Lake Placid Toboggan Ride
In downtown Lake Placid, there is a tower set up on the edge of Mirror Lake. Two icy tracks, wide enough for a toboggan, start at the top. The line for the ride runs up the side next to the tracks. So people are screaming by as you wait! Once on the toboggan, a guy pushes you off. You can gain a lot of speed and shoot way out onto the lake! It cost $5 per person and a toboggan rental is another $5. You can stay and ride as much as you want.
Dog Sled Ride
Back in Lake Placid, Jennifer and I walked out onto the frozen Mirror Lake for our first dog sled ride. The ride itself wasn’t very long, but was worth the ten dollars. We sat on the sled while the musher stood on the runners that stick out from behind the sled. We were both very surprised on how fast the sled dogs could get us moving.
Lake Placid Ski Jumps
After Jennifer and I finished the bobsled ride, we stopped off at the Olympic Ski Jumping Complex to watch some of the jumps for the Empire State Winter Games. It’s just a few minutes from the main strip in Lake Placid. Once the competition ended, we took the elevator to the top of the 120 meter ski jump tower. At the top there is a sky deck for some incredible views of the area. Don’t forget to check out where the skiers jump from. It’s one thing to watch from the ground, but quite different when you get to see what they see right before take off.
Lake Placid Bobsled Ride
After some coffee and breakfast, Jennifer and I drove to the bobsled course at the Mount Van Hoevenberg Olympic Sports Complex. It’s a short drive outside of Lake Placid, just past the Olympic Ski Jumping Complex. The tickets are a little pricey at $65 US a person, but I think it was definitely worth it. Before you can ride, you basically have to sign your life away on a waiver. The wait wasn’t long at all. After about 15 minutes our number was called. They drive you up the course to the half mile mark just after the “Shady Corner Curve”.
The entire course is about a mile, but they only let the tourists do the half mile course. They provide a driver and a brake man. I sat just behind the driver. Jennifer was behind me and in front of the brake man. The whole thing is over in less than a minute, but we still went over 50 miles per hour! The g-forces were incredibly strong and tried to pull my body down during most of the ride. Into the turns, the bobsled went up to where we were parallel to the ground! Everyone should get a chance to try this out!
Snowshoe Hike After Dark
By early afternoon we arrived in Lake Placid. Our first stop was the hotel. We unloaded all our gear and got changed for our first adventure. We drove north through Saranac Lake, just past Paul Smith’s College to the Adirondack Park Visitor Interpretive Center. Here they had a guided snowshoe hike from 6 pm to 8 pm. Including Jennifer and I, there were about twenty of us. We started in the main building where our guide showed us where we will be going on a huge map of the area. We geared up and headed out. The moon was barely visible behind the clouds and the snow showers, but it did provide enough light to see once our eyes became adjusted. The whole trip was over an hour. Along the way, our guide made calls for an Eastern Screech Owl, a Barred Owl, and a coyote. All are native to the Adirondacks. Follow these links to see my Eastern Screech Owl Flickr Photo and my Barred Owl Flickr Photo. After the hike we warmed up next to a campfire with some hot chocolate. I had fun blowing bubbles in the below zero temperatures. Some of the bubbles will actually freeze before hitting the ground. This was my first time on snowshoes and I am definitely hooked. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the whole thing was free! They even included the snowshoes!
It’s Finally Free
It took me a few hours, but I shoveled the car out of the snow! Who needs a snow blower anyways?
Big Kid
I was dreading coming home from work today because I knew I was going to be shoveling snow all night. I was snowed in so my friend Doug gave me a ride to work and back. When we pulled in my driveway, I saw my neighbor using his snow blower. He removed a complete path around my Jeep and down the driveway! What a nice surprise! Doug stayed for a bit and snapped a few photos of me diving into the snow. There is always time to have fun. Sometimes, I’m just a big kid.
Thanks Doug for taking the photos! They turned out great! Check out Doug’s Flickr site for more of his photos.
Where’s My Car?
This picture was taken around 3 pm and already my car has been buried. The picture is a little deceiving because it is still snowing. I left my shutter open for awhile to try to get the large snowflakes to “disappear”. You can see it created a fog effect in the background. It’s now early evening and the snow is waist deep in some areas!
Old Photograph
I was looking through some files and came across this old photograph of my grandfather and I. He was telling me stories as we rode through his farm in a back of a truck. I scanned it in late last year, because it was one of the many photos I used for a mug I made my sister. I didn’t want to mess with it in Photoshop because I thought that it had quite a bit of character. It may not be in the best shape, but it is definitely one of my favorites.
Angel’s Share Sampling Society
Last night was the first Angel’s Share at 9 Maple Ave for this year. The one in January usually doesn’t happen because of the holidays.
First for sampling was the Tyrconnell Single Malt. It’s an Irish Whiskey from the Watts Distillery named after a successful racehorse owned by the Watt family. This particular whiskey has been kept alive by the Cooley Distillery, the only independent distillery in Ireland. Tyrconnell has won many awards. Most recently it took a silver medal at the International Wine and Spirits Competition in 2006.
Next up was the Glengoyne 10 Year Old Single Malt, nicknamed “The Unpeated Whisky“. It is a Single Malt Scotch Whisky from the Highland region. Usually once germination has taken place, the malt is dried using the smoke from peat fires which imparts an aromatic smoky flavor. However, the Glengoyne distillery is different as it uses only barley that has been dried using warm air thus earning its nickname. Glengoyne is also one of only two distilleries in Scotland that use the “Golden Promise” barley. The other is Macallan. This particular barley was highly favored by distilleries for its delicious, rich nutty flavor. However, as the whisky industry grew distillers started to look for varieties of barley that gave a higher yield of fermentable sugars rather than varieties that gave the best
flavor.
The Bourbon Whiskey for the night was the Sam Houston Very Small Batch from the McLain and Kyne Distillery. Named after a Texan, Sam Houston was instrumental in the fight for the state’s independence from Mexico.
The final drink for the evening was the “The Mad Moyinhan Manhattan“. It is a blend of Irish Whiskey and Atholl Brose. It is stirred and strained straight up in a chilled Martini glass garnished with a twist. Out of the last few drink demonstrations, this was definitely my favorite.
The Atholl Brose has a cool story of it’s own: “In 1475, under a sentence of death, John the last Lord of the Isles fled to the hills.
The Earls of Atholl and Crawford rapidly set off in pursuit. Upon discovering where the fugitive was drawing water, the Earl of Atholl ordered that the well be filled with a mixture of whiskey, honey, herbs and oatmeal so as to encourage him to stay put while the reinforcements were brought. Alas the Lord of the Isles was beguiled and ‘Atholl Brose’ was created.“
