Days 9 & 10: Plattsburgh

Days 9 & 10:  Driving to Plattsburgh and Staying in Plattsburgh 

Plattsburgh was picked as a destination for no reason other than the fact that it was the closest Avis drop-off to the Canadian border.  So, Shawn looked around at things to do and see near the area and found this place.  I did a Google search for "Lake Champlain sea glass" and found that although this is not the "sea"...they do indeed have beach glass.  That was a plus!  And so, we picked staying here for two nights. Click here to visit their website.

I love the term "Pleasantly Full" rather than "No Vacancy".

We drove leisurely to get here and arrived around 3:00 pm.  The day was HOT for the locals, but just seemed a little warm and stuffy to us Floridians.  The lodge wasn't set up to have central AC but had plenty of fans and window units in our rooms. 

My mom and dad took the upstairs room called the Spinnaker and the rest of us took the larger room ( Weaver ) with a king and a roll away bed.   We got settled a bit, looked around, and then headed out for dinner at the nearby marina.

While we were waiting for our food to come, my mom kept looking at this woman who was sitting at a table outside on the porch and remarked at how much she looked like someone she knew from Vero Beach, FL.  Oh well, right?  No!  It turned out that this was a couple from Grand Harbor...where my folks live!  Amazing!  (And to make it even more amazing, they had a similar thing happen when we were in Talkeetna, Alaska, two years ago.)

After dinner, we drove around a little bit and enjoyed the sunset...

No filter

Sleeping Beauty

Summer woke up early and asked me if it would be ok if she wandered around taking arty photos. 

The breakfast was made to order.  There was a choice of a frittata...

Or waffles with fresh strawberries.

My mission was to go for a walk and try to find some sea glass.  As you can see from the map, the water's edge wasn't far!  So, I set off wearing sneakers, jeans, a sweatshirt, and a ball cap. 

I walked around the "Long Point".

Out of the corner of my eye I saw some movement in the meadow to my left.  I figured that it was just a bird.  But then, I looked again and realized that it was two large brown animals!  They were hopping like gigantic rabbits through the tall greenery.  I walked on.  When I looked up again, one large deer was standing in a bit of a clearing...checking me out.  I fumbled around for my phone and managed to get a picture.

And then I walked a little closer and took another.

And then another!  It was totally posing!  OMG!  It was quite huge too.  My guess is that if I stood next to it, its head would have been almost a foot above me (and I'm 5'4").  And the tail was huge too!  It was very long and very fluffy!  She stuck it straight up in the air when she turned to hop into the woods.  That was cool! 

Still on alert from my deer encounter, I made my way into the marsh and into the woods.

As I walked, I was being bombarded by sensory happenings.  I had my earbuds in and had to turn up the volume to drown out the bugs buzzing around my face.  I was being stung by mosquitoes THROUGH my jeans and sweatshirt!  The ground was squishy and I had to be aware of where I was walking.  Spiders were conspiring to attack me.  Every few steps there was rustle at my feet...  Oh the sacrifices one must make for their sea glass. 

The critters at my feet turned out to be frogs.  (Nicholas took this picture while he was on a walk with Summer and my folks.)

Luckily, there was a kind couple who shared their bug spray with me and I was able to go on hoping that I was not going to be eaten alive THROUGH my clothes.

Where there was a chance to leave the path, I did.  I held onto some roots and "repelled" down to the shoreline.

I'm still working on getting a good picture of a yellowjacket.

Meh

Alright, but I wish you could see more of his body.

Ta Da! 

There were about 15 of these rock piles.  Some good natured person stacked these up for passersby to enjoy.  I placed another rock at the top of each one that I came to.

THEE POINT!  A storm was brewing and I knew that I should head back. But, I dilly dallied and explored around, taking some arty shots along the way.

I spied this perfectly hollowed out log and tried not to be attacked by the Sasquatch sized spider living inside.

One rogue day lily through the log.

And a shot of the lily just standing tall.

Another rock pile.

I collect buoys and couldn't resist this biggin!  My thought was that I would give it to the owners of the lodge and they could keep it or toss it once I was gone.  Nevertheless, I could not pass this up!

I walked on, got SOAKED, and enjoyed myself a lot.  This picture shows my very handsome walking stick (and spider whacker) and the buoy.  Note that the buoy now has a lovely matching rope!  I found that later and decided that it should come with me. 

(This picture of Summer is from the front side of the same building as the above photo.  Summer, Nicholas, and my parents also went for a walk at the same time that I took my walk.  She's dry here, but they too got drenched!)

During my adventure through the woods I found black raspberries and collected a few dozen up for my dad who loved eating them as a child.

And lo and behold, I actually found some seaglass.  Not much, but that blue one was worth the hunt.



W  E  T !

Luckily, Shawn was out running some errands and was able to pick me up.

After a lunch of sandwiches and an in room jacuzzi, I warmed up and enjoyed sitting in the great room...reading with my mom.

Later, Summer and I played Scrabble.  As you can see, we are not great logophiles!  I won, but not by much.

Apparently when in Plattsburgh one must have something called a "Michigan".  There are at least three places in town to get one, but we chose the restaurant that also served beer.

This is a Michigan.  It is a red hot (but not spicey) hot dog served with chili, mustard, and onions.  It tasted like a coney dog...or a bit like a Skyliner.

They can be ordered with the onions on top (left) or buried (right).  It was quite good both ways.  (My dad, needless to say, had his WITHOUT onions.)  We topped off our Plattsburgh, NY, stay with a Michigan.  ???