Lake Placid Lovin'

Oh what a great weekend. For real. Mike and I were so lucky to be able to get away by ourselves, thanks to our family. I was a little nervous about how the kids would be while we were gone, and part of me kept thinking that something was going to come up that would make us have to cancel. But as we were leaving, Eliza was so good about saying goodbye to us, that I was completely relaxed when we got in the car, because I knew they were in good hands.

We were able to get out of town pretty early, we made it to Lake Placid by one o'clock. I have never been, although Mike's parents live in the Adirondacks, so I'm fortunate to be able to spend time in such a beautiful place. This weekend we stayed at my uncle's condo, he's had it for 15 years, and I don't know why we haven't made the trip before. The weather was in the 50's, but sunny, and the leaves were pretty much at their peak for fall color. The condo is in a prime location, it sits a quarter mile from town, one side faces Lake Placid, the other faces Mirror Lake. We ran around like dorks when we got there, checking out the three bedrooms and bathrooms. But first things first was lunch.

First off, I noticed that the town has a very healthy and active atmosphere, because of it's Olympic history, and annual Iron man Triathlon, (and after going through the guest book at the condo, several people have rented it while participating in the race). Everyone was running or setting off for a hike, or pushing a baby stroller.

So after a quick lakeside lunch (grilled portabello sandwich for me, fried Grouper sand for Mike) we headed up to the Olympic Ski jumps. This wasn't the first time I thought of how we timed this visit so well, the colors of the leaves were unbelievable, and we were able to watch some athletes do their Olympic training. We took the ski lift up (the picture above doesn't do my new reddish hair justice), then an elevator up 25 stories to get a view of Mt. Marcy and the other High Peaks. We ventured out to a jump that was not in use, this gives you an idea of how high up we were:

I couldn't get over how old some of the skiers were, I swear that I saw a kid of 13 going up there. We saw one skier take off at a speed of 83 mph, they truly fly through the air for several seconds before landing. Amazing.

Here is Mike...as close as he's ever going to get to an Olympic Medal:

After that it was time to head home and shower before our big anniversary dinner at the Mirror Lake Inn. We had cocktails on our deck before heading over.

First we had drinks in the bar, a lovely dirty martini for me, and a lovely margarita on the rocks for Mike. None of that syrupy mix for his drink, they used fresh lime juice. There was an acoustic guitarist playing in the bar, he did covers of Elvis Costello and Velvet Underground, very cool. For dinner I started with a fennel and brie bisque, Mike had a four cheese and fig tart. The tart was very funky because it came with raspberry sorbet. I love eating with Mike, he always orders something different from me, and he shares. : ) I followed my soup with short ribs, which I love to order this time of year, it's so rich and seasonal with the carrots, potatoes and root veggies. Mike had duck, along with butternut squash ravioli. Did I say yum? Yum. We passed on dessert, but our server surprised us with a plate that read "Happy Anniversary" in chocolate along with chocolates, lady fingers and wild blueberries.

The rest of the weekend we spent outside. Saturday morning we hit up Simply Gourmet, for a grilled veggie, goat cheese and pesto buckwheat crepe for me.....pear, walnut and Gorgonzola crepe for Mike. We did the walk around Mirror Lake, shopped (how nice to shop sans stroller, and to actually browse and try things on). I felt like Lake Placid had a slightly European vibe, with the views and buildings. And we walked everywhere.

We had lakeside beers while we waited for our table at lunch, and enjoyed just being together. I couldn't get over the change in Mike. He has been incredibly stressed between his mother's illness, and his work situation. His company is going through a re-org, and he has not been himself for months. Yes, it was nice to have a break from the kids, from life, and to be in a new place. I could feel the tension leaving both of us an hour after arriving in Lake Placid. He started joking around, especially during one of our walks...."my toe hurts......my hair hurts....I think I'm hitting a wall..." But honestly the best thing about the weekend was, the fact that I had my Mikey back.