Lake Dippin' in the Adirondacks!

If I was forced to choose, I'd have to say that my favorite summer place to be is by the Atlantic seashore, anywhere from Maine to Florida, though I have really only experienced a handful of beaches along the coast.   As children, we spent summer weekends on Long Island (Fire Island, Robert Moses State Park), and the Jersey shore (Stone Harbor, Avalon, Spring Lake).  My favorite memories are of family vacations to Stone Harbor in NJ and also to Robert Moses State Park in Long Island (with our Cella/McGeehan cousins). Our parents and all seven kids would load into the station wagon and join the hoards of people heading south and east to do the same thing -- enjoy the sun, sea, and surf that only a beach vacation can provide, whether it's for a Sunday afternoon or an entire week.  There's nothing quite so revitalizing. There are still many east coast beaches on my list, and hopefully I'll be visiting them in the not-too-distant future!

Because we are inlanders now and live hours from the nearest low- or high-tide, the very next best thing to the waves and dunes is a trip to Lake George, or any Adirondack Lake, where I can travel to in an hour or less and feel as though I'm far away from home.  I especially love Lake George.  It pulls me with such magnetic force on any summer day with warm temperatures and bright skies.  Within the past week, I spent time in Fourth Lake in Luzurne with my daughter Katie and her husband Bill, and grandsons Hank and Pete, and the next day took off for a solo and beautifully peaceful morning on the beach of Rogers Memorial Park in Bolton Landing (Lake George).  Then Tuesday I spent the afternoon with friends on the dock of Wiawaka's boat house (also Lake George).

I so love the Adirondacks and its lakes, but especially Lake George, a true gift to those of us who live close enough to enjoy visiting often.  Tomorrow I'm back to writing about muffins (orange cranberry to be specific) but in the meantime,  here are some photos of this week's lake visits...  Can't wait to dip my toes into the lake again, as soon as possible!!!

Fourth Lake in Luzurne, New York

Wiawaka, on the south east shore of Lake George

Bolton Landing, New York (Lake George!)