ALEXANDRIA BAY, N.Y. -- It's not a secret.

When soldiers get orders to station on Fort Drum, if they don't know it, there's a pause.

"At any point when somebody tells you you're going to Fort Drum, they think snow up to your hips. When we first found out, my wife and I found out, we started checking the weather," SFC Arturo Duran said.

"I'm used to a heavy city like Jacksonville, Florida. It's not quiet at all. There's a lot of sirens at night time," Spec. Austin Asbury said of his hometown.

Because there's no big city, there's also the thought there's nothing to do. It's a thought Fort Drum's Morale, Welfare and Recreation organization scoffs at.

"All the new soldiers come in and they're just not used to the beauty of the North Country up here," MWR Director Hal Greer said "So that's a common theme for the first six months."

The amount of time Greer says, it typically takes for people to settle down and start to explore. MWR teams up with local villages and businesses all the time to help them do that. Wednesday soldiers got the day off to travel to Alexandria Bay.

"They start out here with a boat ride," Greer said. "They go to Boldt Castle to see the local area, the local attractions. They come back over here and go up to a great barbecue."

It's events like these the soldiers say can change minds and change perceptions as they get out and about to see what there really is here to offer.

"I'd like to take the boat out and go fishing. That would be awesome," Asbury said.

"I do want to go to the castle. I haven't been there yet," Former Drum Soldier Elisa Betta said.

"We were sitting in the front of the boat and saw some of the jet skis flying by," Duran said. "You start wondering where I can get those. You start inquiring with people that have been here. Where can I rent those? Where can I buy them?'"

That's how dread can, over time, become home.

This Riverfest event is a kickoff to next week's MountainFest, a big event for soldiers and their families with a concert from Country Star Lee Brice and an appearance from 9-time MMA Champion Matt Hughes. MountainFest will be open to the public.