Lake Placid, New York

Both John and I had only been to ski resorts within a few hours drive of Washington, DC, and everyone kept telling us how much better the conditions were out west and up north.  Well, if we were going to do this, we were damn well going to DO IT!  After a few days of trying to convince John, and then chickening out at the price tag, we finally said "What the hell!" and ended up going for it; staying 3 nights at Lake Placid Lodge in the Adirondacks of New York.  We were there during the winter Olympics (in Sochi, Russia), which Lake Placid actually hosted back in 1980.

February 8, 2014:  Arriving in Lake Placid

Landed in Burlington, Vermont and took a scenic drive over to Lake Placid, NY.  The drive was just as good as the destination! 

Here's the road you take to get to the hotel.

We passed this street.

The hotel provided sleds, cross country skis, and snowshoes.

 

Great woodwork as you enter from outside.

We were greeted with a glass of champagne, and the concierge gave us a tour of the property.  

Lobby

Click below to see more!

There was a giant tree going from the bottom floor all the way up to the third floor, with lit candles hanging from their branches.

One of the many lounging areas with fireplaces

Casual dining and pub...with more fireplaces!

I just loved these stair runners

Meeting Room/Banquet Hall

Beaver made from pinecones

More fireplaces!

The tour continued outside...

Those are sled tracks

A beautiful entrance to an outdoor living room

A fire was always going, and they gave you cozy blankets

Oh yeah, here's the view.  The property sits right on Lake Placid, but you'd never know.  The lake was frozen over and covered in snow.

Fire pit where they roasted s'mores every night

The snow-capped mountain in the distance, partially obscured by clouds, is White Face Mountain.  Tomorrow, we're going to ski/snowboard that.  (gulp)

We had the option to stay in a balcony suite in the main lodge, or stay in a lake front cabin.  We decided that it was too cold to really enjoy the balcony (even though it was enclosed with a vinyl window), so we went with the cabin.

Balcony suite

The walk from the main lodge to the cabins

We stayed in Hawk

They gave us some welcoming treats and a personalized note

The homemade treats changed daily

Fireplace in our cabin, in action.  They would actually make your fire and keep it going for you.

Each night they'd put a different type of cookie on your bed.  Their sugar cookies were the best I've ever had.

I definitely used that tub

The lodge has free, daily events.  That day, we enjoyed happy hour with fried-on-the-spot cinnamon donuts and hot, spiked apple cider.

They also had a local bird rescue do a meet-and-greet with birds of prey.  We got to hold owls!  

 

After dinner at the lodge, we went back to our cabin to unwind and get ready for White Face.

The little christmas tree on our porch even had Christmas lights on it.

Making s'mores from the convenience of our bedroom!

 February 9, 2014:  White Face

 Started the day off with an amazing breakfast at the lodge.

Only the first course...fresh baked goods, butter and jam

Grabbed our gear and headed to the mountain.  When we turned onto the road that lead to the ski resort, both John and I gasped.  The sheer size of the mountain was unlike anything we had seen before.  It. Was. ENORMOUS!!!!

This picture does not even come close to showing the actual scale of the mountain.

It snowed while we skied/snow boarded.

I'm a beginner skier, and I can normally make it down the green slopes near DC, but on White Face, some of those greens are like blues.  I actually had to walk down one section of the mountain because it was so steep!  Otherwise, the conditions were great.  John had a blast snowboarding, while I got more comfortable on the baby slopes.


When the trails closed for the day, we decided to get an apres-ski drink and check out the other hotel we were thinking about staying, the White Face Lodge.

We just had to pull off on the side of the road to try to capture the beautiful snow

Snow covered trees on the drive from the mountain

White Face Lodge

Covered walkway to the entrance

Courtyard area

Heated outdoor pool and hot tub

They had an outdoor ice rink, too

And outdoor fire and cabanas if you just wanted to watch

Someone was having a wedding at White Face Lodge and arrived by a two horse open sleigh

We ended up eating dinner at a pizza place where one of the staff looked like Steve Buscemi.  

Steve told us about a festival in nearby Lake Saranac that was happening later that night.  So, we hopped in the SUV and headed over.  

The whole town was gathered near the frozen lake to celebrate.  They had an ice castle and intricate ice sculptures.  They had a pretty amazing fireworks show, too, but we didn't enjoy it as much since we were freezing.

Watching the fireworks.

It was SO cold!  Brrrrr!

February 10, 2014:  More skiing and snowboarding



February 11, 2014:  Heading home

As we were checking out, the lady at the desk said we could look at some of the other rooms in the lodge.  We got to see the super suite!  It has both an indoor and outdoor bedroom!

Here are the hotel's professional pics of their Whiteface Suite, so you really get an idea of how amazing it is:

Here are some of their other rooms: 

Parting pics of Lake Placid:

Towering over the trees like some mega Star Wars machine, these are the Olympic jumps