Wandering America
June 2007 - Part I
| The Village of Lake George, New York Lake George Village is located at the southern tip of Lake George and nestled between majestic mountains in the Adirondacks which is part of the Appalachian mountain range. It was founded as a resort area by James Caldwell who established a log tavern and began lodging tourist during the late 1700's and early 1800's. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Aaron Burr were among its early tourists. "Lake George is without comparison, the most beautiful water I ever saw; formed by a contour of mountains into a basin thirty-five miles long and from two to four miles broad, finely interspersed with islands, its water limpid as crystal and the mountainsides covered with rich groves of silver fir, white pine, aspen and paper birch down to the water, here and there precipices of rock to checker the scene and save it from monotony. An abundance of speckled trout, salmon trout, bass, and other fish with which it is stored, have added to our other amusements the sport of taking them." —Thomas Jefferson Today Lake George is not the virgin territory that Thomas Jefferson encountered during his visits. The lakeside is covered with all kinds of resorts and large homes, but it is still pretty nonetheless with beautiful views abounding. Looking across the lake with the green mountains rising up against the bright clear blue sky can be breathtaking (our photos don't do it justice). There are still some remote areas where you can go hiking along the mountain trails with a "knapsack on your back". Nothing but black flies and mosquitoes to annoy you and even they will leave you alone if you use enough deet.  The Lake George area is steeped in history with the French and Indian Wars, the Seven Years' War, and the American Revolutionary war. Several forts were established in the area with Fort Ticonderoga and Fort William Henry being the most popular while holding reenactments throughout the summer (just don't tell the kids that this is history). There are also several theme parks (Six Flags Great Escape being the largest) and plenty of shopping malls and outlets ready and willing to accept your money and/or credit cards. Lake George was named in honor of King George II by Major General William Johnson in the mid 1700's during an expedition against the French. It was at this time that the Battle of Lake George took place after which General Johnson erected Fort William Henry at the head of the lake to protect the New York Colonization efforts. The fort was named after King George's grandson, Prince William Henry, and was torn down in 1757 by the French and then again reconstructed in 1953 near its original location in Lake George Village.  We did a quick trip to the village to get the "lay of the land". It was a wonderful day with temperatures in the 80's so we walked along "hand in hand" just taking in the beauty knowing that within two weeks this little village would swell to around 18,000 people. There was a soft serve ice cream store next to the public beach so we stopped and had our very first blueberry soft serve ice cream cone, Yummy! The Lake George area had just finish the week of the Americade, which is a large motorcycle event, so we have included a pictures showing the motorcycles leaving town. We can only imagine what the past weekend was like when 50,000 motorcycles converged on the village.  We continued walking hand in hand through Shepherd Park, along the waterfront, and then through the village. Lake George Village is a lot like Harbor Springs, Michigan in that it lies quietly in the mountains during the "off season" and then springs to life once the kids are released from captivity (school). Being that it is located at the southern end of Lake George it has a lot of shore front with two public beaches.          Some other village attractions that we will be partaking in throughout the summer are Fort William Henry, Lake George Steamboat Dinner Cruise, Wednesday evening music at Shepherd Park, Thursday night fireworks, and several of the eateries. We asked about local food delicacies and learned that New York is big on Italian dishes as well as Cheese Cake, so we will be tracking these down in the future.   Fort Ticonderoga We departed the campground and turned left this time heading toward Diamond Point, New York. Diamond Point is located on the shores of Lake George and is made up mostly of resort hotels and expensive homes. The village itself has very little in the way of shopping. New York has this funny way of numbering their routes, there's route 9 which sort of follows I-87, there is 9N which follows the Lake George shoreline, and there is 9L which I don't know where the "L" that goes. Why they number their roads this way is a mystery to me, I assume it is to confuse the tourist by getting him to drive in circles while they empty his wallet and then lead him back to I-87 where he can make a hasty retreat hanging onto the watch his grandfather gave him and his two gold teeth. Anyway we headed north on 9N toward the north end of Lake George which is 32 miles long and 7 miles wide at its widest point. The area is just beautiful and our trip continued with us w-o-o-oing and ah-h-h-hing all the way to our final destination which was Fort Ticonderoga.   Fort Ticonderoga has changed hands more times than a condominium in Boca Raton. In 1754 the Indians had decided they had to do something about the "illegal immigration problem" so they attempted to pass some bogus legislation that had no hope of curing the problem (sound familiar? - maybe they should have built a fence!!) which resulted in the French and Indian War. Therefore the French began building the Fort, which they named Fort Carillon, in 1755 to protect their interest in the Lake Champlain area. However in 1757 the French, sensing that the "British were coming", decided to attack Fort William Henry and captured it. This little act antagonized The British so in 1758 they mounted a campaign and attacked Fort Carillon which failed, but they returned in 1759 running off the French, and renaming it Fort Ticonderoga (which is Indian for "place between the waters"). The fort is located on a peninsula in the southern portion of Lake Champlain at the mouth of the LaChute River which flows from Lake George. This made it a stategic location to shut off advancing fleets from the St. Lawrence Seaway. Then one night in 1775, while the British soldiers were catching some shut eye, a bunch of local boys known as Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys (no kids this is not a country rock group) just walked in the front door with no shots fired and said, "Hand over the keys." The British once again occupied the fort during the Revolutionary War in 1776 while they were pushing their way south toward Saratoga Springs at which point the colonists said we have had enough of you guys and drove them back north. This was not a good thing for the British because they had pissed off the French in the first place and guess who occupied Canada. Eventually the British were sent home in their boats scratching their heads and exclaiming that "the bloody colonists didn't know how to make a decent cup of tea anyway" and America was born with the fort reverting back into the colonists hands. For a more complete and accurate history of the fort go to America's Historic Lakes.     Six Flags Great Escape Amusement Park Whee-ee-ee!!!, woohoooooo!!!, aahhhhhh!!!!, e-e-e-eek, scre-e-e-a-a-a-m-m-m!!! These are some of the sounds that we found involuntarily coming out of our mouths as we rode the rides at The Great Escape. We had not been on amusement rides in over thirty years (and it will probably be another thirty before we do it again). But we had some complimentary tickets given to us and just couldn't let them go to waste, at least I couldn't so Judy reluctantly went along for the ride (pun intended).    First we rode the train which was a nice safe quiet ride and then the gondolier just to get a view of the park and where things were located.   Next it was onto the "heavy duty" rides - the Ferris Wheel, Raging River, and the Comet roller coaster (at least one of us did this one - guess who?). There were several different types of roller coaster rides, some that go upside down, but the Comet is an old classic coaster with wooden rails and one that allows you to keep your lunch (if you know what I mean!).     We walked around the park and then finished by taking a ride on the Merry-Go-Round. It was a fun afternoon that brought back memories of younger times.   Wandering America Update We officially have our leased lot at Rainbow Plantation in Summerdale, Alabama. Rainbow Plantation is an Escapees' Park with 112 deeded lots, 23 leased lots, 97 rented sites, and a "dry camping" area. We spent January and February there last winter and liked the area, the people, and we found a church that we really enjoy; therefore, we added our name to the waiting list for a site. We plan to use this as our home base departing and returning to Alabama from our various "Wandering America" trips. |