Land o' Lakes

I've already mentioned how many lakes dot the Adirondacks, and there are lots of neat little towns, too. Saranac Lake, where we spent a few days, deserves a special shout-out.

This is a look at part of the town from [near] the top of Mt. Baker. The lovely long lake with the homes alongside it isn't named Saranac, though. It's Lake Flower, which gave its name to our nice little motel. The larger lake in the distance is one of the Saranacs, probably Lower. If you look at a map of the area around the town, though, it is simply lousy with lakes. A wide-angle view would be a textbook example of glaciated terrain.

I've already extolled the Adirondack scenery, though, and I want to show you more of the town this time. 

First, here are a couple of closer looks at Lake Flower and some of the fabulous vacation homes that line it:

the lake view from our motel's dock

a lone fisherman

Everywhere we went in the area we saw lots of great flowers and other landscaping. These are a couple of the best collections of blooms, decorating a porch near our motel.

Another yard decoration that seemed puzzlingly common was very large chairs. Here's an example, out in front of the Saranac Lake visitors' center, with accompanying tourist for scale:

not even an Adirondack chair...

In addition to its naturally beautiful setting and quirky ambiance, SL has a really exquisite old downtown. 

That clock tower is especially handsome and I couldn't help but take several shots of it.

I'm not sure you couldn't find a better base of operations for seeing the Adirondacks than Saranac Lake!