August 4 – Saturday
We turned in the key to the bathrooms and recovered our $20. Deposit fee, then untied the boat for departure. Backing out of the 50 yard long slipway was no problem and we were in Lake Champlain by 08:00. We had hoped to get a slip or mooring in Burlington, VT, but after a couple of calls on Friday we learned there was a festival going on and all marinas were sold out. Plan “B” was to go to Malletts Bay, a village with numerous marinas and anchorages, just north of Burlington.
It was all for the best, Malletts Bay is a beautiful area and Champlain Marina where we stayed, was a very nice facility (even had Q-tips in the men’s shower room). Another plus, was that we had planned to meet several of our business friends who live in the Burlington area and it just happened that Frank and Sherry Gouchoe (also boaters) happened to be at a nearby anchorage when we got to Malletts Bay. They picked up their anchor and motored over for a nice visit. Sherry had put together a great gift bag consisting of local foods and produce (and some PA peaches) and a nice bottle of Vermont wine to go with it. I think the Gouchoe’s will be feeding us for the next few days. Another interesting ditty is that both Frank and Sherry (I hope I am spelling her name correctly) both grew up in Malletts Bay.
Not long after the Gouchoe’s headed off on their boat, our other friend, Susith, phoned to invite us to dinner. Susith, with his lovely wife and daughter as well as a family friend, came to take us to downtown Burlington where we had an excellent dinner and got to know Jolyn and their beautiful 3 year old daughter Liana, better. After dinner we had a walking tour of the Church Street area of Burlington, complete with street entertainers. The Wijetunga’s are a lovely family and we appreciate their gracious hospitality during our visit.
It had cooled down nicely by the time we returned to the boat and we hit the bunk immediately and slept a bit later than normal the next morning.