(July 17, 2009 by Michael Zschokke)
The second day in Vermont was a wonderful one. Actually, more specifically, the day was in New York. The plan was to visit Saratoga and Fort Ticonderoga. Early in the morning, Mr. Sims, my dad, and I drove down the street to the Dunkin’ Donuts and purchased breakfast. Then we were on our way.
The clerk at the Maple Museum told us there was a water ferry that carried passengers from Vermont to New York via Lake Champlain. Thus we rode to the dock. The entire car fits on top of the ship. It was a couple minutes to get to New York, but Mr. Sims and I found time to walk and gaze at the water. 
We then continued to Fort Ticonderoga. The Fort is big. Stories were told that it was not kept up and became a pig sty; this is how the colonists captured it from the British in the Revolutionary War. I guess the owner must have been constantly cleaning for 200 years. The place was spick and span: the inside at least. Outside the walls were lined with cannons. 
Each wall had at least five cannons pointing in every direction. The fort itself is shaped kind of like a five-pointed star so each side covers another side. 
Inside the fort, each room is lined with muskets, uniforms, and other paraphernalia. The most valuable item in Fort Ticonderoga is one of the first United States flags to be sewn. It was actually sewn a month before Betty Ross made the official flag. After we stared in amazement, the car would have probably been fast enough to race a jet as it sped to the battlefield of Saratoga.
Believe it or not the battlefield of Saratoga is larger than that of Gettysburg. We payed $5 to drive our car up the trail that stopped by all the sites of the battle of Saratoga. The battlefield had beautiful scenery, despite the torrential downpour. 
We then headed home, as I was dropped of at 5 Nichols Street, the home of my cousins, Kyle and Ben.
