Lake Champlain

Lake Champlain is a wonderful lake to cruise on. There are lots of safe anchorages and many interesting towns with marinas. The scenery is breath-taking, with the Green Mountains to the east and the Adirondacks to the west. We enjoyed seeing many farms that came right down to the water.

Sail boat moored near the Maritime Museum

Ice sailing is something we have given very little thought to in the past. However it is a big sport on Lake Champlain. The Lake Champlain Maritime Museum has an excellent display of an ice boat and pictures of others sailing on ice. This was a fascinating display.

Ice sailing

The Lake Champlain Maritime Museum is an excellent place to find information on the military history of this area. Bill and I were amazed at “what our teachers in school never taught us!” Benedict Arnold was very much a hero before he gained his reputation as a traitor.

Perhaps his turning to the British side was provoked by the treatment he received from his commanding officers, or perhaps it was because of his romantic inclinations? Whatever the reason, he performed many heroic acts before turning to the other side.

The lighthouse as you approach Split Rock from the south

Split Rock

Burlington, Vermont is an enjoyable town to explore. Fortunately for us, there is a well maintained marina near the center of town. We spent several days enjoying the town’s restaurants, shops, bike paths, and gardens. One evening we went to the Festival of Fools and watched an amazing Australian juggler while we listened to music coming from performers in a different venue.

Burlington Harbor

Sunset in Burlington Harbor

Dragon boat race practice

Never too busy to wave to the photographer

Only a few miles from Burlington, Lila Vanderbilt Webb and her husband, William Seward Webb, developed a large agriculture estate. The estate is now a 1,400 acre working farm that is also an educational center for sustainability. The farm runs a grass –based dairy farm and cheese making facility, a maple sugaring operation, an organic market garden, and lumbering operations. There is a magnificent Inn and restaurant that are open for guests. Lila Vanderbilt Webb was the granddaughter of Cornelius Vanderbilt. The farm is called Shelburne Farms and the Inn is Shelburne Inn. It is situated on the shore of Lake Champlain and is readily visible to all boats cruising by. One Saturday morning we made reservations for brunch at the inn, powered over in our boat, and rowed the dinghy ashore.

Shelburne Inn from Lake Champlain

Boat anchored, dinghy secured, and off to brunch

Walking to the Inn

Floral arrangement inside

Brunch was delicious with almost all the food either farm grown or handmade. Outside the landscaping was perfect, both in beauty and in maintenance. It was the perfect way to start the weekend with friends.

Backside of the Inn

The flower gardens were amazing!

Shall we move in?

Who would mow the grass? Not me!

I'll do the gardens

Those were the days

One of our favorite towns was Vergennes, Vermont. There is a picturesque waterfall that we could see from where our boat was docked. We enjoyed walking to the waterfall and into town to see the interesting shops, the old, but well maintained, historic homes, and the gardens. It was the town where we had most guests meet us, because of its uniqueness and because there was a parking lot where cars could be left legally for several days without a problem.

Waterfall in Vergennes, Vermont

A trail to the Falls

The bridge over the Falls with Harbour Reach in the background between the rightmost two flower pots

A very large sunflower in one of the private gardens

Bob and Kathy in a favorite restaurant, 3 Squares Cafe

While in Vergennes, we walked past a solar farm. Solar farms are common in Vermont and they provide much of the areas electricity. This one had an American cow for its mascot.

Solar farm

Several of Mary’s high school classmates live in Vermont. One day we and our husbands got together at one of their homes and had a mini-Harford County, Maryland reunion. It was lots of fun and we talked non-stop, catching up on hometown news and life in our very busy world.

The women are former high schoolers from North Harford High School and the men are our heros

New Canadian friends

Baby snapping turtle swimming by dock

7:01 pm

8:26 pm

11:18 pm

9:42 pm

On September 27, 2015 there was a blood lunar eclipse of the moon. We were in Vergennes at the dock and kept getting out of bed to see the moon's progress. It slowly went from a full moon to a small crescent to a small red ball, to a small crescent with the black part on the opposite side, and then back to a full moon. The position of the moon during the eclipse was easily visible.

The summer passed quickly, but the cool air of late September told us it was time to leave the boat in Vermont and to go back to Rhode Island for the winter. We had the boat hauled in Shelburne Shipyard, the same marina we had left it in for the 2000-2001 winter. The people there are very capable and extremely friendly, so we had no problem deciding where to leave Harbour Reach for the winter. It was a treat to see one of the Lake Champlain ferry boats get hauled, have work done on it and then have it returned to the water to continue its daily crossings of the Lake.