Mid-century Lodging: Lake Placid

Lake Placid, NY, nestled in the Adirondacks, is one of those perfect winter towns. Whether you’d rather be skiing or strolling and shopping down Main Street or taking a sled dog ride on Mirror Lake, the snow covered evergreen trees and constant snow flurries will delight you, particularly at Christmastime. My sister Annie O’Shea prefers to be sliding down Mount Van Hoevenberg on her sled at 80 mph (she’s on the USA Skeleton Team). When skeleton season rolls around, we typically find time to visit Lake Placid.

Lodging in Lake Placid provides an eclectic mix of luxury resorts, standard hotel accommodations, trailside cabins, small inns, and a look back to roadside America. The Lake House (part of High Peaks Resort) is a 1961 roadside motel. Rumor has it that the place was pretty run down and outdated until this spring 2014 when the hotel closed for a renovation. My family and I chose to stay here and we were pleasantly surprised. Imagine mid-century style combined with the Adirondack aesthetic in crisp, modern lines. Got it? Take a look at some of these pictures.

Welcome to the Lake House. Nice font, right?

Every room has a view of Mirror Lake (which was snow covered and difficult to see as a “lake”).

The lobby of the Lake House. It was a great spot for sitting by the fireplace (not shown, on right). The only downside was having to leave early on Friday because there was a private party in the lobby. That seemed odd for a hotel.

Another view of the lobby. Modern with the ski/ADK aesthetic, yes?

Logs (though the fireplace is gas) and a nice beverage. What better way to spend a chilly, snowy December evening?

The chandelier – very creative!

Another lobby view. Though the Christmas tree left much to be desired (it was a bad fake tree), everything else made up for it (unless you’re my mother, who is still scarred from the cheesy tree).

Nice headboard in the room!

The Lake House was great, and I’d recommend a stay there. It’s a great example of modernizing an outdated hotel while keeping the feel of its historic roots. See more photos on the website. What do you think?

And, of course, a view of the bobsled/skeleton track. Go Annie!

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Annie O’Shea, Skeleton Athlete and Solo Road Tripper on I-15

Salt Lake City, UT to Calgary, Canada is a distance about 900 miles, involving snow and mountains this time of year. Most people probably wouldn’t choose to make this trip alone, except for my sister Annie O’Shea.  Then again, Annie is unlike most people I know. Annie is a member of the United States Skeleton Team, training for the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, Canada.  What is the sport of skeleton? Oh, well, just imagine lying on your stomach, face first, on a sled that is just a few inches off the ice.  Now imagine doing that at about 80 mph, with your only protection being a super thin speed suit and a ski helmet. That is how Annie spends many of her days. You can see a video of the start on her website – see under Media Gallery.

Annie O'Shea, Skeleton athlete

During the winter months, the skeleton and bobsled athletes compete in the United States, Canada, and Europe.  For a number of reasons it was easiest for Annie to fly into Salt Lake City, Utah and rent a car to drive up to Calgary for her most recent competitions. Knowing my fetish for road trip photographs, she took many for me and wrote a blog post on her adventure.

Hay on the side of I-15 in Idaho. It was everywhere, Annie said.

The route from Salt Lake City to Calgary follows along I-15. If you have a GPS, do not rely on it, according to Annie. It did steer her in the wrong direction for part of her trip. Even though Annie had to travel the interstate for time consideration, she was still able to see the beauty of these states.

More hay in flat Idaho.

Montana!

Annie, knowing how much I love crossing state lines, remembered to take the above photograph of the Montana sign. Montana, known as Big Sky Country, was quite cloudy as Annie traveled through, but its beauty is not lost in these photographs.

I-15 traveling through the mountains in Big Sky Country.

These photographs are more than enough to make me wish that I could have joined Annie on her road trip. She considered that factor, but also considered that I might slow her down a bit. Something to the effect of “Oooh, wait, can we take a picture of that? Let’s stop here!!”

Cloudy in Montana

Thanks to Annie for sharing these photographs! Be sure to check out her full account of the trip on www.annieoshea.blogspot.com.*  It will make you want to travel the Great American West. I can’t wait for my chance to get out to those states!

 

*We are in the midst of updating her website (www.annieoshea.com), but she does update her blog as often as her training schedule allows.