The Sound of Music... Again!

By Norah Blucher

Okay so perhaps I’m not always the most creative with titles as I’ve used this one before, but in a slightly different context when I went to the symphony. It did however elicit quite a reaction from longtime Femulate reader Elise who has an adoration for the film by the same name and all things alpine complete with dirndls. I must admit I’ve since bought the movie, but have yet to watch it. However when I had the opportunity to have a real life Sound of Music experience I could not let Elise down and jumped at the chance! Sort of.

Some Like It Hot!

I’d long read how many femulators go into hibernation in the summer and even Stana did so in her early days. I started going out last fall and figured I would do the same, but as the seasons passed and summer approached I abandoned all intentions of the sort and resigned to just deal with it as stepping out as female had just become my default state in many ways.

And oh my did I get a lot of bloody practice for sure! My first summer out and about as a woman was one of the hottest I ever remember in New England and right at the start the air conditioner in my car decided it had sung its last song. And it was in this situation I found myself heading home from a sweltering trip to Vermont. It had been a fab trip for sure and I recently wrote about my dinner cruise on the same trip, but now it was time to head home.

It was on this trip I came to adore the travel skirt a staple which would serve me well throughout the sweltering summer. I’m not sure if travel skirt is the proper name, but it is what I came to call the cool simple flowy wrinkle-resistant skirts used by so many women while traveling or on holiday. You can roll them in a ball in your suitcase and they unpack with nary a wrinkle to speak of.

The largely water-resistant makeup routine I adopted while skiing also served me well, though this time the water was from me and not the weather lol. I also returned to my longer hair again as the wefted cap of that one was a right bit cooler especially when tied up off my neck with a clip.

And so hoping for the best I set out from Burlington hoping, I would make it home before the turkey popper popped and my goose was cooked.

The Hills Are Alive!

I drove in my oven toward Stowe where I planned to visit the Von Trapp House of The Sound of Music fame. If you recall, the Von Trapp family eventually fled the Nazis and settled in the rather alpine setting of the mountains of northern Vermont. And though I do think it is much newer than the original Von Trapp house, a brewery nearby also bears their name as well.

It was a very pretty drive for sure along back country roads through the verdant Vermont hills, but by the time I reached the Von Trapp brewery, I was afraid my makeup may have melted off and I was just ready to get out of the rolling oven I was calling a car. I checked my makeup and though it did not look the most smashing, it was still holding up better than I expected so I made my way inside.

To my dismay, I discovered they had all the doors open as the brewery had no air conditioning! Ugh! Many places in the northern tier of New England can still be found without air conditioning as it is not often needed, but today was certainly a day it was. Anyway, as the hostess seated me, I noticed many others were in my predicament, too.

Not that the brewery was terribly crowded midday during the week, but as I sipped a soda and awaited my schnitzel and spaetzle, I scanned the room and outside patio and saw every other woman was not exactly the picture of beauty when it is 95 degrees out and none of them were letting it bother them and neither was I! Though I was not looking exactly my best, no one seemed to take notice of me either.

The food was absolutely delicious and even though I was at a brewery I did not try any beer. It was much too hot for any alcohol and I’m more of a wine or gin girl anyway. I still had to drive as well, but not before taking a peek at the actual brewery!

I perused the gift shop before departing, but sadly dirndls were not to be had. So back into the oven it was for the short trip to the lodge.

Von Trapp Family Lodge

I’d been all over Vermont over a decade ago, but had not ventured to the Von Trapp Family Lodge and it was rather impressive. It truly looked like something out the Alps and I half expected Julie Andrews to come outside and start twirling around.

That was not to be however, but they did have a lot of hiking biking and other sorts of outdoor activities at the site and some crazy fools were even doing them in the blasted heat of the day. I decided upon something more my speed for a hot summer day and browsed the air-conditioned gift shop and even tried on a summer dress which I ended up not getting as it just did not look good on me.

Overall I found people most friendly and either I was passing or no one gave a hoot what I was.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of Norah’s roadtrip in tomorrow’s post. In the meantime, if you’ve any questions or comments, please write in the comments below or you can email Norah at nblucher at-sign proton dot me.

Wearing Boston Proper

Lee Bennett femulating in the 1946 film Scared to Death. I started watching this film on TCM because it was a rare Bela Lugosi flick – rare in that it was in color (almost all of the other films Lugosi appeared in were in black and white). I had no idea that the film had a femulation, which occurred in the last few minutes of the film. When the film ended, I rewound the film to the femulation scene and took some shots with my iPhone.