This summer is flying by! Last month, James and I went up to Lake George for the annual family weekend that my dad’s side of the family hosts (that happens to coincide with my aunt and uncle’s birthdays). This year, it also happened to coincide with a MAJOR heat wave so if we were outside, we were most certainly in the lake.
James, Lilly, and I drove up on Thursday. We went to breakfast Friday morning and then did a big grocery shopping for the weekend. We spent some time at the beach and then came home. Ashley drove up and joined us Friday evening. She got there after dark and it was still so hot so we decided to walk down to the beach. We thought we were the only ones there (it was SILENT) but then suddenly these three middle aged women emerged from the lake holding champagne glasses. They went up to James and asked him why he wasn’t swimming and he just pointed to his cast and was like “uhhh…foot’s kinda broken?” so then they left but not before creepily chanting “enjoy your summer night” repeatedly. So if that’s not weird enough, after they were gone I turned around to see which way they went and saw that there were only two sets of wet footprints even though there had been three women. So apparently Lake George is haunted by middle aged women.
My uncle threw my aunt a huge birthday party on a boat for her 65th birthday on Saturday evening. The boat left from the Sagamore and cruised around Lake George for 3 hours. We had cocktail hour on the upper deck and then went downstairs for an amazing buffet dinner. Afterwards, we went back to the house and had an after party and James got my aunt to do pickleback shots!
On Sunday we visited the Adirondack Winery in Bolton Landing before Ashley had to leave. We wound up splitting a case of wine for the house and because we bought gifts for a few friends. Ashley went back to Connecticut straight from Bolton Landing and James and I went back to the house and brought Lilly out on the paddleboard with us. At night, the “adults” went to the Firehouse for dinner but we stayed out on the lake and met them at Windchill for ice cream – it was National Ice Cream Day so it was super appropriate.
James and I originally were supposed to leave Monday to go camping in Vermont but after he broke is foot, we decided to just stay up at the lake a few extra days. We tried to go to Fort Ticonderoga but it was pouring out and it required a lot of walking outside so instead we drove back down to Bolton Landing and went to the Bolton Landing Brewing Company. It opened up two or three years ago but this is the first time I’ve visited. We each got a flight of beer and split some tacos. The beer was great and so were the tacos! We will definitely be visiting again. After Bolton Landing Brewing Company, I made the same mistake I have made so many times before on trips to Bolton. There is a bar on the main road that advertises that they offer a raw bar. I love oysters so every year it seems that I am lured in by this sign, only to be disappointed (one year they served the oysters in a BOWL of ice with the shells tipped so everything slid out of the shells). I really need to start following my own advice – if a raw bar only has one type of oyster on the menu, it’s not a raw bar. So yeah, we stopped in this particular bar to get oysters and while they weren’t served in a bowl this time, they weren’t good.
The weather was much better on Tuesday and we drove down to Lake George Village. We played mini golf and got lunch at one of the many bars that overlook the water. We also went and sat on the beach for a bit but didn’t go in the water.
Wednesday was our last day at the lake. We spent the morning paddleboarding and going to the beach – the water was SO warm that even the sand under the water was warm. We reluctantly packed up and left in the afternoon. When we were in Ticonderoga, we noticed that Route 22 ran through town so we decided to take 22 home instead of the usual way. It was a super scenic route and everything was fine until we got to where 22 meets I90 – we found ourselves behind a truck with an oversized load that was going 30 mph the whole time. We were behind this truck the ENTIRE rest of the way home. At one point, 22 widens to two lanes in each direction. A car in front of us went to pass the truck but one of the vans following truck (you know, the one with the lights and “WIDE LOAD” sign) literally swerved to block him from passing the truck. It turned a three hour drive into five. What a way to end our trip!
Until our next adventure!
The Harkin Chronicles 