Boomerang, Turn it Up, and other shops
67. Vermont Fresh Network – restaurants, growers and producers working together
68. Free Wi-Fi – not just at our inn, but throughout downtown!
69. A Bush and Cheney free zone
70. First Home Depot in the US to close – citing local competition-Brown & Roberts Hardware rules!
71. Supporting local businesses
72. Keeping Walmart out
73. Sustainability – Check out the store called Save the Corporations From Themselves
74. Easy to be Gluten Free
75. Easy to be a Vegetarian
76. Easy to be a Vegan
77. Cheese – Grafton Cheese Company (watch them make cheese, visit their country store or pet the animals at the farm)
78. Weddings – in the apple orchards at Scott Farm
79. Sugaring – see them make the Maple Syrup at Harlow’s Sugar House
80. Candy – Tom and Sally\’s Handmade Chocolates (something for the kids and something for the adults as well)
81. The Brattleboro area Farmer\’s Market (year round)
82. Thai food – Anon’s Thia food at the Farmer’s Market and Thai Bamboo – both rock
83. The Awesome 80′s hour on WTSA 96.7 FM (while I iron the sheets)
84. Walking our dog and feeding the ducks in the Retreat Meadow (one for them, one for her)
85. 175 years of history at the Brattleboro Retreat
86. Antiquing on Route 30
87. Irish Sessions on Wednesday nights at JD McCliment’s Pub in nearby Putney
88. Live music at the Weathervane
89. Summer Concerts in the Park
90. Brattstock – local music festival in August
91. Renew Building Supply – plenty of reclaimed parts for your (and our) old house
92. Sam’s Outdoor Outfitters  – the biggest little store you have ever seen!
93. Chelsea Royal Diner – try their ice cream
94. Wine – great local shops (Windham Wines) and producers (Honora)
95. Basketville
96. Our Downtown Waterfall – how many towns have one of those!
97. Fish Market
98. Festivals (Keene Pumpkin Festival, Marlboro Music Festival, Yellow Barn Music Festival, Dummerston Apple Festival, Newfane Heritage Festival, Brattleboro Literary Festival…just to name a few)
99. Newfane Flea Market
100. Covered bridges
101. And of course, Forty Putney Road Bed and Breakfast!

Did we miss anything?  What are your favorite Brattleboro things?  Please share your favorites in the comments!

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Yankee Candle is headquartered in western Massachusetts.  Now, while you cannot tour the actual factory (which is something I would have loved to do) they have built what is best described as a “Hallmark Theme Park” for your candle and nick-nack loving enjoyment.

I visited the Yankee Candle Village with some hesitancy, especially after finding out that I didn’t get to see any massive machinery pumping out candles by the thousands.  However, the village does seem to have something for everyone.  From the obvious enormous selection of every scent of Yankee Candle – to small rooms full of sports memorabilia – to a winter themed space that actually has falling snow.

The space itself is enormous and even has several dining options, including Chandlers, a fine dining restaurant which is illuminated with hundreds of candles.   If you are just in need of a snack, or a place to chill while your partner peruses the candles, there is a central cafe with sandwiches, soups and the like and even an animated bear jamboree – singing tunes about candles…

For the bargain hunters, there is a small room near the center of the building that is filled with discounted candles and odds and ends.

If you are looking for some gifts, there is a huge toy section, complete with Santa’s workshop and full time Santa (off season he chills in the workshop checking his list – probably more than twice).

The whole trip wraps up with a full fledged home store, including designer bags and fashions and a host of small impulse items at the sea of cash registers.

I would say that this is certainly a place worth visiting and will get you brownie points from the lady in your life – particularly if she is a candle fan.   Best part, the Yankee Candle Village is just about a 30 minute ride from our Vermont Inn and part of our larger “heading south” tour of fun and interesting places near Southern Vermont.

Yankee Candle Village is open everyday from 10am to 6pm, with some extended hours during the holidays.

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When we met we knew very little about the world of beers, but over the last 5 years or so that has certainly changed.  We have sampled hundreds of beers and can not wait to sample the next couple hundred.  We are at the point that we plan nearly every vacation around good beer and often take day and weekend trips just to visit beer bars, brew pubs and microbreweries.  What we have found through our travels is that beer is often located in really awesome towns and cities.  We always consider ourselves lucky to have found some of these gems.

That’s what this new site is all about.  Sharing our beer travels and experiences and learning more about beer with each trip.

So if you share our passion for beer, be sure to check out our new site and watch for more great beer videos there.

Of course, if you are looking for a great getaway WITH great beer, be sure to check out our Brattlboro Vermont Inn (Brattleboro is also the home of the legendary McNeils Brewery for you fellow beer geeks) and spend a night or two with us!

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There are three major reasons we love to head to the New England House specifically in the fall and winter.

