what is your interest in the adirondacks?

i was born and raised in chestertown, new york, just 32 miles inside the southern blue line. actually, i was born in glens falls hospital. you can take the man out of the mountains, but you CAN NOT take the mountains out of the man. part of me still lives there every day, although I've been gone since 1966.

Possible retirement location. Any suggestions?

Do The Deerslayer and The Last of the Mohicans qualify as being in the blue line? It seems to me Natty and Mingo had a famous fight at Glens Falls.

What is the blue line?

geneg: the blue line is an invisible (except on maps) line drawn around the Adirondack State Park and within it, has its own set of zoning laws (and sometimes other laws). The New York State Legislature in its infinite wisdom (tongue firmoy in cheek) created it in the 1920s to keep the park "forever wild/green." Any existing business within the line was grandfathered in, but any new businesses must not have more than 10 people including management, administration, and transportation. Yes, James Fennimore Cooper's characters lived and killed around Lake George and Glens Falls, whooly within the blue line. (It terminates on the Saratoga side of the Hudson).

Where is the best locale to settle, especially if retired?

geneg: wow. what a question. depends largely upon your age and needs. if you are under 40, my answer would be totally different than if you were 60 or over or if yoiu were a VA patient, et cetera. how about some details about you and then I can best give an answer. sex, age, condition, family, kids (what age), need medical care badly?

Sixty +, good health, couple + elderly mil, no children, not too far from town, but in the country. I expect Buffalo would be close enough for all the city stuff. More interested in walking/hiking than water sports, but it doesn't look like one can get too far from either.

Thank you for taking time to help me with this!

I lived in the Saranac Lake area for 3 years while I went to college (PSC, class of '76).

I left the area in the summer of '77, mostly due to the complete lack of year-round, full-time employment. Peak season (summer), there was still 30% unemployment.

I was back there for the first time just 2 years ago -- Lake Placid, Saranac Lake, Tupper Lake, Blue Mountain Lake (these are all towns, by the way). Frankly, I can't imagine retiring there. Absolutely no intellectual stimulation at all.

#6 geneg: Not that I'm from the Adirondacks, but I know that Buffalo would be longer of a drive than Montreal or even New York City, depending which part of the Adirondacks you are in. Albany is the closest city of moderate size.

geneg: actually, you don't have to go that far. we have fine health care in glens falls, saratoga, and ticondaroga. i suspect lake placid and saranac lake is good, too, but i do not know.

i grew up in north Warren County and the hamelt (Chestertown) had two doctors. What they couldn't handle the Glens Falls Hospital did. Now there is a large clinic in Warrensburg.

I'd say look in that area because you need such health care. Specifically, Warrensburg, (pop. 1200). This is only about 20 miles from Glens falls and has a wonderful cultural center.
Regarding WholeHouseLibrary's comment about "no cultural stimulation at all," like all generalities that is not true. I would say "little cultural stimulation," but there are plays, concerts, and activities at SPAC (Saratoga Performing Arts Center) and if you want a place where you can stay in your warm house while the world freezes outside and READ, this is it.
The mountains are not for what today is called "active retirement." It is a place where you may meditate within and on the wonders of Nature and, in my case, read and write.
It doesn't hurt that you can pick up a mansion house probably built in the 19th century for less than $100,000 (if u have some work done on it).

I would NOT get more than 40 miles from within the blue line or away from the above-mentioned cities.

If you want to add cultural stimulation, live in Glens Falls proper, where there are numerous wooden houses fairly reasonable, as are rents.

Well, I searched LibraryThing for "Adirondacks" and this group popped up. It hasn't looked too lively in the last couple of years. I don't know if anyone in watching or not. Are you out there?

I decided to chip in on this topic since I love the Adirondacks, even though I live in Illinois. Without boring any potential reader with a lot of detail, I've been going to Hemlock Hall (and once to The Hedges) in Blue Mountain Lake for about 15 plus years on & off. This isn't a commercial, but Hemlock is heaven. Boats (canoes, Sunfish) for the taking, no sign up, fun place, hiking, good meals and a wonderful, beautiful location right on the lake. Except for hitting the tail end of black fly season one year (Why is your forehead trickling blood, wife?) it's been perfect for vacations. Oh yeah, one other thing; everyone there says, "How did you ever find this place coming all the way from Illinois?" Apparently, New Yorkers think Illinois folks are map or literacy impaired.

Hey there BB,
You're right, there's not much 'action' in this group - kind of makes it all that more special when someone ~does~ post something.

Normally, I tend to check 'starred' topics and the first page of the Talk tab on a daily (sometimes hourly) basis. Groups I've joined (or just watch) I might check more on a weekly basis. All last week, MrsHouseLibrary and I were in Washington DC, so my time on the net was limited to an hour or two each night - in the Lobby of Hotel BigBucksCheapSkates. They wanted $12.50 a day for access to the Internet in the room. It was free in the Lobby.

I took MrsHouseLibrary to the Adirondacks four years ago - wanted to show her the places that were important to me. I grew up in New Jersey and went to college at Paul Smiths in the mid-70's. One of the best places around is the Adirondack Museum in Blue Mountain Lake. We stayed at the Adirondack Hotel the night before - a really bad experience, it turns out, because of the unusually high heat and higher humidity. You'd think we'd be used to it being from Texas and all, but it was more of an ordeal than (conceptually) restful. If we ever get up that way again, I'll have to check up on the places you mentioned.

We've been visiting the Adirondacks for years -- I think we stopped there once on a vacation our first year of marriage, and have been coming back ever since. Just a few days or a week at a time, at most, just about every year. If we ever retire, I'd like to spend more time there -- though I probably wouldn't want to live there full-time.

Last year, we stayed at the Hotel Saranac for a few days and visited the new Wild Center / Natural History Museum of the Adirondacks in Tupper Lake. (They had a special going on for a hotel room & two tickets to the museum.) The Wild Center was very impressive!

>12 tymfos:

Living in the Adirondacks would be a challenge what with all that snow in winter. But, we're hoping to get up there this winter for a week or so for a break. The other challenge, of course, are the -- Shhh, don't tell anyone -- black flies. They're mean. At least they're around for just a short time.

>13 bookblotter: The one year we didn't go to the Adirondacks was the year we had to take our vacation during black fly season! We went elsewhere that year!