LAKE PLACID, NY -- OLYMPIC CENTER

September 15 -- Saturday

We spent last night in Mexico, NY then drove northeast, taking the Olympic Scenic Byway through the gorgeous Adirondack Mountains to the North Pole Resort Campground in Wilmington, NY.  It's crazy how we went from Mexico, through Greece, and got to the North Pole all in one day and never left the state of New York!

September 16

Today we started exploring the charming mountain town of Lake Placid, home of the 1932 and 1980 Olympics.  Wilmington is about 10 miles from Lake Placid.

Right next to the Main Street is the long-track speed skating oval where, in the 1980 Olympics, Eric Heiden (from Madison, WI) made history by winning all of the men's speed skating races and 5 individual Gold Medals.



Looking good in spandex! That speed skating really burns a lot of calories.

We visited the museum at the Olympic Center where memorabilia from past Olympics are displayed.  Next we checked out the two ice rinks from the 1932 and 1980 Olympics.  The 1980 rink is where the unforgettable hockey game "Miracle On Ice" took place.  But in case you have forgotten or were too young to see it, here's what happened:  The U.S. hockey team, made up of amateur and college players, and coached by Herb Brooks (who was from Minnesota) unbelievably beat the professional Russian hockey team by 1 point, and then went on to win the final game against Finland, earning the U.S. Hockey Team the Gold Medal.

Entrance into the 1980 Ice Arena at the Olympic Center

  Two Olympic figure skating hopefuls were practicing, while the lady in the long coat was coaching.

Today we also drove as far as we could up Whiteface Mountain and then hiked a treacherous path over rocks and boulders to the summit.  What a view!  It was so clear we could see the Montreal, Canada skyline, 90 miles away.

Hand rails were a good idea!

What do you mean 'we could have taken an elevator'!?!

At the summit!  We did take the elevator down :)