Day 2 starts much the same way the previous day did, at 6:00 am with me sitting on the couch reading my book, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. See yesterday’s post for more on that. The day again is as lazy as we want it to be, and there’s no reason to rush out of here. While we don’t necessarily have all day, we have a lot of day to burn as we feel like it.
I walk across the street to get a coffee at 7:00 am when the shop opens, and even though it’s not amazing it’s better than what the kitchen in our suite is stocked with (note: I use the word “suite” here very judiciously). I then plan our ride for the day and we start to get ready to get out for the day.
Once D wakes up, we go across the street again for breakfast but the place is jam packed so we decide to head back to the hotel room to pack up, then find somewhere else to eat. In the end, we land in Wilmington at the Country Bear Diner, which is also busy, just not as much. The wait here is only 10 minutes, as opposed to 45 at the other place.
While we wait, an RV drives past and a wheel falls off, making a massive crashing sound that is impossible to miss. I mention this here for the sake of future recollection. For actual food, I get the Lumberjack breakfast, because Lumberjack!
After we’re done we drive 2 miles down the road to the Hardy Road trail network, which looked good on paper and was something I had read about, and seemed pretty easy & obvious to navigate. We had eaten so much that we took our time getting ready, so as to give us a little space to digest. I probably could have gone with a full stomach but the extra time was good, as it allowed me some time to unload in the woods, not unlike a bear.
Once partially digested, we geared up and hit the trails. The loop I picked was pretty well-researched and in the end, I think we did a solid bunch of trails that I would recommend to anyone coming up here. I can see coming back and doing this again, in combination with some of the other trails. Maybe not next year, but someday.
The Strava link can be found here.
We got changed then hit the road right away, making our way slowly back to New Jersey. On the way we hit a Stewart’s Shop for some drinks, then shortly after stopped in at Old Mountain Coffee, which is a place I found on my last trip here. I know it’s a little absurd to plan a trip around a coffee shop, but this place is really on-point. I wish we had a place like this close to us. The coffee is great and the vibe is amazing.
On the drive to 87, we parked randomly on one of the pull-offs where other people had parked, and took a small hiking detour to the waterfall which was a nice little walk before we hit the road for another 4 hours. The area is quite pretty, and this was a nice end to that outdoors exposure.
The drive home was uneventful, which is always a good thing. Day 2 was not as packed as day 1 but it was a good day, and a relaxing day, which is what we signed up for when we decided to come up here. Summer is fast coming to an end, and with this weekend we enter August and the final run.
And thus ends another short trip up north. Tomorrow, I start a new job!
Reflections on Lake Placid
I really enjoyed writing the reflections pieces I did when we were in Europe, and while I may not always be able to write them, I think it’s a good idea to throw it in from time to time. It gives me a good chance to look back and assess what we did, where we did it, and how it fits in with our worldview. Or something like that.
Lake Placid is a strange place to me. In a sense there are 2 parts of this, the downtown/busy area which is chock full of tourists and food & beer, then everything else. You can sort of cut it into north & south. Lake Placid itself is what it is, and truth be told I did not spend enough time in the ‘burg’ to get a good feel for it. I suspect it’s what you think, lots of things to buy, eat, and drink.
We spent most of the time on both trips in the northern part, which is the Whiteface-Wilmington arena. The road biking Sean and I did on the last trip was nice, and while the south side got a tad congested the roads were much more quiet up north. The scenery is top notch, and this is what blew me away when we were here last.
The mountain biking is good, and to be fair we only hit half of what the place has to offer. We also didn’t touch the downhill park, which is at the Whiteface ski area. In winter, obviously this is another destination for the outdoor vacationer. I’m sure camping us great up here as well, but we did not foray into that arena.
I don’t know that this area has a vibe, per se. The north is outdoors but even then you see scores of people drinking beer and jumping into the river. Having moved on from my drinking days, this does not appeal to me. That said, there are a myriad of ways to avoid this and enjoy what the region has to offer.
My suggestion is to stay on the north side, only venturing into Lake Placid proper for a cup of tea, both literally and figuratively. You’ll likely need to dive into town if you want good food, for obvious reasons. Breakfast & ice cream can be had north, but your selection of restaurants is going to be far better if you go into the population center.
I can see coming back, but I would put it on the “someday” list. I can imagine coming up this ski season, as it would give us a totally different perspective on what the area has to offer. But as it is still AC weather in New Jersey, I’m not going to sharpen my skis just yet.
Traveling Normandy 