1. Their steaks.  They are by far the best steaks here in Brattleboro. Great fresh cuts of meat served well prepared and cooked just right.
2. The portions.  When it comes to steak and comfort foods, quality is as important as quantity!  All of their entrees include a salad and sides and come at a reasonable price.  Most entrees are between $10-$20.
3. The atmosphere.  We love the warm and cozy atmosphere at the New England House in the fall and winter.  We often choose to eat in their pub in front of their huge wood burning fireplace in the front of the room, or next to the warm wood burning stove in the back.  The smell of fresh burning wood in a warm room with a hearty meal is just what the doctor ordered after a full day of sightseeing or hiking (or innkeeping!).

The New England House is located on Route 9 in West Brattleboro.    Of course, if you do go, be sure to tell them that you heard about them from Amy – at Forty Putney Road B&B!  And if you are looking for a great place to stay in the area, be sure to check out our romantic Inn just around the corner from all that Brattleboro has to offer, including the New England House!

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What does the Brattleboro Food Co-op have to do with Forty Putney Road Bed and Breakfast? Well I am a working member of the Brattleboro Food Co-op which in addition to giving back to a great local place also gives us a 10% discount. Tim and I are very interested in supporting our local farmers and other producers and the co-op makes that easy to do. I love the fact that I am using locally made cheeses and locally grown produce at each breakfast. It is lots of fun trying interesting ingredients and unique juices for breakfast. We invite you to join us in supporting the Brattleboro Food Co-op and all of the people and producers that make it so special.

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Food, well that is another story. You should know that all food is prepared behind the bar in a toaster oven, on a panini maker or on a George Forman Grill. We highly recommend their cold appetizers such as the ploughmans platter. Right now though, I would not recommend Flat Street as a place to go to dinner, but more of a place to have drinks and a snack or appetizer. Of course, word is that that is soon to change and that the basement is currently being renovated into a second bar and a full service restaurant. I truly beleive that when this renovation is complete it will fill that much needed void here in Brattleboro – a place for a great beer selection and great casual dining together.

Flat Street Pub is the “Cheers” of Brattleboro. Locals and tourist alike can find a comfortable place to sit and great conversation here. Be sure to say hello to the great staff including bartenders Martha (shown in photo), Amy and Justin as well as server Hope. They will all take great care of you. If you are looking to strike up a conversation with one of the locals the best way to identify them is by their glass mug. Yes, Flat Street Pub has a mug club. In the last photo you will find a some of these mug club members.

So pull up a seat…let everyone know your name…at Flat Street!

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The owner Tom will personally describe the specials of the evening to you and make you feel welcome. Rumor has it that Tom will never forget your name only adding to that local feeling (we were surprised that he remembered us six months later.)

The rest of the staff is friendly, professional and poised. Peter Haven’s is located in the heart of downtown Brattleboro on Elliot Street. The décor is modern yet still elegant. The lighting is just right making you feel comfortable and relaxed. Because Peter Haven’s is a local favorite you will want to be sure to make reservations in advance as this restaurant will book up quickly. If this is a last minute decision for you and you do not mind waiting a few minutes there are 8 seats at the bar reserved for walk-ins without reservations.

The menu at Peter Haven’s offers variety. You will have choices such as duck, scallops, fish, pasta, chicken, etc. The food is very good and consistent which is important to me when I go to one of my favorite restaurants. I recommend that if Tom is telling you about one of his fish specials you strongly consider ordering it. The fish specials are very fresh and always brilliantly prepared. So if you want to ensure that you will have a great meal while in Brattleboro then Peter Haven’s should be on your short list of restaurants.  Be sure to tell him that Tim and Amy sent you!

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The main dining room is upstairs offering a modern décor. I like that the main menu offers half portions on most items, I like to make sure I have enough room for dessert when I go out to eat. Tim and I love the Lobster Bisque as it is filled with lobster and a savory flavor. The menu offers a wide variety of choices without being overwhelming. My favorite part about Alici’s menu is that they are not afraid to use some seasoning on their food, the flavors are unique and all work well together.

On the lower level you can find an enclosed Martini bar and on the outside deck a cigar bar. The Marini Bar is a perfect location to enjoy a light meal from their Light Fare Menu. Tim and I regularly enjoy the live music with great drink and appetizers. If you are a scotch or whiskey drinker like Tim then this is the place for you. There are not many bars or restaurants in Brattleboro that offer a unique scotch and whiskey menu, but Alici’s certainly does. Tim has enjoyed a few obscure single malts while relaxing on the deck at Alicis.

The staff is always attentive and welcoming. The owner can often be found on the floor greeting and chatting with his guests. Best of all Alici’s is only about a 4-5 block walk for our Vermont Inns door step. It doesn’t get any better then that! Be sure to tell them that Tim and Amy from Forty Putney Road sent you for VIP treatment!

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