Loon Valley Update

I was lucky enough to attend meetings at Loon Mountain this week. When in Lincoln I almost always stay at South Mountain Resort. I enjoy the pleasure of parking my car and being able to walk from my room to the Village Shops, Fratello’s and Texas Toast. For the few times I dine someplace other than Fratello’s I usually walk over to the Common Man or Gypsy Cafe. Both are good and I really like the Gypsy’s margeritas. Pollard Brook is a great resort but I don’t need a large condo when up on business and I like being in town.

The foliage is at 30% right now with some trees turning red. Each morning I walk along the bike path to Loon and back down through the new South Mountain Village homes. There are some spectacular homes being built there.

Loon is opening two new trails to the new South Mountain base. One will be a double diamond that one ski area employee told me will be Very Steep. Sounds like fun! Cannon Mtn just received several great rankings from Ski Magazine. They really are working hard to make Cannon more than its’ reputation for a cold and hard mountain. Click here to see the full report .

It looks like we’ll have a Cannon shuttle in place this year. For the first year the shuttle will run just once a day from both Pollard Brook and South Mountain. It will initially run on week ends and holidays. The bus will hold up to 30 people. It will be a great way to see and ski Cannon. We are also about to announce a ski rental program with Loon. It will make renting skis at Loon much easier and a little more affordable.

FORE!!

    Don’t miss the first (of many we hope) InnSeason Vacation Club Golf Classic.

On the weekend of October 18 we are hosting a golf week end. The event consists of a welcome party on Friday night at the British Beer Company, www.britishbeer.com, in Falmouth. Then 18 holes on Saturday at the Falmouth Country Club, www.falmouthcountryclub.com, followed by dinner and awards at the Nimrod Restaurant, (www.thenimrod.com) .

The event may be purchased for points or cash and is open to Vacation Club members and traditional week owners as well. It’s sure to be a fun time so grab your “Plus-Fours”, windbreaker, and clubs and join us for a fun few days in Falmouth. Each participant will also receive a sleeve of Titleist balls and an InnSeason Resorts logo’d golf towel.

Wanted: Your Comments!

     Be rewarded for your comments! This blog has provided much helpful information for many InnSeason Vacation Club members. We’d like it to be more of a two way communication with owners writing comments and articles that help their fellow members.

I’d love to see comments from members about favorite restaurants, maybe special hideaways, good hikes, great fishing trips, or heaven forbid, articles about how to make the most of your club membership. Feel free to add articles about good and bad exchanges too.

In order to help ‘grease the skids’ we’re going to give 10,000 InnSeason Points to the best blog entry of the month! So you won’t have to hurry and use them, the points will be for use in 2009.

Please take a moment and share some of your experiences with fellow club members.

Summer in the White Mountains

New Hampshire is one of my favorite places in the summer.  As a kid, my family would always go up and camp for a week and enjoy summer in the White Mountains.  This past weekend, I was in Lincoln to host the Vacation Club University at the Village Shops in Lincoln, NH and also had some time to do a few fun things as well!

The VCU was a great time!  We had a good turn out, about 65 people, and it was nice to meet the owners that I had spoken with on the phone.  It’s always nice to put a face with a name!  Some of the top questions were regarding Accrued Points and exchanging with Interval International. 

If you have yet to attend a VCU, I highly recommend it not only for the information that we provide but also it’s a great way to talk to other owners who may have already done what you are trying to do.  We had one owner offer some great tips regarding exchanging through Interval International during the Flexchange window.  (Flexchange is the 59 day window for more last minute travel offered through Interval International – it uses the least amount of points!)  Our next VCU will be held on September 13, 2008 on Cape Cod.  The location is still being determined and as soon as we know, we will post it both here and on the front page of our website. 

After the VCU, I enjoyed a great lunch at Truants Tavern which offers a great pub style menu.  I also have to recommend their homemade pies, especially the blueberry pie!  After lunch, we enjoyed a nice drive up to Cannon Mountain where we took the tram to the summit and took in views of the White Mountains and the Green Mountains.  We also took a little walk to the Old Man in the Mountain viewing area to see where he once was.  It was a nice little walk and since it was such a nice day, I was upset I hadn’t packed better hiking shoes!

