Romantic

Shelburne Bay
44 25.62 N 073 14.95 W

The Vermont Mozart Festival is a unique institution. Since 1977, the festival presents outdoor live performances of Mozart's music with symphony, ensemble and soloist support. It was inspired by the similarity of Vermont to Mozart's Austria. It travels around to several locations in Vermont. Once a year, they have a performance at Shelburne Farms in a place where nearby boats can hear.

People arrive, anchorage in the background.

We never connected with the festival before. Their schedule, our schedule, and the weather never managed to mesh. The location is very exposed and suitable to anchor and listen only when the wind is very still. Last Saturday we did mesh.

The day began wonderfully. Cool, dry Canadian air blew gently from the Northwest. Long distance visibility was as good as it ever gets. We sailed from Porter Bay out to the main part of the lake. The reward was spectacular views of the lake and the Adirondack Mountains and The Green Mountains. Craving for that view is a large factor in what draws us to Lake Champlain year after year.

By mid afternoon we sailed to Shelburne Farms and dropped anchor. Surprise, there were only 6 other boats anchored there. I expected more.

The festival started at 1900, about 90 minutes before dark. We moved our cushions to the foredeck, and grabbed a blanket. Up there, Libby and I were able to cuddle comfortably under the blanket while we listened to the wonderful music. From the boat we could see nothing of the festival, but we could hear just fine.

After an hour, the sky to the west turned a lovely red. It was one of those world class sunsets as seen from the Vermont side of Lake Champlain. Libby and I watched the sun set behind the Adirondacks and the sky redden and finally darken. It was very romantic.

On the South Porch of Shelburne Farms

The festival ended soon after darkness. We hauled anchor and had a fine sail to a more secure anchorage for overnight. It was our first night sail since our offshore passage to New York in May. Because of the clear dry air, the sky was brilliant. The Milky Way in particular stood out so plainly that it was beautiful. It is very rare to see the Milky Way so plainly here in the Northeast. We also had a planet show. In the East Jupiter was brilliant in conjunction with Uranus. In the West Saturn and Mars were also in conjunction. What a night.

All and all it was a wonderful day.

The Festival at Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe.