Ft Ticonderoga, NY

We were up early this morning and hit the road running as the old saying goes.  The destination was Ft Ticonderoga, NY and we wanted to get there for the 10:15 tour.  The tour had just started when we got there and we didn't miss anything.  A young man in a French Indian War uniform was leading the tour and really knew his stuff.  He explained in detail a number of events leading up to the battles and the importance of the fort.

We lucked out today since they had a re-enactment battle scheduled for the afternoon and many of the reenactors were at the Fort before the battle.  I stopped and chatted with one man who was from Indiana and attends many reenactment battles all over the U.S.  He especially wanted to do this one and was outfitted in an authentic military gear and uniform of that era.

The group below was a mixture of Indians and soldiers of that era.  Many of them sleep outside last night and a number of thunderstorms came through the area.  I don't think they got much sleep.

They had a musket shooting demonstration outside the fort and it was well attended.  The speaker explained in detail how to load the musket, musket range and everything you would ever want to know about muskets of that time period.

The entrance to the fort was very low and I took the following picture to give an idea how confined it was.

Gerry had enough of muskets and cannons and decided to walk down the hill to the King's Garden near the house of the man who bought the land around the fort in the 1820s.  He built a summer home there and began work on reconstructing the fort which had fallen into ruins.  The gardens were beautiful and well laid out.

Outside wall of the fort.

The Fife & Drum group sounded great and really put you back into that time period around 1755 when the fighting was going on.  The battle ground was about a mile from the fort and uphill all the way and the F&D group led the soldiers and spectators up the hill to the battle.  Gerry and I rode the bus, while Grant was so excited and in a hurry he took off running up the hill.  Oh to be young again.

The actual battle back during many years ago when the British attacked the fort involved thousands of men, but we settled for around 20 for the battle.  They managed to fill the woods with noise and smoke during the 20 minute battle among the trees.  The actual battle was fought out in the open, but now the area is heavily forested.

After the battle, we went back to the gift shop to have Grant's passport book stamped.  Since the Ft. Ticonderoga Foundation is private, they have a simple stamp, but Grant was happy with that.  In addition, he bought a souvenir gift for someone special to him.  

We finally left the Fort around 3pm and we were tired to the bone.  However I had one more surprise for Grant which I will blog about on Sunday.  

It's late and time for us to be in bed since we are hitting the road again on Sunday. No rest for the weary.

That was our long and satisfying day, how was yours?