Taking the Kids: When a vacation rental is more than a place to sleep
Twenty-five pounds of brisket ... dried ancho chiles ... assorted other spices, five pounds of bacon... Not your typical shopping list for a long weekend at a vacation rental.
But this weekend at the VRBO.com we had rented in Crested Butte, Colorado, wasn't about a comfortable bed, a mountain hike or sitting on the porch in the tiny mountain town, though we did all of that.
It was about a long-planned father-daughter experience. Our daughter Mel lives and works in Crested Butte, a tiny (just 1,600 people) historic mountain town famous for its wildflowers in summer, extreme skiing in winter and its entire downtown with its brightly colored restored, mining-era buildings and cabins is registered as a National Historic District.
Mel had invited her dad, Andy Yemma, to join her in cooking and competing in this year's Crested Butte Chile and Beer Fest. It's so popular that it draws almost as many people that live in Crested Butte and more competitors every year -- 26 this year as compared to 18 in 2017.
There was much discussion between the two about this year's Build Me Up Butternut recipe -- as Mel had won twice before with different versions. Andy shopped in Denver for most of the ingredients; the butternut squash came from Mel's farm share. We invited old friends from Texas to join us, making sure our VRBO.com rental had a first-rate kitchen, as well as comfortable bedrooms and living space. (It did.)
Rather than head out to dinner, they happily cooked after Mel got off work and the rest of us relaxed -- cutting and sautéing the brisket and bacon; pureeing the squash, adding the spice mix and ultimately, letting the 10-gallon pot of chili simmer. My friend and I baked the pans of cornbread.
Truth be told, a lot of our trips over the years, especially to Mountain Country, have involved a lot of cooking -- chili and pasta after long ski days; barbecue in summer after long hikes. In fact, one summer at a Snowmass rental house, we hosted a barbecue for 50 family and local friends.
Fall, of course, is harvest season around the country and there are many festivals to celebrate the bounty, including those that include showing off your prowess in the kitchen and the garden. (Check out our new Fabulous Fall Getaways section, put together with our partners at Family Travel Forum, for ideas of where you might join the fun, as well as pick apples or pumpkins.
In Mesa, Arizona, for example, weekends in October come to the Mesa Pumpkin and Chili Party at Schnepf Farms where you can pick pumpkins, cheer on pigs as they race, go on a hay ride or have s'mores over a campfire.
Celebrate all things cranberry at Cranfest in Warrens, Wisconsin (September 28 to 30) (who has grown the biggest cranberry?) and at the 15th Annual Cranberry Harvest Celebration in Wareham, Massachusetts (October 6 to 7) where you can take a tour of a cranberry bog.
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