1,000 Places to See in the U.S.A. & Canada Before You Die (34 page)

Lake George was named after King George II of Great Britain.

In the mid-1800s Lake George boomed during the grand era of lavish, regal hotels, all of which have vanished. Recapture a glimpse
of that heyday with a stay at the Sagamore, a lofty 350-room hotel on its own 72-acre island. What you see today is its 1930 incarnation, a grand white resort with deck chairs lined up at the edge of its manicured front lawn to take in the expansive water views. One hundred of its rooms are in the main hotel, while the rest are tucked away among the island’s seven modern lodges. Donald Ross designed the Sagamore’s 18-hole golf course, which is considered one of the most underrated courses in the Northeast.

As part of a strategic water route connecting Canada with New York City, Lake George played a critical role in both the French and Indian War and the American Revolution. Fort Ticonderoga was begun in 1755 by the French, a massive star-shaped fortress perched on the narrow strip of land that separates Lake George from Lake Champlain, one of the most fought-over spots in American history. The fort was “key to the continent” for the 18th-century superpowers France, which controlled the St. Lawrence River valley, and England, which controlled the Hudson valley, and it changed hands several times during the French and Indian War (1754–63). That the English were the ultimate victors is reflected in the lake’s name, changed from Lac du St. Sacrement to honor the king at that time. In 1775, the underdog Americans had their first major victory of the Revolutionary War here when Ethan Allen, Benedict Arnold (once a patriot), and the Green Mountain Boys of Vermont surprised the British.

Today Fort Ticonderoga offers a vivid sense of fort life with cannons blasting and a fife and drum corps performing in July and August. There’s much to explore—a museum of 30,000 objects, a restored barracks room, and a 1920s-era pleasure garden. It is at its liveliest during reenactments like the Grand Encampment, when 900 volunteers channel Eastern Woodland Indians and British, French, and colonial soldiers and take to the field to relive a moment during the French and Indian War. The fort is also a major stop on the 234-mile National Scenic Byway that runs in tandem with the waterway, Lakes to Locks Passage.

W
HERE:
60 miles north of Albany.
Visitor info:
Tel 800-365-1050 or 518-761-6366;
www.visitlakegeorge.com
.
L
AKE
G
EORGE
S
TEAMBOAT
C
OMPANY:
Tel 800-553-BOAT or 518-668-5777;
www.lakegeorgesteamboat.com
.
When:
early May–Oct.
T
HE
S
AGAMORE:
Bolton Landing. Tel 800-358-3585 or 518-644-9400;
www.thesagamore.com
.
Cost:
from $215 (off-peak), from $279 (peak); greens fees $110 for guests.
When:
golf late Apr–Oct.
F
ORT
T
ICONDEROGA
: Tel 518-585-2821;
www.fort-ticonderoga.org
.
When:
early May–Oct.
L
AKES TO
L
OCKS
P
ASSAGE
:
Waterway:
Tel 518-597-9660;
www.lakestolocks.com
.
Byway:
www.byways.org
.
B
EST TIMES
: early June for the Americade Motorcycle Touring Rally (
www.tourexpo.com
); last weekend in June for the Grand Encampment of the French and Indian War; early Sept for the Revolutionary War Encampment.

The Town That Talks to the Dead

New York

Have unfinished business with a loved one who has passed on? Think this might not be your first time on earth? Consider a visit to Lily Dale, home to 40 registered mediums and the “Rome of Spiritualism,” a religion
that combines reverence for “the God of your own understanding” with a belief we can all communicate with spirits of the dead. Set on 167 wooded acres hugging the shores of Lake Cassadaga, Lily Dale has been the epicenter of Spiritualism since 1879, when followers moved to this site the home of Kate and Margaret Fox, the founders of modern Spiritualism.

The Fox sisters started talking to spirits in 1848 when they heard mysterious rappings, and instead of running in fear, they asked questions, developing a system whereby raps could signify “yes,” “no,” or indicate a letter of the alphabet. The spirit, they said, was a peddler who had been murdered and buried in their basement. (The peddler’s body and his trunk—the trunk is now at the Lily Dale Museum—were discovered in the house’s cellar wall in 1904.) The Fox sisters became famous, starting a movement that was prominent well into the 1920s, gaining followers among men of science including evolutionary biologist Alfred Russel Wallace and physician and author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The movement lost popularity in the twenties because of a rash of charlatans seeking to cash in (today’s mediums go through a rigorous testing process by Lily Dale’s board of directors).

