All aboard

Since we moved here, we have wanted to ride the Adirondack Scenic Railroad from Utica to Thendara, which is just outside of Old Forge. We took advantage of a Groupon deal and finally made our railroad trip last Saturday. The deal was for two adults and two children, so we asked one of Aidan's friends to come along.

You can read the history of the ADK Scenic Railroad on their website, but the condensed version is that the railroad tracks were constructed in 1890-91 to take people to the Adirondack great camps, and then later freight service was added. In its heyday, the railroad went all the way from Utica to Lake Placid. Service started decreasing in 1961 and the line was completely abandoned in 1977. In 1992, a group of railroad enthusiasts founded the Adirondack Railway Preservation Society and started rehabilitating the line. The railroad now operates from Utica to Thendara, and between Saranac Lake and Lake Placid, and is staffed by volunteers.

It was a drippy grey day in Utica when we boarded the train:

It takes a little over two hours to make the trip to Thendara. Aidan and his friend played Nintendo most of the way (sigh) while I enjoyed the scenery out the window; the rocking motion of the train made knitting impossible for my stomach to handle. James spent most of the trip north in the baggage car, known as an "open air" car because large side doors remain open:

He took all of these photos from the open side:

He even managed to get a photo of a moose:

 

So it was a cutout decoration in the back of someone's yard - it is likely to be the closest we get to a moose!

I really liked how people came out to wave at the train as it passed:

Once in Thendara, we took the shuttle bus to Old Forge to have lunch at Tony Harper's - love those SRQ chips! We then rode the chair lift to the top of McCauley Mountain:

 

Despite the drizzle and mist, the views at the top were beautiful:

 

On the ride down, one of our darling child's sneakers fell off. Of course it was an "accident", which is Aidan-speak for "I was goofing around". James and I were livid, and came very close to making him walk around with just one shoe on. James rode  back up, climbed down to the shoe, climbed back up and then rode the chair lift down while I made the two boys sit down and be silent. It was the only time of the entire trip that they stopped talking. The men who run the chair lift were very nice; they did not charge James for the extra trip and they traded inane boy stories with me.

The rest of the day was, thankfully, uneventful. The skies cleared as we rode back to Utica and we enjoyed the scenery again, this time with the benefit of abundant sunshine. It was a fun day; I adore train travel and we liked seeing the sights that you can only see from a train. If we ever do it again it will be just James and me (and we hope by then to go from Utica to Lake Placid), and there will be no chair lift involved.

A day at the fair

James took the day off on Monday so we could visit The Great New York State Fair; we last attended in 2010 and decided that it was high time that we went again (it didn't hurt that we were given free tickets, either!). We don't do rides or games, so we enjoy seeing the animals, eating junk food and people watching.

We were puzzled by this sign, displayed in front of a very small garden:

Was the intent of the sign to make sure that no horses got into the garden, or was it telling us not to bother to look for horses because there weren't any in there?

Piglets!

 

I was quite taken with this handsome llama, who was obviously also quite taken with himself:

Why is it that animals always think that the food in the next pen is better than the food in their pen?

 

There is always at least one chicken who gladly poses for a photo:

 

I always have to find a Tina Turner chicken and, yes, I recited the intro to "Proud Mary":

"Y'know, every now and then I think you might like to hear something from us nice and easy
But there's just one thing (left a good job down in the city)
You see we never ever do nothing (working for the man)
Nice and easy"

James  enjoyed a hot, greasy portion of fried dough:

 

Look at me - I'm a princess with a cute little calf:

When we exited the Horticulture Building, we noticed that it is a beautiful building. Built in 1937, it has an intricate design around the entrance:

 

I adore this little fish fountain to one side of the entrance:

We had all the fair fun we could handle by 2 pm and left just as the fairgrounds really started to fill with people. A fun trip was had by all, but we all agreed that we can take next year (or two) off.