2-Day Adirondack War Stories | Educational Tours & Graduation Trips

Fort Ticonderoga, Lake Champlain, New York State

Day 1 You'll See:

Day 2 You’ll See:

Get ready for an extremely fun and informational 2-day war-themed tour of the Adirondack region, a true blast from the past that will excite all the history and war buffs in your group! On this trip your group will have the chance to see the most important, popular, and all-around thrilling war and battle sites of this area. The battle-torn history of this region is astonishing, as you will learn about at any of the many forts, museums, and historical sites you visit. You’ll have the opportunity to visit one of the oldest and most mysterious U.S. air force bases, the oldest home in this region, and even some of the oldest eateries and breweries around! Your group is really going enjoy this history-packed getaway in the gorgeous Adirondacks region, and you are really going to enjoy all the mini-information sessions they will get all along the way. The Adirondacks region is the absolute best place to get historical information, cultural secrets, and educational insights to the war-torn northern territory that was once so important to the future of our young and ambitious country, so go ahead and book your 2-day tour today!

Day
1

Fort Ticonderoga - Fort Ticonderoga is America’s Fort, the place where the clash for an empire and struggle for liberty happened. This site is one of the most significant and oldest historical places to visit in North America. The fort tells the story of how armies of Great Britain and France struggled to control the location and also where a generation later American’s fought to establish a free nation. While here your group will get to explore the over 2,000 acres of exquisite landscape that overlooks Lake Champlain as well as Vermont’s Green Mountains. There are over 100 exciting and unique events and programs that happen here annually, all of which history enthusiasts, field trip groups, families, and educators will appreciate. Daily programs happen at the museum as well, in which you can explore objects, exhibits, weapons, and artifacts such as powder horns. The rich history, beautiful landscape, and engaging programming will suck your group in and make you want to stay here learning and sightseeing all day!

America’s Fort Cafe - America’s Fort Cafe is the absolute best place to eat while visiting Fort Ticonderoga. This restaurant provides the most unique and delicious culinary offerings around the region! Localvore dining is taken advantage of here, with fresh salads straight from Fort Ticonderoga’s King’s Garden. They also serve up a wide variety of sandwiches and daily specials, as well as the best views of Lake Champlain, Mount Defiance, and the Green Mountains of Vermont. The interior of this rustic mountainside cafe provides a cozy family setting, and together with the famous homemade pies your group will get a truly memorable dining experience. Try the apple pie, the apples coming straight from the Orchard down the street, or any of the locally made regional beer or wine!

Crown Point Historic Site - The Crown Point Historic Site is an original 18th century structure sitting on a peninsula in Crown Point, New York, that provides highly valued historic information and revolutionary patriotic information. This was the very site of the 1734-59 French occupation of the limestone fortress Fort Frederic, as well as the 1759 lavishly built British Fort Crown Point. Soon after American troops had their hand at this spot during the Revolutionary War, then it was handed over to the Union and Columbia Colleges after the American Revolution. The state of New York gained control of this location in 1910. Explore the ruins of the historic structures and tour the newly renovated museum while here. The museum holds an auditorium with an award-winning multimedia presentation that provides an orientation to the site. Tour the exhibits and grounds, which includes the Champlain Memorial Lighthouse. These grounds are also often used as campgrounds, outdoor recreation sites, and the obvious history buff adventure area.

Champlain Memorial Lighthouse - Completed and dedicated in 1912, the Champlain Memorial Lighthouse is known as one of the most unusual lighthouses of its kind in the entire world. This lighthouse is located on an outcropping just below the great bridge, south of the ruins of the French and British Forts in Crown Point, New York. The lighthouse, as well as the surrounding bridge and lake, is named after the French explorer Samuel de Champlain. This lighthouse was erected on the base of an earlier stone tower constructed in 1858, the new imposing edifice serving a dual purpose of a reconstructed lighthouse and an aid to navigation. The lighthouse itself was built in a neoclassical style with 8 Doric columns surrounding a cylindrical shaft. It stands at 55 foot tall and contains a 5th order Fresnel lens typical of this area that saw 15 miles in the distance. Your group is really going to enjoy this historical and cultural hot spot on the beautiful Lake Champlain!

Plattsburgh Brewing Co - Jason Stoyanoff recently started the Plattsburgh Brewing Co, a new, fast-paced popularity gaining brewery in the Plattsburgh Comfort Inn. This location used to be called the Legends Brewing Company, and in both places has operated successful business under the motto ‘fresh brews, fresh food’. Here you will find home brews, experiments, seasonal brews, and local favorites, each made with the best and most fresh local ingredients. Stoyanoff has recently put an emphasis on IPA brews, and the top 4 sellers currently include Dr. Beaumont’s Brown Ale, Plucky Rooster, Angry Musket, and MacDonough's Ghost Ale. Both the outside and the inside of this pub feature stained wood and dark brick decor, tying the bar together nicely in a rustic-cabin decor mixed with luxury restaurant design. The food here is phenomenal, all the homemade dishes using locally sourced ingredients from the Adirondacks region.You can even get a growler or keg to go!

