All in one day

Being in such a great city presents a few challenges – when a coach full of tourists choose to take turns sitting on the spot we’d come to see, it’s time to take a different approach to the day.

Less that five minutes away, around the corner and it seems as though we have the whole of the park to ourselves.

We were headed up to visit our friend.  We took one or two things wrapped in a bookstore bag, which proved irresistible to one member of the family.

 

Tearing ourselves away from the comfiest of sofas, we walked through the park, stopping to admire the scenes from a wedding.  The groom, in full Mariachi costume stood proudly with his new wife as the twelve bridesmaids got themselves ready for their moment in the spotlight.

Our destination was The Cloisters which will provide Jordi with enough material for a lifetime of inspiration, for sure.

Look, no tourists!  Hard to imagine that this peaceful spot is in the heart of one of the worlds great cities.  A best kept secret?  I think so, especially when visiting with a local who knows the New Yorker’s way in…

 

Of course, we had built quite an appetite after all that fresh air, so an express train back downtown and a short time in the queue at John’s was called for.

And one of us, unbelievably, had room for dessert!

More temptation

It’s good to have foodie friends to blame for putting such opportunities under my nose. 

As if I had a hope of being able to resist.

(At least we walked home afterwards)

Dejeuner sur l’herbe

Goodness me, some French and we’re not even in Canada yet!

The lakes here in the Adirondack region are beautiful and there are some gorgeous mansions along the shores.  The trouble is, these lakefront properties with their lush gardens make getting down to the lake for plebs like us very difficult indeed.

It was a beautiful day, not too hot but warm enough to enjoy being out of doors. We stopped by a deli and put a picnic together, hoping to find a spot by the water where there was peace enough to sit and read but with perhaps, a bit of boaty action.

After a long drive and a few false dawns, we found a tiny little place by the Raquette River.  If the three of us sat in a particular formation, there was room to all sit down at the same time!

With the car carpets as picnic rugs and our deli picnic, we aspired to a kind of relaxed atmosphere the title suggests.

But Mary advised us about the perils of the US wild countryside: poison ivy and poison oak, doing a quick recce to check that we’d be ok.  Had we thought of such things ourselves?  Never.

I sat down regardless, only to be spooked by a small frog which had been sitting nearby until this rather larger creature decided to share his space.  I am not good with jumpy things and became rather jumpy myself as a result.

The three of us sat in this tiny spot and ate our picnic in a mild state of anxiety.  Relaxed we were not.

We ate our sandwiches and moved right along!

There was pretty countryside to drive through and eventually, a few public picnic tables by Saranac Lake, very close to the deli where we’d started our route this morning.  We sat and read, watching families returning from a day out on the lake get their boats out of the water and load them onto the enormous trailers for the journey home.

We returned to Lake Placid ourselves as the skies darkened and another thunderstorm appeared imminent.

We’re heading over the border into Canada today and looking forward to a few days in Quebec.

A bientot!

Adirondack skies

About 8pm, there was a flash of lightning and a clap of thunder, followed by a few drops of rain.

Within the next ten minutes, we stood and watched in awe as the sky transformed in front of our eyes.

At this point, I ran inside and grabbed my Flipvideo.

Back to the stills…

Captivated by the deep blue sky appearing overhead, we watched as the clouds parted in layers.

Absolutely magical.

The sky over Lake Placid this evening was more painterly than the Sistine Chapel, we thought.

Saratoga Springs

We’ve had fun exploring Saratoga Springs, finding it the perfect size to potter about in.  Large enough to have a few things going on – we enjoyed a lunchtime concert given by a few NYC Ballet instrumentalists – but small enough to be walkable for the most part.

There is no doubt what the main preoccupation is around here though.  The main horse racing meeting doesn’t happen for another couple of weeks yet, but clearly the shopkeepers are well prepared.

 

Sitting in Starbucks offered great people watching, but I loved the well dressed bear riding pillion here!

Today we headed for the small nearby town of Ballston Spa, where it was claimed, there were several Victorian mansions worth seeing.  Though there was the occasional traditional building to catch the eye, for the most part, we found the town pretty uninspiring.

True Elegance Boutique?  I don’t think so, if the window dressing is anything to go by.

Moving right along, we made our way through the countryside to the Saratoga Battle Monument and spent half an hour chatting to the very knowledgeable park ranger before moving along again.

 

The Outlet Centre of St Georges Lake beckoned and someone scooped quite a few bargains.

When we returned to the car, we spotted someone’s treasure.  The kids’ “must have” around here would appear to be “Silly Bandz” and someone has lost one of theirs.  Oh dear…

On to Lake Placid tomorrow and hoping for clear, fine weather.