We slept in as long as we could. We had breakfast and made plans to leave at 10:30 to see Fort William Henry and check out the village of Lake George.
It was going to be cloudy all day with temps in the mid 70’s. We made the short drive into town and found parking right across from the fort.
We entered the fort museum and spent the next hour looking through the displays and exhibits housed within the fort.
There were lots of artifacts and information on both levels of the fort.
From the top of the south wall, we got a good view of the harbor below us.
The Adirondack tour boat was out on the lake, along with the Iroquois. Many people were lined up to take an hour boat tour of the lake.
The Minne-Ha-Ha, a steam powered stern wheeler, was also giving tours on the lake.
From that vantage point, we caught sight of the Red Trolleys that provide shuttle service to and from different places in town.
As we continued our self-guided tour of the fort, we noticed these 2 men making preparations with the cannon.
Bob stopped to ask how the cannon gets cleaned out and a discussion ensued about black powder guns and Bob’s experience with muzzle-loaders.
As it neared 12:00, we gathered in the audio-visual room for a talk about the history of Fort William Henry and the French and Indian War.
After about 20 minutes, we were directed out onto the parade grounds for a military demonstration on firing a musket and a grenade.
The grenade let out a loud BANG and shocked everyone. The man who was demonstrating with the musket had trouble getting it to fire, but after 3 tries, it went off with another loud BANG! Everyone enjoyed the demonstration. The young man in the red uniform, gave an excellent talk on what life was like for soldiers stationed at Fort William Henry. He was a wealth of information.
From there, we all went up to the second level for a demonstration on firing a cannon. I couldn’t hold my ears and take a picture at the same time, so my ears ending up ringing for quite some time after the demonstration.
These kids from the crowd were recruited to join the King’s Army learning how to carry a musket and march, accompanied by a drum and fife. They were fun to watch!
You might wonder about my fascination with Fort William Henry? Well, it is the same fort that is depicted in one of my favorite movies–The Last of the Mohicans. I did some historical research on the movie and found out that it was located here in Lake George, so it was on my list of things to see.
Our self-guided tour concluded with a visit to the fort’s gift shop. From there, we took a walk along the waterfront. Many boaters were out on the lake along with the tour boats and parasailing boats. The sun started to peek out in the afternoon and warm things up a bit.
This fantastic wood carving depicted the Indian allies and the head of Roger’s Rangers in a canoe on Lake George.
Continuing on our walk along the lakefront, we went in search of nachos and beer. We found what we were looking for at King Neptune’s Lounge–a restaurant on the water.
We had beer and a delicious plate of chili nachos.
On our walk back towards the truck, we checked out the prices on the tour boat rides. It was a possibility. We took a drive through the main downtown area full of gift shops, restaurants, bars, and other amusements.
The streets and sidewalks were full of tourists. It was crazy! We left downtown and went back to the campground to spend some time with Auggie. Our neighbors in the campsite next to ours stopped by for a chat before heading out on a walk. Dave and his wife, Roxetta, are from Lakeland, Florida. What a coincidence! Bob and I sat outside watching people coming and going in the campground. We ate a later dinner after having our plate of nachos for lunch. We have a big day planned for tomorrow with a drive through Adirondack Park and the Adirondack Mountains to Lake Placid and other places of interest to the north of here. (We had to adjust our plans of going to Montreal after leaving Lake George on Tuesday. The restrictions on visitors going into Canada have become more stringent. We would have to get rid of certain foods, liquor, and our beer. With the wine we just bought at the winery and the other liquor and food we have in stock, it just wouldn’t make sense. So….we’ll just spend a little more time in Vermont and New Hampshire. No problems there. Flexibility is our motto!)