We took a quick swim in the pool while owners were enjoying the barbeque area of South Mountain.  They also have a nice new fire pit area where you can just light a fire and sit around and chat during the evening.  Before dinner, we decided to check out the Hobo Hills Miniature Golf.  I finally broke my mini-golf losing streak in grand fashion!  Two hole-in-ones!

The next day, we had a great breakfast at the Texas Toast Eatery.  They make some amazing stuffed french toast and their own twist on home fries was a great start to the day!   We did a little shopping in Lincoln (the Bass outlet was having a great sale!) before heading on our way home.  We also made a short shopping detour in Tilton (exit 20 on Rt. 93) which is always fun because there are so many shops there like Harry and David, Nike Outlet, Old Navy outlet, and the Coach outlet.  Also, they usually have cheap gas – we paid $3.42/gallon!

I can’t wait to go up to Lincoln again because I really do enjoy the quiet beauty of the mountains, especially in the summer time when the days are longer and you can enjoy the other activities that the White Mountains have to offer.

Event Tickets Available With Playtime Points

Fall is almost upon us, Summer is almost gone and we’re awaiting the remnants of hurricane Hanna to visit the area. Where did summer go? And HOORAY, the kids are back in school!

I hope everyone had the best summer possible. With the high gas prices and torrential rains the Cape  and our other resorts still did well. It seems everyone stayed close to home this year. I know my SUV stayed on Cape as much as possible.

We’ve offered some great items this year for Points. We’ve offered some pre-season Patriots tickets, with mixed results. We’ve offered some Red Sox tickets that were sell outs. We’ve offered golf, water park, amusement park and zoo tickets for points. Soon we’ll be offering Mystic Aquarium tickets for Points, too. We offered Maine river rafting with no takers.

This winter we’ll be offerring lift tickets in Maine (www.sundayriver.com) , NH (www.loonmtn.com; www.cannonmtn.com), and MA (www.wachussett.com) . Polar Express Tickets (www.polarexpress.org)  will be available for the first three week ends in December. We’ll be offering snowmobile rentals in Maine and New Hampshire as well as Spa getaways in Maine, New Hampshire and Cape Cod. We’ll also have Bruins and Celtic tickets available for points. If you haven’t signed up for the Last Minute Specials, please do as we use that list to inform members of, you guessed it, last minute specials. We usually get the sports tickets on a last minute basis so if you can get to a game with just one or two days notice, be sure to get on the list. To sign up for the list just send us an email at vacationclub@innseason.com .

Please remember that in 2009 you’ll no longer be able to use Accrued Points for Playtime Points puchases, so be sure to use them up this year. We’ve eliminated the use of the Accrued Points as it creates an imbalance in the system which ultimately could make less inventory available for member use at the resorts.

As always, if you have something that you would like to see on the list, let us know.

Red Sox Tickets

You asked and we got them!  We have tickets for the Boston Red Sox v. Baltimore Orioles on Tuesday September 2, 2008 7:05 pm  game.  They are bleacher seats – Section 37, row 10.  These tickets are 20,000 for two tickets.

We also have tickets for Boston Red Sox v. Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday September 3, 2008 1:35 game.  They are also bleacher seats – Section 38, row 35.   These tickets are 14,000 for two tickets.

We have a very limited number so please call 508-957-1928 directly to get your tickets.

Mashpee, MA – Cape Cod September, 2009!

Now available for INNstant Exchange:

The Sea Mist Resort, Mashpee, MA

2 Bedroom Unit, Sleeps 6

September 20-27, 2009

135,000 Points

St. Maarten in February, Only 90,000 Points!

We just received an Adventure Club deposit for a great tropical February vacation! Book it now before it’s gone! 

Divi Resort Little Bay – St. Maarten  

February 21-28, 2009; 1 Bedroom unit, sleeps 4 

90,000 points