We just spent a couple of days in the Adirondacks and I can recommend a couple of things:

- The Adirondack Museum in Blue Mountain Lake http://www.adkmuseum.org/ describes in great detail (21 buildings and extensive displays & videos) the development of the region. Plan on a couple of hours at least. There was an article last August in the Boston Globe about the museum: http://tinyurl.com/rd7e

- The lunch cruise on Racquette Lake, where you can get a look at some of the Great Camps that were built in the 1800s by the New York in-crowd. I don't know how late they run, but we weren't able to get on without an advance reservation in late September. Too bad, it's supposed to be a nice trip. http://www.raquettelakenavigation.com

- We stayed at a place that I only tepidly recommend. The rooms were pretty basic and the included dinner was mediocre, but it was in a beautiful setting on Blue Mountain Lake. Fair warning - bring your own wine (they don't serve it) and don't leave a tip (it's included in the rate.) http://www.lanierbb.com/inns/bb475.html

It's really pretty country up there and we did a lot of driving (we're not much into hiking unless it's downhill in both directions). The local tourist council has a pretty good web site at http://adk.com/home/z-home.htm We actually enjoyed the region south of there more (the Catskills and south), with all the fascinating houses and gardens along the Hudson.

Regards, Al Sonoma, CA, USA