We travelled to Plattsburg, NY and were pleasantly surprised to discover that there are lots of things to see!
Plattsburgh, NY has lots of fun golf courses. But, what a great surprise when we found that close by is Lake Placid, home of the 1932 and 1980 Olympics. This is the home of the 1980 "Miracle on Ice" but the movie recounting the famous USA hockey Gold Medal victory was not shot here - it was shot in Canada.
We took the Veterans's Memorial Highway, an historic 8 mile highway to the top of the only Adirondack High Peak accessible by car.
You can't miss the ski runs at Whiteface Mountain, with the highest elevation in the Northeast and the greatest vertical drop east of the Rockies. It is currently the training & competition site for elite alpine and snowboard athletes as well as being a world renowned winter playground for snow enthusiasts.
Best stop in Lake Placid was the Olympic Jumping Complex, home of the twin towered ski jumps, one of only 3 sites in the US with jumping towers of this magnitude. We hopped on the gondola at the base of the slopes...
... and rode to the base of the tower, took the 26 story elevator and rode up the tower to enjoy this amazing view from the top! It is scary to think of slipping on a pair of skis and sliding down from 120 meters! They also have the Freestyle training center at this site, where you can see the olympic hopefuls practicing aerials into the pool. But, we already showed those in our visit to Park City, Utah, home of the 2002 olympics.
As you can see, Mark got the Olympic spirit and could not resist standing on the podium and taking the gold!
While in Lake Placid we toured the quaint little town and enjoyed a casual dinner on a restaurant patio. The weather was perfect and the scenery was even better!
South of Plattsburgh, is Fort Ticonderoga and we took the opportunity to take a step back in history and visit the fort. In 1755, the fort was built by the Marquis de Vaudreuil, Governor of France, to guard the narrow water highway connecting Canada with Britian's American colonies.
We got there just in time to join in on the parade led by the Fife & Drum Corp...
...and you can join in on the experience and hear the 18th century military music that captures the American spirit by following along via this video.
While touring through the extensive weapons collection of those used in the French & Indian War and the American Revolution, I got a chance to show off my riflery skills!
I always like to compare the before in the vestiages of the fort before the reconstruction...
...and the after of a fort that was used in two wars, and five battles!.
Most interesting to us was that in 1776 George Washington, with the help of Col. Henry Knox, took the cannons from the vacated fort to drive the British Army out of Boston. And, before that, in 1775, Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold siezed the fort in the first American victory in the American Revolution!
We also found two interesting water sites in the area, High Falls Gorge and Ausable Chasm. But, those are for the next blog!
... and rode to the base of the tower, took the 26 story elevator and rode up the tower to enjoy this amazing view from the top! It is scary to think of slipping on a pair of skis and sliding down from 120 meters! They also have the Freestyle training center at this site, where you can see the olympic hopefuls practicing aerials into the pool. But, we already showed those in our visit to Park City, Utah, home of the 2002 olympics.
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