Off to the Races and the town of my initials - Lake George

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Finally our ladies' weekend is here! This morning, after struggling with getting going, we managed to leave for Lake George - first stop, Saratoga Springs. Well, techincally our first stop was a Burger King along the way, where we picked up some rather tasty milkshakes, but then it was off to Saratoga.

It wasn't my first time to this horse-racing obsessed town - back in college, Jess & I had braved a car ride with a friend's girlfriend to see him and Jess' boyfriend play hockey. We had dinner right in town, but when we arrived in Saratoga on Friday, nothing looked familiar to me. It's a friendly town though, with a bright and clean main street and reminders of its dedication to horse racing everywhere - my favorite are the life-sized horses painted like the cows in New York City from a few years ago. The three of us met up with the fourth member of our group, Sage, right outside of Starbucks and decided to hunt down a place for lunch. I'm the pickiest eater, so it's always difficult to find a place to feed me, but we managed to find one with the first menu we looked at - destination, the Grey Gelding. A smattering of diners were seated at the bar, and we were led into the back room, which was totally empty. It was a little dark in there (and we supposed that was to hide the fact that Jess' glass came out with someone else's lipstick on it already), but I thought the tin ceilings gave the room character, even if the mirror on the opposite wall was a little creepy. We shared a plate of nachos and guacamole and decided that the dish would have been better minus the uncooked shredded mozzarella on top. However, it was still tasty and I greatly enjoyed the chicken caesar salad as my main course - the chicken was surprisingly delicious! And besides, the main thing was that we were all together.

After lunch, we was off to do a little shopping. With looming housing purchases for some and a general desire to save, we decided we would mostly window shop. One of our stops took us to the Saratoga Shoe Depot, which was oh so much more than shoes. Jess and Sage had been there before and were holding out on us - there were lots of specialty gifts and even an entire Vera Bradley section! It was fun to just browse, and after a few hours of wandering around we were ready to head to Lake George. I was already feeling more peaceful as we rode up the Northway - there's just something about seeing those mountains and less development that makes my whole self feel less congested.

Our destination in Lake George was Bolton Landing, about thirty minutes north of the actual Lake George Village. We would be staying at the Sagamore, a fabulous resort situated on an island of its own. We scoped out the town as we drove through, peering through the trees along the way to see Lake George itself. The brisk chill in the air was a sure signal that fall was breaking through, reinforced by the pumpkin and hay display that awaited us at the registration cottage. After checking in and going over the map to our room, we headed over to #739. I regretted overpacking as I lugged my duffel downstairs to our home for the next two days, but I was happy that I'd remembered sweaters and sweatshirts!

Our little room was great, coming equipped with a tiny kitchen, living room and fireplace, a lake view and a bedroom. The main downside was that the four of us would be sharing two double beds and the beds were HARD - some people prefer a hard bed, but I on the other hand can only sleep comfortably on a very soft bed. My dream is to have a pillowtop mattress someday - no seriously, after a dog, that's the second thing I woudl buy if I won the lottery. Luckily, we discovered that we had a pull-out couch, especially since Jess was coming down with a nasty cold that stole her voice. Not something any of us was eager to catch. But the bathroom was lovely, lovelier than the room, with warm dark clay walls, a bowl sink (not practical, but very pretty), and both a shower and bathtub. We gave it two thumbs up.

After enjoying some down time on the couch, we decided to explore our surroundings. We had been told it was only a four minute walk up to the main hotel, so we wanted to test this out. We wandered uphill into a topiary-like tunnel, with ivy growing up the sides and little white lights twinkling to light our travels. The main building was beautiful, very classy-looking and elegant. I liked it immediately. Two doormen welcomed us inside, to a posh, yet comfortable main lobby. We first peeked into The Veranda, one of three restaurants that overlooks the lake itself. The Veranda is known mostly for their afternoon tea, for which you have to have reservations, but also for their live music at night. It seemed to be a more popular destination for the older crowd, but it did remind me of the breakfast room in the Shangri-La in Singapore with its grand floor to ceiling rounded window, accented by twinkling blue lights. We next peeked into Trillium Bis, the finest restaurant in the hotel and one of the only four diamond restaurants around - also our planned dining experience for the evening. It looked fancy, though we could only see the lounge area, so we were excited for our upcoming epicurean experience!