Lily Dale is at its busiest over ten weeks in the summer, when more than 20,000 people converge for an intense schedule of over 100 talks and workshops, which cover everything from how to channel the voices of spirits to finding your own spirit guide. Notable speakers have included America’s famous psychic and TV personality James Van Praagh and holistic healer Deepak Chopra (
The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success
). Mediums conduct free daily services at “Inspiration Stump,” a massive tree stump considered an “energy vortex.” A sizable crowd quietly gathers on benches and listens to messages that mediums relay from the spirit world (with so many earth-bound loved ones in the audience, not all the spirits get through). If you want to ask questions directly, you must arrange your own private reading—the heart of the Lily Dale experience. Though parts of Lily Dale may appear a little worn, its leafy woodland trails wending past fairyhouses (fanciful dwellings for fairies constructed of wood, grass, and stone) can encourage skeptics to reconsider.

Given its reputation for hauntings, the Maplewood Hotel is considered the place to stay, but don’t expect luxury from this affordable Victorian hostelry (there are no phones, television, or air-conditioning).

W
HERE:
Lily Dale is 60 miles southwest of Buffalo. Tel 716-595-8721;
www.lilydaleassembly.com
.
Cost:
admission to the grounds $10; private readings from $40.
M
APLEWOOD
H
OTEL:
Tel 716-595-2505.
Cost:
from $69.
When:
late June–early Sept.
B
EST TIMES
: late June–early Sept.

Oceanside Colonies Where the Elite Meet and Greet

Long Island, New York

During summer months, the seaside towns on eastern Long Island known as the Hamptons—Westhampton, East Quogue, Southampton, Bridgehampton, Sagaponack, Sag Harbor, East Hampton—are inundated
with the beautiful people, their Jaguars and BMWs clogging the narrow roads in a conga line connecting hot spots. “Going to the country” it’s not—you’ll run into as many Manhattanites
at an East Hampton celebrity-sighting eatery or at Bridgehampton’s 1920s-soda-fountain Candy Kitchen as you would on Madison Avenue. But along with polo fields, there are still potato fields, roadside farm stands (leave correct change in the can), and seafood shops owned by local farming and baymen families with 350 years of roots in these parts.

What lures the crowds are miles and miles of glorious beach where golden sand meets blue Atlantic. The only problem is parking anywhere near it. (Town-run beaches in East Hampton and Southampton have day parking, but get there by 9
A.M
. or take your chances.) The well-to-do, of course, are delivered by their drivers; for everyone else there’s pleasantly flat, easy riding by bicycle.

The towns of the Hamptons may seem to merge with one another but they differ greatly in character. Southampton is the grande dame of old money and sweeping estates, but today East Hampton is arguably the East End’s most fashionable town and boasts beautiful Main Beach. Founded in 1648 and “discovered” by society as an escape resort in the late 1800s, East Hampton was later the favored destination of artists like Willem de Kooning and Jackson Pollock (and, more recently, Eric Fischl), who came for the big sky and golden light.

East Hampton is a peculiar mix of rustic charm and urban taste, year-rounders and vacationing celebs. For a fleeting glimpse of a serene and unspoiled corner of the Hamptons, spend an afternoon in Sagaponack where the region’s last stretches of potato fields are fragrant with flowers in August. There isn’t much to do here except head toward beautiful Sagg Main Beach, but that’s the point.

Creature comforts in the Hamptons are taken seriously, and restaurants have grown to be as fine as their New York City peers. You’ll do less begging for a table off-season at East Hampton classics like Nick & Toni’s, the star-sighting venue of choice known for its crisp-crusted pizza. Health-conscious (and not) foodies have put the much more informal Babette’s on the map, a vegetarian and vegan-friendly restaurant where everyone shows up sooner or later. Overnighters looking for the marriage of excellent food and perfect accommodations should book way in advance at the Maidstone Arms, an elegantly cozy 19th-century white clapboard inn overlooking the town pond, swans and all. Just down the street sits the Baker House 1650, a glorious English manor house converted to one of the country’s finest luxury inns with five sumptuous rooms, an English garden, and the most coveted guest amenity of all—beach parking permits.