Day
2

Plattsburgh Air Force Base - The Plattsburgh Air Force Base is a highly historical, hugely informational, and speculatively mysterious site in the extreme northeast corner of New York, just 20 miles south of the Canadian border. Established as a U.S. military air force base in 1955, this site is actually known as the oldest military post in the United States, the entire site having participated in every major American War, from the Revolutionary War to Operation Desert Storm. While here your group can explore the 2014 established museum, highlighting 40 years of United States Air Force presence in Plattsburgh. Many people are also drawn to this 3,447 acre former air force base due to the legends and lore floating around about "Phoenix Undead" and the rumored psy-ops programs that have possibly taken place here under the command of Eric Harris. There is rumored to be a vast 18-level subterranean facility under the over two mile long runway, in which it is believed mind control tests used to happen in the 1960s and in which particle accelerators and beam research is conducted today!

Battle of Plattsburgh Interpretive Center - Located within the War of 1812 Museum on Washington Road in Plattsburgh, New York, your group will find the Allan S. Everest Interpretive Center. More often called the Battle of Plattsburgh Interpretive Center, this permanent exhibit chronologically recounts the events of the battles at Plattsburgh within the context of the War of 1812. The political and economical causes of the war are highlighted in length, as are the land and naval engagements at Plattsburgh during the time. The exhibits are anchored by a 5.15 diorama and interactive scale model of the village as it was in 1814. This provides visitors with the aerial view of the 30,000 acre battlefield, the British and American encampments, forts, batteries, and battles of 1814. You will see scale models of ships, copies of ‘secret’ orders directing British attacks, and discover why Winston Churchill and Theodore Roosevelt called these the "most important events of the war of 1812."

Champlain Valley Transportation Museum - Established in 2000 by a group of serious car and history enthusiasts is your next stop at the Champlain Valley Transportation Museum in northern New York. This museum first featured only automobiles but has grown into an expansive exhibit space showcasing many different forms of transportation. Take notice, while you are here, of the Lozier Motor Company’s involvement with this museum’s focus, being the company that built some of the finest vehicles during their time of production in the early 1900s. The museum as a whole is dedicated to exploring, interpreting, and celebrating this region’s rich transportation history. Inside the many show rooms you will see a myriad of antique automobiles, from the 1903 Oldsmobile and 1910 National Speedster to the 1981 home-built electric town car. Your group will see an authentic old-fashioned doctor’s buggy, model train through the Plattsburgh mini city, and many various Lozier family artifacts. Boats, including an impressive Titanic exhibit, trains, and over 750 diecast models of cars, planes, trains, fire engines, tractors, and the like can also be found throughout the museum!

Historic Downtown Plattsburgh - Plattsburgh is home to world-class bass fishing, several gorgeous natural attractions, its own sea creature legend, a marina, beach and picnic areas, recreation trails, boat launches, and the most quaint restaurants and shops in the downtown area. Downtown Plattsburgh is surrounded by mountain peaks reaching heights of 5,000 feet aside Lake Champlain, making it a truly picturesque location! While exploring downtown your group will have the chance to visit many of the fun shops, including A New Leaf, Champlain Centre North, Plattsburgh Consumer Square, and Maui North Ski Shop. After you’ve shopped till you drop head over to the many fine and casual dining options from Blue Collar Bistro and the exotic Himalaya Restaurant to Latitude 44 Grill and Quiche et Crepa. You should also be sure to save time to visit the nearby War of 1812 Museum, an excellent homage to the Forgotten War that will give your group a small yet fun history lesson while here!

Kent-DeLord House Museum - The Kent-DeLord House Museum is Plattsburgh's only historic house museum, a member of the National Register of Historic Places list as well as the oldest home remaining in all of Plattsburgh. This historic home was built in 1797, celebrating over 200 years of essential American history. Here you will find the hope, struggles, and fears that the DeLord family had through a century of war then peace then war again. All of the DeLord and Webb family heirlooms, original 1811 furnishings, and personal objects have found a permanent home in this museum. Inside your group will find many authentic portraits, furniture, dinnerware, books, letters, and personal items that span the family's three generations of residents. The house itself is a two-story, rectangular wood frame home with a gable roof, large entrance porch, and brick chimneys. The museum strives to provide a unique educational experience based on authentic objects and stories of the Delord family and helps guests explore the challenges of daily life set against a backdrop of a new country at war.

The Strand - The Strand, located in Old Forge, New York, is the perfect place to experience a true community hot spot, historical site, and fun entertainment attraction all at once. This enduring community theater/movie house today shows current first run features, but in a unique 1920s era entertainment setting. Historically speaking, this theater was first constructed in 1922, a rushed process in which the Thompson brothers dealt with falling frames, a quickly-coming and ultimately devastating winter season, and a slightly impatient crowd of locals. The Strand saw regular performances by the city orchestra and local pianist, as well as showings of popular movies such as the first shown here, The Old Homestead. While here your group will see quite a bit of memorabilia throughout the lobby displays, such as the over one hundred movie posters from the past. A visit here is not only a fun and relaxing wind down from your exciting Adirondack adventure, but it also supports a long-standing local landmark and community asset. The Strand Theater is truly a golden throwback site and hidden gem in the Adirondacks region of Old Forge.