Spring Fling 2026 - Day 45: The Star Trek Original Series Sets Tour

 Friday, June 12

The friends we were visiting in Vermont, Tracey and Jason, were at work so we decided to drive over to Ticonderoga, NY to check out a kitschy tour of the movie sets reproduced from blueprints used in the Star Trek original series TV show. 

I say kitschy because that's what it sounded like to me before I got there. It turned out to be a pretty cool and fun experience.  Due to the fact that Lake Champlain is in the way it took about 2.5 hours to get there with the Honda CRV. 

We got there shortly before 10:00 a.m. which is just before it opened.  Soon after we were signed up for a guided tour of the movie sets. 

Just inside the main entrance, it's a whole bunch of Star Trek memorabilia and this scale model of the USS Enterprise featured in the original series. 

The start of the Tour began logically at the transporter room. 

Then it was time to go to Sick Bay:

A brief stop at the ship's conference room, check out the desktop computer: 

We then toured Doctor McCoy's office:

Followed by a tour of Captain Kirk's office and sleeping quarters.  Note: the sets only included one bedroom and office set. Show crews would put/remove personal items depending on which characters room it was.  So, while this is Kirk's stuff, this was the same set use for Spock's office scenes.

The engine room, the lighting was a bit funky but the detail was excellent.

The engine chamber was constructed to create an illusion of depth, in actuality it is only about 12 ft deep.

Last but not least, was the tour of the Enterprise's bridge: 

Everybody in the tour group got a chance to sit in the Kirk chair! 

The view from the chair: 

After the bridge set the tour was over and we thanked our quite knowledgeable and super trekky tour guide, Ashley. 

Back out in the front room / memorabilia room some things caught my eye:

Why a picture of Lucille Ball?  She and Desi Arnaz created the Desilu Motion Picture Studio.  Lucy bought out Desi's share of the studio and became the first female head of a film studio. 

In the trekkie world, Lucy is known as the godmother of Star Trek because she was the one that provided the $700,000 check to finance the pilot episode to Gene Roddenberry. 

She also apparently would regularly fund the production of episodes out of her own pocket and then the studio would repay her later on.  Money was tight since the studio was filming Mission Impossible episodes at the same time.

Each episode cost about $200,000 to produce.  In current dollars, it would be the equivalent of 2 million an episode. 

So, a fun way to spend an hour and a half or so up your time if you're in the vicinity of Ticonderoga, NY.

We decided to take a slightly different route back across Lake Champlain. We used a car ferry on the southern end of the lake to get across. It was $14 total or $7 a person.  Here's a shot of the ferry coming in. Not much sailing involved, I could see steel cables on both sides of the ferry platform.  I believe that it was pulled back and forth across the shores. 

About 3 hours later, we were back in our friend's house in Vermont.  A lovely dinner of Cuban sandwiches was created by Tracey:

After dinner, we memorialized this nice visit with pictures: 

I had sent The picture of Martha and I, with me in the Captain Kirk chair to a friend of mine in Pennsylvania whom we had recently stayed with:

He used a little AI magic to produce this: 

I responded with this: 

I know, wrong Enterprise and franchise, but the Picard look suits me, right?

Spring Fling 2026 - Day 44: More History Enroute to Friends in Vermont

We left the RV at Otto's place in Jaffrey, NH and drove the Honda CR-V the 3 hours or so north into Vermont.  

Enroute, we visited a few places.

First was the Saint-Gauden National Historic Park.  Run by the National Park Service, the site is dedicated to the Gilded Age sculptor: Augustus Saint-Gauden.  I'll be the first to admit I'd never heard of the man, but I do like his work!

The realism and sense of motive created in his work is quite striking and one can see why he acquired the fame and following he enjoyed.

Admiral Farragut

"Damn the Torpedoes, Full Speed Ahead!"

Across from the admiral above, there's a small reflection pool with Golden Turtles acting as water fountains.

We toured Saint-Gauden home, very nice.  Sorry, but nothing eye-catching to me within.

Next was his studio, here's the long bas-relief mural over the entrance:

Diana of the Tower, a smaller version of the original sculpture that once stood atop the tower on the Madison Square Garden, in NY.  Diana was the Roman Goddess of the Hunt.

Victory, this winged statue was originally conceived as part of the Sherman Monument in New York City.

Saint-Gauden Studio

One of his more famous, and to me, striking works:  the Robert Gould Shaw Memorial, he commanded the 54th Massachusetts Regiment in the US Civil War.  One of the first African American Regiments.  

We next headed over to the Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller Historical Park.  The site seems to educate the visitor on the birth of Nature Conservation and Preservation for future generations.  

The land was once exploited for its lumber resources, as was most of Early America, and the damage through erosion and such inspire the early efforts to repair and learn to balance the use of resources with future conservancy uses.

The 1885 version of the mansion

The efforts of Marsh (diplomat), Billings (Lawyer and namesake for Billings, Mt, and Laurance Rockefeller); all tied together by sequential ownership of this land, helped educate and pave the way for similar efforts nationwide along with such regulations as the Clean Water Act which came much later.

The mansion's interiors showcased the wealth which allowed the conservancy efforts:

Sunset in Yellowstone 

Next stop was a farmer's market were we picked up sandwiches and sodas for lunch at a small town park nearby. 

After lunch, we went to the Simon Pearce Glass Blowing Workshop in the town of Quechee, VT.  Along The way we saw a couple of covered bridges:

I believe part of the large power demands of the glass furnaces is provided by a generator that is powered by the waterfall next door.

Simon Pearce back in the beginning....

The offerings of glass items were nice but a bit pricey for us.  Once we were finished with the glassware place, we headed to Adamant, VT to visit with friends who have moved there from Colorado.

Will be in Vermont for the next two nights, returning to New Hampshire on Saturday evening.