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KLMNO The Impulsive Traveler Tonight, it’s Champlain all around BY NANCY TREJOS The crew outnumbered the guests
aboard the Moonlight Lady, a 65-foot passenger yacht that plies the waters of Lake Champlain. “Think of it as your own Trump cruise,” said Justine Kochajski, one of the crewmembers, as she showed my mother and me to our stateroom. “We’re all here to serve you.” Serve they did during our overnight
lake excursion, the only one of its kind operating out of Burlington, Vt. Justine, one of six crewmembers for four guests on a boat that could take 16, dutifully carried our bags, and Capt. StanWalker held my mother’s arm as she climbed aboard. Snacks were waiting for us in the dining room, and crew members made sure that we would never suffer fromthirst. The Moonlight Lady is a throwback
to a bygone erawhen traveling bywater was both functional and glamorous. Overnight passenger ships taking trav- elers to towns such as St. Albans in Vermont andWestport and PortKent in New York disappeared from Lake Champlain more than 50 years ago, when the Ticonderoga, a stately steam- boat that had also briefly served as a casino, was taken out of commission. The Moonlight Lady is not quite as
regal as the Ticonderoga was. She was once the Bonny Blue, an overnight sailing ship in Virginia’sDismal Swamp Canal. In 2007, Mike Shea, who also offers 90-minute to 21/2
-hour cruises on
the Ethan Allen out of Burlington, bought, refurbished, expanded and re- named her. In her new incarnation, the Lady has
eight staterooms, plenty of deck space, a large dining room with an open kitchen and an entertainment room with a DVD player and a flat-screen TV. That room, on the lower deck, is stocked with playing cards, board games and just about every Best Picture Oscar winner (including “Titanic,” which, weirdly enough, I was tempted to watch). In our room, named for another old
steamer, the General Greene, the two small bedswere arranged in an L-shape (good thing that bothmymomand I are barely over 5 feet tall). Our bathroom operated as both a shower and a toilet stall, and ourmirror concealed a closet. The bath products, which to my sur- prise even included makeup remover, were Gilcrest & Soames. It was like being in a floating hotel. Our charted course had us starting in
Burlington, then heading south into Otter Creek to Vergennes, Vermont’s oldest city, where we would spend the night. But after several dry weeks, the water was too shallow, and Capt. Stan didn’t think the Lady could make it safely to Vergennes. We ended up cruising instead to Westport, N.Y., a popular summer destination on the lake thatwas apparently easier to get to. I spent some time in the pilothouse,
watching the captain steer the boat and listening to him talk about his love of his work. “Lake Champlain has many faces,” he said. “I love the way it’s constantly changing. Every day it’s just as dramatic as the day before. It’s just
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dunderheards.” (There were two other theories of how it got its name, but I liked this one best.) Then we passed Shelburne Farms, a
National Historic Landmark estab- lished in 1886. It has some of the grandest barns I’ve ever seen and remains a working farm with a cheese- making operation, although many of the buildings are now used for educa- tional programs. Justine pointed out other landmarks
that sailed over the heads ofmymother and the other two guests, EstherMorse and her husband, Howard, who were celebrating his 85th birthday. (“Who’s Trey Fish?” Esther asked when Justine pointed out the former home of Trey Anastasio, guitarist and singer with the jamband Phish.) We drifted by several small islands,
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different in the way it presents itself.” The lake, nestled between the Green
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Mountains of Vermont and New York’s Adirondacks, seemed to be smiling at us as we pulled away from Burlington’s waterfront. (Perhaps it was trying to make up for keeping us from going to Vergennes.)Never once did the sun stop shining. The wind whispered rather than howled, allowing the Lady to glide elegantly through the water. Every few minutes there was a new
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sight to behold, which Justine, a recent college graduate, made sure we didn’t miss. We passed Rock Dunder, a solitary
(dropped / / 08)
boulder jutting out of the lake. Justine told us that during the Revolution, the British had mistaken it for a ship and attacked, hence the name. “It was just a pile of rocks,” said Justine. “What
some of them private. One was Juniper Island, home to one of the oldest lighthouses on the lake. Then therewas Diamond Island. It was tiny and had an equally tiny wooden house on it. “That little thing is someone’s idea of para- dise,” said Capt. Stan. At BasinHarbor,we spotted the Lake
Champlain Maritime Museum and the replica gunboat fromBenedict Arnold’s RevolutionaryWar fleet. When we tired of standing at the
railing ogling the islands and estates, my mother and I sat on the deck chairs soaking up the sun. “This is the life,”my momdeclared. It took us five hours to get to
Westport, a quaint little town with antiques shops, a bookstore and an inn. My mom and I were glad to have the chance to walk and explore. Sadly, it was after Labor Day, and this being a resort town, nothing was open. Dinner and amovie on the boat would have to
IFYOUGO
Want to take a spur-of-the-moment cruise on Lake Champlain? Here’s what you need to knowfor the weekend of Sept. 24-26:
GETTING THERE JetBlue Airways has one-stop flights from Washington Dulles to Burlington, Vt., from $252 round trip.
