Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, New York

The Senator Inn and Spa knows how to serve a complimentary breakfast. We were offered a vat of real oatmeal, not an envelope of instant, fresh fruit salad, cereals, bagels and a rotating toaster, raisin bread (yum), whole milk yogurt (yeah), hot scrambled eggs, hot sausage, and coffee served at the table, with real coffee cream. Ahhhhh, delightful. We left as happy customers.

The drive across the state on blue highways was beautiful. There was traffic, but it was not unpleasant. Bidding Maine farewell, we crossed New Hampshire, mostly on Route 2 with Mt Washington in view much of the time.

We stayed with Route 2 through much of  Vermont, crossing green mountains thinking of all the great cheeses made in this lovely state. The valley of Lake Champlain was as welcome a sight as the mountains had been.

We took the ferry from Charlotte to Essex NY. Tempted by the lakeside restaurant, we decided to head farther into the Adirondacks. On the way over, we had allowed Google maps to direct us around some of the little towns, but today we wanted to see them.

We stopped for lunch in Elizabethtown. Luck was with us. We randomly chose the Deer's Head Inn. Our choices included a board of local cheeses. Of course we chose it and were treated to two cheeses from Nettle Meadows(Kunik and Early Snow) and a tomme from Ausable. Also local honey and delightful crusty breads.

Despite a brief strong downpour, we arrived in Saranac Lake in good spirits from our cheese finds. We stayed at the newly re-opened Hotel Saranac. It has been restored well. Our room is small, but then they surely did not blast out all the concrete block walls in the restoration, and normal rooms were small back in the day. The appointments are thoughtful and comfortable.

The bar is grand, and has an outdoor patio with fire pits in the tables. Too bad about that downpour! We did not feel disappointed to have to stay indoors.

Today we are off to get Stela!

Back on the blue highways

Going through all the small towns today

Crossing Lake Champlain on the ferry

Lunch at the Deer's Head Inn

Cheese!

A stop in Lake Placid to stretch our legs

Outdoor bar area at the Hotel Saranac

Fire pits in the tables

Indoor bar area

Cocktail time