While Salzburg may be the best place to fete the "The Sound of Music’s" 50th anniversary this year, there is another destination, far from the babbling brooks and sing-song hills of Austria, where fans can also come closer to the von Trapp family: Stowe, Vermont.
For the full story, however, let’s start at the very beginning. Because, as the song goes, it’s a very good place to start.
It was the early 1940s. The von Trapp family was touring the US as the Trapp Family Singers. But when they arrived in Stowe, Vermont, the Alpine surroundings and sweeping mountain landscape reminded the family of Austria: They had found their new home.
In the summer of 1950, the family turned their farmhouse into a 27-room inn, which was then expanded into the Trapp Family Lodge, a 96-room resort following a fire in 1980.
For the next few decades, subsequent generations of the von Trapp family would operate the alpine lodge and write the next chapter in their family history.
Set against 2,500 acres, the property is currently overseen by Johannes, the youngest of the singing von Trapp children and his family, and is designed to evoke their European heritage with Austrian-inspired alpine decor.
For “Sound of Music” fans, the lodge offers von Trapp History tours that recount the remarkable tale of how the family journeyed from from Salzburg before World War II to Philadelphia --- where they arrived with four dollars --before finally ending up in Vermont.
In winter, the lodge was rented out to skiers to help supplement their income while the family toured the world as the Trapp Family Singers.
And in summer, Maria Augusta von Trapp hosted summer music camps teaching participants how to sing, while the Captain, Georg von Trapp, played the violin.
Today, the lodge also shows the film for guests every Thursday evenings.
Other activities at the year-round property include cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, hiking, mountain biking, tennis and yoga.
The resort also rents out private villas that can accommodate up to eight people.
Meanwhile, fans of the film may want to clear their Wednesday night, as Diane Sawyer will explore “The Untold Story of The Sound of Music” with Julie Andrews in a one-hour TV special airing on ABC at 10 pm EST.
Source: Relaxnews