A few miles to the north is the former whaling port of Sag Harbor, the most un-Hampton of the Hamptons, happy in its classic New Englandness, down to its rocky shores and busy marina. In 1846, at the height of the town’s whaling prosperity, the handsome eight-room redbrick American Hotel was built on the all-American Main Street now chockablock with interesting shops and restaurants. It offers some of Long Island’s best dining—and drinking, with an 85-page wine list. For someplace that knows no pretensions, it’s a short stroll to The Corner where moguls and minions, captains and crews dine elbow to elbow.

For those with a passion for golf, the East End is the mother lode, though the best courses are private clubs, so you’ll need to work your BlackBerry to wangle an invitation. Shinnecock Hills, National Golf Links, the Maidstone Club, and Atlantic Golf Club are all in the Hamptons, all ranked among the nation’s finest. For those without blue-blood or green-money connections, nearby Montauk Downs State Park features a highly-regarded Robert Trent Jones–designed golf course, recently renovated, that shares a lineage with the five courses at Bethpage State Park 70 miles away (the latter includes the Black Course, host of the 2002 and 2009 U.S. Opens).

For six Saturdays in July and August, the epicenter of the Hamptons’ social scene is the Bridgehampton Polo Club, where outrageously good-looking Argentinian players get more attention than their well-groomed ponies.
Anyone can catch the stirring sight of hard riding and mallet play at the highly prestigious Mercedes-Benz Polo Challenge, but the tough ticket is the invitation-only, celebrity-packed cocktail parties that follow.

Should you wish to play polo yourself, try the introductory course at the Southampton Hunt and Polo Club. Be warned, however, before you get hooked: A polo pony will run to at least $50,000, and you’ll need a string of six or more to be competitive.

W
HERE:
90 miles east of New York City.
Visitor info:
Tel 877-FUN-ON-LI or 631-951-3900;
www.discoverlongisland.com
.
C
ANDY
K
ITCHEN
: Bridgehampton. Tel 631-537-9885.
Cost:
lunch or dinner $15.
N
ICK
& T
ONI’S:
East Hampton. Tel 631-324-3550.
Cost:
lunch $50.
B
ABETTE’S
: East Hampton. Tel 631-329-5377.
Cost:
lunch $30.
M
AIDSTONE
A
RMS
I
NN
: East Hampton. Tel 631-324-5006;
www.maidstonearms.com
.
Cost:
from $175 (off-peak), from $350 (peak).
B
AKER
H
OUSE
1650
: East Hampton. Tel 631-324-4081;
www.bakerhouse1650.com
.
Cost:
from $325 (off-peak), from $575 (peak).
T
HE
A
MERICAN
H
OTEL
: Sag Harbor. Tel 631-725-3535;
www.theamericanhotel.com
.
Cost:
from $155 (off-peak), from $250 (peak); dinner $50.
T
HE
C
ORNER
: Sag Harbor. Tel 631-725-9760;
www.cornerbarsagharbor.com
.
Cost:
lunch $10.
M
ONTAUK
D
OWNS
S
TATE
P
ARK:
Montauk. Tel 631-668-5000;
www.nysparks.state.ny.us
.
Cost:
greens fees from $36.
B
ETHPAGE
S
TATE
P
ARK
: Farmingdale. Tel 516-249-0700.
Cost:
greens fees from $31.
B
RIDGEHAMPTON
P
OLO
C
LUB
: Bridgehampton. Tel 212-421-1367.
Cost:
$20 per car for the Mercedes-Benz Polo Challenge.
S
OUTHAMPTON
H
UNT
& P
OLO
C
LUB:
Tel 631-537-1110.
B
EST TIMES
: July–Aug for nicest weather and Mercedes-Benz Polo Challenge; off-season, mid-Sept–late May.