Saratoga Springs, NY- Sunday, October 13, 2024

     When Emma and Scott woke up, they went to the hotel's gym to exercise.  Scott walked a total of 2 miles on the treadmill and Emma used a couple pieces of equipment.  After breakfast, we went to the pool, which looked big and inviting, but the water was very cold.  Even after being in it for a while, the water still felt cold.  We didn't spend a long time there as a result of that.  The morning had started and we went to explore Saratoga Springs- Scott, Julie and Abby in our car, and Emma in hers.

     The temperature was cold outside too.  It was in the 40s and the light rain was coming and going all day.  Our first stop was the National Battlefield where the turning point battle of the Revolution took place.  We had been here once before, way back in 2004, which was before the blog!  We took the auto-tour of the park with 3-year old, almost 4-year old Anna then.  Scott didn't want to do the whole tour of the park today because we were planning on doing other things with Emma, plus he hopes to come back here as the 250th anniversary gets closer, in 2027.  He did want to go to the bookshop at the visitors center though, so we drove about 20 minutes to get there and then had to climb a big hill up from the parking lot.  We looked around the bookstore, and Abby bought a stuffed bluebird- the state bird of New York.  Scott had seen enough though, and the stores in town were starting to open, so we skipped the rest of the visitor center and headed back to Saratoga Springs.

     Julie wanted to first stop to be Starbucks, so we parked near there and rendezvoused with Emma.  We were right on Broadway, the main street in Sarasota Springs, and the location of a lot of high-end shopping.  We didn't make it very far down the street today, but the three girls spent a long while and a little bit of money in a store called the Saratoga Tea and Honey Co.  There was a wide variety of teas available, of course, and in the back, there was free honey tasting.  After that, we went to a store called, Impressions of Saratoga, which specialized in Saratoga merch, including lots about the horses and horse racing (but nothing about the battle, Scott noticed).  

     By then, it was approaching noon, and Julie wanted to try a place she could see across the street.  It was in the apparently high-end Adelphi Hotel and is called Morrisey's.  We felt a little underdressed in our sweatpants and t-shirts.  In fact, we ended up getting seated on the patio, out on Broadway.   It was chilly outside, but they had us sitting under some large heaters that hung from the side of the building, so that helped some.  We ordered, but the food took a longer time than we expected.  We ended up paying a lot (about $100, including tip) and ended up wolfing it all down in about 10 minutes.  We asked for our check as soon as the food came.  Emma had sushi and Abby special ordered some pancakes, which they ended up making from waffle batter.  It must have turned out pretty good because all three of the girls ate those.

     We ended up leaving lunch quickly because when Julie had realized that we were going to have a cold rainy day this morning, she started looking for a plan B that wouldn't have us walking in the cold in Saratoga Springs.  She found a fall foliage train tour that left from a station in Corinth, a little more than 20 minutes from where we were.  The name of the railroad is the Saratoga, Corinth & Hudson Railway.  (Apparently Corinth here is pronounced Cor-INTH, not COR-inth like in other places.)  Apparently, the train has run as a tourist destination for about three years, and the owner was among the people that talked to the passengers on the ride.  The train departed at 1:30 and the 12-mile ride lasted about 90 minutes.  The conductors and the other staff that were on the train were very friendly and eager to talk to the passengers.  We rode in a 1950s era lounge car.  It was heated, and gave us a chance to warm up as we rode.  Emma and Dad both napped a little on the ride.  The biggest complaint about the ride was that when the refurbished this car, they made the floor plan so that the chairs face inward, toward the center aisle.  If you're taking a train to see the foliage and sites, you really want to face out the windows more easily.  The chairs themselves were comfortable, but you had to sit twisted in them to see out the windows.  The windows were also fogging over quite a bit, but I'm not sure how much you could fix that.  You could get up and walk around, but we didn't very much.  Scott and Emma both went out into the open air car that was the next car from ours, but neither stayed there long due to the cold wind and light rain.

     When the train ride was over, it was time for us to part ways with Emma.  Abby didn't want to let her go, but did.  Emma has to work tomorrow, on Monday, but we don't.   She ended up doing a little more shopping in Saratoga Springs.  We were not sure what to do from there.  We were originally thinking of finding a hotel room somewhere down the road, and then stopping a few places on Monday.  The rain and Julie's problems (both her tooth and a twisted ankle she had gotten at Santa's Workshop) made us think that maybe we would be better off going home.  We certainly could have driven home and gotten back at a reasonable hour tonight.  Once we were on the road, we realized how much the cold had taken out of us today.  Abby took an hour and a half nap in the car, but Mom and Dad were both dragging.  It's hard to drive when it is both raining and dark, so we decided to spring for one more hotel room and stopped at Oneida Lake, near Syracuse.   It was a good stop to make, and if we really want to, we can still get home at a relatively early time tomorrow.