Gourmet Getaways: Select Registry Serves Up Fun For Foodies Vacations

• Press Release
• Source: Select Registry
• On 1:27 pm EDT, Tuesday September 1, 2009

MARSHALL, Mich., Sept. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- You may not cook like Julia Child, but you can wine and dine like her with the Select Registry((TM)) Fun For Foodies Vacations of New England.

This unique program of gourmet getaways is a mix of awarding-winning inns, beautiful settings and culinary adventures with local flair. Now in its sixth year, Fun for Foodies promises gastronomic good times at six of New England's finest inns. Guests roll up their sleeves with hands-on activities like these: foraging for mushrooms, lobstering, harvesting fruits and vegetables, baking artisan bread and pastries, and brewing beer. They tour farmers markets and wineries; pick apples and berries; cook fabulous feasts; and savor the fruits of their work. There are private sessions with renowned chefs and sommeliers, and special guest instructors, from butchers to beekeepers, coffee roasters to chocolatiers.

America's interest in cooking sizzles with the new feature film "Julie & Julia" and television shows like "Top Chef" and "The Next Food Network Star." Select Registry innkeepers find consumers' appetite for elite culinary experiences is also on the rise.

"Participation in Fun For Foodies Vacations has quadrupled in the past few years," says Michael Palmer, executive director, Select Registry.

Today's culinary travelers have discerning taste. "It's no longer enough to take a cooking class or do a wine tasting with a sommelier," Palmer notes. "People want authentic travel experiences, and many of those experiences are food-related."

Fun For Foodie Vacations are popular with food-loving couples and multigenerational groups. The epicurean escapes are available at Hartstone Inn, a Camden, ME lodging and a favorite of Julia Child; Birchwood Inn, Lenox, MA; Historic Jacob Hill Inn, Providence, RI; Hancock Inn, Hancock, NH; Captain Lord Mansion, Kennebunkport, ME; and Stone Hill Inn, Stowe, VT.

Each property will stamp your Fun for Foodies Trail Map. Guests who visit at least three participating inns receive a free insulated wine bag, and those who visit all six get a $150 gift certificate to use at any Select Registry inn. Click here for more on culinary inns and B&Bs: www.selectregistry.com/funforfoodies.

Select Registry innkeepers share their passion for food at premier inns, luxury B&Bs and unique small hotels across North America. For details, visit www.selectregistry.com.

Buzz up!