After having a nice night sitting on the banks of Lake George and then getting a nice nights sleep, we were off to our next destination! After a thirty minute drive north, we arrived on the banks of Lake Champlain and the Fort Ticonderoga historic site. After some confusion with the entry process (you have to pay at the gate as you are driving in), we arrived at the fort!
Like all the other locations, this one started with a bit of an initial tour and introduction by a park staff. We got the basics in front of the main gate and then worked our way into the main courtyard. Once that was done, we followed our tried and true clockwise walk through the buildings, parapets and bastions.
This fort is reconstructed in all stone and had been a tourist/historic site for a hundred years, so it was a little different than most of the locations we had visited over the previous week plus. The first barracks had most of the living history content, with he other structures being fully converted (on the inside) to modern buildings. It was in these sections that all the various museum displays were located. This also included a number of model dioramas and even a section about the use of the name on various ships in the US navy.
We sent through the entire fort and checked out all the views (which are pretty impressive on the lake). Once we finished that portion of the tour, we went into town. I stopped off in the Star Trek museum and TJ got us some lunch. From there, we returned back to the fort grounds to check out the Gardens section of the park. The main house was closed for renovation, but we got to check out the grounds. This was not part of the original fort, it was where the private owners lived who bought the fort and started its reconstruction work.
Next, we hopped in the car and drive up to the top of Mount Defiance. There is not too much there, except a few placards and cannons. However, the view is fantastic and you get a clear idea why this position was so important in taking of the fort. It was a great close out on the whole experience. Fort Ticonderoga was another amazing site and a must see for those interested in the horse and musket period in the Hudson Valley
With that, we finished up our tours in Ticonderoga and headed back to take George to get some dinner and a nice nights rest! Fort Ticonderoga was another amazing site and a must see for those interested in the horse and musket period in the Hudson Valley.
- Manteuffel