Monday, December 5, 2011

A Simple Breakfast & A Drive…

Most of the time when we’re on a roadtrip, we do try to take advantage of the breakfast ‘free offerings’ provided by whatever hotel we’re staying at… But, if you’ve been following our journey into upper New York State, you’ve probably noticed that we’ve frequently strayed from the ‘freebies’ and tried out a local restaurant.  We do love a nice breakfast!


This is McKenzie’s Grille in Saranac Lake New York.  From what I can determine it’s associated with or belongs to the Best Western just across the parking lot where we were staying.  I’m basing this theory on the fact that the restaurant is referred to in the possessive on the hotel’s website.


As you can see, the dining room was pleasant and bright.  Service was pleasant and prompt with coffee arriving quickly after we sat down.


When it comes down to it…we really like the basic breakfasts the best.  Laurie had her eggs over easy with good fried potatoes, nice toast, plus 3 slices of thick top quality bacon.  


I had basically the same breakfast…except that I prefer sausage patties.  The price was right too!  With coffee and orange juice plus tax and an 18% tip, our bill came to just under $20.00… A solid start to a day of exploration in the Adirondacks!

McKenzie’s Grille is located at 477 Lake Flower Avenue in Saranac Lake New York.  They serve breakfast and lunch every day.  Meals range between $5.00 and $9.00 per person plus tax and tip.  Phone: 518-891-2574.  McKenzie’s apparently doesn’t have a website…

Laurie took a few scenery photos along the way.  Our ‘little’ exploratory drives usually stretch from early morning until dark and we cover quite a bit of countryside, trying to tie in an attraction and a nice meal where possible.


The Adirondacks are beautiful!  This state park was first established in 1892.  While it encompasses about 6 million acres, only about half of that land is actually state owned and managed.  The other half is privately owned but, as time has passed, additional parcels of private land have been donated to the state.

1,000,000 acres have been designated as wilderness.  There are 3,000 lakes, 30,000 miles of streams and rivers and over 2,000 miles of hiking trails.

Note the beaver dam in the photo above… We noted a small breach in the left side of this water conservation structure and adjoining abode.  Doesn’t it always seem like there are a bunch of projects to finish around the house!

About 130,000 people live in the area encompassed by the park.  The area totals 9,375 square miles.  Just slightly smaller than the state of Vermont, the designated park area is larger than Conneticut, Delaware and Rhode Island combined!

Between 7 and 10 million people visit the park each year.  There are no gates or entrance fees.  Counting the public and private lands, the Adirondack Park is the largest park in the USA, certainly the largest state-level protected park in the USA and it’s also the largest National Historic Landmark.

We drove over 200 miles on this little one day exploratory excursion…and as you can see, the scenery was terrific.  Along the way, we explored a man-made National Historic Site and we had a meal in a historic hotel.  But these experiences will be the subject of another blog…
For more information on the Adirondacks, just go to http://visitadirondacks.com/.
Just click on any photo to enlarge it…
Thanks for stopping by for a visit!
Take Care, Big Daddy Dave

2 comments:

  1. Beautiful scenery guys and it's hard to beat those breakfasts.

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  2. That's my idea of a good breakfast. That's definitely a scenic area of the country and quite a beaver dam. We watched a show about beavers building their dams on the National Geographic Channel last week. It was fascinating and incredible!!!

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