While international travel seemed impossible in summer 2020, Doug and I figured we’d get some domestic travel on our schedules and maybe head out west to Arizona and Utah or maybe up north to Maine. NOPE. New York travel restrictions were so strict that we became extremely limited of where we could go even within our own country. I don’t mean to sound like I’m complaining because I know things could have been worse, but planning a little getaway for us became way more frustrating than it should have been.

We finally decided to do a trip around our home state of New York, which I already mentioned in my post about Boldt Castle and the Thousand Island region if you read that one a bit back! If not, click here!

In our jam-packed trip itinerary, we allotted two days for Lake Placid in the middle of the trip, and we contemplated whether or not that was too much time. Spoiler alert: IT WASN’T EVEN ENOUGH. We could have done so much more there if we only had the time.

If you’re looking for ideas for your own trip to Lake Placid, look no further! (Well, maybe a little further, like down the page so you can see what we did)

Day 1

Ok maybe two days is even kind of pushing it. It was more like a day and a half, because we arrived in late afternoon on our first day in Lake Placid. We drove up from Boiceville, NY, which is about 3.5 hours south of Lake Placid. We were in Boiceville for the first leg of our road trip visiting Doug’s sister and her husband.

When we got to Lake Placid we went straight to the hotel to check in. We booked our stay at the Lake Placid Summit Hotel, which was up on a slight hill and only a 2-minute walk from the main street. Since the hotel was on a hill, there was a perfect, unobstructed view of Mirror Lake from our hotel room. We figured since we got there close to dinnertime that we would relax in the room and then walk down to the main street to find somewhere to eat and see what this adorable town had to offer. There were plenty of places to choose from but there was one place in particular that caught our attention. The delicious BBQ smell that was coming out and the long line of people waiting to go in was a dead giveaway that this was THE place to go in Lake Placid. Since the line was so long and we were pretty hungry at that point, we decided it would be best to save that for our next dinner and find somewhere else.

We wandered around a bit more and saw a cozy rooftop/balcony on the corner right near our hotel, so we head in that direction. We walked into The Dancing Bears, and the whole vibe was so Upstate New York. The décor had a cabin feel and there were bears all over the place, even two motorized dancing bears at the front when you first walk in. Of course, it started raining as soon as we got to the restaurant and the rooftop/balcony area closed, but New York was doing the limited capacity indoor dining, so we could still be seated inside the restaurant. Being that all of the people eating outside on the rooftop had to move indoors, there was a bit of a wait for us to get a table, but it wasn’t too long and completely understandable given the situation. The inside is spacious, so the restaurant can still accommodate a decent amount of people while following COVID restrictions and keeping everyone comfortably spaced apart.

At first we were bummed we couldn’t get into the first restaurant we saw, but I am so happy we went to The Dancing Bears. The inside area where we were seated had an incredible view of Mirror Lake and the main street. The windows were nice and big and no matter where you are seated in the dining room you’ll be able to see the lake from your table. Our waitress came over to the table with high energy and a happy smile on her face. She took our orders and quickly came back with our drinks.

For food, we started out with the boneless wings (they were chicken fingers essentially) with their dry rub seasoning on them and they were perfect. I definitely recommend the dry rub for when you visit The Dancing Bears! It had all the right types of seasoning and spice. For my main course, I got the grain bowl. I wasn’t trying to be healthy or anything but I saw it was served with blueberry balsamic dressing and I was SOLD. I could eat this salad every single day if I had to. Everything in the salad complimented the other ingredients perfectly… especially the blueberry balsamic dressing. If you know me, you know I cannot pass up dessert. I ordered the NY style cheesecake, which is one of my personal favorites. It was the perfect ending to a perfect meal. I was stuffed. Doug was stuffed. Two happy, happy customers.

Since the weather wasn’t that great and everything was starting to close by the time we finished dinner, so we made our way back to the hotel to binge watch a few episodes of Hoarders and get some rest for a jam-packed day that was to follow.

Day 2

The next day we woke up bright and early and so ready to start adventuring. We got ready quickly and made our way down to Mirror Lake so we could go kayaking. Kayaking is one of my favorite summer activities. It is relaxing, fun, and gets your blood flowing. Kayaking on the lake was going to be so peaceful; I couldn’t wait. Doug and I both rented our own kayaks from Mirror Lake Boat Rental (which if I remember correctly is cash only) and started out on the lake. Doug immediately started laughing and mentioned how he had no idea what he was doing and had never gone kayaking before. He had a rough start figuring out how to steer the kayak in the direction he wanted to go, but he eventually got the hang of it after we got a few laughs at his expense. While we were out in the middle of the lake it started to rain. We couldn’t do anything but laugh. There was no use in getting upset over a little water when we were in fact doing a water activity!

