Summer Cruising

I have been slower in my posting because the days have been slower, more relaxing. Those first two weeks every other moment was filled with eventful moments. I think putting that drama in writing was a bit cathartic. Good to have it behind me.

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This past Sunday the 11th we rode our bikes to church. I always enjoy going to church when we are traveling as it (in addition to the spiritual refreshment) brings you closer in touch with the local community than most of the other things we are doing as tourists. At this church, St Joseph’s Cathedral in Burlington, there were a mix of young and older parishioners but what surprised us was how dressed up they were. Burlington is the quintessential hippie town. T-shirts, jeans and sandals in the nicest of restaurants. But in this church there were men in suits and jackets. Interesting.

After mass I rode my bike to get a pedicure and Jim went to the Co-op to pick up some groceries. Another first for me- riding a bike in city traffic alongside cars and with significant hills. If you want to get around you have to get up the nerve.

Mid-afternoon our friends Bill & Gail came to spend a few days with us. We took a brief ride around the harbor in the dinghy, nice flat seas so it was quite pleasant.

Two additional looper boats came into the marina and so we had another round of ‘docktails’. It is amazing how many loopers live on their boats full time. A lot of them spend the winter on their boat in Florida and then come north for the summers- to the Chesapeake or Long Island Sound, Maine or Lake Champlain. One couple had just sold their home and had moved to the boat while their retirement home in North Carolina was being built.

Finally, we walked into town and got dinner at The Farmhouse Tap & Grille. Very popular place, decent bar type food. Neither Jim nor I are craft beer followers but when in Rome we try to do what the Romans do. On the walk back to Irish Eyes along the waterfront we stopped and got a ‘creemee’- what Vermonters call soft serve ice cream. Maple flavored, of course.

On Monday we cruised down to Kingsland Bay and grabbed a mooring. Now we didn’t know if this was allowed. There were many sailboats here on the moorings and all of the mooring balls had initials on them. But there were also a lot of empty moorings. No sign indicated what this was, no clear marina or yacht club around. We had a lovely, sunny day swimming and fishing. No problem with an unhappy mooring owner pulling in at 9pm!

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Tuesday and Wednesday we spent at Basin Harbor Resort & Marina. Lots of cottages, a hotel, a relatively small marina. They have a golf course and we played 9 nice holes. We rode bikes around the property on rather rigorous trails- mostly walking paths through the woods with tree roots and rocks. I have only ridden paved or well groomed park trails to date, so another first.

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The property had a large roped in area on the lake front for swimming with trampolines, floats, kyacks all in the water to play with. It would be great with kids. We also went in the pool, played ladderball and ended the day with a nice dinner at the Red Mill Restaurant.