Up in the mountains of upstate New York is three small towns that my family is from. It snows for eight months of the year, so winter sports are huge there. Lake Placid held the Winter Olympics twice, in 1932 and 1980, the year where the U.S Hockey Team beat the Russians.
The area is filled with trees, and at my Aunt’s house, many types of birds visit her bird feeder. The roads are not exactly flat like they are here in Florida, there are plenty of hills and turns. In Main Street, there are many local shops for the tourists, considering Lake Placid is a tourist town. People from all over visit the town, especially French Canadians. It takes just over two hours to get to Montreal from Burlington, which is super close to Lake Placid.
My uncle got me and my grandma these special tickets that got us in all of the summer activities the town and neighboring towns were having. Our first stop was Whiteface Mountain, which is about 4,867 feet above sea level. We went up the mountain in an elevator that goes straight through the mountain, where the temperature remains 40 degrees Fahrenheit the whole year. Up top, you can see the vast land of trees and other mountains. It was beautiful seeing all the green trees before fall and winter would take over.
Next was the ski jumps, where teens would water the jumps with a hose and slide down in their skis, right into a pool. It was cool to see people around my age do something that I would never try, but was probably normal for them. We also went to the Olympic ski jumps, where my grandma worked in the 1980 Winter Olympics. You go up in an elevator, and look down the jump. It’s high up, so people who are afraid of heights probably shouldn’t go all the way up.
Instead of going to the bobsleds, we went to the 1980 Olympic arena. That was my favorite place to visit, standing in a historic arena. To the locals, though, it’s just a normal arena But, they are still proud of their town’s history. My grandmother said that “the whole town shook when we won.” Winning the Ice Hockey match is what the town is most known and proud for, and I can see why.
In Tupper Lake, I went to the Wild Center where there is a museum and an outside Wild Walk. The walk is the same level as tree tops, where you can find different facts about the different animals that hang around the area. There were metal bridges to walk across, a giant bird’s nest, a fake spider web made out of ropes, and a “tree” you can walk through as well.
We also visited John Brown’s farm where he is buried, and ate at A&W where they have to best chili and cheese fries.
If you ever get a chance to visit, then take the opportunity. I’m already planning my next trip back to my families hometown.
