My wife's family is from up-state New York and is having a family reunion in the Lake George area this summer. I am not sure where we are staying ,but we may take advantage of a free place around Killington, VT, about 1.5 hours from Lake George. Anything ducky or especially interesting to see in these areas? We plan to get out for a few hikes, but otherwise we have no clue on what to do. Thanks for any suggestions.
NDR--Lake George NY Area
- Thread starter Andrew H
- Start date
CAnderson
Well-known member
Hackercraft Boat factory was or is still there. We got to take a look around about 10 y.o. when I was at Lake George last. We rented a small boat and camped on an island out in the lake somewhere. The factory was pretty cool. Being able to see beautiful hand-built mahogany boats never gets old.
Something to consider. The tour would be short as the factory is not huge. Maybe an hour or so depending upon how much conversation you get into. As George mentioned, plenty of beautiful scenary to take in and the fishing always seems to be good. A very good friend has been vacationing in the same rental cabin for 2wks each summer for the past 25-30 years.
Something to consider. The tour would be short as the factory is not huge. Maybe an hour or so depending upon how much conversation you get into. As George mentioned, plenty of beautiful scenary to take in and the fishing always seems to be good. A very good friend has been vacationing in the same rental cabin for 2wks each summer for the past 25-30 years.
Greg Tessar
Member
My family and I have been going up there for 35 years both in winter and summer. We always love to go to Blue Mountain Lake to boat,canoe, and fish. It's a lot quieter than Lake George. In That same area is the Adirondack Museum which is nice to spend an hour or two learning about the history
Of the Adirondack area. We also Ski at Gore mountain during the winter. Mountain biking is a blast at Garnet Hill Lodge and whitewater rafting in the same area. Have fun.
Of the Adirondack area. We also Ski at Gore mountain during the winter. Mountain biking is a blast at Garnet Hill Lodge and whitewater rafting in the same area. Have fun.
Lawrence Pyne
Member
If you have the time, head up to the Shelburne Museum on Rt. 7 just south of Burlington. It has a collection of early American waterfowl hunting decoys that is billed (pun intended) as the most comprehensive collection in the country. The museum has more than 900 decoys and carvers include Elmer Crowell, Shang Wheeler, Gus Wilson, Bill Bowman, Joseph Lincoln, Lee Dudley, George Warin and John Blair. Decoys from Maine, Massachusetts, Long Island, Chesapeake Bay, Illinois, Quebec and other regions are exhibited, and there's some neat items from the old market hunting days.
There's also a lot more to see if you like folk art and early Americana. The museum itself is very unusual. It is not one or two big buildings. Instead, it consists of more than a dozen original 18th, 19th and early 20th century buildings (and one paddlewheel steamboat) that have been carefully relocated to the museum's grounds. They include an old lighthouse, a round barn, a general store and apothecary, and an old schoolhouse, among other things. Each building houses one or more collections.
Although not duck related, the museum's Beach Lodge and Gallery is pretty cool if you like to hunt. The Lodge is an old Adirondack hunting camp and it is full of trophy big-game heads and full-body mounts, some of which were taken by museum founders Electra Havemeyer Webb and her husband James Watson Webb, who also helped develop the B&C big-game scoring system. The gallery is devoted to wildlife-related paintings, prints and bronzes by artists like Carl Rungius, Arthur Fitzwilliam Tait and Sydney Laurence. Last year it also hosted a collection of 18th and 19th century guns made in Vermont.
I also like the Ogden Pleissner Gallery, which includes a re-creation of the famous painter's Manchester, Vermont, studio as it was on the day of his death, right down to his favorite bird gun leaning against the wall.
I highly recommend it. You can learn more at shelburnemuseum.org.
If you're more interested in fly fishing, however, head south to Manchester, where you can visit Orvis' main retail store and rod-making shop, and the nearby American Museum of Fly Fishing.
Finally, if you want to blend in with all the clueless, knucklehead tourists that descend on Vermont, you can visit Ben & Jerry's main facility in Waterbury and buy a tie-dyed T-shirt. (The ice cream is great, but the rest of the trappings I can live without.)
There's also a lot more to see if you like folk art and early Americana. The museum itself is very unusual. It is not one or two big buildings. Instead, it consists of more than a dozen original 18th, 19th and early 20th century buildings (and one paddlewheel steamboat) that have been carefully relocated to the museum's grounds. They include an old lighthouse, a round barn, a general store and apothecary, and an old schoolhouse, among other things. Each building houses one or more collections.
Although not duck related, the museum's Beach Lodge and Gallery is pretty cool if you like to hunt. The Lodge is an old Adirondack hunting camp and it is full of trophy big-game heads and full-body mounts, some of which were taken by museum founders Electra Havemeyer Webb and her husband James Watson Webb, who also helped develop the B&C big-game scoring system. The gallery is devoted to wildlife-related paintings, prints and bronzes by artists like Carl Rungius, Arthur Fitzwilliam Tait and Sydney Laurence. Last year it also hosted a collection of 18th and 19th century guns made in Vermont.
I also like the Ogden Pleissner Gallery, which includes a re-creation of the famous painter's Manchester, Vermont, studio as it was on the day of his death, right down to his favorite bird gun leaning against the wall.
I highly recommend it. You can learn more at shelburnemuseum.org.
If you're more interested in fly fishing, however, head south to Manchester, where you can visit Orvis' main retail store and rod-making shop, and the nearby American Museum of Fly Fishing.
Finally, if you want to blend in with all the clueless, knucklehead tourists that descend on Vermont, you can visit Ben & Jerry's main facility in Waterbury and buy a tie-dyed T-shirt. (The ice cream is great, but the rest of the trappings I can live without.)
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Lawrence Pyne
Member
I have to agree with george w. There are historic sites and remnants of the War of 1812, Revolutionary War, and French and Indian War (think Roger's Rangers) up and down the Champlain Valley. Fort Ticonderoga and the historic site across the lake on the Vermont side at Mount Independence are worth visiting. To cross here, you have to take a four-vehicle cable ferry that is the oldest continuously operating ferry in the country. It can be quite beautiful in the summer and you might even see a few ducks. (Benedict Arnold and Ethan Allen launched their surprise attack on Fort Ti in 1775 very close to the ferry landing on the Vermont side.)
Also, the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum up at Basin Harbor, on the Vermont side, is a must-visit if you're into wooden boats and boat building. The first ships in what would become the U.S. Navy were built in nearby Vergennes.
Also, the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum up at Basin Harbor, on the Vermont side, is a must-visit if you're into wooden boats and boat building. The first ships in what would become the U.S. Navy were built in nearby Vergennes.