Champlain

Monday (16th) started out cold and rainy, but in the afternoon the sun came out. It was still cold, but it was good to see the sun. We drove along the New York side of Lake Champlain through some small quaint towns like Westport. In Willsboro, we spent quite a bit of time looking for an historic cabin we failed to locate as well as driving around Willsboro Point to view "one of Lake Champlain's largest and most scenic islets", but all we could see were cottages among the trees, no place to park, and hardly a glimpse of the water. We did find New York State's first fish ladder, but it was pretty unimpressive and there were no fish. Oh well:)

The highlight of our wasted morning :)

We then spent a sunny, but cold and windy afternoon exploring Fort Ticonderoga. We enjoyed two interesting presentations given by a guide well-versed in the fort's history. If you're interested, ask Mark why the guide called Ethan Allen a thug.

The King's Garden

 

On Tuesday we crossed the Champlain Bridge into Vermont and started up the eastern side of Lake Champlain. We stopped briefly at the small, picturesque Kingsland Bay State Park . . .

 

. . . and then spent the remainder of the morning at the oldest state park in Vermont hiking the foot trail to the top of Mt Philo (elevation 968'). The forested trail, which switchbacks up the mount, has lots of rocks and tree roots so you have to really watch your step. From the summit there is an impressive view of the Champlain Valley.

Lake Champlain

From there we drove to Vermont's world-famous Sherburne Museum where we spent the afternoon (4 hrs) wandering the 45 acre grounds. The 39 buildings of the museum house the American folk art collection of Electra Havemeyer Webb, as well as fine art inherited from her family (including works by artists such as Claude Monet and Edgar Degas). Twenty five of the buildings are relocated historic New England structures from the 18th and 19th centuries including houses and barns, a lighthouse, jail, general store and a covered bridge, as well as the "Grand Isle" (a private luxury rail car) and the 220-foot steamboat "Ticonderoga".

Lake Champlain

The "Grand Isle" luxury rail car

Inside the rail car . . .

The Ticonderoga

Owl Cottage

Although I was exhausted by the end of the day, I enjoyed the whole museum. Mark really liked being able to board the "Ticonderoga" and the "Grand Isle", but other than that he was unimpressed. He's not that in to "art".

 

 

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