Lake George is one of my favorite places on earth, heck I would go as far as to say my happiest place on earth. The lake is beautiful, crystal clear and surrounded by mountains. I have spent time there almost every year since I was in the womb. My parents have been going there forever too. I love the village. I can just walk around and look in the shop windows, eat pizza, eat ice cream and play skee ball at the arcade. Many of my fondest memories growing up came from this place. My family would usually vacation for a week each summer and we would camp at the Hearthstone Campground. They had showers and their own private beach and they were within walking distance of Ray’s Hell of a Deli (my brother and I would call it Ray’s Heck of a deli when we were little). Mom and Dad would walk down there while my brother and I slept and get coffee and powdered sugar jelly donuts. It was heaven. Dad would build a fire in the camp fire place every night and we would roast marshmallows. We would spend the day walking around town, visiting Fort William Henry, eating, playing in the lake or just relaxing at the campsite reading a book. It was only three hours from home and somehow we managed to fit all our camping gear and us into our old Toyota Camry station wagon. I love that place. I never had a problem going back to the same place every year for vacation. I long for Lake George vacations all the time as an adult.
This is the first time I have ever seen Lake George in the winter. They have a winter carnival every weekend in February. My parents have been many times but since I would never come back to NY in the winter I missed out on the fun. This year we are so close and finally the weather cooperated enough that Jesse and I made the two hour trip to Lake George. My parents left earlier than we did since it is a longer drive for them and we actually managed to catch up to them. We stopped at a rest stop and hugged and mom gave me some mail and a pair of leggings she bought for me. I was glad to have them since it was so cold I put them on right way to have another layer to keep me warm. We followed them the rest of the way into town and parked. It was a beautiful day, cold but blue skies and sunny. Seeing the lake covered in ice, snow, people and cars was such a new experience for me. We walked through town and saw that a few places were open. They also had ice and snow sculptures all around, I think it was a contest. They were pretty cool (haha..get it..).
When we finally made our way down to the lake I was amazed I was walking on the lake! There were dog sled rides, helicopter rides and men doing ice recovery demonstrations. People were riding their motorcycles around in a circle on the ice. It was just such a wonderful site, a new perspective of a place I had been to dozens of times. I loved it. I didn’t care that it was cold. I was with my hubby and my parents. It would have been perfect if my brother was there too.
My dad and I decided we wanted to go on a helicopter ride. I have never been in one but I just think they are amazing, how they work and how they fly it just seems to be impossible. We signed up and had to wait our turn so we watched the men dive into the icy lake with all their gear on while they learned about underwater ice recovery of people. Not something you get to see every day.
Jesse then decided he wanted on the helicopter too. He is not a big fan of flying but this was only five minutes and he decided to give it a go. It finally came to our turn after they fueled up. We piled in and put on the headphones so we could hear the pilot. He took us 2.5 minutes down the lake and then back. It was stunning, the skies were clear and we could see the small people below us riding their snowmobiles towards town, people in huts doing ice fishing, all the tire tracks along the lake. I loved every second of it.
After we landed and thanked the pilot we decided we were super hungry and headed off to get some lunch at the Log Jam. My mom loves that place and they have some pretty amazing cinnamon raisin bread on their salad bar. It was also nice to be warm again. Poor Jesse was walking around on numb stumps since his feet were super cold from standing on the ice.
After lunch we headed back to town since mom wanted some éclairs from the Lake George Bakery. Believe me, they are worth a trip, they are huge and delicious. We were walking back through town when Jesse and I spied a wine tasting. I have seen it other times we were there but this time we decided to try a few. These are NY wines and sometimes they can be pretty sweet. We actually found a few that we liked and bought some bottles. We parted ways with my parents promising to send them my schedule so we can get together some more before we leave Oneonta. Mom wants to visit downtown Oneonta and Jesse and I want to head back to Ommegang Brewing and bring my parents.
It was such a great day trip. I love being able to share a bit of my childhood with Jesse even though he does not get even half as excited as I do when it comes to going to Lake George. I can barely contain myself and usually squeal with joy in the car. It is just one of those places I will forever love, never forget and always want to visit.
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