New England – Fall 2010 – Day 7: Bennington to Saranac Lake

We had the Best Western buffet breakfast and got ourselves on the road as soon as we could. The Motel had been full during our stay and again there had been bus tours amongst the guests but our favourite fellow guests were the bikers. In the parking lot there were several Harley Davison motor bikes but the riders were at least our age and wearing leather and H-D branded clothing. I guess that the price of such bikes is too much for the younger generation.
We needed gas (petrol) for our onward trip and once again we marveled at the price, it only cost us $25 to fill the tank in a car the size of a Ford Focus while at home it costs the equivalent of $120 to fill my Mondeo. Despite our need for petrol we couldn’t bring ourselves to buy from Charles Wells who has a filling station near to the hotel which is also a gun dealership.
The mileage to Saranac Lake was listed as 150 miles but the estimated journey time was almost three hours indicating a slower set of roads. Also when we consulted a map we realised that to go from Franconia to Bennington we had zigged south-west and to reach Saranac we were zagging North West and if we had cut out Bennington we would have travelled almost due West. All this meant that we needed to get the best out of Bennington on our way onwards, we checked out three of the five covered bridges and they were worth the detour.
We also stopped at Lake George and found, from there, The Prospect Mountain Veterans Memorial Highway which is a parkway located in the town of Lake George, New York. The parkway passes through a gate, heading up the base of Prospect Mountain. The route is very scenic, with trees on both sides of the road. Soon after, the parkway passes over Interstate 87 (I-87, named the Adirondack Northway). Then the parkway begins to head up the mountain. There are large heavy, stabilized rocks on both sides of the road, which act as a guard rail to prevent the danger of running off of the road, the parkway curves around the mountain, intersecting with several specialized scenic overlooks. The road curves around the several peaks of Prospect Mountain, coming to an end at the main peak at 5.88 miles (9.46 km), where a 100-mile (161 km) view can be seen. The furthest that can be seen are the Green Mountains in Vermont and the White Mountains in New Hampshire.
We stopped at the first overlook and had a photo taken of both of us by Mr. Baylor, he was wearing a Baylor Bears sweatshirt and when we mentioned that we had visited the university at Waco, Texas, he explained that he wore the shirt because he was named Baylor! Still it is one of the few photos of us together taken on the entire tour. Mr. B was last seen offering his services as a jobbing photographer to every group or couple arriving at that parking place.
On the summit of Mount Prospect we enjoyed the excellent views and we could see the various stages of the foliage changing on the trees.
In due course we pressed on towards Saranac Lake, this stretch of the journey was through Vermont and the roads were slower and they passed through idyllic towns – it was the best of the travelling. Although we passed out of Vermont and into New York State to reach Saranac Lake via Lake Placid the areas were still very scenic. We turned a corner and there were huge structures rising out of the forest, we knew we were closing in on Lake Placid where the USA Olympic training takes place so it took little working out that these structures were the ski-jumping towers but it took considerable working out how anyone could leap off anything that height.
We arrived at and checked into the Best Western Mountain Lake in the first part of the village we reached.
The village lies within the boundaries of the Adirondack Park, about seven miles (11 km) from Lake Placid. These two villages, along with nearby Tupper Lake, comprise what is known as the Tri-Lakes region. Saranac Lake was named the best small town in New York State and ranked 11th in the United States in The 100 Best Small Towns in America. In 1998 the National Civic League named Saranac Lake an All-America City and in 2006 the village was named as one of the "Dozen Distinctive Destinations" by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The village has 186 buildings that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Having moved into our room we walked back down the main street and located the possible restaurants for the evening – we selected the “All You Can Eat Chinese Buffet”. Having made this decision Julia returned to the hotel to swim some serious lengths while I walked on beyond the hotel along the lake side. In my quest for the strangest businesses in New England I had the Doorstep Filling Station in Littleton and the Bennington Mobil station which sidelined in Guns, Ammo and archery, now I encountered the Smith’s Taxidermy. Through the windows I could see all manner of creatures, from bears to wild turkeys but strangely that wasn’t the aspect which amused me most.
The shop was locked up but on the door was a notice saying that the owner could be contacted on a number and they would arrange to meet the client within a day. I got this mental picture of a hunter dragging a moose off the back of his truck and only then reading the notice! To be fair I guess if the trophy animal is already dead then there is probably no real urgency for its first meeting with the taxidermist.
As I continued past the establishment the village became even neater and on the other side of the lake there were waterside houses which appeared to be served by boat rather than road.
Just across the road from the hotel there were two tennis courts which I felt obliged to inspect, they were in great shape and served by floodlights making them an idyllic setting for a friendly game but it would need to be friendly as the netting on the side of the court stopped about a metre from each corner leaving the vast majority of the lake side of the court unprotected. It would have taken good self control not to angle the ball off the court and into the lake if you were at all annoyed with your opponents.
I met up with Julia after her swim and we went out to the Asian Buffet quite early in the evening. The restaurant was large and busy and didn’t limit itself to Asian food; there was even a selection of pizzas! We enjoyed the meal which was excellent value and we staggered back to the hotel feeling very full.