Visiting #vonTrapp Family Lodge, #Vermont #TheSoundofMusic #VT #Travel

I enjoy blogging about a number of topics besides writing and book news, and travel is one of them.  It's always fun to share my experience visiting someplace new, especially if I learn some interesting history or facts while I'm there.

The view along the main road through the resort

We spent a few days in Vermont recently, at the lovely von Trapp Family Lodge, and I learned a lot about the family that inspired the iconic "Sound of Music" story.  The movie is one of my all-time favorites, so to stay in a place where the family actually lived was very special, although learning some of the actual facts that aren't reflected correctly in the story threw me for a bit of a loop!  But as our guides often said, some of the real stories are even better.

A very old pic from my photo album!
1990 - a pic I took of the house used
in The Sound of Music film for
exterior shots.  Salzburg, Austria.

As a fan of the movie and the music, I was very excited to spend time at the resort in Stowe, Vermont, and learn a little more about the family.  Years and years ago, I was lucky enough to study abroad in Europe during college, and I took the Sound of Music tour in Salzburg, Austria.  This mostly focused on the outdoor settings used in the film, such as the Mondsee Abbey (wedding scene), the two enormous houses used as the exterior of the von Trapp villa, the fountain, and gardens.  The surrounding mountains were also used as a backdrop, and in the scene of the family's final escape from the Nazi regime...but as I learned recently at the Lodge, the family actually fled via a train to Italy, then emigrated to the United States and settled in Vermont in the 1940s, on a farm surrounded by mountains reminiscent of Austria's Alps.

Today, their former home is a 2,400 acre resort, managed by the son of Maria's youngest son (there were actually 10 children in the family--Maria and the Captain had 3 of their own).  There is fascinating family history everywhere, and plenty of Austrian-inspired decor.  There is actually a family burial ground right near the main lodge, where Maria and the Captain are buried, in the same plot, surrounded by the graves of a number of their children.

The von Trapp Family Cemetery.  Maria and the Captain are buried together,
in the plot beneath the wreath-clad marker farthest to the right, near the cross.

On our first full day, I took a guided snowshoe tour up to The Chapel.  This stone structure was built by Werner von Trapp, one of the older sons, upon his return from WWII.  He served in the U.S. military, returning to Europe and essentially fighting against some of his own countrymen.  During one ferocious battle, he prayed for his survival, pledging to build a Chapel on his family's property if he were able to return home alive.  When he did, he set about keeping his promise, dragging stones up a steep hill by himself.  Offers of help were declined, as he insisted this was a project he needed to complete on his own.  In four years, it was finished, and it still stands in a clearing in the woods.  Inside, there are paper and pens available for any visitor wishing to write down a prayer and leave it in the prayer box.

The Chapel, completed around 1944

My hubby and I in front of the
Sugar House.  An unseasonally
warm day meant short sleeves
and no coats!

In three days, we by no means explored all the property, but a few other things we did on-site included cross-country skiing and a snowshoe hike to the Sugar House, a wooden structure in the woods where the von Trapp maple syrup is produced.  We were also delighted to find a brewery on-site, featuring von Trapp beers and traditional Austrian food.

We came home with some beer, some syrup, and a lot of great memories!  Definitely a wonderful resort with friendly employees and gorgeous scenery that allows visitors to enjoy nature.