Back to Two Wars, p.1 / 3 - Lake George

Just another dull day with morning parade...?

Visiting Lake George and the surrounds is a great balance of history and seaside kitsch but in fresh water. You have regular encounters with high-class products ranging from food to whiskey and wine right alongside low-brow entertainments and styles. Quite enjoyable, but not Annapolis, nor Belmar NJ - it's somewhere just in-between. Highly recommended!

Definitely check on covid issues as New York State is one of the "crazy states" run by crazy people and you could easily have your trip ruined by mask mandates and public closures. Just the way it is. No issues with our trip, but it is summer.

For the amateur historians, the Hudson River valley has loads of history, and was a focal point of fighting in both the French and Indian War and the American Revolution. It is easy to lose track of which fort is from which fight if you don't pay attention!

For lodging, we got a suggestion from a travel agent friend, and the rate and accommodations at Scotty's Lakeside Resort were good if not perfect. The room was not very well cleaned, altho the main areas were, the corners and edges had dust, trash and there was some hair stuck to the wall of the shower, showing that it wasn't fully cleaned and hosed down.

The rate we got was good, $600 for three nights. However, I can't recommend it as they blare loud pop music in their beach / pool / recreation area, from about 8:30 in the morning to 8-9 at night. The would be especially annoying if you had a room near the pool, which is about 15-20 rooms.  I would have demanded a refund or relocation since their website does not carry a warning about this, but we were far enough away that it didn't matter.

**Important note: ask any place you may stay if they run a disco instead of a beach!**

Basically, it is impossible to relax at the areas of Scotty's that are for... relaxing. If you are one of those people who need loud music blaring in your ear to relax, see a doctor or psychiatrist as that isn't healthy.

Anyway, I will still present pics of Scotty's Lakeside Resort since it is quite typical of what they all look like in the area.  We had a view about 100 yards from the lake, at the bottom is the pool / beach.

Each room had a balcony it shared with a neighboring room. This was nice, and far enough away from the music that I was able to chill out and read in the mornings.

The main rec area. There had just been a torrential downpour, but you can see the "beach" and Lake George at right. The beach is basically play sand spread on an area about 50 yards square, and into the water about 5 yards. The bottom is rocky without the sand. Almost no one played in the water, not even the kids.

View back towards our room. The building to right is the cafe / bar, which also had some arcade games. Convenient if you don't bring food / beverages to the pool.

The lake has several ways to tour, including two boat companies:

 

Above, looks like Minnie-ha-ha heading north up the lake.

Below, view south down the lake, with the fort just to left of the center trees.

There are some great sculptures with historical themes - this one by a chainsaw artist!

Lovely old train station next to Fort William Henry.

View north from Fort:

only a small portion of the 30-mile lake is visible due to a bend and some islands.

And of course the star historical attraction on the lake is Fort William Henry

Image from https://www.fwhmuseum.com/

Inside Fort William Henry, you are greeted by well-done static displays and dioramas.

Another day at the fort - morning parade.

French and Indians about to ambush badly scouted British column...

The French siege of the fort.

Map of the camps and other areas of interest during the siege.

Re-enactors are employed by the State Park, but one should check ahead to see if they are working when you will be visiting, just in case they are seasonal.

Above fellow is a British defender of the fort. He did a musket firing demonstration and was suitably engaging.

Below re-enactor of a state militiaman [serving in his own clothes and gear] was up on the parapet. He and the other fellow demonstrated a 6pdr field cannon firing. Again, suitably engaging, altho I thought the description of grape / cannister was a bit gruesome and explicit considering the variety in age groups.

Shortly before the firing of the gun. Notice how small the 6pdr is!

View into the fort from the parapet. The little roof at ground level to the right shelters the crypt going down towards the original fort which is below this replica, and has some good info on archaeology and human remains of the period.

Always worth double-checking sources, even museums, but below are the regiments and the color of turnbacks and lacing that they had.

Another part of the museum is a room with a "US Army since then" theme, with several areas of uniforms displayed.

Took some images of the WWI uniforms for future reference - like to check out the olive color.

Gift store was decently sized and had a variety of stuff - there was a large Osprey display, plenty of history books, and plenty of gifts for all ages. The only thing it lacked was a guide book of the museum itself for purchase. I asked, and the cashier said "That's a Great Idea!" and that she would pass the idea along!  Museums used to always have these, now none do. I guess they expect you to check things out on line?  In lieu of that, there are - more expensive - books about the archaeology of the fort and its surroundings.

Below, a nice fort playset by Roy Toy, sort of Lincoln Logs, may be of interest for those who do Toy Soldier wargaming.

Highly recommend getting out on the lake - we used Lake George Kayak Co., and they were super competent and helpful!  http://www.lakegeorgekayak.com/

Below, Mr. Winkie prepares himself to face the lake - we took out a tandem kayak.

With some practice, we managed to make decent time to cross part of the lake and go to an island for lunch.

It was nice and quiet, a lovely day. No loud music!

Some places we HIGHLY recommend in Lake George Village:

Best ice cream - Nina's Sweet Shop on the south side near the fort.

Coolest unexpected discovery: 

The Patriot of Lake George: 

Military Museum and History Shop

Amazing place!

On a side street, so we stumbled upon it purely by accident. 

PatriotofLakeGeorge.com and Fb page [CLICK] too.

For you Afrika Corps fans, a pic of LTG von Ravenstein, 21 Panzer Division commander.

British military cuisine - there's a guy on line who would eat this thing...

The actual CMH posthumously awarded to SFC Tony Burris at Heartbreak Ridge, in Korea:

This is the basis for Clint Eastwood's character in the film "Heartbreak Ridge". He delivers an outstanding performance of a man simultaneously managing the difficulties of whipping some bad Marines into shape while wooing his ex-wife. He makes it look easy...[CLICK].

This poster is amazing, but partially obscured by the souvenir flag signed by 1st Infantry Division Soldiers. The poster explains the way that Soldiers should take on a German tank. I didn't find it very reassuring, as it is pre-bazooka. Overall, it is a "do what little you can with the little we have given you" sort of training poster. We should be grateful today...

The sort of results you can get when you DO have bazookas? This was a pretty famous incident, and I believe it involved plenty of firepower. The Lt. also did the big three jumps for the 82nd in the war: Sicily, D-Day and Holland, aka "A Bridge too Far".

Napoleon's death mask - amazing!

And retrieving the below only leaves about, oh, 500,000 musket balls on the ground...

Poor Napoleon...even in Lake George, can't escape that ONE battle...

Amazing collection of tags from 28 missions flown by some crew in WWII - harrowing!

And yes, a packed case of toy soldiers!

The best restaurant in town: Blue-Collar Cuisine at "10 McGillis"

Typical small-town bar / restaurant, but this one has local art on the walls.

The tall chef is French trained but from Texas. The menu featured classic French cuisine like frogs legs and escargot, which of course we had to get. Below, Mr. Winkie tries his first frogs legs. The comment: tastes great, a lot like chicken but different texture.

I had a frog leg and I concur. The breading was amazingly light and crispy! I admit that I ate too much and needed the walk back to our room to aid with digestion. Still, I have no regrets despite needing to diet a bit now that I'm home!

Next post - Ft. Edward, West Point, and Stony Point.