Here's my two cents worth.... I would recommend the Saranac Lake Hotel, www.hotelsaranac.com, it's a beautiful historic hotel run by Paul Smith's College. It's reasonably priced, and the upper floors have a beautiful view of Lake Saranac. Points of interest are 1) John Brown's farm, 2) Lake Placid, 3) I highly recommend the tourist train that travels the 10 miles between Lake Saranac and Lake Placid...you can really see the beautiful country side! and 4) the Adirondack Visitors center out by Paul Smith's college. A nice interpretive center and hiking trails for all levels of hikers and different lengths of trails. Beautiful!! and finally 5) Ausable Chasm. Even if you don't take the tour, park in the overlook area and walk to the center of the bridge to view the chasm. It's quite a sight!! Oh, and if you want to do any genealogy research on your trip (haha) the Courthouse and Library in Elizabethtown are very helpful. They are both located on the main street, if memory serves. Small towns everything is on main street! LOL Since it's so close, (about an hour's drive) I took a run up to Plattsburgh, the county seat for the neighboring county and took a look at their records in the courthouse. You never know when you might find something in a neighboring county that you hadn't expected! Vicki

Having been born and brought up in the LakePlacid, Saranac Lake area, here are a few additional "tips" --The village of Saranac Lake is split down the middle -- half of the village lies in Franklin County and half of the village lies in Essex County. The Town of North Elba (Essex County) courthouse is located on River Street in Saranac Lake. The county seat for Franklin County is actuall located in Malone, New York -- about 50 miles away. The county seat for Essex County is located in Elizabethtown, about 25-30 minutes from Lake Placid. The area, as previously indicated, has much to offer tourist-wise as well as the usual trips to the Olympic sites. One correction though -- Lake Flower is the name of the lake located in the environs of the village of Saranac Lake. It is an artificially created "lake" having been created during the WPA projects of the Great Depression in the 1930's when the river was deepened and widened to create "Lake Flower". There is also a lake that is within the environs of Lake Placid -- this lake is known as Mirror Lake. In the summer there are guided tours around Mirror Lake. There are also a "chain of lakes" known as the Saranac lakes, i.e. Upper Saranac Lake, and Lower Saranac Lake. If you have the time, take a trip through The Saranac Lake Free Library across the street from the Hotel Saranac in Saranac Lake. There is a great deal of information there on early lumbering in the area, then it's eventual growth as a number one place "to take the cure" for tuberculosis. In addition many celebrities had (and many still have) camps and summer homes in the area. The Merriwether-Post Camp, White Pines Camp, the Old Woolworth Estate, etc. The author , Robert Louis Stevenson, lived in Saranac Lake a couple of years while "taking the cure" and wrote The Master of Ballantree while he resided here. His home is open to the public. There used to be ( and probably still is) a copper bathtup of that era located on one of the porches -- it defies the onlooker to figure out how one entered the tup after it had been filled with water -- let alone try to figure out how the bather was able to exit the tub!! And if you have a great deal of exploration time, consider a day trip down to the Adirondack Museum located at Blue Mountain Lake. Breathtaking !! ----- Original Message ----- From: "Rorke.Vicki" <Vicki.Rorke@ftb.ca.gov> To: <NYESSEX-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Friday, March 25, 2005 10:49 AM Subject: [NYE] Essex County info > Here's my two cents worth.... > > I would recommend the Saranac Lake Hotel, www.hotelsaranac.com, it's a > beautiful historic hotel run by Paul Smith's College. It's reasonably > priced, and the upper floors have a beautiful view of Lake Saranac. Points > of interest are 1) John Brown's farm, 2) Lake Placid, 3) I highly > recommend the tourist train that travels the 10 miles between Lake Saranac > and Lake Placid...you can really see the beautiful country side! and 4) > the Adirondack Visitors center out by Paul Smith's college. A nice > interpretive center and hiking trails for all levels of hikers and > different lengths of trails. Beautiful!! and finally 5) Ausable Chasm. > Even if you don't take the tour, park in the overlook area and walk to the > center of the bridge to view the chasm. It's quite a sight!! > > Oh, and if you want to do any genealogy research on your trip (haha) the > Courthouse and Library in Elizabethtown are very helpful. They are both > located on the main street, if memory serves. Small towns everything is on > main street! LOL > > Since it's so close, (about an hour's drive) I took a run up to > Plattsburgh, the county seat for the neighboring county and took a look at > their records in the courthouse. You never know when you might find > something in a neighboring county that you hadn't expected! > > Vicki > > > ==== NYESSEX Mailing List ==== > Volunteer to catalog cemeteries, email Unclefred@att.net > See our Essex County web page at: http://www.rootsweb.com/~nyessex > Send pictures to be shared! Email them to unclefred@att.net > http://www.ofoto.com/I.jsp?m=46372445103.69874585703&n=1103945627 > > ============================== > New! Family Tree Maker 2005. Build your tree and search for your ancestors > at the same time. Share your tree with family and friends. Learn more: > http://landing.ancestry.com/familytreemaker/2005/tour.aspx?sourceid=14599&targetid=5429 > >