I pulled up stakes at the Shoreham Inn this morning, but before I did, captured this photo of Andrew Done, one of the owners. Unfortunately, Andrew’s wife Elizabeth was busy getting rooms ready for the next guests and wasn’t available for a photo. The two of them make a great team and I had an enjoyable stay in this historic old inn. Andrew is standing in front of a sign that was on the front of the inn until the 1930s.

Sadly, Andrew and Elizabeth lost their dog Koontz not long ago, but his memory lives on in this wood carving created by Norton, featured in yesterday’s post. I understand Norton’s keen eye for detail captured several unique aspects of the dog’s physiology and posture in a remarkably accurate way.

The marker shown below was only about a half mile from the Ticonderoga ferry on the Vermont side. It is definitely something you would miss in a car unless you knew it was there–it is down an embankment and surrounded by quite a bit of growth. The inscription reads: “From this spot Ethan Allen with eighty-three Green Mountain Boys embarked for the capture of Fort Ticonderoga May 10, 1775–To commemorate one of the most heroic adventures of the revolution this tablet has been erected by the Hand’s Cove Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution 1905.”

I had to wait about 30 minutes for the ferry to return–it had just left shore for the New York side as I pulled up.

On the ferry, I met this friendly group of French-speaking cyclists from Quebec. They loved my 30-year-old bike–a Trek Lemond. Greg Lemond, three-time winner of the Tour de France, is legendary in cycling circles, especially in French-speaking countries. He was the first non-European cyclist to win the Tour and the first cyclist to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated. These cycling friends are staying at a campground in Vermont and are spending a week doing day trips in the area. I took their photo and then they insisted that they take a photo of their group with me in it too. About an hour later, I saw their bikes parked outside Burleigh’s Luncheonette diner in Ticonderoga and considered that a good endorsement. So, I had lunch there myself and can tell you they make a very respectable chocolate malt.

Farewell to Vermont, and greetings to New York, my fourth state on this trip.

Ticonderoga honors its veterans by posting their photos on utility poles all over the city. I saw dozens of them as I rode through the town. I researched this a bit and discovered that 291 banners have been installed. In my research, I was also fascinated to learn that these banners include one for Marky Wolfe, a German Shephard from Ticonderoga who served in the U.S. Airforce for nine years, including six overseas wartime deployments. During that time, Marky swept over 45,000 vehicles and facilities for explosives. On his third deployment, in Afghanistan, Marky sustained a traumatic brain injury in a deadly explosion, and Marky and his handler were awarded a Purple Heart. Marky subsequently recovered and went on to handle more than 100 dangerous missions detecting explosives and weapons caches that saved countless lives.

Here is what these banners look like:

Perhaps I’ve left you all thinking that Ticonderoga’s role in history relates to the time of the American Revolution and before. Well, it is also a center for celebrating the much more recent history of the Star Trek TV series. Star Trek superfan and Ticonderoga native James Cawley has painstakingly recreated sets for the show that are considered to be the most accurate rebuild of the original sets, which no longer exist. William Shatner, a/k/a Captain Kirk, has visited the display several times, including a visit in celebration of his 90th birthday in 2021, and has called the recreation “absolutely incredible” and a “work of art.” Shatner was here in Ticonderoga again just a few weeks ago, and I understand that one reason I was unable to get a hotel reservation in Ticonderoga over the weekend was due to a Star Trek convention here.

Here is the rather non-descript storefront where the Star Trek Set Museum is located and some of the signs out front. It was closed today, or I would have stopped in.

The Adirondacks await–I can see them out the window of my room at the Best Western here in Ticonderoga. I hope my legs are ready for them!