40 Pound Block of Cheese

Now that the temperature has dropped, I find myself wanting more comfort food.  Yes, that means more cheese will be added to my diet.  At Devin's Garage and Deli in Jay,  they advertise on their sign: Subs, Deli Meats, Ice Cream, Beer and of course, New York State Cheddar Cheese. At Devin's Deli you can find at the counter a 40 pound brick of Sharp Cheddar Cheese. Apparently, they order ten 40 lb bricks at a time!  The cheese never sees a cooler and tastes better as it ages.  They told me that during the holidays and other busy times they sometimes go through a brick a week!  Anytime I get a sandwich from Devin's I get it with their cheddar cheese.  People love this cheese!  You can buy the cheese by the pound at $5.79.  

Before any of you leave any gross comments, I'll do it for you: Devin's Garage and Deli is very convenient, Get gas, then cut the Cheese!

Muffin Lady

I was having a bit of a bummer day at work yesterday until I walked into the Finance office and saw the spread of baked goods on the desk top.  The Muffin Lady was making her rounds.  I wasn't familiar with the Muffin Lady and her business.  Apparently she goes around Lake Placid and Wilmington to different offices with her baskets full of homemade baked goods and sells them.  Her next stop was going to be at the Luge offices where one of her friends was going to be selling them at the Farmers Market in Keene this weekend.  She sells homemade muffins, breads, cookies, and pies.  

My coworker, Kathy has faithfully been following my blog and she knew the wheels were turning in my head for the next blog entry.  She kindly loaned me 75 cents to try out a peanut butter m&m cookie.  It took all of my will power to not eat it at work, I was going to bring it home for Drew and I to split.  I know my rodent of a cat, Monty, enjoyed the cookie because he managed to nibble a bit when I wasn't looking!  Well, I have to say we really liked the cookie.  Right away when I broke the cookie in half, I knew it would be good because it was not a hard snap, gentle break.  Drew thought it was "Good quality, not too raw and chewy, but not too hard or dry."  I mentioned to him that one of my coworkers, who shall remain nameless, thought the cookie was a little salty.  Drew said, "Salty yes, but it is a peanut butter cookie, what do you expect?"  This was no rinky dink cookie, it was nice and thick.  

I look forward to trying out other baked goods that she makes.  The pies she was describing sound incredible.  Well, her name is Amy and she has a Muffin Hotline where you can reach her to order items or to track her down: 518-524-2811.  

Riverside Antiques

I received an email the other day letting me know about a new antique store on 9N in Upper Jay, Riverside Antiques.  I was really excited to check it out, but thought it might be an issue since I work every weekend and was figuring it would only be open then.  I lucked out though, I was driving by on a Tuesday afternoon and it was open!Julie Robinson from Upper Jay has moved her antiques out of storage into the small green used bookstore.  I never had the chance to check out the space until Tuesday.  She had a few things I liked, an old drying rack, vintage wooden coca cola crates, mushroom prints.  But, unfortunately for Julie, I was only window shopping.  I hope for her sake someone rich drives by.  Julie said until the weather turns cold, she will try to be open Tuesdays - Sundays 1 - 5 pm.  She admits it might be a hit or miss thing though.  Keeping that in mind, I wouldn't make a trip specifically for the antique store, combine it with something.  You could check out the Gargoyles around the corner or even head over to Jay and have a picnic at the Covered Bridge.

Elfenwood Alpacas

This Saturday, the Alpaca Farms in Jay will be part of National Alpaca Farm Day. There are four alpaca farms in the Jay area.  Unfortunately I will not be able to attend since I have to work.  I really wanted to visit one of the alpaca farms in the area, so I called Trudy at Elfenwood Alpacas to make an appointment to come for a visit.  

Yesterday morning I went to visit the new cria (baby alpaca) at Elfenwood Alpacas.  I got to meet "Terrawee" it means "Little Earth Gift"and she was only 10 days old.  She is so cute and so soft. 

Trudy and Seth, the owners, had a very busy morning.  They had nail trimming to do, medicine to give, and behavior watching to do.  They wanted to see if Terrawee's mom was ready to breed yet. She must have had a headache because she spit at Lucian.  Maybe this weekend. 

