Hello from Stowe!

[MvTFan]

Hi, everybody!

This is a large group email going out to all of you to tell you that tonight I am finally fulfilling a long-time dream! My mother and I are at the Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe, Vermont for the first night of a three-night stay, and I am having the time of my life!!!! (For those of you who don't know, I have been a HUGE "Sound of Music" fan for a long, long time, and am an even bigger fan of the real Trapp family and have wanted to come to their lodge since I was a little girl!)

We flew out of Nashville this morning, came through Philadelphia, and arrived at the Burlington, VT, airport late this afternoon. Once we got here and got settled in our room, we went downstairs and watched a documentary film called "The Real Maria," about Maria von Trapp's return to her homeland of Austria about four years before her 1987 death. I've read all of her books, and her amazing personality comes through her writings loud and clear, but it was great to get to see her on film, hear her talk, and see more of what she was really like. I most likely will see that movie at least once more before we leave on Monday afternoon!

There are pictures of the Trapp Family, scenes from "The Sound of Music" (both the movie and the Broadway play) all over the lodge, so I've had a great time exploring tonight and just in general acting like an obsessed fan! LOL! I told Mom I was in my second childhood but somehow I don't think she thinks I ever got out of the first one! LOL!

We have no firm plans other than going to Elisabeth von Trapp's concert in Ripton, VT, tomorrow night. For those of you who don't know, Elisabeth is the daughter of Werner von Trapp, one of the "original seven" von Trapp children (think Kurt in the movie), and she is a wonderful singer-songwriter. I've corresponded with her via email off and on since 1998 when she found a question I'd posted on a "Sound of Music" message board and emailed me to answer it. At the time, I just went into shock, telling everybody who would listen and a lot who wouldn't that "Maria von Trapp's granddaughter emailed me!!!!" but since I've become familiar with Elisabeth's music, I'm honestly just anxious to finally get to see her in concert and enjoy her performance first-hand.

When we got here today, somebody who works here at the lodge told me that two more of the "original seven," daughters Agathe and Maria, are here this weekend, so maybe I'll be lucky enough to see them! I actually saw and briefly met Agathe last year when she was on her book tour (at age 90!) in Nashville, but I'd love to see her again. This same staff member also told me that daughter Maria (nicknamed Mitzi, probably so as not to confuse her with "the" Maria von Trapp, her late stepmother) will be turning 90 on Tuesday and is having a big party. Too bad we'll be going back to Nashville on Monday!

The scenery here is beautiful. I got a new digital camera a few weeks ago and have been trying it out. I went out on the balcony and took two shots of the mountains, which I will shortly transfer to my computer and can hopefully show all of you. I'm still learning how this thing works, so please don't expect too much in the way of pictures! I'll try, though!

To all my fellow Christopher Plummer fan friends, there are some movie shots in frames on the wall across the hall from our room and there he is, gorgeous as always! And for those of you who remember my Mandrell-crazed years, just as a point of comparison, this trip ranks right up there with my first trip to Nashville, my first Mandrell concert, and my first visit to Barbara Mandrell Country! And going back even further, I was a huge Laura Ingalls Wilder books fan (think TV show "Little House on the Prairie") at ages 10 and 11, and in 1993, I finally got to visit her home and museum in Missouri when we were on our way back from Branson. This trip to the Trapp Family Lodge tops all that!!!!

I've been letting work stress me out a lot lately, so I was in bad need of a vacation, and this one is the best! I plan to take in "everything von Trapp" for the next few days and relax as much as possible, and hopefully not drive Mom crazy! LOL!

Have a great weekend, everybody! (I sure intend to! LOL!)

Paula

[MvTFan]

I have to take a few minutes to report that I saw THREE von Trapp family members this morning at breakfast! The bellman told me yesterday when we checked in that daughter Maria was about to celebrate her 90th birthday and was around here this weekend, as is her older sister Agathe. When we got to the doorway of the restaurant for breakfast this morning, there was Maria! I took a few more steps and who should be standing next to her but her brother Johannes! He looks JUST LIKE his mother Maria, and he's very, very tall! (His sister Maria is very tiny.) I spoke to both of them, had to tell them I recognized them and was so pleased to get to see them. I then told Johannes how much he looks like his mother and he thanked me!

Maria was seated at a table in the restaurant with some other people, and a few minutes later, her sister Agathe joined her. So I saw all three of them this morning, and tonight it will be Elisabeth in concert!

My mother said I sounded silly and starstruck when I was talking to Johannes and Maria, but who cares!!! LOL!

Now we're off to the gift shop and to do some more exploring. More later.

Paula (who's bouncing off the walls!)

