One Year Ago

Very dark picture into the cave of our moving truck 

Exactly one year ago, Lane and I arrived in Fort Drum, NY. We drove our Penske truck from Fort Benning, Georgia to our new home in the frozen north. Honestly, I was very nervous about moving up here. Drum doesn't have the best reputation among Army posts. After a year, I can say that I really like it here. Yes, it is cold. Yes, it snows a lot. However, we had gorgeous weather up until pretty much December. The summers are beautiful and honestly, shoveling snow is a great work out. I am very happy here, and hope this blog post might be comforting to any nervous army spouses about to make the move up north

 In celebration of our one year at Drum, here are my top ten (not in any particular order) favorite things about Fort Drum.

Adkins Facebook Page

1. An awesome gym

I absolutely love the Adkins Functional Fitness center. It is the newest gym on post and is a great place to work out. 

2. Mustard Seed

This is the health food store in Watertown. This place has very tasty snacks, and also has a cafe open during peak hours. I love being able to get my paleo snacks here. They have awesome employees and great products. 

3. Coleman's

My favorite restaurant in Watertown. It has Irish pub food, but everything is delicious and it is so much better than all the chain restaurants around town. I am always shocked that not many military families know Coleman's exists. 

4. Gorgeous summers

I don't mind the southern humidity, but the summers here are just about perfect. It is cool enough in the evenings to take walks and enjoy sitting outside. 

5. My huge house

Ok, so clearly this is not going to be the same for everyone. We really lucked out with our house on-post. There is definitely a wait for on-post housing, but it is totally worth it. I absolutely love our house. They come with some problems, but the convenience and size cannot be beat. I love the red door, open floor plan, and massive kitchen. 

6. Multiple dog parks on post

I am lucky to have a dog park two blocks from my house. There are three dog parks on post, and it has been a wonderful resource for me and Asha. 

7. Syracuse is only an hour away

We have driven down to Syracuse a few time and always have a blast. We go down for Lane's tattoos, visits to Barnes and Noble, and trips to Hobby Lobby and Wegmans. You can definitely get the big city feeling and not have to travel that far. 

8. Great yoga classes

This might be the same everywhere, but I never went to the on-post gym at Fort Benning so I don't know. Fort Drum has a lot of different group exercise classes available at the on-post gyms. Monti has yoga both in the morning and in the evenings a few days a week. They have excellent teachers, and I try to go whenever I can. 

9. Thompson Park 

This gorgeous park is in Watertown and not too far away from Fort Drum. They have a small zoo and gorgeous green areas. We took our Christmas Card pictures there. 

10. Awesome people. 

There is a lot to be said for southern hospitality, but I have found wonderful people here in the North Country too. People stop to help strangers who are stuck in the snow. My neighbors have shoveled my driveway for me. People are very helpful and willing to pitch in. Maybe it comes from living somewhere with pretty harsh winters, but there is a sense of community even among strangers. 

So there you have some of my favorite things about Fort Drum. I am happy to talk to anyone PCS'ing up here, and provide any assistance I can. I was scared at first, but it has turned out to be wonderful for Lane and for me. I love my job, my house, and my friends. What more could a girl ask for?