We finished kayaking and returned the boats to the dock. We were pretty wet from the rain and general backsplash of the kayaks, so we took a trip back to the hotel to change. The weather took a turn for the better and the rest of the day was mostly sunny, so we walked around the town exploring some of the cute little shops that lined the main street.

After some shopping, our stomachs were growling. Lunchtime! We made our way to Player’s Sports Bar, which had a beautiful view of Mirror Lake, as it was directly above where we rented our kayaks. We ate a delicious meal, I had your classic chicken fingers and French fries and I couldn’t have been happier in that moment than I was. A beautiful view, chicken fingers and French fries… what more could a girl want?

We finished our lunch and walked around the town once more to do some shopping and get some snacks. On our morning walk, we noticed a shop called The Adirondack Popcorn Co., and we knew we had to get some popcorn! There was a sweet buttery smell as soon as we walked in. Even though we had just filled up at lunch, the smells made my stomach growl and crave some popcorn. Being the chocolate addict that I am, I ordered a bag of the moose tracks popcorn, while Doug got the kettle corn. Both were to die for. Thankfully, the bag lasted me a few days, so I got to enjoy it for more than just that moment. After our popcorn, we went into the Adirondack Decorative Arts & Crafts store, which had THE cutest knick-knacks and décor for sale. Most things were hand crafted, so it was a little pricey, but I promise the quality and the uniqueness of the items is worth it! I bought my mom a mini wine rack that was two bear cubs climbing on each other lifting a log up. It’s one of the cutest things in the house now in my opinion 🙂

You can’t go to Lake Placid and ignore the Olympic Museum! That is… unless it’s CLOSED. I have to be honest, I am not sure if it was closed for COVID reasons or if we were just there on a bad day, but unfortunately, we did not get to go inside the museum. My advice here is check the schedules of everything you want to do while you’re away and plan your days accordingly. I wish we did that and don’t want you to make the same mistakes. Instead, we wandered around the outside of the museum and started to discuss dinner.

We knew we had to go to the restaurant that we missed out on the night before. Turns out it was called Smoke Signals and it is [obviously] a very popular BBQ spot in Lake Placid. Since we remembered the line from the night before, we knew we had to get there around the time it opened. We stood on line and they just filled up as we got to the front, which is just our luck. We put our name on the list and waited until a table opened up because we were not missing out again! We walked up to a church that sat on a hill overlooking Mirror Lake and sat on a bench outside. We figured this spot was away from the crowd outside of the restaurant and was still close enough to Smoke Signals where we wouldn’t miss our table opening up.

Our buzzer started dancing and Doug and I basically ran down the hill to the restaurant in excitement. We were quickly seated and given a QR code to scan to view the online, COVID safe menu. We ordered a few drinks along with our food and everything came out SO quickly. We were in Heaven. Everything was perfect. We shoveled it all down way too quickly because we lost all self control from its flavor. The line outside was justified in my mind. This place is the bomb.

After we finished our meal, the waiter recommended we skip dessert there and head over to Emma’s Lake Placid Creamery. We were so stuffed, but you know I cannot resist ice cream ever, especially with such a highly recommended, adorable place. I ordered a fluffenutter sundae and ate it as we walked along Main Street and back to the hotel to call it a night and watch some more Hoarders.

The next morning, we were checking out bright and early for a drive up to the Ausable Chasm, which was about 2 hours more north. We paid a few extra bucks for the breakfast, so I figured before we left the hotel, I’d grab Doug & I some food from the lobby. Do not pay extra for the breakfast. It was literally one individually wrapped Entenmann’s donut thrown in a brown paper bag, one coffee option, and some no name brand tea. The picture that is shown for breakfast showed an assortment of fancy teas, different coffees, and multiple breakfast options. I get it, COVID changes things, BUT that hotel had no right charging extra for that breakfast. I would have rather them cancelled the breakfast completely and just didn’t give that option when booking.

In the first moment, I was frustrated, but I grabbed two bags, made myself a cup of tea, and met Doug at the car. I threw one of the bags at him and we both burst out in laughter about how pathetic the breakfast was. It was a funny start to the morning, and at least we got some Entenmann’s to enjoy on our drive up to the Ausable Chasm!