Image: rchrdcnnnghm, Flickr

Lake Champlain, home of Champ, the Lake Champlain monster, is also home of an international quadricentennial celebration taking place during this summer. Discovered by explorer, Samuel deChamplain in 1609, the lake’s shore line borders New York state, Quebec, Canada and Vermont. Thousands of vistiors are expected to celebrate the rich history of the lake. Human history isn’t the only fascination with the lake.

Beluga whale skeletons have been found in Lake Champlain, showing that after the last glacier melted, 10,000 years ago, the “Champlain Sea” as it was called, was salt water, connected to the Atlantic ocean. Champlain has legendary tournament bass fishing, camping and recreational areas, spectacular boating and sailing against the backdrop of the awesome Adirondack mountains of New York and the glorious Green Mountains of Vermont.

The Lake Champlain watershed was home to several Native American tribes, French soldiers, British soldiers and finally immigrants from Europe. The lake is a backdrop to several forts and war battlegrounds dating back to pre-revolutionary war, hundreds of ship wrecks, from wooden war and shipping vessels to horse ferries and steamboats.

Among the must-see museums are the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum at Basin Harbor in Ferrisburgh and the Echo Lake Aquarium and Science Center.

Starting soon, on June 18 through 20 you can enjoy the St. Albans Franco-American Heritage Festival Signature Event
at St. Albans, Vermont. Celebrate the long, rich cultural heritage of Franco-Americans as well as the natural history of the Lake Champlain region. Musical performances, historical exhibits, recreation, art displays, geneology, and much, much more. A huge celebration is planned in Burlington in early July. Detailed information on the 400 year celebration can be found at the Lake Champlain Quadricentennial Commission.