Before leaving Lisbon Beach Campground we took one last walk along the scenic St. Lawrence Seaway. After our walk we packed up, ate lunch and hit the road. It would be a longer drive this day of around 150 miles and after about three hours we pulled into Twin Ells Campground in West Chazy New York.
We have a nice pull through site with full hookups and all for only $20.00 per night, thanks to Passport America. Oddly they do charge extra for electricity even at the daily rate which we will have to go back and pay prior to departure. Our first excursion was over to Plattsburg New York to check out the town and the college there.
The town is a nice town with historic buildings many of which have been renovated and the whole town seems to be undergoing some revitalization. It appears to be a mostly blue collar downtown area with a nice mix of stores, restaurants and bars. Nearby is the State University of New York at Plattsburgh founded in 1889. It is a small school of 6350 students with a few notable buildings.
Another day we decided to drive around Lake Champlain, a huge lake by any standard. Why this lake isn’t included in the USA Great Lakes is a bit puzzling. Especially puzzling since it was named the nation’s sixth great lake in 1998 when then President Clinton signed a bill however after a public uproar of the naming it was rescinded 18 days later. So we did have a sixth great lake for 18 days.
On the other side of the lake from our camp site is Burlington Vermont home to the University of Vermont which was founded in 1791. We parked in Visitor Parking near the athletic fields and walked around campus. We happened to arrive between classes and it appears there is one major walkway from the dorms near the athletic fields to the core campus. We know this because we were walking amongst many of the nearly 12,000 students as they were hustling and bustling across campus. We felt as if we were ants in a large colony merely following the ants in front of us…
The University has many cool buildings on campus including Williams Hall and the Old Mill building. Also interesting is the Colonial styled Ira Allen Chapel. There is also an amazing green space in the middle of campus with beautiful stately trees under which many students were sitting under while taking time to relax or study.
We did learn something new as the Vermont University mascot is called a catamount. I always knew there were many different colloquial names for a cougar such as mountain lion, puma and panther but now I know they are also called catamounts! I never knew that! Researching the new word revealed it originated as late Middle English from the word catamountain derived from the phrase cat of the mountain. Interesting…
We also found a nice Disc Golf Course in nearby Cadyville NY and a nice Happy Hour at Olive Ridley's in downtown Plattsburg so that is where we ended most days enjoying cold pints of Beaver Bite IPAs brewed by Paradox Brewery from Schroon Lake, NY.
NOTE: We are currently in West Chazy NY and then we will move on over to Graniteville Vermont through the Labor Day weekend.
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ReplyDeleteThanks Henry maybe we will cross paths one day...
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