the education of henry

Day 6: Fort Ticonderoga

2023-09-19

This morning we drove along Lake George on our way to Fort Ticonderoga! The drive was very hilly and curvy and we went up and down a few mountains. The weather was in our favor once again. We got to Ticonderoga early, and we found something fun for Mom as we made our way to the fort entrance.

This is what a lot of the drive looked like.

At an overlook of Lake George.

Here's the surprise for Mom - a Star Trek shuttle.

It made lots of noise!

This place has re-created the sets from the original Star Trek series.

Me and Mom by Lake Champlain.

Our first view from the fort.

One of the guides, Lucas, answering some of my questions.

This plaque is in the main entrance to the fort. I walked where these people walked!

Some of the 150 cannons on display.

Another guide was making some food as they would have at the fort in 1760.

A plaque for Ethan Allen, commemorating his capture of the fort - but no mention of Benedict Arnold, who was there as well.

This is a demonstration of firing muskets.

Another guide in period uniform for a colonial in the British Army - they wore green. Soldiers from England wore the red coats.

This guide was an artillery officer, that's why he has a fancier uniform.

A better look at the gun.

This guide is actually in charge of all the weapons used for demonstrations, and he built this gun himself.

Close up of the firing mechanism.

Even more close up - you can see the hole where the spark goes in to ignite the charge that fires the bullet.

There's the pre-made packet for loading the gun.

In formation, getting ready to fire.

Firing the muskets and a little explanation of the formation.

Asking some questions about the muskets.

Another plaque commemorating the capture of the fort.

Soldier's barracks.

Mom took a picture of us from across the wall.

Looking down on the parade grounds.

Another view of the parade grounds and building.

And a final view of the parade ground and buildings.

Me and Mom on the wall.

The artillery guy cleaning his gun from the demonstration.

A map of where all the cannons came from. Most are not original, and were purchased all over the world and shipped to the fort.

Learning to load a cannon.

These coats are heavy! And scratchy!

This is what the walls of Ticonderoga originally looked like - they had stone foundations, but the actual walls were oak.

A display of a soldier under fire.

A display of various guns. The foundation that runs the fort has one of the largest period weapon collections in the world.

Me with Ethan Allen.

More information about cannons.

A visual display of how many cannons were at the fort in different years.

A plaque about the history of the name of the fort.

The Pell House. The Pell family bought the fort when it was in ruins and built this house on the grounds for a summer house. They later started the restoration of the fort in the early 1900s and are still involved today.

The garden gate.

Waiting for the boat ride.

On the boat!

The fort seen from the boat.

Sarah, the tour guide on the boat.

Back at the fort, back at the cannons with more questions.

This cannon was one of the original Ticonderoga cannons - here during the War for Independence. I decided to call this one Lafayette, since it was originally French.

You probably noticed I like cannons. This one is an English cannon, so I called it Burgoyne, after the English general who captured the fort from the Americans.

Panoramic shot from the fort.

This is a mortar, a bronze one. I like mortars, too.

Henry Knox liked cannons, too. And he dragged a bunch of them from Ticonderoga all the way back to Boston to help chase the Bristish out in the winter of 1775-1776.

Me pretending to be the sleeping guard that Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold surpised when they attacked the fort.

Another mortar, this one is cast iron.

One of the cannons that Henry Knox took to Boston.

View of the flag at the front of the fort.

Directing the cannon fire.

A panoramic shot from the top of Mt. Defiance, overlooking the fort.

Atop Mt. Defiance.

Another shot of the fort from above.

From Mt. Defiance, which is part of the fort, we headed into Vermont and to our hotel.

A waterfall in the town of Ticonderoga.

We're on a boat again...a car ferry!

A view from the ferry.

The ferry saved us an hour of driving around the bottom of the lake. We then had a lovely drive for an hour on a beautiful road through a very picturesque section of Vermont. The sun was poking through the clouds and Mom said it looked a little like Ireland - except there were too many trees.

We made it to the hotel with plenty of time to relax for the night, after our full day at Fort Ticonderoga. And that is it for this post - thanks for reading!