Visiting the Villages of Upstate New York

Day 29 – June 25, 2014

Lake Placid, NY/Lake George, NY/Saratoga Springs, NY/Cooperstown, NY/Binghamton

318 miles/I lost count on the hours.

Today did not go as planned – at all.  Our biggest impediment was Mother Nature!  What a crappy, rainy day!  We woke up to such grey skies, it looked like winter.  I loaded my car in a down pour, and then very carefully began our journey down the mountain.

Last summer, when we were in Santa Fe, we visited the Georgia O’Keefe museum and I became enchanted with one of her landscapes of Lake George.  After some research, I learned that once upon a time, it was a big summer destination of many New York City artist in the beginning of the 20^th century.  Coincidentally, in the past year a number of my friends mentioned Lake George and how much they loved the area.  Lake George won a slot on our road trip itinerary.

Due to time constraints and hotel options, I planned to explore Lake George and Saratoga Springs on the same day, staying in Saratoga Springs.  When we got to Lake George, the weather had not changed.  The kids were freaking out, because I promised them that we’d play miniature golf in Lake George.  They had to settle for Fort William Henry.  Fortunately, they loved it (there were a number of artillery demonstrations).  Strolling around the lake was not an option – as it was pouring. 

We decided to try our luck a little further south and moseyed on to Saratoga Springs – where it was also raining.  Oh, the moaning and bitching from the back seat, all about mini-golf.  Momma had a back-up plan – the National Museum of Dance.  And yes, it was about as boring as it sounds.

Main Street in Saratoga is bustling and calling my name.  Oh Amy, you were so right about all the restaurants and shops!  I was itching to explore and do some damage, but it was raining cats and dogs.  I was also already thinking ahead to tomorrow, which involves a nine hour journey, with a stop in Cooperstown.  According to my calculations we’d be arriving in the Washington D.C. area around 6 p.m. - guaranteed to be a traffic nightmare.  So, I pitched a change-in-plans to the children, with mixed reactions.  I decided to exercise my preemptory executive powers and do what I wanted to do, which would cut down on driving time to following day.

So off to Cooperstown we headed.  At this point the rain was torrential! 

Cooperstown was another pleasant surprise.  Yet again we found ourselves in an adorable village on a lake!  Who knew there was such idyllic summer vacation bounty in the state of New York?  I’m thinking house rental on a lake next summer.  But I digress…  The Baseball Hall of Fame is all that it promises to be and more.  I really enjoyed it – the kids, not so much.  Oh well.

After the Hall of Fame, we embarked on the last leg of our journey for the day – to Binghamton, NY.  There are no words.  Rain, hotel by the interstate, dinner at Applebee’s.  You do the math.