WHERE TO STAY Hilton Burlington 60 Battery St. 802-658-6500
www.hilton.com Waterfront hotel overlooking Lake Champlain with a restaurant and a fitness center. Rates from $219.
Willard Street Inn 349 S.Willard St. 802-651-8710
www.willardstreetinn.com Charming bed and breakfast in a Victorian mansion. Fourteen rooms with private baths. Rates from $160.
WHERE TO EAT Magnolia’s Bistro 1 Lawson Lane 802-846-7746
www.magnoliabistro.com Vegetarian-friendly restaurant serving breakfast and lunch. Omelets, pancakes, sandwiches, soups and salads start at $3.
NANCY TREJOS/THE WASHINGTON POST Moonlight inVermont: Capt. StanWalker says, “Lake Champlain has many faces. I love the way it’s constantly changing.”
be our big event of the evening. Over appetizers, my mom and I
chatted with the Morses, from St. Albans, Vt., whose children had treated themto the cruise as a birthday present for Howard. Donna, the chef, walked around filling our plates with scallops. Instrumental music played softly in
the background as we dug into our salads, followed by an entree of surf and turf. For dessert, the staff brought out a cheesecake and a chocolate cake that Donna had baked especially for How- ard. We all sang to him. “We’re like a mini-family here,” Justine had said to me earlier. I was starting to see what shemeant. After dinner,mymomand I watched
a bit of “West Side Story” before heading to bed. I fell into a deep sleep around 10:30 p.m. and didn’t wake up until 6:30 a.m., when the engines started to roar. After an elaborate breakfast, Capt.
Stan invited all four of us cruisers into the pilothouse to show us some of his favorite highlights of the tour. Among them: a rock formation known as the Old Indian on the Lake because it looks like a Native American chief, and another that he insisted looked like something out of an Edvard Munch painting (I didn’t quite see it). He seemedmost excited pointing out
the yellowmooring buoys thatmark the many shipwrecks deep in the lake. He and hiswife regularly dive down to look at them. “It’s like a wonderful piece of history,” he said. Capt. Stan has been sailing on Lake
Champlain since 1969. “I never get bored out here,” he told us. In 22 hours of cruising on the lake,
neither did we.
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SF
Leunig’s Bistro and Cafe 115 Church St. 802-863-3759
www.leunigsbistro.com Parisian cafe with outdoor seating on the Church Street Marketplace. Dinner entrees start at $18.
A Single Pebble 133 Bank St. 802-865-5200
www.asinglepebble.com Chinese restaurant with food cooked in traditional Szechuan style. Small dishes start at $2.50, and chef’s specialties such as barbecue hanging pork start at $16.25.
WHAT TO DO Vermont Discovery Cruises 348 Flynn St. 802-863-3350
www.vermontdiscoverycruises.com Overnight cruises on Lake Champlain with choice of one night in Vergennes, Vt., or Westport, N.Y., run until Oct. 17. Dinner and breakfast included. Drinks extra. Rate is $199 per person double occupancy, plus tax and port charges. The company also offers a three-night cruise from Burlington to Montreal for $627 per person double occupancy, or a six-night cruise for $1,194, both plus tax and port charges.
INFORMATION
www.vermont.org
—N.T.
All lodging and flight info valid as of press time Thursday.
MoreTravel this week
FRIDAY Escapes goes “surfing” in Oak Hill,W.Va., in Weekend.
NEXT SUNDAY The Impulsive Traveler is surprised by a visit to Cleveland, in Travel.
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2010
Does this page look familiar? TheWashington Post is printed using recycled fiber.
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