Hey everyone,
Well, as many of you know it has been SEVERAL months since I have updated you all about our adventures here on the east coast, and for that I apologize. However, since so many of you have been asking how our first Anniversary trip went, I figured why not start back up with the blog again.
So, we have been officially married for 1 WHOLE YEAR as of about 2 weeks ago. It's crazy to look back on this year and see all that we have done and all that we have accomplished. This time last year we had just gotten back from our honeymoon in Hawaii and I was in the process of helping Teej move out of his apartment in Vancouver, WA. I mean, we still didn't have a clue what we were going to do other then the fact that we knew we were going to go live with my parents for a few weeks. Not the ideal situation after you get married but my parents are awesome and graciously took us in. Anyway, its just amazing to look back and see how much we have grown as a married couple as well as individuals. I don't think we thought (or anyone for that matter) that by March of this year we would have honeymooned in Hawaii, driven across the country, found jobs and settled in Everett, MA, explored Boston and the Cape, vacationed in New York for Thanksgiving, survived a hurricane and a blizzard, found a great church and community group, hiked in New Hampshire, and now had our first Anniversary trip in Vermont. Who knew? God has truly blessed us and we are so thankful. As an anniversary gift, I made Teej a scrapbook of about 25 pages from all the things we did this past year. It was really fun to make and I think he enjoyed it too. I told him that I was going to try and do one every year for as long as I could. We'll see how long that lasts haha...
Anyway, enough of that, let's focus on the fun stuff. OUR. ANNIVERSARY! A while back Teej and I were contemplating on what we wanted to do for our anniversary. I told him that I thought it would be really fun to go to a lodge and stay for a weekend in a state we hadn't been to yet. So, Teej began researching and found the perfect one. I mean, P-E-R-F-E-C-T. At least for me anyway. It's called the Trapp Family Lodge and it is located in Stowe, Vermont. Now, why is it perfect you ask? Let me tell you. If you know me at all, you know my infatuation with the Sound of Music movie. I blame it on the fact that I have a special connection to it because I played Maria in the second grade but it really comes down to the fact that I just love it. I love the music, the characters, and the story. I know, I am kind of a freak but it's who I am. Anyway, the Trapp Family Lodge was built by the actual Von Trapp Family back in the 1940's. The second I heard this I got so excited and knew that this was where we HAD to go for our anniversary. Teej was so sweet and saw how excited I was and graciously agreed that this was the place to go.
We scheduled our trip for our anniversary weekend- March 15-17. Our jobs allowed us to only work a half day on Friday so we were fortunate enough to leave around 130 that afternoon. The drive to Stowe took about 3 hours and 15 minutes but it didn't feel like it because it was all new territory for us. The drive itself was actually quite beautiful. We drove over some "mountains" as they call it but to us they are more like exaggerated hills but nonetheless still pretty. Because of the landscape, (trees, hills, etc) it actually reminded us of when we would drive to central Oregon or Bend.
Once we hit the actual town of Stowe, it took us about 15 minutes to get to the main lodge. We were told that it was going to be snowing when we arrived and also have a decent amount of snow on the ground but when we arrived in Stowe there was hardly anything in the air or on land so we were kind of disappointed. That is, until we reached the lodge. The lodge was of course, located on the top of the mountain and at extremely high elevation so by the time we reached the lodge there were several inches on the ground and the snow was coming down pretty hard. It was beautiful. Everything you could imagine a lodge to look like. Wood panels, surrounded in snow, and a gorgeous view of the hills and forest. Oh, and pictures of the Von Trapp Family were posted everywhere throughout the lodge as well as nice Austrian carpeting (not the most attractive thing though). The minute we arrived, men who worked there unloaded our things onto this cart while another one parked our car for us. Pretty great service if you ask me. Our room was awesome. The package we purchased allowed us to receive an upgraded room as well as 2 massages. I got it mainly for the massages but the nice room was a great bonus. Anyway, we walked into our room and I immediately fell in love. The room had a cute little nook with a table and bay windows behind it. Oh, and on the table there was a bottle of wine and chocolate covered strawberries waiting for us. AMAZING!
