A park on the shore of Plattsburgh Bay.This week I find myself in quiet Plattsburgh on the Adirondack Coast (which is home to a whopping 600 miles of shoreline). The historic little town is a quick ferry jaunt across Lake Champlain from the coffee shops and art galleries of Burlington, Vermont. The locals and their signage call this area of upstate New York the ‘North Country’.

I took the scenic Amtrak Adirondack train directly from New York City’s Penn Station, through the Hudson Valley and alongside the shores of Lake Champlain. The ride even includes a free talk by National Park Service volunteers in the train’s cafe car, who provide information about the surrounding landscape, point out historic landmarks, and answer questions. It certainly beat a trek to the airport and being harassed by the TSA.

A country road antique shop in Plattsburgh, NY.Folks often roadtrip the surrounding area, past hilly cornfields in-between cute antique shops and farmer’s markets along backroads and highways, or to see the changing of fall leaves.

And francophiles can even get a bit of a fix because of Plattsburgh’s proximity to Québec, Canada.

Directional signs in Plattsburgh’s historic center show off a little French.Historic sites are marked all along Plattsburgh’s Riverwalk.The Battle of Plattsburgh was won by the US Navy on Sept 11th, 1814 and helped prevent the British from making any claims on US land during treaty negotiations.

A highlight is taking a stroll down the city’s Riverwalk with fantastic views of Lake Champlain, Plattsburgh Bay, the historic center of town and the Saranac River.