Saturday morning would mark the 250th anniversary of the fort's seizure in 1775 by the Green Mountain Boys-a rumbustious militia of proto-Vermonters who spent years violently defending their bite-size territory-but so far the rain was at best blighting and at worst obliterating every enriching activity the Fort Ticonderoga staff had dreamed up. A plan for the reenactors to sleep under starlight when we'd arrived on Thursday had been downgraded to a plan to shiver in a barn all night.
Almost 150 years later, visitors of all ages explored history through presentations and lectures and hands-on activities, like writing secret messages in invisible ink and learning how "camp followers" - women who supported the troops with first aid and cleaning - washed the soldiers' uniforms.