June 12th, Day 6. Overcast but the rain will come! We head for
Ausable Chasm, but not for the chasm itself.
It is the location of the North Star Underground Railroad Museum, said to be a
former horse nail factory (although not obvious), relating history of
Northeastern New York’s UGRR.
An
introductory to the tour commences with a film called, “The Forgotten Story of
John Thomas” and not to be missed. It recounts this former slave with an escape
that begins in Maryland. There is a section of glass encased ceiling from which
one “escapee” appears to be looking down on us.
Boards with written displays relate the history of this
North Eastern movement. According to the
museum, “The Champlain Line of the Underground Railroad encompassed the Upper
Hudson River, the Champlain Canal, and Lake Champlain. Runaway slaves who
reached these waterways took steamboats, barges and canal boats as part of
their northward journey. Stagecoach and railroad lines from New York City and
New England provided land routes into the region. Lake Champlain was a Gateway
to Freedom.”
I was able to learn through several recount stories
of those using the Champlain Line from 1830-1861 as well as taking in
characters such as members of the anti-slavery society, and abolitionists. This
museum has newly researched data of those that contributed but not well-known. Great
DVD to buy at the gift shop: “Northward to Freedom, stories of the North
Country Underground Railroad. www.northcountryundergroundrailroad.com.
We stayed long enough to get a photo of the
chasm. There would be no way that I
would go rafting on the river in this area. However, I do understand that there
is an easier and calmer part. I skip it all as we on now on our way to Lake
Placid with first a brief check-in at Whiteface Chalet located in Wilmington.
More about the chalet when we return.
On to Lake Placid Pub and Brewery located at 813
Mirror Lake Drive. Note the name of yet
another two lakes. There are three floors, the first housing a bar. With an
expansion it appears that the restaurant, or pub, is now on the second floor
and to where they had moved the kitchen.
The third floor of the building was completely renovated into a new bar
and dining area and called The Hop Loft.
I’m told that this space has a great view and the additional space has
decreased the wait list times dramatically.”
Due to time constraints I was unable to take a tour
of the brewery itself but did order one of the beers. Their signature is “UBU”, an English style
strong Ale. That’s not for me as I tend
to choose a beer such as Blue Moon. Our
server recommended the Moose Island Ale, a light golden ale that is low in
bitterness, with a clean, crisp and thirst-quenching taste. Boy, would I love to have one now!
My lunch began with a Chicken Wild Mushroom soup, no
explanation needed. It was followed by
“the schulzy burger”, which was named after some guy named Shulzy. Angus sirloin burger with melted cheddar and
American cheese, bacon, lettuce, tomatoes, mayo and ketchup. Served with fries that are worth a side order
itself. I read that they have a
homemade bbq sauce using locally produced maple syrup and their flagship UBU
Ale. I asked for a sample to dip my
fries into. www.ubuale.com
Since it was the last day of the trip we decided to
“chill out” a bit and check out the “downtown” area commonly known as “Main
Street”. Eateries, boutique shops,
chachka stores…the usual tourist street.
Here we are looking on Mirror Lake.
There is great spot halfway down the block with some Adirondack chairs
facing the lake. One level down on each
side is access to another sitting area which seemed to emanate from
stores. The level below is a grassy area
with a stage. We watched one man building up a set to watch a movie, which was
to be shown at about 9 p.m. The subject
had to do with the Adirondacks. Surprise!
It rained this night.
Being that dinner time was approaching, we chose to
eat at Generations, 2543 Main Street. The
restaurant is part of a resort called Golden Arrow. Given a seat by the window
there was a great view of Mirror Lake as well as their herb garden. Décor is
lots of wood. Food is cooked with as much local products as possible. I had a baby spinach salad with julienne
vegetables, avocado, grape tomatoes, and roasted red peppers with a cilantro
dressing. That was followed with Ceviche
of yellow fin tuna, and avocado with fresh lime, cilantro, ginger and scallions
with grilled flatbread and micro greens. A yummy chicken breast special caught
my attention on the entrée. Dessert was
a chocolate ganache mousse. It wasn’t
the Last Supper, but it was the last supper here in the Adirondacks. www.golden-arrow.com
It was early enough to take a ride around the lake,
especially since we had the GPS. Lake
Placid itself is across the way from Mirror Lake. Back to Wilmington and the chalet about nine
miles from Lake Placid. Large and cozy room decorated ala Adirondack style
(wood). View of Whiteface Mountain.
Aside from the bed, there was also a pull out futon and a hickory rocker. It appeared that I had company as I was off of mine. Wet bar, too.
I didn’t have to leave the building to get to the
“common area”, where among other things, the more than continental breakfast is
served. Laurie took advantage of it the
next morning. Once more, I skipped
breakfast as I had been munching on the cheese curds and chocolate that I had
been toting. www.whitefacechalet.com It’s now homeward bound!
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