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| Time for a little Olympic sized fun in Lake Placid, NY |
Our original plan was to fly directly from California to New York and visit Ben. However, we altered our plan just a bit. We ended up flying back to Florida on Friday, August 16 for a few days to visit with NaNa (Beth's mom) before heading towards New York. We enjoyed our Florida time and especially our visits with NaNa, who will be celebrating her 96th birthday in September. On Tuesday (August 20), it was back to the airport and off to New York for the week.
During the summer, Ben's days off are Tuesday and Wednesday, so he was able to pick us up when we arrived in Albany. However, instead of heading to his place, we headed two hours north towards the Adirondack Mountains and the Village of Lake Placid. For as much fun as we had in Lake Placid, simply getting there added to the enjoyment. Even along I-87 the scenery was great, but it really became spectacular along US 9 and NY-73. There was a little bit of early fall color in the leaves and recent rains had the roadside creeks flowing swiftly.
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| On our way in to Lake Placid we stopped at the Olympic Ski Jumping venue. They wouldn't let us jump........... |
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| ......Ben declared himself the Gold Medalist anyway! |
Lake Placid, which has a population of around 2,500 is a popular year-round destination with numerous outdoor activities such as hiking, biking, camping, boating, golf, ice skating, cross country and downhill skiing and much more. There is something for everyone in this small, scenic village. Shortly after arriving we set off on foot to explore it a bit. Although it was cool (around 52 degrees) with a bit of rain, we had a great time roaming along Main Street before returning to our hotel just as daylight was giving away to night.
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| From our hotel overlooking Mirror Lake. There are two lakes in the Village of Lake Placid. The largest is Lake Placid and the smaller is Mirror Lake. Main Street is located along Mirror Lake. |
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| Heading out to explore a bit. We should have noticed the clouds building and taken the umbrellas, but we didn't! |
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| St. Eustace Episcopal Church overlooking Main Street |
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| On Tuesday nights during the summer there is a "Concert by the Lake". This was the US Navy Cruisers and they were really good! |
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| Beautiful flowers and people along the shore of Mirror Lake |
Lake Placid
While Ben slept in the next morning, Beth and I enjoyed walking the 2.6 mile path around Mirror Lake. Once Ben joined us much of our time was spent learning about the 1932 and 1980 Olympics that Lake Placid Hosted. We enjoyed visiting the Mt. Van Hoevenberg Olympic Sports Complex, which is the training site for the US, Jamaican and Israeli Bobsled teams. Beth served as photographer as Ben and I went down the Mt. Van Hoevenberg Cliffside Coaster which ran parallel to the bobsled track. Our top speed was about 25 mph, while the bobsledders move at around 90 mph on the high banked track. 25 mph was plenty for us!
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| The fireplace felt great on a chilly morning! |
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| A couple of future olympians? |
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| Heading out on the Cliffside Coaster. There was narration about the history of the bobsled track on the way up and commentary about the ride on the way down. |
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| Ben decked out in his Jamaican Bobsled Team shirt completing his Cliffside Coaster run. |
Needless to say, the Olympics have changed over the years. Back in 1932 there were only 17 nations, and 252 athletes (231 men and 21 women) competing in 14 different events. By 1980 the size and number of events had grown significantly as 1,072 athletes (840 men and 232 women) competed in 38 events. At the most recent Winter Olympics which were held in Beijing, China in 2022 there were 2,871 athletes (1,566 males and 1,305 females) competing in 109 events. With the growth in participants and events, it's probably safe to say that Lake Placid won't be hosting the Winter Olympics again. However, the 1980 Lake Placid Winter Olympics will be forever known for producing what is known as the greatest upset in the history of sports. That was when a bunch of unknown US collegiate hockey players defeated the Soviet Union hockey team, which most experts had declared "unbeatable". It's known as the "Miracle on Ice" and memory of what happened in Lake Placid on February 22, 1980 lives on around Lake Placid all these years later. The history of the 1932 and 1980 Winter Olympics has been captured in the Olympic Museum which is well worth the price of admission!
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One of the greatest calls in the history of sports to go along with the greatest upset in all of sports!
Do you believe in miracles? |
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| The final score on the original scoreboard is located in the Olympic Museum. |
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| Gold Medalist in the middle! |
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| Inside the arena where the Miracle on Ice took place. It has since been renamed Herb Brooks in honor of the coach of the 1980 USA Olympic Hockey Team. |
Lake Placid Olympic Museum
One other interesting thing we learned about the 1980 Winter Olympics was about the fate of the Olympic Village. Congress had set aside $28 million dollars for the construction of the Olympic Village to house participants, coaches, etc. However, there was a stipulation. Once the games were over the village had to be repurposed for a second use. There was a debate about repurposing it for a hospital, housing or education. Those all seemed like noble purposes but were deemed impractical. In the end, the Olympic Village was turned over to the Federal Bureau of Prisons. The village is still in use today, as the Ray Brook Federal Correctional Institute..........we didn't visit it!
After a fun filled day and a half in Lake Placid we needed to head back to Ben's house. So we set out mid-afternoon to start the journey. We stopped briefly in Saranac Lake for a late lunch and short stroll around the downtown area. The drive back along the Olympic Scenic Byway was great. But we had one more stop in mind before getting back to Ben's. The Triple A minor league team of the New York Mets is the Syracuse Mets. They happened to have a home game against the Durham Bulls (Tampa Bay's Triple A team). So we took in a little baseball. We pulled into Ben’s place near 11:00 pm, which is about two hours past the time Beth and I normally think about heading to bed. It had been a long day, but a very good day!
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| Saranac Lake |
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| Lake Placid, Saranac Lake and still time for a little baseball! |
