Jericho/Saranac Lake

Wednesday, June 18—Jericho VT

Today we four took a day trip to Saranac Lake in NY where Peter is supervising the removal of asbestos from the historic Saranac Lake Hotel. First he had some business at the Mormon church in Lake Placid, so he dropped us off downtown so that we could shop while he conducted business. First thing on the agenda was to get Sonja some coffee. She was beyond ready, but Sarah and I kept stopping to look at this thing or that. We ended up in a small coffee shop at the end of an arcade of shops. It had a balcony nearly over the lake, but it was raining lightly and too windy on the balcony, so we drank our coffee at a community table just inside.

Sarah and Sonja before a stuffed toy bear who is begging for donations to the Tri-Lakes Humane Society. Sonja is trying to be patient but her coffee is calling!

After coffee—and Sonja’s revival—we shopped in the little arcade and came across a very interesting store where Sonja bought a darling pair of felted “cat” slippers for Maya for Christmas (see left). We next explored a little shop that was being renovated and required us to enter and exit via some steep steps. It had a combination of antiques and artful things in it but we did not buy anything. However, Sarah and I have been craving kettle corn on this trip, and the next shop we entered caught our fancy. We finally found a place that sold kettle corn—fresh. The proprietor boxed and bagged a good portion of it for us and we carefully stashed it for the next leg of our drive which will be to Phil & Lois’s in Tiverton, RI. 

In about an hour and or so, Peter finished his business and picked us up. Then it was on to Saranac Lake. We stopped at a beautiful section of lake along the way and I snapped a couple of shots of Sonja and Sarah (below). 

When we got to Saranac Lake we toured beautiful, big Hotel Saranac that Peter is working on. The new owners of it are restoring this 87-year-old iconic downtown hotel to its former glory.

After viewing the hotel, we walked across the street to the Saranac Library where we picked up a couple of free books and toured the Charles Dickert Wildlife Collection located downstairs on the first floor.

Then we enjoyed lunch at an Italian restaurant next door to converted power plant buildings and the spillway. Sarah and I moved two tables together which momentarily freaked out the waitress. She told us that the proprietor was “very picky” about the seating arrangement. There were few patrons and we were only trying to get all four of us seated in a little alcove where we could see the spillway and little park and trails before the restored buildings. Sonja had an eggplant sandwich, Sarah had pizza, Peter had an antipasta, I had . . . what? I cannot now remember.

After lunch we drove north and took the Plattsburgh ferry back to Vermont. On the way home Sonja spotted a wooden drying rack displayed outside a shop. Peter made a U-turn and we all l hopped out to inspect the rack. Actually the shop owner had several sizes, all new and sturdily made of wood. The one P & S have been limping along with is wobbly plastic and wood. They had been looking for an “old fashioned” wooden rack for awhile. Well, they found it at this establishment.