You can go on a boat tour in Miami and see celebrity homes. You can take a cruise around Manhattan and see skyscrapers and the Statue of Liberty, but only on Lake Champlain in Vermont, can you find true peace, utter tranquility, and a heaping helping of natural beauty. Or at least, that’s how Mike Shea, owner of the The Spirit of Ethan Allen, sees it. “It’s just awesome,” he says. “People come off the boat and they’re just dumbstruck by the beauty they see, and they really appreciate it.”

 

 

CHOOSE YOUR CRUISE

The Spirit of Ethan Allen is a day cruise line that takes you across Lake Champlain. It offers a variety of cruises, some focused on sightseeing and history, featuring narrated tours to both educate and entertain, while others are centered more on dinner with a view.

The line also offer cruise options with live music, or with themes, like murder mystery dinners, and even holiday celebrations. To put it simply, Mike says, “We sell fun.” Mike invited us aboard to see for ourselves, and it’s easy to understand what drew him to the industry. We went on a sunny, almost-warm day in late May, and the views of Lake Champlain were breathtaking. The fun facts that accompanied the tour helped guests notice certain mountain peaks, buildings, and other sights that may otherwise have gone unnoticed.

 

LAKE VIEWS TIMES THREE

The boat is divided based on the experience you’re after. If you just want to sightsee and perhaps order from an a la carte menu, you’ll be on the top deck of the ship. If you’re going for a foodie cruise, you’ll be seated in the middle deck inside—that’s where we were. But whatever deck your ticket is for, you’re free to walk around the boat both before and during the cruise, getting to enjoy the views from all different angles.

 

SCENIC NARRATED TOURS

Daily scenic narrated tours travel north toward Lone Rock Point, then loop around Juniper Island, past RockDunder, and into Shelburne Bay. From there, the ship heads back through theSouth End of Burlington. During your tour, you can enjoy a light bite and a drink at the Ethan Allen Café.

 

DINING AND THEME CRUISES

The line’s dining cruises combine exceptional cuisine with the breathtaking backdrop of the lake.There are lunch, brunch, and dinner cruise options with names like Lobstah on the Lake, a buffet dinner with lobster, prime rib, and delectable sides, or a brunch cruise with a complimentary glass of champagne or a mimosa and a variety of breakfast favorites, including Grandpa's Blueberry Buckle with crumb topping. Specialty cruises include a Fourth of July Fireworks Cruise and Summer DJ Sunset Series with dancing every Friday and Saturday night through August 30. 

 

 

SPECIAL OCCASION RENTALS

The Spirit of Ethan Allen offers special rentals, too. If you’re there for an event, Mike’s got a way to make any occasion special. The boat can accommodate a minimum of seventy-five guests, with the flexibility to host more than 350. So whether you’re looking to book one deck or take over the entire vessel, this exclusive floating venue is perfect for intimate gatherings or grand celebrations. “We do a combination of corporate events, private events, birthday parties, and weddings,” Mike says, “and then we have our public cruises. People can kayak, they can ride the ferry, they can get a rental, that type of thing,” he says, “but we’re the only boat of our size on the lake.”

 

BOARD IN DOWNTOWN BURLINGTON

As the city grew, the Spirit of Ethan Allen switched locations to go along with the times. It now docks in the heart of Burlington, right along the waterfront. What hasn’t changed, Mike says, is the people. “Vermont has grown more popular as a destination since 1984,” Mike explains. “I would say I had the right idea in the beginning. I just made it better and improved it along the way.”

THE PEOPLE BEHIND THE SPIRIT OF ETHAN ALLEN

Mike’s originally an airline pilot. He started running the Morrisville-Stowe State Airport for a bit, which gave him a chance to learn about business. His folks had a boat in Green Bay, Wisconsin, so he studied the market up there dreaming up entrepreneurship opportunities. He saw Lake Champlain had a ferry boat that took people across. He says he saw a poorly run private tour boat that lacked focus and direction, and he thought, “I can do this.”

 He made the switch from a job in the skies, where people stared at their watches, tapped their feet, and hurried away, to a position on the water, where people could sit back and relax. Forty-two years later, he’s still cruising Lake Champlain.

We got to spend some time in the captain’s quarters, chatting with Captain Carhart. He also enjoys the people on board, though he say the views are hard to beat. Having spent time in the past on a tug boat, and then doing three-week stints on oil tankers, he says cruising Lake Champlain with a boat full of smiling people suits him just fine these days.

 

EVERYTHING ON THE BOAT IS SHIPSHAPE

Mike began operating the Spirit of Ethan Allen in 1984. It started as a 149-passenger paddle-wheeler. These days, the Spirit is a 363-passenger triple-decker with an onboard galley. This is Mike’s third boat, though he’s technically had four—he tried an overnight cruise boat but decided it didn’t work. The co-captain onboard the ship told me Lake Champlain is massive and requires a good-sized boat to feel steady on the water. Mike says he’s very happy with where things stand right now. “A lot of boats are known for bad food and smelly toilets,” Mike says. Not his. We can attest; cleanliness was top-notch.

“During every day cruise, every fifteen minutes, there’s an engineer who walks around, making sure the bathrooms are clean and wiped down, and that plenty of the supplies are in there,” he says. “And we have an onboard kitchen and a galley, so our food is fresh. You order something and out it comes!”

 

FOOD ONBOARD IS DONE JUST RIGHT

On their first boat, Mike outsourced the food through a farmhouse in Ferrisburgh, Vermont. When that family retired, the Spirit got its food from the Raddison. Eventually, Mike decided to buy a catering company with an off-site kitchen. But the new boat has a kitchen onboard, so everything is done right there. “I’m not a chef,” Mike says. “I hire great chefs and then get out of their way. That’s my policy.” Menus vary depending on the cruise you pick. We went for the Monday lunchtime cruise and got a wide selection of food laid out on a buffet table. There were a few different varieties of salad, including one presented in a roll; pasta; a cheesy Italian-style baked chicken; and several desserts to choose from. You could also order appetizers separately.

 

 

We got the crab-stuffed mushrooms, which were fantastic.  If you’re mostly there to sightsee and grab a quick bite to eat, you’ll still get an impressive menu to choose from. If you want something simple like a pizza or a burger, you’ve got it. If you want something more upscale like a steak or lobster roll, you can have that, too. The newest addition to that menu is the Hippie Burger—a vegetarian option that meat lovers seem drawn to as well.

 

WHAT’S WITH THE NAME?

So where did the name of the boat come from? Mike says he knows full well lots of people think of the furniture store when they hear the name Ethan Allen. In reality, Ethan Allen was a hero of the American Revolution, responsible for capturing Fort Ticonderoga from the British. He founded the Green Mountain Boys, the group that policed British provinces to protect land in New Hampshire and New York. And most notably for our readers, he’s the founder of the state of Vermont—the one who lobbied Congress for ratification. Vermont’s Air National Guard is still nicknamed the “Green Mountain Boys” to this day in his honor. “We are Vermont because of Ethan Allen,” Mike says. “He had the spirit of Vermont.”

SPIRIT OF ETHAN ALLEN

1 College Street

Burlington, VT

www.soea.com

[email protected]