DAY THREE: Monday, 7
August 2006
Today, Mum and Dad were going to
travel with us, as we showed Lee some other historical highlights of the area,
the Champlain Canal
The canal was constructed in order
to a means of commerce to the parts of the state north of Albany .
(Another major canal system, the more famous Erie Canal stretches west
from Albany all the way to Buffalo .)
As the elevation changes, there are a series of locks in place which can
raise or lower the water level as needed to allow travel to the next section of
the canal. I’m sure it’s a good type of
flood control, too.
Once the road became better
improved to allow motor transportation (as opposed to horse-drawn vehicles),
use of the canal system was greatly reduced.
Somewhere along the way, someone got the bright idea to use the canal
system for pleasure craft. It’s been a
great attraction ever since. In the
process of travelling down to see all the various locks, we probably crossed
the bridges over the canal a half-dozen times or so. There was a method to our madness, as we
ended the journey in Saratoga Springs .
We had lunch at a nice restaurant
known as The Olde Bryan Inn. It was a
special treat for Lee, as the Bryan
name was part of her family. While I
don’t recall the exact history, the Bryan
family lived in this very house back in 1773.
At some point, the residence got converted into an actual “public house”
(a “pub”), with some rooms which travelers could stay in. During the years, it was updated to fir the
times. Eventually, it was restored to
its original look and made into a restaurant.
One of the nice things about Saratoga (and this section of New York in general) is the large quantity
of buildings that have lasted through the trials of history, and now been
preserved for future generations to enjoy.
Of course Texas
has its own share of historical buildings too, just not as old as the ones
here. That’s not a slight on Texas ’ part, just the
fact that the European colonization and early American history just happened on
the east coast first.
From there, we walked down to the City Park Texas . Lee tried to get a picture of one, but none
of the tiny bastards would stand still long enough.
As we walked down the streets, we
noticed there were a bunch of horse statues all over the place. Due to the horse-racing tracks which operate
all through the month of August in Saratoga
(and have for about a hundred years), it’s really not that surprising to see
them. I didn’t recall seeing them
before. Mum mentioned they were a
relatively recent addition. There were a
couple dozen statues scattered throughout the city, each one different. Some had funky crazy patterns, and some
looked more natural.
Perverting just about anything I
can get my hands on, I had to have fun with one as we went by. There were some people working in the street,
and I asked to borrow their shovel for a photo opportunity. Lee’s comment was that we had to pay for the
trip somehow.
We made our way to the Saratoga
Racetrack, and got to see some of the horses being walked around. None of us were big into that sport, so we
had no need to go inside the track itself.
There was a racing museum on site which was of more interest. It was filled with the history of horse
racing which had taken place here. It
was very informative, and had lots of exhibits.
One of the things they had there
was a jockey simulator. Sit upon a
mechanical horse and feel what it’s like to be a jockey. I like trying weird things, so why not. I felt stupid putting on their racing helmet
and flak vest, but that was for “safety reasons” if you fell off it. I knew this would jerk me around a bit, but
nothing like the intensity of those mechanical bulls in those seedy
country-western bars.
I think the ride (using the term
loosely) was only about five minutes long, but it was enough to screw up my
knee. My knee had been kind of squirrelly
for a while, and my regular walking had helped make it better. But every now and then, it would spasm out on
my, so I had the foresight not only to bring my knee-brace with me on the trip,
but it was in the car today. After being
shaken, not stirred, I needed it, so Lee went out to the car to get it. As not to be the only one who was abused that
day, Mum decided to try her hand at it too.
She was only on it for about a minute before she’d had enough.
We then headed over to Ballston Spa
to a little establishment called The Whistling Kettle for some tea and
scones. Mum and Lee enjoyed having some
tea together. Once we returned to
Argyle, Lee and I headed out for dinner at one of my old haunts when I was a Glens Falls resident …
Davidson’s Brothers brew pub. Some of
the people from Tribune were suppose to meet us there, but wires got crossed
and only Keri showed. Still, it was a
great evening catching up.
DAY FOUR: Tuesday, 8
August 2006
Today was a trip to something to
give Lee some history of the Adirondack region, Blue Mountain
Lake Museum Adirondack
Park , about half-way to Lake Placid , I first recall Mum & Dad stopping by
there on the way back from the camp once.
I went up there in the mid 90s, and then again in the later 90s, and
noticed how much it had changed between my visits. From the pictures I recall Mum took, there
appeared to have been more to see on the later ones. Since we all hadn’t been there together, I
thought it would make a nice day trip.
Immediately we noticed how much had been expanded and added since our
prior visits. Lee was too busy enjoying
the majestic view of the lake this area was named after. Can’t say that I blame her.
The major structure (past the
visitor’s center) used to be an in during the mid-1800s, where people from New York City would “come
north” to be re-invigorated by the mountain air. Much of the museum was designed to show what
life was like for the people living in that time, and what they did to enjoy themselves. One of the things was a “stilt”-like pole
which would help you’re your balance.
Mum seemed to be the best at this, while I able to do it in a very
ungraceful manner. Dad ended up being
good at the wooden hula-hoop.
Within the visitor’s center was the
main portion of the museum with displays about prospecting and surveying in the
mountains here, the saw mills, and the transportation which was used. One “winter taxi” (for lack of a better term)
was a sleigh with many rows of seats and lots of fur blankets. As I grew up experiencing the biting cold of
the New York
mountains, it’s hard to imagine that people actually stayed warm in
contraptions like this. We just have to
keep in mind that heating and cooling of homes was very different then, so
people were better adjusted to the climate changes.
After going through some replicas
of cabins and other mountain-dwelling structures, we saw there was one of the
towers which was used to spot forest fires which could plague this heavily
wooded region.
The tower obviously was safe for
visitors to climb on, otherwise it would’ve been allowed, but it seemed like it
was constructed from some re-purposed metal and thin wire mesh. Lee had a healthy fear of heights, and quickly
went back down the ladder when she realized the only thing between her and the
ground was chicken-wire. The rest of us
went up to the top, and still tried to convince Lee that it was safe to come
up, but were unsuccessful.
After we returned back to Argyle,
Lee and I then headed out to O’Toole’s in Glens
Falls in order to meet some old friends of mine from
college. It seemed appropriate to meet
at this pub, as many nights after working at Tribune we ended up there. It had been nearly a decade since I’d seen
Jeremy Rosenthal, and this was the first chance I had to meet his wife
Laura. It ended up being a great evening
of catching up.
