During our stay in Lake George there were several places we visited. We spent a Sunday afternoon at the Saratoga Race Track; we took a hike through Ausable Chasm and we went to Lake Placid to view some of the old Olympic venues. Again, Frank was my tour guide as he had once made Saratoga Springs his home for nine years and had also toured the area when we was a child.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY Saratoga is a very pretty, clean town. Beautiful flower baskets adorned the city lampposts and there were statues of horses along the streets. There was a nice city park to spend a quiet afternoon or choose the downtown area bustling with shops and sidewalk cafes. The area is also noted for its mineral springs and baths. People believe that if you drink the water or bath in it, you will live longer.
It was busy on the Sunday afternoon over Labor Day weekend, it being the last weekend the racetrack was open. There are two tracks in Saratoga…one is only open one month of the year…beginning races in late July and finishing the racing season Labor Day Weekend. The
other track stays open for surrey racing year round.
The racetrack atmosphere was awesome! There was a total carnival feel here. There were the rich…there were the poor. There were those dressed to the nines and those sporting tanks and tees. Some people never even made it into the track area to watch a live horse race. They planted themselves in the outdoor area with picnic tables, setting up their families under the shade trees to watch the horses race via TV monitors. It was tailgating at its best!
There were food vendors galore or the Clubhouse for dining. There were hawkers selling goods and the daily racing forms, and of course, the banks of windows for placing your bets! I had to have a little instruction on the lingo for that! “Two dollars on number two and nine to win and box it!” I may have gotten the lingo down, but my picking any winners sucked! Can’t pick winners by their names only!! We didn’t win a pile of money, but we had a fun time at the track that afternoon watching the ponies run!
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