Artist?

There are some things in my travels that I often ponder, some longer than others. This odd sculpture sits just above the sidewalk on Saranac Avenue.

K. Cole Artist?

The bust always seems to grab my attention when I drive by the Paradox Lodge in Lake Placid, but I usually forget about it as soon as I turn into Hannaford's parking lot and start grocery shopping. However, the other day I finally stopped to take a picture and put a little more thought into it. After looking at it up close, it reminded me of a ceramic head I made in high school art class and wished that I hadn't left it in my parents basement for years. An act that ultimately led to its demise in some landfill. So shameful and now every time I drive by, I feel guilty about not treasuring my own art work and finding a nice place for it in our garden.

A Little Bit of Brooklyn

Recently I had one of my childhood bff's swing by for a brief visit before Thanksgiving. He always seems to visit during the shoulder season when not a whole lot is going on and I can never figure out what to do with him, not that it really matters because no matter what, there is always laughter.

This time was no exception. After meeting for lunch in Lake Placid we headed back to my house and I showed him the two additions to our home in the last year, saloon doors and the Soda Stream. Many of my friends own a Soda Stream and share the love of the seltzer, but if like Phil you have been hiding under a rock, you must watch this:

He immediately wanted a demonstration and after his first few sips he suggested we make egg creams. I had never tasted an egg cream before and he informed me that it contains neither eggs or cream. All we needed was the Soda Stream to make our soda water, milk, and chocolate syrup to create the fizzy beverage.

Although the fountain drink is highly associated with Brooklyn, you can make it anywhere, even along the Au Sable. His father was from the Bronx and that never stopped him from treating his kids to an old fashioned egg cream.

Phil was in charge of mixing the drink for us and used the following recipe: equal parts milk and seltzer (about 1/2 cup each) and three big squeezes of chocolate syrup. He tested it out before serving it.

When I asked him what the verdict was, he said, "It's not the best thing in the world." Drew said, "sure, sure." After a couple more gulps it turned into, "yeah, good." Always an optimist and not wanting to hurt Sal the Soda Stream's feelings, I thought it was okay but it would probably have been better if we weren't using 1% milk and tap water. Or maybe, just maybe we needed to follow a previously tested recipe? Phil admitted that he remembers feeling obligated as a kid to liking egg creams because it was considered a treat.

Bad egg cream or good, it's always a treat to see my pal Phil.

The Future of a Mansion

On Monday, November 21, 2011, the historic Wellscroft Lodge, a tudor mansion will be sold to the highest bidder in Collar City's bankruptcy real estate auction.

The mansion built in Upper Jay in 1903 was sold in the 1940s due to financial troubles after the Depression and has had several owners since. Unfortunately, the most recent owners have had the same misfortune and the future of Wellscroft remains unknown.

As a tween, a popular fortune game that my friends and I played was called M.A.S.H., which stood for Mansion, Apartment, Shack, House.

You would list as the picture above shows; four different cars, four boys, four jobs, and number of future children. Then you would make a squiggly or spiral in the center of the box until your friend said "Stop!" and you would then count the lines and that would be the number you would use to go around the box, crossing selections off until you only had one in each category.

If you ended up with a shack, you obviously had no future, even if you landed on lawyer for your job. A mansion was the best thing to get. For sure. Who wouldn't want the mansion?

The other day when I was walking around the Wellscroft mansion during a preview with my husband, I couldn't help but think about the fortune game again and how his name was never, not once on any of my M.A.S.H. games. I also realized how wrong I was about ever wanting a mansion because when I walked into one room and called his name, I couldn't find him. That fortune game never told me that some day I'd be much more comfortable in an 1100 square foot home as opposed to a 17,000 + sq. ft. mansion. M.A.S.H. predicted nothing accurately, but honestly I'm happy with how things have turned out.

Question Quest?

Have you been to Wilmington, New York before? Have you seen this sculpture along the Ausable river? Do you know where in Wilmington it is? Who is the artist?

I know where it is, do you? Which business with a "?" sign do you think can answer my question? If anyone will know it will be someone at Wilmington Visitor Information, don't you think that's a good place to start?

That's funny they are usually open Monday - Friday from 8 - 3:30 pm, I wonder why they would be closed on a Tuesday at 1:30 pm? Maybe I'll walk across the street, do you think the pizza man will know?

What did he say? Turns out Bob said, "I've lived here my whole life and I've never seen that, do you want to go for a walk and show me?" Who else would know? Do you think that T & T will know the answer?

Wait, what? Why is T & T closed on Tuesdays and Sundays? Okay, where is the next question mark? I thought I remembered seeing a ? sign at the Adirondack Holiday Lodge, did I imagine it there?

