Views from Vermont

Day 33  |  Ferrisburgh

When I reluctantly crawled out of bed this morning, it was 44 degrees outside and pretty chilly inside. A hot shower helped, but our best plan of attack was to wait a few hours before getting the dinghy down and zipping across the anchorage to the Button Bay State Park boat ramp. I was amazed at how clear the water is. We were able to see to a depth of about four feet. Any temporary delusion of resembling Bahamian waters was rapidly dispelled when I stepped out of the dinghy into the frigid water (OK, 57 degrees -- but 20+ degrees colder than home waters). We pulled our little boat up on shore and tied her to a tree for the day. My Keene water shoes were changed out in favor of socks and New Balance sneakers. We were set for our walk into town. At the boat ramp we saw these disturbing signs warning of invasive species in Lake Champlain and asking boaters to clean their vessels. A mile and a half later we were at the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum.

This museum has more than a dozen buildings full of exhibits, an in-water collection, and classroom facilities were teenagers were building their own canoes. There was a reproduction of the Burlington Bay horse ferry that was quite interesting. The horse walked on a treadmill which turned a paddle wheel, propelling the boat. Several of the kids introduced us to Henry who was all too willing to pause for some belly scratches.

We finished the museum tour and headed over to the adjacent Red Mill Restaurant for a nice lunch. It is housed in an old saw mill and sits beside a grass airstrip where small planes were flying in and out. Barry was well entertained. Full from lunch and many glasses of water, we retrace our steps for 1.5 miles, back to the dinghy with the intention of exploring the little island and beach that we saw yesterday when we entered the anchorage. All was great until we got within 20 feet of shore and realized what appeared to be sand from a distance was actually granite. We quickly aborted the plan to drive the dinghy onto the beach, snapped it around, and headed back to Crossroads. At this point, sandy beaches are just a mirage and Fiberglass Beach my reality.

While we were out for the day, the local gnat population determined that it would be great to congregate in the stern of Crossroads. When we pulled up to the swim platform and opened the door to the cockpit we were ambushed by hundreds of gnats. We let them settle and/or disperse for a few hours before putting the dinghy back on the roof.

Tonight's sunset was far and away the best of our trip so far. I stood outside (with the gnats) and just marveled at the color display while attempting to capture the moment. It was hard to quickly select my favorite photo. I hope this one properly conveys the spectacle. Goodnight, sunshine!

We will leave out of this gorgeous spot tomorrow morning and head to Burlington for the weekend.