One of the enjoyable things about our room in the lodge was its location. We were in Room #305. This room was at one time the room of the caretake of Maria Von Trapp, and so it is located right next to the room that was her apartment in her later years (now it is suite #300). These rooms are in an isolated wing of the lodge with their own living room, complete with a huge fireplace. Because this wing of the lodge is built into the hill behind the lodge, it is also on ground level in the back, so we were able to easily go outside without having to take the long walk to the central elevator and go through the lobby. No one was staying in suite 300 while we were there, and there were no rooms above us, so this was VERY quiet and private.
Here are some photos of our room, it's view, and the accompanying living room:
One of the many great things about the lodge, and especially our private living room, was that there were many photos on the walls of the Von Trapp family. Here is a portrait of Maria Von Trapp and one of her with her husband the Baron Georg Von Trapp (first name is pronounced "Gay-Org"):
I will be talking more about the family history in a later blog entry.
On this Monday, we decided to venture out into Stowe to ride the Gondola to the top of Mt. Mansfield, so that was our big adventure of the day. The ride each way was about 12 minutes. It wasn't crowded, so we had our own Gondola car to ourselves. It is a very peaceful ride! The cars are not very big - with ski equipment, it would be tight! Here are a few photos of that experience:
Mt. Mansfield is the highest peak in Vermont, topping out at 4393'. Even taking the gondola up, we really weren't on the tippy-top. People do make the hike/climb up from where we stopped, but that wasn't for us! Because we were on the east side of the mountain, we were looking east and on a clear day it is possible to see Mt. Washington in New Hampshire.
The tree line is usually around 5000' (high enough up that the trees don't grow), and since Mt. Mansfield isn't that high, there are trees on top, which is one of the things that makes this the "Green Mountain State" because the mountains are totally green all over. In New Hampshire, the tallest peak of Mt. Washington is 6289' and since that is above the tree line, the top of the mountain is "bald" and white because it is rock. Hence you have The White Mountains in New Hampshire. I figured all that out on this trip - AMAZING!
We had a lovely lunch in Cliff House, with a super view, did some shopping in the souvenir shop and then headed back down.
Our afternoon was spent reading on the patio, enjoying the fresh mountain air. Temps were very comfy while we were there. 50s at night and in the morning and then 60s during the day. No humidity. Most of the time there were high clouds, but they didn't really impede the view at all.
Dinner this night was at a restaurant called Michael's on the Hill. I started with corn soup - thinner than chowder and tasted like cream corn. Then, I had salmon on a bed of risotto with beats and onions. I ate every bite! Desert was a lovely lemon custard with blueberries on top. A lovely evening!
Join me for more tales of Stowe adventures in the next few entries!
:)Amy
No comments:
Post a Comment