They say that a picture is worth a thousand words, but that would make the 100 over pictures down here a short novel on it’s own!
I really have so many unshared pictures and experiences from USA December 2015, and I guess it’s better late than never, and better done than perfect!
We took a road trip out from NYC to Lake Placid in the Adirondacks, where we stayed at for four days in a gorgeous lodge. Lake Placid is famous for hosting the Winter Olympic Games – not once but twice. It’s a quiet, rustic town with splendid natural beauty and sights, the complete opposite of New York City.
It was a beautiful experience – From hiking up Mount Jo to skiing at White Face, we had a lot of fun in the subzero temperatures and really enjoyed a white and wintery Christmas at Lake Placid!
NYC to Lake Placid
Our plane touched down at NYC – We picked up our rental car at the airport and off to Lake Placid we went!
It was a five hour drive that we broke down into a couple of legs over the course of a day, getting our legs stretched out and meals at pit stops along the way.
Meet my USA fam of seven (including myself, of course) – Alvin, Fish, Woon, Hillary, Jen and Bert!
Hot food tastes really good when its cold out there.
Glorious clear blue skies during our drive to the Adirondacks,
We had another pit-stop and ate lunch at The Cheesecake Factory and it was just crazily sinful (ok no pictures because my camera battery died)
Finally reached Lake Placid late in the evening! It was -5 degrees and freezing cold, literally.
We were blown away when we entered our accommodation for our time at Lake Placid – Raccoon Run! The lodge was all decorated for Christmas and felt so cosy and welcoming.
Raccoon Run at Lake Placid
This huge and spacious house accommodated all seven of us in its three fully-furnished bed rooms and modern amenities – Even the bathroom tiles were heated!
Comfortable kitchen area.
Nutcracker!
The bedrooms were all so impeccably furnished and comfortable!
The little loft area with an extra convertible sofa-bed
Master bedroom with its own attached bathroom!
The bedroom I shared with Hillary and Woon!
We settled in straight away before driving out for dinner at one of the restaurants we googled and found in Lake Placid, unfortunately the restaurant has now been permanently closed and the owner moved on to doing private catering.. SUCH a pity because the food there was incredibly good! We had breakfast every morning at Chair 6, and dinner twice during our four days there, that’s how much we liked it. Hopefully the chef/owner opens another restaurant again in the near future.
Chair 6 at Lake Placid
We were lucky and chanced upon “Why Not Wednesday”, with a $25 3-course dinner that looked very promising.
Quinoa and squash salad
So pleased with my dinner!
Woke up to this beautiful view right outside our lodge the next day. It was so dark when we arrived the evening before that we didn’t know what it looked like outside!
A self-timer group photo taken using the car as a tripod :’)
It was a unanimous decision to return to Chair 6 for breakfast, and we ended up going back every single day with no regrets!
With my sweetheart Fish~
Fresh fruit jam to accompany our breakfast!
The fresh yogurt and granola parfait with fruits was sooooo fresh and good!!
And these buttermilk pancakes were extraordinarily fluffy and moist!
One of my favourites – Homemade corned beef hash, I’ve never never tasted any better else where after Chair 6, which I’m a little sad about. It was so delicious!
Our excited faces to go exploring around Lake Placid for the day!
Main Street on Lake Placid
Main Street on Lake Placid is where most things in town can be found, from souvenirs/keepsakes to handmade stationary and even practical winter wear. It’s a quaint and absolutely lovely street!
All of us bundled up for the cold weather!
Interesting popcorn shop with all kinds of flavours!
Really cute vintage signs.
My girls and I!
There are lots of grizzly bears around Lake Placid, but none of them are real.
Hand-made fudge looking so festive!
In the back of our car with my newly bought UGGs that are fur-lined and served me well on our hike! (I neglected to remove those stickers on the soles. Haha)
Mirror Lake at Lake Placid
You’ll eventually find your way to Mirror Lake along Main Street at Lake Placid, and I hear that when Lake Placid freezes over in winter, you can even ice-skate on it! It was an unusually warm December for us though and we didn’t have such luck.
We were entertained by the mallard ducks splashing near the shore!
(My Olympus camera served me well on this trip.)
Cute male mallards have a distinctive green head and white collar.
We settled for lunch at one of the restaurants along Main Street, it had a beautiful view of the lake!
Look at the lovely view. So breath-taking!
