….continued from part one – My first trip to Niagara Falls
The next stop of our early May trip was Lake Placid. For both me and my friend Vera it was the first time. My husband, however, was returning to a familiar place. Lucky him, he was visiting Lake Placid back in 1980, during the Olympic Winter Games, and had many beautiful memories from that time.
Since I have plenty of pictures to document this visit, I think it would be the best to let the pictures describe how much we liked Lake Placid!
First of all, let me tell you, what a charming little town the Lake Placid is! We loved the atmosphere, architecture, charm, people – everything! With the gorgeous Whiteface Mountain in the background, the views were picturesque, wherever we went.
Many symbols throughout the town reminded us that Lake Placid was, indeed, hosting the Olympic Winter Games! Here, bellow us, is the famous Olympic Skating Ring. My husband Jerry (back in 1980) was freezing his butt off here, while sitting in the stands, watching Eric Heiden winning gold medals:
My husband told us that this is where all the medal ceremonies took place – right behind him, on the lake. Which was, at that time (back in February 1980), frozen solid:
But the Lake Placid was also a home of many cute dogs….
and bears:
Obviously, we couldn’t forget to visit the Olympic Jumping Complex. Especially since František Jež (four times winner of the World cup, Bronze medal winner from 1992 Winter Olympic Games in Albertville, Silver medal winner from World Champion Cup in Falun, 1993 and multiple champion of Czech Republic in ski jumping) is now in my family!
What deserves a special attention was the most beautiful KOA campground, located just a few miles from Lake Placid. We loved it so much that we stayed an extra night. Sure, it was beautifully kept site in the middle of the forest, with the scenery of Whiteface Mountain in the background. But 99% of the warm feeling we had was created by very charming owners and their attention to every detail.
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| Richard and Sylvia Nagamine, the owners of Whiteface Mtn. KOA (both originally from Hawaii) were spreading the Aloha spirit! |
They were friendly, made us feel at home and took care of any request we might have had. They even took a trip around the site in the evening to shake hands with their guests, exchange few words and suggest what else we should see. Perfect couple to be in this kind of business! I would love to go back just to see them again!
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| If you want to visit this beautiful campground, please visit their website |
The first night at the Lake Placid Whiteface Mountain KOA campground, we were sitting by the fire and grilling our first steak. Although, I was drinking Rieslings all week with my friend, that night I opened a bottle of Atteca to pair with my steak.
Notice that I will eat my steak from paper plates any time, but I will never, ever drink my wine from plastic! Not even at the picnic table in the middle of the forest!
Unfortunately, we also had some Tequila that night and Corona beers. It didn’t end up being such a good idea….Next day we took a little biking trip around the lake in Lake Placid. There I finally understood why we saw so many dogs the other day. They live here because they have such a beautiful walking path around the lake!
We then stopped for lunch at Cottage – a charming place on the lake, which Richard, the owner of KOA campground, recommended. “If you are craving clam chowder, that’s the place you must go!” he told my husband. Even if I don’t comment on food (which was truly amazing!), I must comment on that gorgeous view we had, sitting on the porch.
The comfort of guests was assured by a lovely fireplace and a glass extension of the fence. It protected from the winds but not from a beautiful view of the lake, with the Whiteface Mountain in the background. Those sharp colors! I don’t know why I felt that if someone added a purple cow Milka, we will be in Switzerland.
Before we left Lake Placid to continue our trip to Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine, we stopped to take pictures of the Whiteface Mountain. We kept seeing it from every angle for those 3 days we stayed in Lake Placid, but this time we drove close. Also, thanks to another recommendation of our campground owners, on our way out we visited High Fall Gorge Waterfalls nearby. It only took us 25 minutes to walk through, but it was worth it!
Monumental Whiteface Mountain
So far, we were even lucky with the weather! Everybody warned us that we may still have a snow, cold or at least heavy rains. As you can see from these pictures, are prayers for sun were answered!!!
Next: Trip through Vermont, New Hampshire and Main….
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