Today is the 4th July, America's Independence Day. What better place to go find out about this holiday than an actual American Star Fort, Fort Ticonderoga. It was a couple of hours drive away on the border with Vermont. But first we had one thing to do. Freedom day required some show of freedom, so we planted a flag in Sam's front garden.
With the stars and stripes firmly planted, we set off.
After the fort was used for military opperations in the war for independence, it was purchased by a private family and a summer house was built on the grounds. It already had extensive gardens for feeding troops that were stationed there during the war but now they were extended for this summer house and they were build on an english style. Our first tour was of the King's gardens.
It is clear these gardens have been well looked after and were really very beautiful. I think they gave Sam some ideas of what to do in her new Garden.
We headed back up to the Fort for some lunch and then took a wander around the fort itself. We looked in the Museums and followed the tours with the tour guides all dressed in period costumes. It was all very interesting to learn about the history of the fort as it changed hands from the French to the British to the Americans and how it worked in conjunction with another fort across the peninsular (no longer standing) to protect the two lakes, Lake George and Lake Champlain.
It was interesting to learn that the Declaration of Independence was actually signed on the 3rd of July 1776 but never really came into effect until the following year, there was still fighting, which meant the 4th of July 1776 was just another day for the soldiers at this fort.
There was even musket and cannon demonstrations, where the guides explained how the men would act in formation and how these weapons were fired. The noise and the smoke from just a few muskets and one cannon was enormous so I imagined how it would be with hundreds of soldiers firing and numerous cannons bellowing smoke in the heat of battle.
After exploring the fort, we took a trip up to mount Defiance, where the British placed their cannons in order to take the Fort. While there we learnt about how the landscape played it's part and how the occupants of the fort knew Mount Defiance was a liability but didn't believe anyone capable of placing cannons up there but they didn't count on the resourcefulness of the royal artillery.
The whole tour was incredibly interesting and tied in really well with our visit to Saratoga a few days before because that's where the British army chased the Americans to after taking the fort and the real war for Independence began.
After seeing all there was to see, we took to the road and headed home. We were both pretty tired from the trip and decided not to go to the Albany fireworks display, held at Empire Plaza in the center of Albany. We didn't like the idea of sitting around for a few hours waiting with those crowds but rather went home to get some food and watch the display on the television.
The display was fantastic and we could hear the noise from Sam's house. It must of been so loud down at the plaza. I commented on the fact that at least we don't have to put up with the smell of the smoke and Sam said she loved that smell, it was the small of summer to her. Strange, to me that's the smell of winter as we have our fireworks in November.
We finished watching the display and were yawning heavily so headed to bed. However, some people were still letting off fireworks and the sounds of their freedom were keeping this Brit awake. The noise eventually stopped and I was able to get to sleep.
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