Capturing the Moment

Sailing into the sunset on Lake Champlain. You never know what kind of weather to expect from the last weekend in September in Lake Champlain, but we scored an amazing one for our end of season trip with the family out to Stave Island. Nestled in the middle of Lake Champlain, between Vermont and New York, Stave Island is the perfect getaway for the kids. There is miles of shoreline to explore, a bog with a secretive snapping turtle, stories of hidden treasure, a beach, a tower to climb, and acres of woods to play in. With no shows or tablets, it is the perfect place to commune with nature and get in touch with the wild. Every sunset is appreciated, usually with a sundowner cocktail in hand, and the night sky can be absolutely brilliant. Running into Fall at the Stave Island farm house We soaked up every minute of this weekend, knowing that it could be our last until we open the island back up next Spring. Catalina, Fisher, and I even managed to get a circumnavigation of the island in o...

  First trip of the season to Stave 3 MIN READ 426 WORDS Spring time is here in Vermont, and to be honest it feels almost like summer. Temps are rising to the 80's, the sun is out, and it is that exciting time of year when we take our first trip out to Stave Island to start opening things up. It is still mid May, so we didn't even think to bring bathing suits, but we should have! The kids spent so much time down at the beach, learning that they could paddle board on the knee board, and playing on the floats. The water was pretty cold, but not enough to keep us out! Stave looks good after sitting idle for the winter. The beach is full of driftwood, but that just give me more logs to line the trails with. Susie, Donnie, and I got the water flowing into both houses. And we got most of the heavy shutters off the main house. After Heidi and Donnie did some mowing the place really looks good. Other than the docks not being in and the fridge not hooked up, it feels like mid season out...

 2020 will go down in infamy as the year of the pandemic of Covid 19. I have to say that I was luckier than most. Besides the most important of those close to me staying healthy and safe, I spent time in Maui, Antarctica, sailing across the South Atlantic, a cruise to nowhere, and an unprecedented time focusing on family and what is really important. I was able to safely spend time with my family, including traveling with the family to Savannah to get some time with my side of the family. I was home for everyone's birthday, including mine...which is quite rare. The Christmas holiday season in Vermont was beautiful and it was my first time getting to see the kids really enjoy and understand Christmas. And then to cap off this wild and crazy year, Heidi and I got engaged on Christmas night.  Writing about the year is an annual tradition for me on this blog so lets look back at this year in review.  I rang in the new years with a wild party onboard an ultra luxury expedition...