Next, it was off to the gift shop - excuse me, the gift emporium - which includes all manner of items, from the cold medicine Jess was seeking to real maple syrup and candies to resort clothing and even a very cute stuffed moose (yes, I refrained from bringing him home with me, though I did want to). We then wandered outside to get a better view of the resort. Walking down the grassy hill next to stone steps ringed with flowers, we were struck by what a beautiful location this would be for a wedding. Almost as the thought was voiced, we realized a wedding reception was in fact going on at that moment! There was also a small cocktail party in the snack shop down by the lake dock. We wandered down to the dock, only to realize that the wind picked up viciously down there, announcing the upcoming storm, and all subsequent photos were hilarious.

We continued our exploration by heading to the spa and the pool. The lifeguard let us come in to see the pool, which was surrounded by windows so as to convince you that you might be swimming in the lake instead of the pool. We were very excited to see the hot tub in the corner, and vowed to hunt down a bathing suit for yours truly so that I could join in the fun. Sage's brilliant idea was for me to wear a sports bra and underwear, thinking that as long as they were black, no one would notice. The lifeguard recommended that we check out the emporium again, which turned out to only carry men's swim trunks. Funny.

We peeked into Mr. Brown's Pub downstairs to see what they had to offer, and it looked cozy, inviting, and very "adirondack" - for you non-locals, that means lots of tree-bark inspired furniture, deer antlers on the wall, and fake fish mounted above the bar. We mentally included it on our list of places to check out for dining. Finally, it was back to the room to begin the shower rotation and prep for our dinner at Trillum Bis!

Luckily, the girls and I clean up GOOD, so we looked fancy for our dinner in the "smart casual" Trillium Bis. It's funny, no matter how many times I've eaten in a fancy restaurant, I still get this feeling of being too young whenever I go to one. I do get a thrill whenever I'm out at a nice restaurant though, because even if I do prefer less fancy food, the atmosphere can be very special - for example, our hostesss pulled out my chair for me so that I could sit down. Little touches like that make the whole experience. And though the girls and I have all been out to fancy restaurants before, I think this was the first time we'd been to one together. We enjoyed commenting on the lovely decor of the restaurant, which included a deep chocolate wall accented by cream square columns and wide elegant chairs. We joked that the chairs would allow us to expand as we ate, and studied the menu with great concentration. Again, being picky I was concerned about finding something I would enjoy, but it proved to be easy. I started with the Pho Tai, a soup that seemed Thai-inspired to me and was an interactive eating experience. Our waiter, Keith, explained to me when I ordered that I would be assembling the soup myself - the brought a spicy broth out, and then put down a slender plate with a piece of raw beef, thin noodles, a basil leaf, a mint leaf, and other vegatables. The woman who brought it to the table pointed out that if I needed extra spice, I could add the jalepeno slice smothered in a spicy sauce to the broth. I was happy that she warned me, because the broth was spicy enough, and the blend of flavors brought back memories of my time in Bangkok - something about the minty spicy combination tapped my memory. It was a delicous start to the dinner and I repeated my beef choice by ordering the steak and eggs, minus the eggs. The plate was delicately arranged, with columns of hangar steak interspersed with asparagus. Along with the steak, there were truffle and fontina "tots" (nothing like a fancy tater tot, I must say), with a foie gras hollandaise. Although the dish was a tiny bit too salty for me, the combination of flavors was delicious and I was pleased with my choice. We finished the meal by sharing warm dulce de leche crepes - truly melt in your mouth delicious - and the "art of fine chocolate," which showcased chocolates from around the world. My espresso made me feel like a true sophisticated diner, though I was convinced I wouldn't be hungry again for a long time! Our waiter, Keith, was kind enough to tell us that we had been his favorite diners of the evening and the night was truly capped off for Dana when we returned to our room and watched the Yankees battle back to beat the Red Sox, as we sat in front of the fire. You can't ask for anything more...

But it was truly a special way to spend an evening with my best friends - blending how much we've grown up with memories of the past and a continuing strong friendship over nine years.

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Photos

It was windy!
Sage took this lovely photo and refers to me as Thing One