Here it goes, Have you seen this sculpture before? "No, where is it? Is that something to put the chairlift on?" Do you think the motel across the street will know?

They might know, but why is Mel's Diner closed and why is there a sign at the Green Mountain Lodge saying that they are closed for the winter season 2011/2012?

There is only one more ? sign left in all of Wilmington to ask, will the Little Supermarket have the answer to my question?

I showed a picture and asked Jami the pizza and deli goddess, do you know where this is? She asked me, "Is it at the beach or is it near the lift chair near the bridge?"

Wait, is that customer the manager of the Candy Man looking it up on her smart phone? Did she discover anything on google? No she didn't, but that makes me question why the Candy Man Store doesn't have a ? sign, why don't they? I wonder if the 90 year old that just came in to buy her 2% milk and newspaper that has had a home in Wilmington since 1945 will know? What was her response? "Oh my heaven! I have no idea, I've never seen it before, what is it?"

I think I got the Little Supermarket ladies on the case, will they be able to come up with the answer? Wait, what was my question again?

RIP Rosa

It has been an emotional week. My beloved car Rosa's little body couldn't take it any longer and was put out to pasture. On her final journey along the Ausable this morning, we shared one last song on the radio together, Bust A Move.



I don't think there could ever be a better farewell song for a car like Rosa. She moved all the way to her final resting place.

I leave you with the last picture from our final photo shoot today next to a phone booth in Keeseville.

R.I.P. Rosa, Honda Civic LX, 1997 - 2011

Auto Repair Sign

Imagine for a moment that your nickname is Al or to some, Big Al and then picture yourself in a happy mood listening to music at the Recovery Lounge and having a slight buzz. Now keeping all of this in mind, you notice a sign in a corner of the basement that says, "Cal's Auto Repair." You inquire about the sign and someone tells you that you can take it. For free.

Jump ahead a few months, the monstrous sign is in your garage and you start thinking winter is around the corner and it would be nice to park your car inside. So, you drag the giant sign outside and clean it and ponder the name Cal. Cal not Al.

Next thing you know, you see your husband getting out the blow torch and a razor blade and starts focusing his energy on the letter, C. After only a few minutes, the C is gone. You now have a white spot in front of Al's. Then, as any Fine Arts major would do, you get out the art supplies.

You discover the best way to blend the white into the aged sign is by using a combination of colored pencils and the Milk Yellow and Golden Ochre oil pastels with a paper towel. Your neighbor stands above you shaking her head and you find yourself taking pride in your work.

Then, the moment you had been waiting for arrives and you are standing inside your garage with your husband admiring your new sign, Al's Auto Repair.

After all that, you can finally pull your car into the garage. It's just too bad there's no Al that can actually do any auto repair that lives there.

The Breakfast Club

Last week we had friends come to visit. Since they used to live here and are familiar with all the restaurant choices, we decided to try a place that none of us had been to before and dined at the Breakfast Club in Lake Placid.

All I knew about this place was that they served more than just breakfast despite the name and they had a large selection of Bloody Mary's to choose from. We went for lunch after going for a hike so we were hungry.

Amy and I ordered a couple of drinks, while the boys decided to rehydrate with water.

Amy described her Raspberry Blush Mimosa as "a tangy, bubbly fruit drink." I had the BC Bloody Mary and was impressed with the pickle, olive and celery stick it was served with. I liked it, but thought it had too much worcestershire and spiciness in it for my tastes. Amy liked the Bloody Mary a lot and said, "I love salt and I love pickle juice, why wouldn't I like this drink?" I found this surprising because she usually doesn't like spicy, but this had a kick to it that she thought was delicious.

Drew ordered the Maple Balsamic Chicken salad and Chris had the Crab Cake sandwich.

Either they were too busy cleaning their plates or they just don't think they could get a word in with Amy and I, because when I asked them how they liked their meals, they simply said, "It's good."

I ordered the Turkey, Apple and Brie French Toast Sandwich. I thought the sandwich had a nice, mellow taste and probably should have paired it with a mimosa rather than a spicy Bloody Mary.

Amy had the Smoked Salmon Bene and thought that it was "easy to eat and the flavors blended well."

We were all members of the Clean Plate Club at the Breakfast Club and we all said we would come back, so I think that's the best way to sum it up.

I know I'd like to go back some time this fall for one of their Wednesday 80's movie nights. Tasty drinks and an old flick like Goonies or Weird Science, yes please! Now, if I can just get Amy to fly back to join me. I'm pretty sure my sister, a total 80's fan, would like this place too!