Wellness

Submitted by Guest Blogger: Kathy Barlow Ten Reasons to be grateful in and around Saranac Lake This year, after a rainy (and cool) spring and summer, autumn gave birth to warm days, cool nights, and a festival of colors in the mountains. The extended good weather gave us more opportunities to take advantage of all our area has to offer. Now, as the days are getting shorter and the stars shine... [Read More]

Editor's note: As the cold-water season quickly descends, our blogger highlights a few extra tips that will come in handy when taking to our lakes to enjoy the fall foliage. Happy paddling!  Blog originally posted in 2013. Not to set myself up with a very corny pun, but I am in the same boat as many of you — I don’t want to stop paddling either. Honestly, why should we... [Read More]

Eating healthy has a rather... challenged... reputation. People can think it means "not tasty." We don't believe in that. We think healthy is also tasty! Here's proof: Locally sourced? Certainly! Few are as devoted to local food as the Adirondack Alps Restaurant (& Ein Stein Pub) at Lake Clear Lodge. (That is their dining room in the picture above.) They have a "100 mile product... [Read More]

Akimbo is a year and a half now, and he's been swimming a ton, he's ridden in the canoe a few times (we're still working on that), he loves camping, and he's been hiking on flat trails before. But somehow, we haven't gotten around to taking him up a mountain. So I decided it was time. [img:img-0339.jpg]St. Regis Mountain I decided to start him off on St. Regis Mountain. In addition to... [Read More]

SARANAC LAKE — The historic village of Saranac Lake is reopening tuberculosis cure facilities throughout the village.A subset of parents have decided not to vaccinate their children over the last few decades, often citing pseudoscience that suggests that vaccinations have horrible side effects like autism. They’re often referred to as anti-vaxxers.Because of that, tuberculosis, once a disease... [Read More]

The complex of buildings at the edge of Saranac Lake is known as "Will Rogers," since that was the name for much of its history. But it started in 1929 as the National Vaudeville Artists' Home; a tuberculosis curing facility for people in show business. It was a future destination for a tall young magician. He bounded onto the stage in New York City. Before he could begin his act, he felt a wave... [Read More]

When we have special dietary needs, it's easy to feel like there is "nothing to eat." But in the Saranac Lake area, we have fresh food prepared in kitchens with real chefs in the back. Our servers will be sympathetic and quick to check with them. We'll fill that plate in no time. Specialty dining is not just close to my heart; it's close to my stomach. I've been dining gluten free since 2010.... [Read More]

Martha Reben was one tough lady. She came to the Adirondacks at the age of twenty-one, to cure in the famous sanitarium in Saranac Lake. But after three-and-a-half years, it looked like she was losing. Her condition was described as "severely debilitated" and she was facing a procedure of last resort where ribs were removed to collapse a lung.At this same time, 1931, Adirondack Guide and boat... [Read More]

Saranac Lake has wonderful lodging and wellness venues. This year was the first time they were combined in a delightful weekend event. Which created a vortex of healing Adirondack vibrations!The Holistic Health Retreat & Conference was held on the weekend of May 16th & 17th, but I arrived Friday night to relax and enjoy the fine dining at the hosting property, the Lake Clear Lodge... [Read More]

African-Americans have never made up large percentages in any census of the Adirondacks. But they have also been welcomed in proportions much greater than their numbers. Saranac Lake has long been supportive when it comes to the unique challenges faced by the people of this particular immigrant group.DEPOT ON THE UNDERGROUND RAILROADThe Champlain Valley to the East had been settled by a strong-... [Read More]

Saranac Lake is a great place for learning and renewal. As a new year begins, let's make plans now for special ways of revamping ourselves. We can use the village's unique Adirondack charms to meet our personal improvement needs. New Year's Day has a tradition of being the holiday where people decide they are going to make themselves do things they don't really want to do. By the end of January... [Read More]

Saranac Lake loves the holiday season. We have a lively and dedicated wellness community who support our local farms and advocate for healthy eating. This lets them come up with new takes on old favorites.Very adirondack appetizerIf we haven't been thinking "Adirondacks" when we think "cheese" we haven't been doing it right. Many local farms have used the milk from their cows, sheep, and goats to... [Read More]

 Now that we’ve had a taste of snow in the Adirondacks (a little dusting last Sunday), I cannot wait to get back on the slopes at Titus Mountain Family Ski Center! Titus is currently my favorite ski slope in the area, because it’s a good size without being too big for me, and they tend to have the best snow coverage for my type of snowboarding.[img:titusmap1415-finalnologolowres.jpg]And... [Read More]

Saranac Lake spent the decades between 1884 and 1954 as a world-famous curing center. Our history of wellness endeavors continues to this day. It all started with Dr. Edward Livingston Trudeau (statue, above) in 1873. He came to Saranac Lake expecting only to spend his last days in his beloved wilderness. He had tuberculosis, and in those days, it was a death sentence.Except he got better.This... [Read More]

Saranac Lake has a long history as a wellness center. Both ordinary folk and celebrities flocked to the town after Dr. Edward Trudeau researched and implemented his "fresh air" cure for tuberculosis. When a drug cure was developed after WWII, this devastating disease no longer shaped the town. But we did not abandon our interest in helping people.Today, there are venues for zero-balancing,... [Read More]

It was a unique opportunity to visit the Saranac Lake Laboratory Museum. To kick off an upcoming "Medical Marvels" series, which will feature a exhibit of antique medical devices, the Museum was hosting a series of free lectures. Saranac Lake takes great pride in having been a prominent turn-of-the-century science center, and we offer many such opportunities to explore this side of our... [Read More]

Sustainable Breakfast with a side of historyDelicious meals are a favorite part of anyone's vacation. The Saranac Lake area of the Adirondacks offers great food with a wellness twist. We love our local farmers, who are known for organic fruits, vegetables, meat and eggs.Lake Clear Lodge and Retreat, a historic old Great Camp, takes these healthy eating principles even further. From... [Read More]

When among the millions of acres of Adirondack wilderness, we feel close to the natural world. Once visited, it has a magnetic pull on our heart which encourages us to return.This principle is embodied in a famous visitor. When I married a Saranac Lake native, his older relatives loved to tell me stories about the man in baggy trousers and wild hair, who always had a smile for the children he met... [Read More]