Vermont, July 16, Sugar Shack, Fort Ticondaroga

July 16, Saturday

It is 58 degrees this beautiful morning. 

We head back towards civilization, going through a ski area where the big plus for a motel is a free trout pond!  We see a few more turkeys with young ones along the road.

We are heading for a place called The Sugar Shack in Arlington, VT.  (There must be dozens of places with that name.)  First we stop at St. James Church and Cemetery to kill a little time.  It actually is quite old and has some interesting stones plus a little guide.  Several of the men buried here were part of the Green Mountain Boys during the Revolutionary War.

Soldiers were often given the option for a plot of land in areas the government wanted to populate, and many took it.  Others include a young man of 16 who got small pox when he drove a sleigh of supplies to New York., Dorothy Canton Fisher, Vermont author and more.

We arrive at the Sugar Shack just before a large group of Corvettes – part of a group tour of the National Corvette Restoration Society . This group of about a dozen is from the Carlisle PA area and will meet up with several other groups at a show in Rhode Island. (I think Greg was drooling.)

In addition to warm Cider Donuts, the Sugar Shack has all sorts of Maple products.  It also has a Norman Rockwell  exhibit, which was quite interesting.  Rockwell lived in Arlington for many years and there are prints of many of his works, as well as interviews with folks from this area who served as his models. (Early on he used models, while later he switched to photographs.)

Below is a cover showing NR painting a self-portrait. He joked that he might as well make the best of it - removing several years and losing the glasses.

Many interesting stories by the models and Norman Rockwell regarding specific works.

Models for this cover were all family and neighbors.

 We swung by Hildene next, the estate of Thomas Lincoln  (Abraham’s son) and his decendants.  It is a large estate with gardens, dairy and many other buildings but didn’t seem all that unique to us, so we passed on the pricey tour.

Greg noticed cars along the road and we went back to see this marble quarry near Mt. Aeolus.  It turned out to be a local swimming hole and was quite popular, even though we thought 70 degrees was not all that hot!

 We are passing through an area called Stone Valley Byway (Rt. 30) and pass lots of farms selling things like free range chickens and eggs, fresh milk, goat cheese, grass-fed beef and berries.

A ferry at Shoreham, VT is our next adventure, as we cross Lake Champlain to visit Fort Ticondaroga, NY. 

This Drum and Fife group is performing as we arrive.

In 1667, a Frenchman built a settlement at the strategic portage between Lake Champlain and Lake George.  And in 1755, the French built a fort here. Several battles occurred as the French and British vied for the site, as whoever controlled this part of the water controlled trading, which was thriving at this point, particularly the fur trade.

Eventually the British gained control in 1759 and held the fort until Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys captured it in 1775 – the first American victory of the Revolutionary War!  Though briefly regained by the Brits, it fell into American territory.

The fort existed for 22 years and each year the staff and re-enactors choose one year to represent.  This year represented 1777 during which the British reigned, so all the guides and re-enactors wore British garb.  The actual fort is a mixture of British and French architecture and furnishings.  We had a tour guide named Gordy Hamilton, who was quite entertaining.

 In the town of Ticonderoga, we found this falls and covered bridge.

Lake Champlain is 120 miles long, with portages south to Lake George and on to the Hudson River to New York.  When George Washington became general, the Revolutionary soldiers had no cannons or mortars at all.   50 cannons (both British and French models) were moved from here,  over 300 miles in less than three weeks,  to aid the young American troops in the winter of 1775. 

After visiting the nearby King’s Gardens and Mt. Defiance, we head north and back into Vermont.

King's Garden

This osprey has a fish in his clutches!

 We are aiming for Moosalamoo campground (how can you not love that name!), again in the Green Mountains National Forest.  Unfortunately it is rather small and totally filled.  Instead we end up at a Trailhead parking area for Widow’s Clearing, which turns out to be quite pleasant.  Pulled pork and salad for dinner and we enjoyed a quiet night.