About Us
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Current News (November 2007) We’ve made a few changes at Frog’s Leap Inn these past few months – and finally we are done with our first phase of renovations! We now have guest rooms available in our Main House again – we finished our new owner apartment faster than we expected and were able to get the upgraded rooms done in record time. Not being open for dinner except by reservation helped. Now that that is out of the way and I’ve been rejuvenated, our dining room is once again open for dinner! We’ll be open for "reservation only" guests during November and early December. From December 23rd through March 31st we will be open Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights and Sundays during Holidays – Holiday weeks we will be open every night (Christmas to New Year, Presidents Week). We’ve been testing out our new menu with our "reservation only" guests and it looks to be a popular one! Visit our dining page to see our new menu. For the comfort of our guests, we are now a BYOB restaurant – Bring your own. We’ll supply glasses, ice and the condiments you need, but now you can relax in our lounge area or in our restaurant and enjoy your favorite drinks. Our pool is closed for the season as is our tennis court which was closed this summer except for special events. Come spring we will be creating an outdoor pavilion where our tennis court is – perfect for those special occasions: weddings, birthdays, anniversaries, reunions, and corporate events. The new laws in Vermont involving staking the tents into the tennis court surface (the reason why the court was closed this summer) made us revisit the best use for the tennis court and it is a popular place to have a special event. We look forward to seeing our returning guests and meeting our new ones! Happy Winter! Frog Tales
Once upon a time in there was a handsome young man who happened to swim like a frog (Kraig). He wasn’t a prince, but as in the fairy tales, he fell in love. Not with a princess, but a kindhearted farm girl (Dorenna). The first time he took her swimming, she giggled with glee – you see frogs were to her special creatures – symbolizing rejuvenation and mystery. She dubbed him Frogge. Like the fairy tale frog prince he married his love and they began their life together – collecting many frogs along the way.
Fairy Tale Beginning with a Real Life Story After many years of growing, learning and refining our goals, we began our search for a Country Inn. It wasn’t easy. You see we worked at a fabulous National Historic Landmark Resort – Mohonk Mountain House - in New Paltz, NY. Kraig worked there nine years & I worked there for 13 - both of us in different jobs gaining lots of experience. Established and operated for over 130 years by the Smiley Family, this wonderful property is a testament to the Smiley’s dream, and their dedication to preservation of an historic property and lands. Working at Mohonk Mountain House gave us an insight into what goals we wished to pursue and the style of property we wished to run, but we found it very hard to find. At first we looked near Mohonk – our family and friends lived there and it would be hard to leave. After ten years of searching (five extensively) and visiting over 450 properties in five states, Kraig stumbled upon this property via the Internet. It looked promising but we had been disappointed before and did not at first make a special effort to view the property. We decided in March of 1998 that no matter what, we would move to an area with good schools for our daughters by September. Since September was a landmark year for them both (with Alanna entering High School, and Adrienne entering Middle School) we felt the time was now or never to begin our dream. After a disappointing trip to New Hampshire to view five properties, on a whim, we stopped in Londonderry and found our new home. What made our search so difficult? Every single broker said we would not be able to find a property even remotely matching the criteria we presented. Our Criteria: A home for us, good schools for Alanna & Adrienne, a friendly and helpful local community, a property circa 1900 or earlier, 15 to 20 guest rooms, a restaurant, an unfinished property waiting for us to put our dreams in motion and LAND! Land for flower gardens. Herb gardens. Vegetable Gardens. Land for animals and walks in the woods without tripping over, seeing or hearing a neighbor. A place for us to create a sanctuary for our guests, for the local wildlife and for ourselves. A retreat from the day-to-day world. A simple country home that evoked memories of “Grandmas House” not a museum. A place where people could & would remember the simple yet essential courtesy of being kind - to each other, to the environment, and to their hosts who have opened their home to them. A place where we would all try to remember to “first do no harm.” We found such a place here in Londonderry, Vermont. It hasn’t been easy, but anything worth having is worth the struggle and sacrifice. We’ve made errors and will continue to do so. And hopefully we’ll learn with each error we make. We’ve learned to take each day at a time and to be thankful that we have that day to live, work, and play. We’ve had fun improving the grounds – creating gardens inch by inch and one shovelful at a time. We paint, we repair, we cook, we clean. We have the wonderful satisfaction of doing much of the work ourselves – it may not be perfect, but we did it! We are blessed to have wonderful support through our employees, local vendors & business professionals. We are thankful to be living and working for our dream. We took Frog’s Leap (of faith) when we purchased this property and we will continue to strive to create a haven “where angels love to tread.” We hope you will come visit us someday to Escape (your every day world), to Explore (the myriad delights of Vermont), to Retreat (to a peaceful sanctuary), to Restore (your faith in yourself and in others), to Share (with us and fellow travelers your insights and lessons learned). Our Family of Pets:
Our Cat, Sammy |
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The Frog's Leap Inn Please Call for Reservations 1-802-824-3019, Local
• Copyright 2007, The Frog's Leap Inn |
Like any young couple (even those who lived in
fairy tales), they dreamed and struggled, rejoiced and wept, fought and loved,
but most of all they learned. They had many wonderful teachers along the way:
Parents, siblings, friends, bosses, co-workers, children, and some people they
never even met – in fact they came to believe, like the purpose behind fairy
tales, that there were lessons to be learned everywhere and that everything that
touched them had the capacity to teach them an important lesson – the hard part
was deciphering each lesson. Admittedly, there are many lessons still left to be
figured out!