We got there early enough to where it was still light outside and since it was snowing we decided it would be fun to take a little walk around the property. The Von Trapp's own a lot of land (220 acres to be exact) so behind the lodge they have a ton of different cross country ski trails. We got the opportunity to watch a few of the skiers weave in and out of the trails while we walked around as well as see the rest of the lodge. They had a great fitness facility that had an awesome gym, indoor pool, outdoor spa, and massage area all included in it. We also went down to the local store down the road that is owned by the lodge and picked up a few desserts for the night- an austrian dish and a giant chocolate chip cookie. Who's surprised? 
Our dinner was fantastic. We ate at the lodge itself right next to a roaring fire. We both ordered the "Johannes burger." The burger was named after one of the sons of the Von Trapps. I'll get to that later. However, it was so amazing because the lodge own and raise their own cattle on the property and then ultimately use it to feed their guests. So, I know it sounds bad because we are eating the cattle that lives on the same property but at least it's local right?? haha...
The next day was great. We woke up and had a great breakfast at the lodge. It buffet style so we got to try lots of different things. One of them being the famous Vermont maple syrup. YUM! Then we had our massages- which were fantastic. It was a very slow and relaxing morning. Much needed in my opinion.
That afternoon we decided to venture out to explore the town of Stowe. The first place we went to was the ski resort. Overall, we felt like we were at the lodge by ourselves and it was very isolated and remote, which is what we enjoyed. Well, we figured out where everyone was- the ski lodge. It was a beautiful lodge and several different ski slopes and a few different gondolas to ride for pleasure or to take you to ski up at the top of the mountain. Our original plan was to take the gondola to the top of the mountain and have lunch there while watching the skiers but that plan backfired when we found out we had to pay $25/person to just take the gondola to the top. That didn't include lunch or anything. We opted out of that idea and decided to eat at a lodge located on the lower bowl instead. It wasn't anything special but we got a spot by the window so we did get to watch some of the skiers come down the mountain. It was a fun lunch spot.
Then we went to the town of Stowe to check it out. It was the cutest little town ever that was literally two blocks long. It consisted of a church, a general store, and wood covered bridge, and a couple other random stores. It took us about 5 minutes to walk the whole thing but it was still fun.
Our goal was to be back to the lodge by 4pm so that I could go on the Trapp Family tour and since walking the town took a lot less time then we had anticipated we decided to go to this Cider Mill that we had been hearing such great things about. It was a little ways down the road but totally worth the drive. This cider mill was incredible. They grow their own apples on the property in the summer and then keep enough to use to make cider and apple cider doughnuts in the winter. We bought both apple cider and apple cider doughnuts. So amazing. We got 6 doughnuts and I think Teej ate 5 of them haha.. They also sold other products that were local to Vermont there so we ended up buying some maple syrup and granola there as well. The cool part about it was that they set up a checkers board for people to play while they ate their doughnuts. We played and Teej won. Go figure!
