This past weekend, I was staying in Lake Placid with my mom, and was struck by the very different feel of the town from the rest of the Adirondacks. After a morning hike, we decided to just walk up and down main street, stopping in the Olympic hockey rink and a couple of tourist shops. Something felt very distinct about the atmosphere of the town compared to the other Adirondack towns I had been to, which I first attributed to being there with someone from home, but I eventually realized that Lake Placid is different from other parts of the park in a lot of ways. The views of the High Peaks over Mirror Lake were familiar, but the overflow of commercial stores and Olympic tourism made Lake Placid feel like it was in a park that was not the Adirondacks.
Olympic decorations were the theme, not only in the hockey center and the outdoor skating rink, but along all of Main Street. The shops, mainly selling food or souvenirs, painted the Adirondacks as a completely wild mountain region that also happened to house the Olympics a couple of times. After learning a little bit about the cultural history of the park in this class, and after having spent time in other Adirondack towns where people live year round, I was able to recognize that Lake Placid painted portrayed itself as a hub in the Adirondacks even though it was a wholly different environment from the rest of the Park.
Very interesting post! Lake Placid was actually the first town in the Adirondacks that I ever visited, so I guess we are approaching the Adirondacks from different perspectives. Because I first visited Lake Placid 14 years ago, it seems like a pretty central part of the Adirondacks to me. That being said, I agree that there is something that distinguishes Lake Placid from other Adirondack towns, even from the nearby Village of Saranac Lake. And I think you were right to highlight the town's connection to the Olympic Games. I don't think the difference is solely due to tourism, since other towns also cater heavily to tourists. (In Old Forge you can even see a tacky looking water park from the road.) Instead, I think the difference results from affluence and scale, though the wealth in Lake Placid is, of course, related to success in attracting tourists. And the Lake Placid Olympic Games certainly contributed to both the tourism and the size of Lake Placid.
ReplyDelete