Lake Placid - Last Entry

This is being written 2 weeks after the trip, so I'll probably leave out some good stuff just because I don't remember it any more (if I come down with Alzheimer will anyone notice?). On our way home from Lake Placid, we spent a couple of delightful hours back in Saratoga Springs - had to pick up the wine. Then we headed to our favorite B&B in Lancaster County, PA, the Harvest Moon in New Holland. Yes, we were in the heart of Dutch PA and Amish country. If you are in a hurry, forget about it, you will get stuck behind a horse and buggy. Here's a picture of Harvest Moon:

Our first visit here was with our dinner club and following breakfast we were treated to a fun cooking class.  The family that own and live here are delightful. Both husband and wife are trained chefs with impressive resumes but when the children started coming they found working in restaurants with the long and strange hours was too much. Now Carl stays home and prepares the world's best breakfasts and and gives cooking classes and she travels all over the state inspecting school cafeterias. Their oldest son graduates from high school next year and although he's working as a line cook in a local restaurant, he has announced he wants nothing to do with being a professional chef.

Here's Carl proudly showing us his herb garden which his cats protect from the local rabbits:

No trip to Lancaster County is complete without a stop at Obie's Store, which is just down the road from New Holland in Goodville. If you can't read the sign over the front door to the left, it states that the store was founded by Mr. Good in 1815. I'm pretty sure nothing has been changed since it was opened.

If you can't find a quilt here, you're not looking. I found 2 this trip. The woman who is the only "staff" in attendance has a remarkable memory for who made each quilt, or she just makes things up to entertain the tourists. I fall for it hook, line, and sinker. The following pictures were taken from the 2nd story balcony trying to look down onto the 1st floor - look hard and you'll se the bannisters going down at the back of the 2nd photo. I'm guessing the Fire Marshall just drives on by. No inspection would allow this space to stay open.

All in all, this trip was just want we needed. Met some interesting and wonderful people, had great food, and we relaxed. Even a few of the photos weren't bad. We hope to be able to return some day but our next trip is to New Orleans. Stay tuned.

Lake Placid Vacation, 4th Posting

Our last day at Lake Placid was a day trip to Fort Ticonderoga. The cold front and storm that blew threw last night (same one that had tornadoes in Massachusetts) kept everything cold and windy, but the history of the fort and the dedication of the knowledgeable guides kept us enthralled.

Our tour guide.                                                                                          Re-Enactor cooking soup.

 Gardens below the fort.

 A really spooky cherub

 Flooding along the river banks (table is standing in water)

Lake Placid Vacation, 3nd Posting

Tuesday we hired Sally Warner to be our "native tour guide." She was born and raised in Lake Placid, is a retired school teacher, former member of the School Board and Town Council where all votes seems to be 5 to 4. She is the local tour guide for private tours or the bus groups that come through. She also teaches bridge at the local community center and is a volunteer docent at the historical society's museum. She proudly pointed out all the photos of her siblings and other family members, going back to the early 20th century, who were winners of various winter sport competitions. She still cross-country skis but thought this past winter's 20 feet of snow was a bit much. When the temperature rose all the way to 75, she demanded that we turn on the AC in the car. She was dying!

She tailored our time together based on our interests: history and good view points for photography. The year-round population of Lake Placid is only 2,100, less than half the population of our condo in Alexandria. During the summer the population grows to 30,000. Everyone seems to be sports and outdoor enthusiasts. She was able to get us into the US Olympic Training Facility where we met a young woman who is ranked the US 2nd in free style skiing. Athletes come from all over to train here year round. We met 3 young men from Wisconsin, Connecticut and Ohio training for ski jumps - something they can do here year round even without snow.

The Olympic Center where the US beat the Russians in hockey in 1980.

Below is the famous rink but it is rented out for conventions now as well as still used for hockey.

The Olympic Training Center

She showed us John Brown's farm - yep, the same guy hung in West Virginia for his anti-slavery actions.

We also visited the Cornell University experimental farm where they make terrific maple syrup.  

In the afternoon we took the boat tour of Lake Placid. There are 3 islands in the lake and very wealthy families have "camps" on the islands, all costing several million dollars yet some are occupied only a couple of weeks a year. The most recent sale was for 4 million and included a 7,000 bottle wine cellar.

This is a typical camp. Among the current owners are the founders of Alpo, Vanguard Investments, and Texas Instruments.  Makes you wonder how he found this place - it's a long haul from Dallas.  There is a small air port near by but it only handles private jets.

A tradition the camp owners are maintaining is owning antique wooded speed boats.  They like to gather in their boats for happy hours at sunset.  Nice.

One of the frustrations has been how hazy it has been. The boat tour guide explained that it wasn't pollution but pine tree pollen. We also painfully discovered black flies. Seems they found me very tasty but George, not so much. He didn't get a single bite; I was covered.

The following is the view of Whiteface Mountain from the lake:

Wednesday, June 1

We drove to the top of Whiteface Mountain, the 5th highest peak in NY. We froze. Never has George had to dress like this on the first of June and, no, I couldn't get him to smile. He hates cold weather.

But the view was amazing. On a clear day you can see Montreal, Vermont, and Pennsylvania. It wasn't all that clear, but still nice.

The view of Lake Placid, showing the 3 islands and all those trees that are emitting pollen. Lovely.