Elfenwood Alpaca Farm has 11 alpacas.  I was only able to see 10 of them, one is away on a romantic vacation.  I got to see 6 girls and 4 boys.  They are all so beautiful.  Thank you Trudy and Seth for letting me visit!

Hungry Trout

Last night was my 1 year anniversary with Drew and we thought we'd splurge on a nice dinner at the Hungry Trout in Wilmington on the West Branch of the Ausable River. I had never been to the Hungry Trout before even though it was one of my recommendations back when I was a Concierge.  They do a nice job with the decor with a theme of fishing and hunting.  The Hungry Trout doesn't go overboard as many other Adirondack restaurants can. Very tasteful.  We were lucky to be placed in the main dining room.  There is a great view of Whiteface mountain and the Ausable River.

Once seated, our server gave us some warm, rustic, homemade bread.  I ordered the Hungry Trout salad which was excellent and Drew helped me eat it.  The salad had mixed greens, cran raisins, roasted pine nuts and a nice vinaigrette.  After we gobbled that up, our meals came in large fish dishes.  I had the baked cod with olives, roasted red peppers, tomatoes, and mushrooms.  

Drew ordered the Trout special, almond encrusted trout with an amaretto butter sauce.  Both dishes came with lemon risotto and green beans.  I thought my dish was going to be more Mediterranean-ish, it was a little more spicy than I would have liked.  Not bad, just didn't realize it was going to be spicy cod.  Drew said his was, "Most delectable."  I tried his and I thought it was really good.  Personally I think anything encrusted means goodness.

There are non-fish items on the menu, but that's just what we happened to order last night.  One of their chicken dishes looked good as well as the filet mignon.  Overall we had a great meal.  When we were seated I noticed a light switch on the wall about a foot up from the floor. I had wondered what it was.  Right before sunset, the server flipped the switch and I asked her what it was for.  She said the river lights would turn on in about five minutes.  Sure thing.  The lights turned on and pointed down to the river.  At first it looked like they were shining on bushes, but as it got darker they lit up the river below.  Very romantic.  

Oh, I should mention that if you don't want to pay the price at the Hungry Trout you can eat below at their pub, R. F. McDougall's for lighter fare.  I hear they make a great burger there and I can't wait to try their cheese fries at the pub some day.  If I'm ever a Concierge again, I can be behind my recommendation at the Hungry Trout.

Day After

Well, after training all summer along the Ausable River, I finally completed my first marathon. 

I don't think I'm going to be moving much today.  I think these feet are going to be found .2 miles up from the East Branch of the Ausable.

Beef Jerky

For those of you who have not been to the Little Super Market in Wilmington, you've got to go! First of all they have a great deli there and the sandwich and sub prices are amazing!  I'll have to tell you about that some other day, but this morning I was taken by the Beef Jerky display.  They have a wide variety of Beef Jerky that would impress any Jerky fan.

They carry over 30 different kinds of beef jerky ranging from Slim Jim products to my personal favorite, Wild Bill's.   Beef jerky that comes with cheese sticks, and jerky flavors like jalapeno, teriyaki, peppercorn, bbq, etc.  Salivating over the beef jerky shelves, I noticed on the left hand side, second shelf up a box full of Butterfingers.  Yes, the candy bar.

I know that Slim Jim makes a flavor, Sweet and Spicy.  For some reason I don't think the Butterfinger has anything to do with that though.  Maybe the person that stocks the shelves likes the new Butterfinger Crisp so much that they have put it in a location away from all the other candy bars.  That way no one would notice the new candy bar and it would be like their own private stash. 

Sad Gargoyles

I was originally intending for this blog to be fun and light, but I promised to keep you updated on what the Gargoyles in Upper Jay were up to.

The community Along the Ausable has recently been faced with the tragedy of Jeremy Quinn's disappearance on September 2. His body was finally found 10 days later about a mile from his vehicle. You can read more about the specifics at the Adirondack Daily Enterprise.

As for the Gargoyles:

Summit of Whiteface

For years my father always told a story about how he got his friend to hike up Whiteface Mountain with the promise of beer at the summit castle. Unfortunately for his friend, no beer.

