Exploring the Northeast US: Another Fort, and the King's Garden

After spending a day at the Saratoga battlefield, our next history stop was at Fort Ticonderoga in New York. While not part of the National Park Service, the friends of Fort Ticonderoga have done an excellent job in preserving and re-telling the history of life at the fort over time. Because this is the nation’s 250th anniversary year, they have set and staffed the fort to be set in 1776. The fort has many artifacts in its museum and they change them out based on what time period is being portrayed. It reminded us of our visit to Colonial Michilimackinac in Mackinaw City, Michigan, on our Middle States tour.

We arrived shortly after the site opened so we’d have time to get our bearings before the 10:15 orientation talk. We find these talks are helpful in setting the stage for what we are about to observe, sometimes even helping us to immerse ourselves in the time period. We learned about the events that took place at Fort Ticonderoga involving Ethan Allen (whose homestead we would see the following day in Burlington) and Benedict Arnold (before he became a traitor). We learned why the Fort was coveted by the British and the Americans, and we learned how it changed hands a few times during its heyday.

The museum collection is in the upper floors of the barracks buildings, and the most interesting things to me were the powder horns on display. They were etched with names, poetry, and figures, personalizing each man’s powder horn.

If you’ve been to a fort before, you know one of the best parts is getting to walk around the top and take in the views. Fort Ticonderoga doesn’t disappoint as you can see the southern portion of Lake Champlain as well as the Adirondacks of New York and the lush green mountains of Vermont.

Another part of the Fort Ticonderoga experience was a visit to the King’s Garden. If you read my post the other day about Winterthur Gardens and my comment about needing to get over the fact that gardens doesn’t always mean flowers, well, the King’s Garden restored my faith in gardens! This was truly spectacular. The vibrant colors, the arrangements of the plants together, and the fragrance of the blooms – well, it was magical! I walked around telling each flower how beautiful she was before taking so many pictures!

But wait? What’s behind that brick wall?

When I walked through and saw even more flowers, I got so teary-eyed at the beauty of the place. I also thought of my sister-in-law who recently passed away and her love of flowers, too, and how I wished I could send her the pictures. I did send them to my mom and my kids. And shared a few on Instagram! Here are a few of my favorites!