We really enjoyed trying different kinds of craft beer and cider while we were in the States. This was so fruity and delicious!
I ordered a crab cake. Love how much crab there was with a minimal amount of batter!
My sneaky companion, Woon. ♥
Interestingly enough, Star Wars (the movie) was released while I was in the States, and further more, we were fortunate to be at Lake Placid, where there is a vintage movie theatre that was built in 1926!
Some Star Wars fans were all dressed up and camping for the premiere movie screening from early morning!
Palace Theater at Lake Placid
With these passes (don’t they remind you of those circus/fun fair days?), it’s admission for free seating, so the earlier you go in, the better!
Real excited for our first old-school theatre movie experience!
I felt like I’d returned to an earlier era in the United States :’)
Last wefie shot before we entered the theatre!
Talk about old-school! It sure was fun watching such a classic series like Star Wars, amidst a gregarious crowd who clapped and cheered when their favourite old characters appeared on screen. The nostalgia and enjoyment was so apparent and delightful.
Skiing at White Face Mountain Ski Resort
One of the biggest reasons to make a trip to Lake Placid was to spend a couple of days at White Face Mountain Ski Resort, one of the top ski resorts in the area. It is a 21km drive away from Lake Placid.
I’m no pro at skiing and have only done it a couple of times, and both times, it was only a short 1-2 hours while on tour with my family. This time round, we started off with a beginners lesson and continued on to actual skiing down slopes!
We certainly had a helluva good time at White Face Ski Resort, and we went back for a second day after we got some good snowfall!
The sight we woke up to in the mornings after a night of snow. It was a literal winter wonderland!
It’s been a long time since the last time I’d seen falling snow, so please pardon my overexcitement!
Another morning back at Chair 6 for breakfast with my bae!
Steak with eggs: Just so hearty and good on a cold winter morning!
Breakfast was definitely a highlight of every day!
The gentle snow continued for the rest of the day, blanketing the ground with a light layer of powdery snow!
We drove to Saranac Lake to visit a farmer’s market, and admired the view along the way. These houses facing the lakeside looked so picturesque, like they were straight out of a children’s book!
Saranac Lake Farmer’s Market
Looking for the farmer’s market..
Found it! Though it was small and quiet, we bought the most amazing home-made maple vanilla yogurt! It was so so so good that we finished this entire pint in just a few days. (Tasted especially good with some chips!)
There were other interesting handmade local produce such as these bars of soap.. Made from lard?
Hiking Up Mount Jo at Lake Placid
Another high point (pun unintended) of our time at Lake Placid would definitely be our hike up Mount Jo! This was supposed to be an easy hike with an astounding view, but due to the icy slopes and snow, it took us nearly twice the time to get to the summit of Mount Jo.
Our starting point!
Hiking through foresty slopes and huge rocks..
There were all kinds of interesting ice formations along the path, like these frozen icicles.
My best hiking buddies!
The snow started in a light flurry and eventually turned into a steady fall of snow with strong gusts of wind the closer we got to the summit. But look at these dogs we met on the way up, they were completely undeterred by the weather conditions!
Climbing up to the summit together!
And finally at the top of Mount Jo! With nothing but a white fog around us due to the snow.
So much snow like I haven’t seen before!!
Slowly but surely, the view cleared up.. And we were super super lucky to see the view from the top!
It was gloriously majestic, and even better in real life!
I tried to steal his furry companion for a photo but he got so excited that he knocked me over with a big slobbery kiss and my wool cap fell off me!
But such a cutie, isn’t he?
Finally, the snow stopped! It was really freezing up there. We managed to snap a couple of pictures with the crazy view!
What a hike!
The getting down part was tougher than climbing up as always, due to the unmarked trail and slippery frozen ice on the ground. We eventually made it back down in one piece, phew!!
Last dinner at Chair 6 – Our tableful of desserts! The food was never short of marvellous every single time.
On our last morning. We were sorry to depart from our cosy abode at Raccoon Run 🙁
Good bye to Lake Placid and our beautiful time there!
We departed our separate ways after Lake Placid; and off Fish, Alvin and myself went for our next leg of the vacation: road trip to Boston and then New York!
It was truly an unforgettable time at Lake Placid. I wonder if I’ll ever be back again?
Photos taken with Olympus EM5ii, 12-40mm PRO lens.