Recently we had friends visiting us and Drew and Gregg wanted to check out the new trails Whiteface has been cutting. I of course wanted to see what the beer situation was at the castle twenty some years later. What better way to do this? Drive to top of course!


Once reaching the end of the Whiteface Memorial Highway one can choose to hike .5 mile or take an elevator to the summit 276 feet through granite. We tried the elevator going up (give me a break, I ran 18 miles the day before).


Here we are at the rocky summit:














After Drew and Gregg checked out the new ski trails and lift Whiteface workers have been working hard putting in this summer, I was off to check out what was inside the Summit Castle. The castle offers a gift shop and a small cafeteria. The gift shop had some really cool Coon Hats and Magic Lights that you could purchase.




The cafeteria offered sandwiches, cereal, sodas, and hot food. Still no beer. I asked a friend who works for Centerplate the catering company what the deal was. She messaged a coworker and she quickly received a text message back saying that they do not have a liquor license at the Summit Castle Cafe.

The summit of Whiteface truly is breathtaking! On a really clear day you can see as far as Montreal.

Who needs beer when you have a view like this?

Back to School Gargoyles

Throughout this blog I will keep you informed on the changes happening with the gargoyles on Rt. 9N just outside of Upper Jay. Last week they were headed back to school:





I hope everyone had a good first week back to school!

Camp Wood

Driving from Jay to Lake Placid for work I pass many locations with camp wood for sale.

One location outside of Upper Jay had plenty of fire wood for sale, it didn't appear to be bundled up though. Another confusing thing about this spot in particular was there was no clear sign telling me how much it cost or a box to put money in.

About a mile down the road, I came across some more camp firewood, the sign here was clear, $5. Unfortunately there was no wood, they must have been sold out since it's the end of the camping season here in the Adirondacks.


I happened to stop at the nice KOA campground just to see if they inflated their prices just because of the convenience factor. Sure enough, $5.75.

Just near the flume in Wilmington, there was a great sign for Fire Wood that definitely caught my attention. After getting out of the car to inspect, it seems like they do a great job keeping the bundles dry under a tarp. One funny thing though was on the back of the sign, it used to be $4. I wonder what made them charge the additional $1?


On the way home I took Rt. 86 and stopped at the place in Wilmington where they sell Adirondack Birdhouses and Camp Wood. Camp wood here is $5, nicely bundled, and a clear box to place your money.


Before you enter Jay on 86, there is another stop, Camp Wood for sale, $5 and they had tons of it and it looked like great wood.

So upon careful inspection today, the going rate seems to be $5 for a bundle. Drew was interested in the quality of the wood at each location or what kind of wood you would be purchasing. I am not the best at identifying chopped wood, but it all seemed to be very nice wood, some organized better than others though.

Jay Covered Bridge

In Jay, NY there is the historic covered bridge that was originally built in 1857. I won't pretend to go into all the historical details surrounding the bridge and Jay because I would probably get something wrong and someone would leave me a comment about how inaccurate my blog is. Since the first bridge was so old it started falling apart so they rebuilt the bridge and placed it at the original site. There was a lot of controversy surrounding how the new structure was constructed, but quite honestly I think any covered bridge is awesome. Planners of the new area along the Ausable River have put in a tennis and basketball court and put picnic benches down there too, all a very nice touch and nice addition to the Town of Jay.

One of the best things about living just up the street from the covered bridge is having lunch on the river rocks. I highly recommend any outing to this great spot.



I often have to nag Drew to go down to the river with me, I think he takes it for granted that we have such an awesome place to go and hang out. Maybe if there was wireless internet down there he'd be into it more.

The other day when we went there were tons of families sliding down the natural water slides and wading in the pools. People have all different techniques in going down the rapids, some people bring foam noodles, others just use their bodies and gravity, and some even bring tubes. I'm thinking I need to purchase a tube or blow up sled for next summer.


Oh, and by the way, for all you people out there that told me about the leeches that would hitch a ride on me, you are mistaken! I have found no leeches down at the covered bridge rapids or heard any screaming children running out of the water with blood suckers on them, maybe down below where the water is still, but I didn't run into any problems when I was wading on the other side soaking my legs. So, that's the end of that rumor.