Our weekend at Blue Mountain Lake and the near death of my Samsung Galaxy S4

This weekend my husband and I went on a little adventure to Blue Mountain Lake in the Adirondacks.  We handed off the kids to their grandparents, dropped the dog at the pet lodge and were on our way!

Blue Mountain Lake, NY

Blue Mountain Lake is in the central Adirondack mountains and pretty much in the middle of nowhere.  For real.  Other than the lake, there is the Adirondack Museum, a couple churches, some sporting goods type stores (canoes/kayaks/camping supplies) and a gas station which also serves as a deli and pizza parlor. We thought we would find a cute little place to stop for lunch, but there was not a single restaurant in sight!  So we decided to check out the Adirondack Museum, in part because we knew they had a little cafe there!

The Adirondack Museum was pretty interesting.  I won't bore you with the details, but if you're interested in early mountain/remote living, this is a fun place to visit.

 

Cool fire tower



After our museum visit and a quick lunch, we headed to Hemlock Hall where we would be spending the night.  This place is rustic.  Very rustic.  There are no TVs, no radios, and they don't take credit cards (cash or checks only).  When you arrive, you fill out a little paper card to check in. 

Hemlock Hall- side view of the main lodge.  They also have several cabins that are very close to the lake.

We were led to our room in the Main Lodge called "The Master Suite."  It consisted of the main room, a very small bathroom, and a screened in porch which was definitely the highlight of the room.

 

Screened porch

View from our porch of Blue Mountain Lake 

We sat on the porch for a while, enjoying the breeze and the view.  Then we decided we would head down to the beach and take out one of the boats (included in the price of your stay is the use of their boats... kayaks, canoes, rowboats, sunfish).  The beach was so lovely, we sat around for a while just relaxing.  Then we walked over to the fishing dock which had some nice Adirondack chairs looking out into the lake.  About 5 minutes after we sat down, I saw this:

This was literally the largest spider I have ever seen!  This thing was about the size of my hand.  I'm not kidding.  There was no way I was sitting next to that spider any longer, so we decided it was time to take one of the boats out on the lake.  My husband thought we should take one of the canoes.

Long story short, we flipped the canoe before we even left the dock!  We were both soaked!!  We headed back to the room to change and that's when I realized my phone had been in my pocket!  It seemed fine at first, but then the screen started wiggling and flashing, and then went off completely.  I was not a happy camper.  But on to other things...

Hemlock Hall Dining room- you sit family style and mingle with the other guests

Hemlock Hall makes a delicious dinner and breakfast which are included in your price.  It's some real home cooked food!  Saturday dinner was turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, peas and homemade bread.  Dessert was chocolate cake and vanilla ice cream.   It was SO GOOD.  After dinner we were stuffed and just relaxed on the beach, then up on our porch.  And I head a loon!!  I was sooo hoping to hear a loon!  I love them and I love the sound they make. 

 

Despite our flip into the lake, we decided Sunday morning we would get up early and take the ROWBOAT (much more stable) out and row around the little islands on the lake.  Well, Sunday morning we woke up to a tremendous thunderstorm.  We had all the windows in the room open as well as the door to the screened porch and it was literally like we were right in the middle of the storm.  I loved it!!!  I love thunderstorms but this was the first time I actually felt like I was IN the thunderstorm!  Nature is amazing!

After an amazing home cooked breakfast, we packed up to head home.  On the way out, they handed us a large loaf of homemade bread!  How nice is that!?

We had a lovely weekend, although I don't think we would go back unless it was with a large group of people.  Unless you are really outdoorsy, more than one night would get boring for a couple (in my opinion), especially if you are addicted to TV and internet like my husband and I are!!  But I think it would be tons of fun with a large group of friends or family. 

Oh, and guess what... my super amazing, technically skilled husband fixed my phone!  Hooray!  And thanks to him, I get to share this post and pictures with you :)

Happy Monday!!!