We made it back to the lodge just in time for the tour. I was so excited the entire time. The guy giving the tour had no relation to the family but knew the facts inside and out. It was honestly fascinating how much I learned. Here are a few facts just in case you are a fan of the movie and are curious. If you have no interest, feel free to skip this section! haha.. First off, the movie and their actual lives are for the most part pretty similar. Maria was a nun and did live in the Abbey. Captain Von Trapp was in the navy and did get married and have 7 children. His wife died at a young age and he was in need of a tutor for his daughter so he went to the abbey in search of one. However, the 7 children he did have were not at all the same as they were in the movie. Liesel in the movie is not real and the oldest child in the real family is actually a boy named Rupert. They made up the love story with Liesel and Rolph in the movie. The movie created fake names to protect the actual real children. Interesting, right? In real life, the children fell in love with Maria (just like in the movie) but Maria was only able to stay with them for a year before she had to go back to the abbey so the children begged Captain Von Trapp to marry Maria so she didn't have to leave. He had some interest in her but their wasn't a romance like there was in the movie. Maria and the Captain did end up getting married and had 3 children of their own. She had them all in Salzburg and raised them until they had to flee.The family all did sing and toured around Austria singing as a family. Uncle Max (in the movie) is fake and instead they were picked up by a scout who heard them sing one day and wanted to sign them. Baroness Schrader (in the movie) is also fake and there was no "other woman" in the picture. Now, They fled Austria only after they were asked by Hitler to sing at his birthday party. They refused and fled the country- not by walking over a mountain but instead by taking a train located behind their house and went to Italy. Hitler closed the borders so they left their house and belongings behind and couldn't get back in. Instead, they sang and toured in Italy for a while before returning back to Salzburg when the borders opened. They were only there for a little while before taking a boat to the United States where we toured in a bus for a year. They eventually landed in Vermont because they wanted to end up somewhere like their homeland and apparently Vermont is similar to Salzburg???? Before they made it to Vermont, Captain Von Trapp died because he got lung cancer from being on the naval ship too long. He was also 25 years older than Maria. Most of the children lived on the lodge property and helped with the daily chores and things. The lodge burned down due to a fire in 1981 and was re-built shortly after that but a lot of the pictures and artifacts from their history was burnt down with it. The only things they found from their past were stowed away in cabin located off the property site. Maria died at the age of 87 and the only still remaining of the seven children is Martina who is 98 years old and lives down the road from the lodge. She was a missionary in New Guinea for a long time and adopted a son while over there who now takes care of her 24/7. Captain Von Trapp, Maria, Rupert, and a few other children are all buried at the lodge. Of course I had to go take a look. Oh, also Disney paid them the rights for their story and were compensated very little when the movie came out. In an interview we watched, Maria said that she was happy that they didn't get paid much for the movie. Their lives would have changed dramatically and they were happy with how they were living. Overall, it was a fascinating revelation to the story that I thought I knew but really didn't. I think my jaw was open the whole time. :)
After the fascinating tour, we went and had dinner at the restaurant down the road. Teej wanted to try one of their Trapp Family beers and we split their famous chicken pot pie. Really good! By that time, I felt like a huge blimp after eating so much that day we I insisted we go in the pool and work some of it off. So, we did that and then relaxed for the rest of the night.
The next day was Sunday- our actual anniversary so we got up and treated ourselves to a nice breakfast at the lodge. We ordered this time and instead of getting the buffet. We packed up our things and headed out at around 11am. Our first stop was the Cabot cheese factory. Cabot is a very popular brand of cheese out here and since Teej LOVES cheese we figured it would be the best place to begin our adventure home. Funny story. As we were walking into the store, Teej slipped on a little patch of ice but caught himself before actually falling. I laughed a little, which I shouldn't have done because about 2 seconds later I did the same thing but fell right on my butt. Not cool. Hahha.. However, the place made up it because it was pretty cool. It had a ridiculous amount of cheese flavors and of course Teej had to try all of them. Surprisingly, he didn't buy a single thing but he had enough cheese to last him for a few days!
The last thing we did was go to the BEN & JERRYS FACTORY!!! It was what I had been looking forward to all weekend. :) It was so cold outside but I didn't care. Actually, I think it made it more fun because there weren't very many people there so we got to see and experience everything. We took some pictures outside the facility and then took the tour and ate some samples. The sample they gave us was really good and I hope they bring it to the market. It was vanilla with raspberry and chocolate I think. However, I was good and the sample was the only thing I ended up eating there so I was proud of myself. :)
Overall, trip was awesome. It was fun to experience Vermont and see a different part of the country. I am thankful for the opportunity to go and stay at a great lodge! I am hoping to start writing more in the near future!
Love to all,
Kate
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