Program #18948RJ Jim Foster, Hamburg, NY
The program, “Lake Champlain: History and Heritage” was held at the historic Brandon Inn in Brandon Vermont which is the oldest continuously running inn having open its doors in 1786 as a one room tavern. The majority of the meals was served at the inn and were all superb. This was due to Louis Pattis who was an award winning Austrian trained chef. Our first day was filled with lectures on the early settlement of the Champlain Valley region area and the French and Indian wars in 1756. On our second day we took an informative cruise on Lake Champlain aboard the Carillon cruise boat. After the lake tour we boarded a ferry from Shoreham Vt and went over to Fort Ticongeroga, which is in New York, and had lunch. A guided tour of the fort was given to those wishing to see how it functioned in the 18th century. On the third day we had lectures on the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum which we were to visit the next day. This was helpful as it gave us a “heads-up” on what we were about to see the next day. That afternoon we were free to visit local attractions like the New England Maple museum where one learned how maple syrup is made. On our fourth day we traveled to Vergennes , Vermont to see the Maritime Museum where many exhibits and ships of the revolutionary war period were on display...."continued