#van trapp

Van Trapp’s Stone Chapel

Fans of the beloved movie “The Sound of Music” might not realize that the story is based on the real life Van Trapp family that fled the Nazi take over of Austria and settled in America, eventually in Stowe, Vermont where they opened a resort. 

On the 12th of March, 1938 Austrians witnessed the annexation of Austria into totalitarian Nazi Germany.   This is when Werner von Trapp, age 23 and…

Snowshoes are not typically listed as required photography equipment but there I was strapping contraptions of metal tubing, plastic webbing and ice gripping claws to my boots as I prepared to hike up to the old stone chapel in the woods. Werner Von Trapp’s Chapel in the Woods was a work of gratitude. On a hillside behind the family home, von Trapp built a stone chapel in thanksgiving for his…

#226: Stay at the Trapp Family Lodge

The Trapp Family Lodge is a four-season resort in Stowe, Vermont. It's located on 2,500 acres in one of the most scenic and beautiful areas of Vermont.

The von Trapp family (yes, of Sound of Music fame!) left Austria shortly before Austria's annexation by Germany in 1938 and ended up in Vermont in 1942. In 1950, they built a 27 room ski lodge. The lodge burned down in 1980, but was opened in1983, bigger than before, this time with 93 rooms.

By the time Maria von Trapp died in 1987, 32 family members owned stock in the lodge. Johannes von Trapp bought their shares in 1994 and resolved all family lawsuits in 1999.

The lodge offers History Tours at the lodge, with more info about the Sound of Music. They play the movie weekly (Thursday evenings).

The lodge has a a ton of things to do, including:

Cross Country Skiing (100 kilometers of trails)

Walking or hiking

Mountain bike trails

Disc golf with rental equipment

Tennis courts

Three swimming pools (one indoor)

Yoga classes

Daily activities, such as baking classes, painting, music, dance, and jewelry-making.

Bird Watching

Horse drawn carriage rides

Gardens

Concerts in the meadow

Maple Sugaring

Wine Tasting

Nearby downhill skiing

In 2010 the lodge began a micobrewery, producing German and Austrian style lagers.

Friend: I'm done with this shit, I'm going to be a nun.

Mom: Maybe you'll meet a cute monk.

Friend: Yes. Me and the monks be bangin errynight with Jesus staring down into our souls.

Mom: You can make little monkettes or ... Monkey's! *laughs* ....God wouldn't like that