Blogs from Adirondacks, New York, United States, North America

24th September 2018 Continuing our journey through Ontario and New York State (2 of 3) The Adirondack Mountains and Finger Lakes USA Now, where were we? Ah, yes, we had just crossed the border from Canada into New York State, USA. Let’s not get confused here. When we talk of New York you’ll probably be thinking of the Big Apple city of that name down there in the southeast corner of New York State USA. But New York is indeed a big State, and the Adirondack Park, our planned destination, covers an area of 6 million acres and includes more than 10,000 lakes and 30,000 miles of rivers and streams! The Adirondack Mountains extend southward from the St. Lawrence River valley, westward to Lake Ontario, east to Lake Champlain and south to the Mohawk River valley, ... read more

Even though 2016 is not an Olympic year for winter sports, the Olympic spirit is alive and well if you travel to Lake Placid, New York in the sublime Adirondack Mountains. My family and I recently spent a fun-filled long weekend in this sports mecca, where we had been twice previously but never in the winter. Even though the weather was frigid with wind chills below zero Fahrenheit, the various activities we engaged in kept us warm (for the most part!). Upon our arrival on a Thursday afternoon, we strolled through the village’s charming and vibrant downtown area, which boasts many excellent shops and restaurants catering to everyone’s budget and from which you have sublime views of Mirror Lake and snow-capped Whiteface Mountain in the distance. The town was bustling with energetic youth hockey players who ... read more

We got up early but took our time getting organized. After everything was packed we went to breakfast at the restaurant next door (the hotel doesn't serve breakfast but guests get a discount at the restaurant). We had a very full meal. Tamar had scrambled eggs with bacon, toast, potato and hot chocolate. Ethan had French toast with two eggs over easy, hot chocolate with whipped cream, and Gilat and I shared a vegetable omlete with toast and potatoes, and, of course, coffee. We set out on our way at around 10 am. A short drive to Lake Placid to see Mirror Lake. Very similar to Saranac Lake, with the picturesque town on the shores of the lake. We continued on our way to High Falls Gorge, but Waze took us through a high-end neighborhood. Really ... read more

It seems incredible that we have been here for more than two weeks now and are heading into the final part of our holiday. It has been utterly fantastic, we have seen and done so much and the joy of wandering around with no fixed agenda has met every expectation. We have decided to head to Niagara for our final hurrah, so are slowly moving west. Leaving the trailer park (Spencer said the showers were grotty... I, as usual, used the on board facilities) we headed to Burlington, highly recommended as the best resort on Lake Champlain. We thought it pretty average really. The best thing we found was a proper bakery where we bought a loaf of French bread for lunch. Bread in America is generally sweet, soft and mass produced so it was a ... read more

A Fortified Journey to Lake George, New York By William Graham Poet, novelist and travel writer William Graham is a resident of Stowe, Vermont. His most recent novella is “The Red Planet President.” He has also traveled extensively around the world and is author of “Seven Continents: A Travel Memoir.” One of the books that always fired my imagination has been James Fenimore Cooper’s rousing adventure tale from 1826 The Last of the Mohicans, which featured one of the most iconic characters in American literature: Natty Bumpo, also known as “Hawkeye.” The story takes place in the wilderness surrounding Lake George, New York, which Cooper called Horicon in his tale. I wanted to see the area myself and explore the reconstructed Ft. William Henry that was at the center of the story and which has its ... read more