Lake George is without a doubt, one of my favorite places to be. I would live there if I could convince my children and grandchildren to move!
This past Saturday, I scheduled a trip with one of my daughters and grandchildren. We left “early”. Early is a subjective term for teenagers, but at least they went. We loaded into the van and were on the road by 8 AM. The “Auto Bingo” games were in full swing. (Never played Auto Bingo? Each card in the pack I have is different. One has buildings, one license plates, one different vehicles, and the fourth has a combination of buildings and vehicles. It took an hour for one of my grandsons to find a water tower.) Let’s just say, it beats the game my parents played with us where you had to be quiet until you found a white horse.
Games are important for rides. No tablets, phones, etc.. And my grandchildren have agreed to this. They know family is important.
You can play games like Ghost, Hinky Pinky, My Grandmother’s trunk, license plates, letter games and more. Everyone plays.
We left New Hampshire and headed through Vermont. We reminisced about our times there. In Chester, Austin Antiques was gone. (Lobsters and antiques.) We saw the remaining snow on Okemo. Talked about the recent flooding in Ludlow. And we talked about what we would do when we got there. We stopped in Fair Haven for a “bio break” (Got to be politically correct. Can’t take a pee break anymore… ) and coffee, smoothies and for one, the cigarette break. A few miles later we were in New York.
The first building we see, is one that we laugh about is the former, Finius T Flubberbusters, a road house of sorts. We keep on, passing the “new” sasquatch statue in Whitehall, birthplace of the United States Navy. In Whitehall, we made the decision to a take that back way into Lake George. I heard a couple of “wow, Putnam is a big town”. (I know one of them was my 18-year-old grandson, who was riding shotgun.) we were coming up to the first views of Fort Ticonderoga, with the thought that we needed to go there this summer. We came to the intersection, and made a left, heading south towards the town of Lake George. We drove through the town of Ticonderoga. (My 15-year-old granddaughter told me she “could not live here” because it was so isolated. ) We drove further south and came upon Roger’s Rock. I shared the story of Robert Rogers, during the French-Indian War, and his “escape” at Roger’s Rock.
Down into Hague and one of the sharpest turns on the roads of New York. We talked about previous trips here to the Adirondacks. I have been coming to the Adirondacks since I was 2, beginning at family friend’s cabins on the east side of Schroon Lake. My grandson needed a “post office” for his Auto Bingo and for whatever reason, we were 2 hours into the trip and he had not found one! I knew there was one in Silver Bay. At the same time, my daughter wanted pictures of the water. “Jordan, the post office will be on your left.” Finally, he finished his card! We made a left down into Silver Bay on the water. My wife and I spent many times at the Silver Bay YMCA. (If you think this is a “regular” YMCA, click the link! Silver Bay, you are amazing!) I showed my family where it was the first time I heard a friend preach. He recently passed at 81.) Long before I was born, my mom and her folks used to come here. My daughter got her pictures of the beauty of the lake. (All the way, it was a beautiful day, and the mountains were just gorgeous.)
While driving the back road, my grandson, saw an orange McLaren P1 and was saying, “skip the lake. I want that!” Uhhh… you will either need a very amazing job, or a couple of incredible jobs!
We continued on, out past Sabbath Day Point, up in to the mountains, away from the lake into the town of Bolton. This town was busy, and while the family was busy looking at everything, I worked to avoid hitting someone! Cool little town, though, and my wife and I have eaten at a number of places in this little village.
Continuing southward we drove through Diamond Point into the village of Lake George. As busy as Lake George is and can be, I love this town. We drove down the main street, that is actually called, Canada Street, seeing which stores were gone, and what the new ones were. Like any seasonal town, restaurants and stores often change names, owners, merchandise or food. We went through the intersection, grabbing a quick look at Fort William Henry (Where the annual car show is we go to. Adirondack Nationals Car Show is one of those shows I get to every year, for what feels like forever!)
My daughter had narrowed down our food search for this trip to either A&W or Prospect Mountain Diner. We decided to try the Prospect Mountain Diner. (We love A&W and have been there a lot in the past. There is one in Middlebury, Vermont we have been to a lot, ever since I went to Keewaydin in the late 60’s. The Lake George A & W has been rebuilt after a fire and you can see a DMC DeLorean over there. Shades of Back To The Future.)
We pulled into this retro diner. Right next to Laser Tag and Bowling. “Grandpa! Look! Can we go there.” We decided on the inside diner experience. (There was outside seating.) Black & white floors, counter stools and table jukeboxes. It was a good start.
A regular menu, a handwritten “specials” menu, clean bathrooms and a friendly waitress.
We ordered drinks and when my oldest grandson saw poutine on the menu he was in heaven. We placed our orders. The oldest ordered a cheeseburger, as did 4 of us, plus his poutine. My daughter ordered a cheese sandwich. With the exception of my wife, all burgers were ordered medium rare and accompanied by large onion rings. Everything was great, but the poutine was the highlight. My grandson was in his glory, though he shared with everyone.
This was a great experience and I could see us eating here again. (Though, I definitely want to go out on the steamship meal cruise again.) We headed back into town, and because it was so busy we ended up parking privately, though next time I will drop everyone off in town and park in the state parking below. Cheaper than the private parking. (They only had one rate. $15 or the day.)
We spent the rest of our time in Lake George, being down on the boardwalk. (I can hear Wilson Pickett. Though, you can’t be under the boardwalk here.) We went and sat down for a while and then I was “Time to leave!” I was asked “why”, but when we got less than 20 feet from the van, it began to rain.
We headed out, driving along the lake admiring our last views for the day. The rest of the trip, with the exception of my wife, began to sleep and the snoring was on.
A great trip. We made home safe and sound. Everyone was thankful for such a great day.
I would love to see your stories about family, travel and food!
