Sunny days on the lake, great restaurants, hot night spots, thrilling amusement park rides — you’d expect all this with a visit to Lake George. The vacation destination in New York’s Adirondacks has been attracting tourists since the mid-19th century, and businesses in Lake George Village keep up with the times offering visitors the latest in modern entertainment and amenities.
However, alongside the Wi-Fi hotspots and locavore-friendly eateries, there remains mid-20th-century attractions that predate the Technology Revolution. They offer an interesting, often amusing, trip back to a past of folding roadmaps and telephones with cords. Buried underneath the bustling tourist town (literally, archaeologists are still digging up bones) is the military history of the area, which dates back to the Colonial Wars. Throw in a floating homage to the South Pacific and an unexplained phenomenon of acoustics and you have our list of offbeat Lake George attractions.
Scary or Cheesy? The Retro Wax Museum Experience
Enter, if you dare, the dark labyrinth of the House of Frankenstein. The horror-themed wax museum has been a fixture on Canada Street for decades. Its displays are drawn from literature (Poe’s The Pit and the Pendulum, Stoker’s Dracula and Shelley’s Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus) and classic horror movies. Brave visitors may activate some of the scenes with the push of a button. The self-guided tour includes some funhouse effects. (You have to walk through a swirling black hole to exit.) It can get gory, and may not be appropriate for young children, but some find the melodrama amusing.
A Little Polynesian Pop Culture Floating on the Lake
Tiki bars are not new to Lake George. Entrepreneur Charles Wood opened The Tiki Resort back in the 60s, and it is still going strong with nightly Polynesian shows through the summer. Duffy’s Tavern on Lower Amherst Street, along with its Irish pub vibe, touts a tiki bar on their upper deck. The thatch-roofed décor adds little tropical fun about 5,000 miles from Hawaii.
Since the summer of 2016, Tiki Tours has been offering Lake George cruises on floating tiki bars. Passengers charter a tour as a group. The vessel can accommodate up to 12 passengers. The company does not sell food or drink; it is a bring-your-own affair. The captain navigates while guests belly up to the bar and enjoy a 75-minute cruise along the shoreline.
Long-dead Soldiers Continue to March on this Fort’s Ramparts
Fort William Henry sits at the head of Lake George. The original fort was built by the British in 1755 and destroyed by the French two years later following a horrific massacre that saw the slaughter of hundreds, including women and children. A replica of the fort was built in the 50s on the site of the old fort and serves as a living museum with colonial-garbed tour guides offering up French and Indian War history. Apparently, modern day tour guides and vacationers are not the only souls that move around behind the fort walls.
Fort employees have reported odd occurrences at the museum — flickering lights, unexplained footsteps, wind chimes that ring without a breeze and the sound of heavy boots marching along the empty ramparts.
In 2010, paranormal investigators with the Syfy Chanel show Ghost Hunters arrived with cameras and recording equipment. While the investigators were able to explain away some occurrences as reflections in glass and animal activity, they couldn’t explain footsteps heard overhead, whispering voices and a cough coming from a vacant room. If spirits that refuse to leave their earthly habitats are your thing, you’ll want to check out Fort William Henry.
Something Strange in the Middle Jail Cell at the Old County Courthouse
The fort isn’t the only haunt for restless spirits in Lake George Village. The Old Warren County Courthouse on Canada Street, just north of Shepard Park, apparently has its own ethereal residents. Built in 1845, the courthouse served as the Warren County government building, holding trials and housing criminals, until 1963. The building is now home to the Lake George Historical Association and its museum.
Association members Sandie and Scott Bauberger tell of some spooky encounters over the years. One incident that stands out for them is a brush with a spirit that is apparently a Beatles fan. It was a Sunday evening. The museum was closed. The Baubergers were in the museum bookstore completing the minutes from an Association meeting. “The air got really cold,” Sandie says, and she felt a heavy, invisible hand clamp down on her shoulder. A radio in the room, on its own, began playing music. “I remember the song,” says Scott, “it was, Here comes the Sun.” The music kept getting louder and no amount of dial- turning would shut off the music. It may have been a malfunctioning radio, but maybe not.
According to Scott, a psychic from the Edgar Cayce Association once told him the building was haunted by a tall man with a long beard, a fiddle player who was angry that Association members wouldn’t allow him to help with their duties. Scott dismissed this tale but had reason to reconsider it a couple years later when a visitor had photographed the building’s exterior at a time when the building was closed and empty. The image of a bearded man standing next to an Indian appeared in a courthouse window.
Whether you’re a ghost hunter or a history buff, the Old Warren County Courthouse makes an interesting jaunt. Just be warned, if you head down to basement jail, there is something ominous about the air in the middle cell …”
Throw Your Voice across the Lake and it Returns to Your Ear
There is nothing creepy about this final Lake George attraction. It’s a fun curiosity. On Beach Road, next to the Visitor Center, you will find Blais Park. The park, named for long-time Mayor Robert Blais, is the entrance to the Lakefront Walkway and boasts landscaped gardens and quiet seating areas. A scenic overlook dominates the park and features a map of the 32-mile long Lake George. Overlaying the map is an embedded brass arrow pointing to true North. Stand at the point where the arrow shaft meets the arrowhead and speak. Your voice will curl around from your mouth and enter your ear with an echo only you will hear. Move slightly off this spot and the echo disappears. No one has yet come up with an explanation for this.
Lake George Village is a wondrous place! Great article.