Good Scene at Gore Mt. & North Creek NY

Phil and I stopped in at Gore Mountain this past weekend. It’s always been an underrated ski hill, but, you know what? It’s

• closer and easier to get to from metro New York City than most of New England
• its got all the terrain you can ask for
• and it’s gotten just a bit better every year.

How?

By

• adding a new lift and trails (last year)
• a new children’s center (the year before)
• and, now, new facilities at North Creek Ski Bowl, the area’s small, close-to-town, family-friendly, original ski hill.

But, there’s long been on major problem with Gore as a destination. No place much to go off the slopes.

The good news: that’s changing.

We spent the night at the Copperfield Inn in North Creek. A beautiful, warm and welcoming hotel. We dined at Lorenzo’s Restaurant in the Copperfield, a truly first-rate experience (the rack of lamb was extraordinary). And, we pre-dined at Bar Vino, a sophisticated but casual wine bar.

Wait a minute. A wine bar in North Creek?

It’s true. The little town is showing signs of life. A modest, actual ski town appears to be forming here—a small variety of places to dine, a small collection of interesting shops, a good pizza joint, and a new, free shuttle service that runs from downtown to the ski hill on peak days.

Folks going up for just a day—or driving in from nearby lodging in Lake George or elsewhere in Warren County—during holidays or weekends, park downtown, ride the shuttle to the hill, and return downtown for an apres-ski drink or meal. It’s a whole new experience for this unsung destination.

–Mitch Kaplan

Weather Gods Unfair to Skiers

Martin Griff photo.

When I arrived in New Hampshire to ski last week, the car outdoor thermometer read 58 degrees. And, it was raining.

“Is this fair?” I kvetched to myself.

Out west,
Whistler had six feet of snow in a week
Tahoe just reported three feet of new
Training runs for the World Cup at Beaver Creek had to be postponed because of—you guessed it—too much snow.

And, here we were in the East ready to play golf.

Yes, things have changed radically in the last week. The cold weather came along, snow making began in earnest, and some New England ski resorts reaped more than a foot of snow.

But wait. I’m headed, with Phil and his wife Brigitte, to the Adirondacks’ Gore Mountain this weekend, where the forecast calls for low temperatures of 9, and highs of 20 or so.

Is this fair?

No.

But, then again, the weather gods have never been fair. Sometimes they’re kind. But never are they fair.

Affordable New York City

The New York Times’ Frugal Traveler column offers some insightful advice on making a New York City visit as affordable as possible, including transportation to the city, lodging, dining, shopping and entertainment. Read about it here: Frugal Traveler: Going Deep for the Cheap in New York by Matt Gross. Published: December 9, 2009.

At the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian

On Thanksgiving Day, we discovered that the sites of Washington, DC, were uncrowded and welcoming.

What a difference a day makes.

Returning to the Mall—specifically to the Smithsonian and its National Museum of the American Indian—on Thanksgiving weekend Friday, we found an entirely different scene. Crowded? You betcha.

So crowded that we couldn’t even gain entrance to the museum’s food court. Indeed, we couldn’t find seats at a nearby Cosi, Au Bon Pain or Pot Belly Sandwich. True, we were a group of 11, including a toddler, but still . . .

Tragic. The NMAI serves the best food on the Mall, an enticing variety of signature dishes of tribes across the continent. And fry bread to die for.

But, NMAI ranks among the Smithsonian’s best sites. A dramatically designed building with an open circular center space on the ground floor, and spiraling walkways that lead to galleries on three floors above, it exudes a dynamic that few museums do.

A Maize Festival was taking place over the weekend, drawing scads of families to watch native dances and sand painting and to do crafts. But, the highlight for me was the special exhibit “Strange Comfort” by Brian Jungen—a series of sculptures in which native themes are carried out through media comprised of everyday modern American items.

Such as?

• totem poles made of golf club bags
• a warrior made of baseball glove pieces
• an athletic shoe eagle
• a huge whale skeleton made from white plastic resin chairs.

Superb.

But, next year, I think we’ll museum-go on Thanksgiving Day, and eat turkey on Friday.

At The Smithsonian’s Museum of American Art

We’ve finally discovered an uncrowded day on which to visit Washington, DC—Thanksgiving Day.

The Metro was uncrowded. The city streets sparsely populated, and our visit to the American Museum of Art delightfully calm

Why, among all the Smithsonian museums, did we pick that one? A wonderful exhibit called 1934: A New Deal for Artists.

In a show of 56 paintings created under the New Deal’s Public Works of Art Program, scenes from everyday American life are portrayed by a huge variety of artists working in myriad forms.

Most of these artists, I’d never heard of.

But, the sense of the time, the feeling of mid-1930s life in the USA, is irresistibly and compellingly communicated in displays sorted by theme—The City, The Country, People, Labor, etc.

Amazingly, the Public Works of Art Program lasted only six months, from mid-December 1933 to June 1934.

This exhibition celebrates the 75th anniversary of the Public Works of Art Program. It runs until January 3, 2010.

Indeed, the building itself is worth a visit. It was once the U.S. Patent Office. Now, grandly columned, it houses both American Art and the National Portrait Gallery, and is centered on a delightful, huge, glass-canopied courtyard.

Well worth visiting if you’re in the D.C. area.

Air France-KLM New Baggage Fee

The Air France/KLM new baggage fee policy for customers traveling in Economy Class between the US and Europe including Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia portends across-the-board changes all flight from the U.S. to foreign countries.

In effect, passengers traveling to/from the U.S. may now check only one bag up to 50 pounds for free. A second bag costs $50 for flights departing from the U.S. and 50 Euros for flights departing from Europe. Bag weighing more than 50 pounds incur additional fees.

Who cares? I do. This is likely the beginning of a trend for all U.S. to foreign destinations flights. Just as the domestic carriers all jumped onto the pile once of them invoked a bag fee, so too will the international carriers. And, if you’re toting skis, a snowboard, golf clubs or fishing gear, this fee could affect you dearly—particularly the pricing.

Fifty bucks out and, effectively 70-plus bucks back, adds a chunk of change to your ticket. Last time I looked at New York-Paris tickets, they were floating at about $680 plus taxes. Toss another $120 on top of that, and things are getting pretty expensive.