Select Registry Announces "Fun for Foodies Vacations"

Four New England inns offer special packages for chocophiles.

Food-loving travelers who want to take more than a souvenir home from their next vacation will relish afternoons dipping hand-made chocolates, learning to roll a perfect pie crust and brewing their own micro-ales on a Fun for Foodies Vacation.

Capitalizing on the growing trend for experiential vacations, seven Select Registry inns in New England and New York have launched Fun for Foodies Vacations. These epicurean experiences take guests beyond tourist attractions and popular restaurants into the world of boutique and artisan food producers and into the kitchens of some of the region's most celebrated chefs.

"The inns have chosen foodie partners that are real treasures," says Keith Kehlbeck, Executive Director of Select Registry. "Guests wanting to get off the-beaten path will delight in intimate, behind-the-scenes classes with chefs and hands-on experiences with local specialty food producers."

Some of the inns offer the opportunity to work side-by-side with experienced chefs from the inns as well as from the renowned Johnson & Wales College of Culinary Arts. Guests will to learn the secret to signature dishes. Of course, a New England foodie experience would not be complete without ample opportunities to tour a maple sugarhouse and sample real maple syrup.

The vacation packages are divided into three categories: Extraordinary Epicurean Experiences, offered year round (or nearly so); Seasonal Selections and Everyday Bites, a selection of foodie favorite places that individuals may visit independently. Offerings vary from inn to inn. Four of the inns feature chocolate tours and activities:

Birchwood Inn  in Lenox, MA, has the Ultimate Chocolate Experience featuring Joshua Needleman, named in the March 2006 issue of Saveur as one of the top 10 chocolatiers in the U.S. Participants spend an early evening at Chocolate Springs for a private chocolate tasting. They receive a treasure of truffles to take home and savor. (www.birchwood-inn.com)	At the Captain Lord Mansion, in Kennebunkport, ME, chocolate lovers can enjoy the Len Libby Handmade Chocolate Epicurean Experience or Roly's English Fudge Epicurean Experience. The crumbly, textured fudge is a favorite at Harrod's of London. www.captainlord.com)
Stone Hill Inn  in Stowe, VT, offers a Chocolate Dipping Experience at Laughing Moon Chocolates in the town. This is a workshop on how to cook and prepare homemade chocolates and ice cream. (www.stonehillinn.com)	Hartstone Inn guests in Camden, ME, can get a behind-the-scenes tour of Camden’s famous Sweet Sensations Pastry Shop. (www.hartstoneinn.com)

Additional information about Fun for Foodies Vacations can be found at
www.selectregistry.com/funforfoodies.