[MvTFan]

Well, after the three-way surprise this morning, tonight we went down to Ripton to see Elisabeth von Trapp in concert! Her show was fantastic! We got to meet and talk with Elisabeth and her husband Ed (who recognized me when he heard my strong Southern accent before the show - they knew I live in Tennessee and would be there tonight) after the show, and just a little while ago got back to the lodge! I'm exhausted but still can't seem to unwind after all that's happened today! FOUR von Trapps in one day!!!! Amazing!

On that note, I'm tired and going to bed. More to come!

Paula

[MvTFan]

Here's the latest! Sorry if some of you might be reading this multiple times; I'm posting in several places.

Elisabeth's concert last night was fantastic, and it was great to finally get to meet her in person! Evidently she'd told her husband Ed Hall about me. Outside the theater just before the show, we talked to him, and as soon as he heard my heavy Southern twang, he asked me what my name was, so I knew immediately that he'd been looking for me! I told him, and then he introduced himself and asked me how I found out about Elisabeth's music. He was busy with sound checks and other preparations for the show, so we didn't really get to finish the conversation until later. We sat on the FRONT ROW (it was general admission seating - no assigned seats) for the concert, and it was great!!!! Elisabeth is SO VERY talented! If you're not familiar with her music, check out her web site at www.elisabethvontrapp.com and order her CD's if you don't have them! Oh, I'd brought her CD's with me (I have all four) to get her to autograph them, and some of the plastic boxes had gotten cracked in my suitcase on the plane, and when she saw that, she exchanged them for me! That was SO NICE and totally unexpected!!!! In talking to Elisabeth after the show, she told me that the people who were in charge of this event (her concert was part of a Robert Frost weekend at Middlebury College) were really excited that I was coming all the way up here from Tennessee for it! When I emailed her last night after we got back to the lodge, I told her I'm just a goofy Sound of Music fan who has turned into a big von Trapp family fan and Elisabeth von Trapp fan, definitely nothing to get excited about! LOL! Still, I guess these people were impressed that we were coming such a distance.

Yesterday was absolutely incredible, with seeing THREE von Trapps at breakfast and then Elisabeth last night. It was hard to unwind when we got back to our room, and when I emailed Elisabeth, I had a hard time putting what I was feeling into words. It was a bit difficult to wrap my brain around all that had happened! LOL!

Today was a bit more emotional, as opposed to yesterday's excitement. I spent a little bit of time at the gate of the family cemetery, where Maria, Georg, Hedwig, Rupert and his wife, and Martina and her baby are buried. I've read Maria's books and won't go into it now, but she's been a real inspiration to me, and all that went through my mind while I was standing there. I really, really wish I'd gotten into all this years ago so it might have been possible to have met her before her death in 1987. It was a very emotional moment, standing there within sight of her grave (the public's not allowed inside the cemetery) and thinking about all that.

After coming back inside and transferring the pictures I'd taken outside (some at the cemetery and different shots of the lodge) from my camera to my laptop (to free up memory space in my camera), I then went exploring inside the lodge again, much like I did Friday night when we got here. And.... I got to see the inside of the von Trapp suite!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That was Maria's room when she was still alive, and I'd been really, really wanting to see it! (Actually I wanted us to stay in it but it's outrageously expensive!) I'd figured out where it was, or at least where I was pretty sure it was, and it just so happened that when I was wandering around exploring today, the door was left open because housekeeping was in the process of cleaning it! I cautiously went inside, looked around, and took some pictures! When I left, I saw a housekeeper pushing a cart down the hall and got her to confirm that that was indeed the von Trapp suite, and I made sure it was okay that I went in and looked around and took a few pictures, and it was! That was another emotional moment, being in the room that had once been Maria's.

Tonight, daughter Maria (nicknamed Mitzi) was in the lounge celebrating her birthday along with an Austrian music group, so we got in on a little bit of that. Lots of great and fun entertainment!

I'm going to probably CRY in the morning when we have to leave! I do NOT want to leave this place yet!!! I plan to watch the documentary film again in the morning, hopefully go in the gift shop once more, and maybe snap a few more pictures before we go. Our flight leaves Burlington at 3:15 in the afternoon, but we have to get from here to Burlington (probably less than an hour's drive), gas up the rental car and return it, and get checked in at the airport, so we need to be there early. But I'll be taking some wonderful, incredible memories with me, and I wouldn't take a million for this visit!

Paula

[MvTFan]

Today I got an email from Elisabeth von Trapp, who told me that there was a picture in Wednesday's Burlington, VT, newspaper, of her, my mother, and me, when Elisabeth was autographing our CDs! LOL! We made the Burlington newspaper! Elisabeth is sending me a copy of it, so I will eventually be able to share it with all of you. Speaking of, I've been slowly but surely uploading my trip photos to photobucket, and as soon as they're all done, I'll post a link so all of you can see them!

Paula