May 26, 1999
John Peterson: History Teacher

The day dawned gray. It feels as if we have been wet for days now. Breakfast was potato pancakes from the NOLS Cookbook. They were a little bit gooey but tasted good. Baxter Holland, Ted's dad, showed up to do some kayaking with Ted. Some of the group paddled out to Ship Island and Button Island nearby to see the fossils there.

The sun began to come out and we walked about a mile and a half to the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum. After the rain we had that sunshine sure felt good. We got to the museum at about 12:30. We had to work our way around a couple of school groups but we pretty much had the place to ourselves when they weren't in an exhibit.

Among the highlights were a visit to the reproduction of the Revolutionary War gunboat Philadelphia. Students were greeted by a museum staff person playing the role of the commander of the ship. It was amazing how little space the original sailors had to live and work in. (left to right: Efe Cimrin, Ted Holland, T.J. Hooker, Tom Garofano, Sally Olson and the captain of the ship.)

The archeology lab was especially a treat. We were invited into the lab itself to view the anchor of the HMS Confiance which sank during the War of 1812. It was in such good condition that the word "Quebec", handpainted on one of the flukes, was still visible. The process of electrolysis, by which rust is removed from iron and steel artifacts was explained to the students. (Ryan Kitchen and Nicole Little are shown a deactivated fused exploding shell from the Civil War period retrieved in Vermont from where it had been discarded in a lake after the Civil War.)

That evening Mr. Olson surprised us with a visit. He brought along pizzas and Burnham Hollow pies! The canoers were eager to supplement their spanish rice and bean supper.