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| A young visitor from Texas learns how to tap a tree. |
To accommodate those mid-week visitors, we’re offering private
custom Maple Tours at The Rocks. The tours started quite by accident, really,
when a few people called last year looking for a maple tour during the week. They
ended up getting a two-hour private maple excursion with Rocks Estate manager
Nigel Manley, and a new adventure was born at The Rocks.
“The thing I like the best when I’m on vacation is usually
something that happens by mistake. You manage to meet the owner of a place, or
you run into people who are really enthusiastic and knowledgeable about
something you’re doing, and you learn from them,” says Manley. “People want
that happy coincidence, and these custom tours allow us to make sure they get
it.”
During the custom-made private Maple Tours, small groups –
generally 2-5 people – get the full Maple Experience – in a timeframe that
meets their specific scheduling needs. While the program can be adjusted to accommodate
each group, generally it includes a short video covering the intriguing history
of maple sugaring, a discussion on how to identify and tap a maple tree, a
visit to the sugar house to learn what happens there, exploring the interactive
maple museum, and a sampling of maple syrup.
“Both my 9-year-old and my teenager loved our maple tour,”
says Tara Edelman, whose family visited last week for a custom tour at The
Rocks. “It was really fun and informative.”
Custom tour visitors leave with a half-gallon of maple syrup
– and many happy memories. To help hold onto the latter, Manley sets up a
Pinterest board for each group with photographs from the day.
While maple sugaring season is short-lived, the custom Maple
Tour is available year round – even when the sap is not running and the sugar
house is not in operation. “It’s really exciting for people,” says Manley. “Even
if they get to tap a tree in October instead of March, that’s pretty cool for
them if they’re coming from someplace where maple syrup is not a regular springtime
ritual.”
Beyond Maple Tours, The Rocks offers custom experiential tours
year round, covering topics from the Estate’s formal gardens and captivating history to the art and science of growing Christmas trees and informative
wildlife adventures.
Custom tours are $250 per group for two hours (and the maple
tour includes a ½ gallon of syrup). To learn more or book a tour, call The
Rocks at (603) 444-6228 or email info@therocks.org.
