A Much Needed Vacation
**This post was transferred from the now defunct "The Long Ease" blog.**
On Friday the 13th, after a short morning at work, Ryan and I loaded up the car and hit the road. We've been together for nine years, give or take, and we have never had a true vacation together. I've visited him on the road countless times and in countless cities, yes, but vacations involving sound checks are hardly vacations. We've also done some weekend long trips to attend weddings in cities like San Francisco, Philadelphia, etc. as well as quick trips to Denver & Kansas City back when we were thinking about moving... But, again, these were never truly "vacations" in that there was no possibility for relaxation. Just rushed plans that had to coincide with a complete lack of vacation time. After the year(s) we've had, it was time...
On Friday the 13th, after a short morning at work, Ryan and I loaded up the car and hit the road. We've been together for nine years, give or take, and we have never had a true vacation together. I've visited him on the road countless times and in countless cities, yes, but vacations involving sound checks are hardly vacations. We've also done some weekend long trips to attend weddings in cities like San Francisco, Philadelphia, etc. as well as quick trips to Denver & Kansas City back when we were thinking about moving... But, again, these were never truly "vacations" in that there was no possibility for relaxation. Just rushed plans that had to coincide with a complete lack of vacation time. After the year(s) we've had, it was time...
I'm not really sure why I chose The Adirondacks. It's where I "grew up", or so I always say when people ask about my history. Not entirely accurate, as I only lived here from two weeks after my 14th birthday until I started college at Long Island University two weeks after my 17th birthday. But somehow, those three years always feel like the ones that really made me who I am now. Hence, "where I grew up".
Anyhow, I had not been back to this area since I passed through in October of 1994, on my move from Burlington, VT to Denver, CO. Almost 20 years. Hard to believe. And whenever I envisioned a vacation with my amazing husband, I thought about how much I wanted to bring him there. To see the place that, somehow, in my mind, made me me... Despite the fact that I had a complete and utter lack of appreciation for said place while we were in it. (But I WAS a teenager at the time, and teenagers, by definition, are assholes.)
For all intents and purposes, this trip was our (quite belated) honeymoon. So we wanted it to be nice. We spent night one in Utica, NY at the old and supposedly haunted Hotel Utica. It was renovated in the 90's and looked that way - sorta nice, but dated. Had an awesome dinner in the hotel's restaurant, but the room itself was awkward, the bed uncomfortable, and sleep eluded me. We were up ridiculously early for vacation, took full advantage of the free breakfast, and wandered out to see what local tourist attractions we could find. Checked out the Oriskany Battlefield (as I am planning on working with my Auntie Beth to join the DAR, this was kind of cool for me) and also visited a cheesy Herkimer Diamond Mine. Then we rolled onward to Cambridge, NY to visit Ryan's bandmate, Fonz, and his wife, Alyson. After a short but awesome visit, we left completely jealous of their beautiful and remote home and headed north to Lake George, where we checked in to the Tiki Resort! This place... it LOOKED amazing. But we did not arrive in time to attend the Polynesian Dinner Theater, and honestly, aside from the outside of the building... my house is more tiki than this place. The bar featured zero tiki drinks - basically serving cheap domestic beers in plastic cups. Thumbs WAY DOWN. No effort put in at all. Disappointing. The city itself was lovely, though, despite being kind of a brutal tourist trap. We wandered out for a walk, checked out the lake, visited House of Frankenstein Wax Museum (bunk, but hilarious), and had some excellent gelato. Back at the hotel, we got a slightly better night's rest in the MUCH more comfortable bed, but once again, we were up silly early. Got some breakfast at a local diner and then decided to head north and see what we could check out before check-in time of 3pm at the LOG CABIN we rented for the remainder of the trip...
For all intents and purposes, this trip was our (quite belated) honeymoon. So we wanted it to be nice. We spent night one in Utica, NY at the old and supposedly haunted Hotel Utica. It was renovated in the 90's and looked that way - sorta nice, but dated. Had an awesome dinner in the hotel's restaurant, but the room itself was awkward, the bed uncomfortable, and sleep eluded me. We were up ridiculously early for vacation, took full advantage of the free breakfast, and wandered out to see what local tourist attractions we could find. Checked out the Oriskany Battlefield (as I am planning on working with my Auntie Beth to join the DAR, this was kind of cool for me) and also visited a cheesy Herkimer Diamond Mine. Then we rolled onward to Cambridge, NY to visit Ryan's bandmate, Fonz, and his wife, Alyson. After a short but awesome visit, we left completely jealous of their beautiful and remote home and headed north to Lake George, where we checked in to the Tiki Resort! This place... it LOOKED amazing. But we did not arrive in time to attend the Polynesian Dinner Theater, and honestly, aside from the outside of the building... my house is more tiki than this place. The bar featured zero tiki drinks - basically serving cheap domestic beers in plastic cups. Thumbs WAY DOWN. No effort put in at all. Disappointing. The city itself was lovely, though, despite being kind of a brutal tourist trap. We wandered out for a walk, checked out the lake, visited House of Frankenstein Wax Museum (bunk, but hilarious), and had some excellent gelato. Back at the hotel, we got a slightly better night's rest in the MUCH more comfortable bed, but once again, we were up silly early. Got some breakfast at a local diner and then decided to head north and see what we could check out before check-in time of 3pm at the LOG CABIN we rented for the remainder of the trip...
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