Fall Road Trip to Lake Placid

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Recently I was invited to check out the Lincoln MKZ Hybrid. So confident were their representatives of the fuel efficiency of the vehicle that they encouraged me to travel to any notable Fall foliage destination in the East Coast where I could both enjoy the benefits of the ride as well as the views. And so we did, on a trip to Lake Placid.

Lake Placid, in the Adirondacks, is one of those places in New York state that always show us something new every time we have been there. Visitors tend to flock to the area during the winter for skiing, but there’s always something to do, even in those in between seasons like Fall.

We recently took the 5 1/2 hour drive upstate for the weekend. I was mostly excited to see the foliage, while my family was looking forward to all the activities at their Olympic Center.

Lake Placid hosted the Olympic games both in 1932 and 1980 and it is still where athletes come to train for regional, national, and international competitions. Local members of the community can also benefit from the facilities, as it also where local sports team and camps come to play and practice.

The Olympic Museum is an incredible resource for those interested in learning more about not only the games that have taken place, but also the athletes that have made Olympic history, and the various ways in which the games themselves have evolved over time.

We enjoyed touring the different sites, including the ski jump, where we got to see the jump from the perspective of the skiers…and yowza!

But I think the overall highlight was the bobsled experience, where the family and I got to experience the speed and adrenaline rush of a sliding through an ice tunnel in a high-tech sleigh-barrel. OK, not a real barrel, more of a sleigh, but still pretty cool. The experience itself is pretty pricy and goes by pretty fast, but you get a nice picture and t-shirt at the end, and really, how many people can say they have actually taken a bobsled ride? We can!

Guests can enjoy this and a lot more at a discount by purchasing the Olympic Sites Passport (an annual pass is valid from May through April of the following year). Worth every penny!

We had plans to hike and photograph all the Fall colors, but it seems winter arrived earlier in the mountains, and so we spent a lot of our time staying warm and enjoying our first snow fall of the season.

Where we stayed

The Golden Arrow Lakeside Resort has been a family owned property for about 40 years. What started as a smaller motel-like retreat has now become not only one of the most popular lodging destinations in the area, but also one with the best view. Views of  the beauty of Mirror Lake is a coveted by many of those who often stay at Golden Arrow making their ground-level and balcony suites some of the most sought after rooms in the resort, especially during the summer time. Among their popular suites are their allergen free rooms designed to provide optimal comfort to guests with sever allergies. They also have pet-friendly rooms and larger family suites, one of which my family enjoyed, many of them complete with kitchenettes.

The in-house amenities include a large pool with steam room and sauna, as well as a newly renovated gym, with racket ball and steam room facilities. The resort itself is on Main Street, so we could easily walk to shops and restaurants, but it is also connected to the The Alpine Village Shoppes, where we often went for the small coffee shop located there (though the hotel also has a really great restaurant and bar).

Another thing to note about the resort, and pretty much the thing to note about the resort, is that it is an eco-friendly destination, complete with solar panels to generate electricity and heat throughout the building, as well as a roof top garden where the chef grows and farms his herbs and some vegetables used in the restaurant. There are signs throughout the hotel to inform guests of the various ways in which they too can help in the conservation process, but the resort continually improves upon their efforts through how they decorate to how the operate, practices which have not only earned them awards but have also helped to retain and maintain the beauty of its surrounding area, including the lake.

They offer everything from adventure to romance to family packages throughout the year. I recommend you check them out here http://www.golden-arrow.com/specials-packages.

We visited a farmers market and walked around town, but keeping things laid back is what we tend to do with our visits to the area. Despite the cold weather, we spent time admiring the sunsets from our balcony, the snow fall over the lake, and watched movies while cuddling up to the fire. As far as winter-like visits to the mountains, this one was pretty great.

During the winter months, and closer to the holiday season, Lake Placid comes alive once again with various events and activities to keep you a lot more busy than we chose to be. They even mentioned that Santa himself will be making an appearance during the Lake Placid Holiday Village Stroll, December 6 – 8, by fire truck!

You can read more about our visits to Lake Placid in the past, as well as our adventures at Whiteface Mountain.

About the Lincoln MKZ

I’m sure you’re wondering about the car, and how it did. The fuel efficiency was in fact pretty impressive. With all the driving with filled up the tank only twice. It’s a small tank, which averaged about 45 miles per gallon, but because it also runs on battery (and doesn’t require a plug-in system for recharging), it required fewer stops for fueling and more time on the road.

The estimated seating capacity is for 5, and all 5 of us did ride in it, but with three big boys it was a tight fit. So, I would say 5, with three smaller people in the back. The trunk was also a bit smaller than I am used to seeing in sedans, but that’s because the battery takes up a lot of that back space. The push button shifts are pretty cool. I’ve never really seen that in a car before.

Overall, it was a really beautiful car and comfortable ride, which handled well in the unexpected snow, and saved us a ton of money on gas. I encourage you to check out more information about this luxury vehicle on the Lincoln website and take it out for a test drive. I’ve driven a few hybrids, and prefer them over electrical cars which require recharge stations that are not easy to come by and take a long time. It was nice to enjoy the benefits of a hybrid vehicle (fuel efficiency and low emissions) without all the hassle of an electric car, but with a lot of the benefits of the same. This would be the overall highlight for me and what impressed me the most.

As the weather gets colder, as the last leaves fall off the trees, plan your trip upstate – whether you ski or not. I always come back home with a renewed spirit, at peace and ready to take on the new day, week, month. Lake Placid over the years has been able to deliver to so much beauty and we never leave without feeling excited over a new discovery. Mirror Lake will soon freeze over and skaters and hockey players will take over, beautiful winter scenes will become part of the course and new memories will be waiting to be made. I hope that when you visit it becomes for you, as it has for us, one of those happy places you can’t even get enough of.

Thank you to Lincoln for lending us the beautiful 2013 Lincoln MKZ for this road trip. Also thanks to Lake Placid Tourism and their partners, as well as Golden Arrow Lakefront Resort for their friendly hospitality.

All opinions expressed here are my own.  To see more from our adventure check out our Storify 2014 Road trip to Lake Placid, NY with Lincoln. To see the complete set of photos please visit my Flickr page. All photos are property of GirlGoneTravel.com and may not be used without direct permission from publisher.

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