I woke up on the morning of Saturday, February 21st so excited for what was to come that evening that I almost forgot it was my birthday. But luckily my mom threw a birthday card at me before I'd even gotten out of bed, so I was brought back pretty quick. So hey, happy birthday to me!
Our first stop of the day was a little place on Main Street called The Breakfast Club for... breakfast (whoa, shocking). Considering The Breakfast Club is one of my top two favorite movies (Miracle being the other), it was the perfect place to kick off the day. It's not totally movie-themed, but there's a quote or two and a signed poster hanging on the walls. I was going to take pictures inside, but I got completely distracted by my s'mores French toast. (Hell yeah.)
Also, ready for a quick tour of Lake Placid? Here's Main Street.
...Aaaaaand that's basically it! Hah, I'm sort of kidding... but only sort of. Lake Placid is a pretty one-horse town.
After breakfast, we headed over to the ski jumping complex. I have a zillion and a half pictures of it from the last time I was there, and was pretty excited to get to see the jumps in the winter season rather than summer. Admission costs a few bucks, and when we walked past the booth, we were joined by some kids carrying skis. My dad was kind of shocked, and I had to remind him that this is, in fact, a training facility. And it was very much in use that morning!
This practice was for younger kids who I'm assuming aren't ready for the big hills yet; there were a few little jumps set up off to the side. (Please note that when I say "little," I still wouldn't attempt them ever in my lifetime.) We watched some jumping from the bottom of the hill before hopping onto the ski lift to head up to the top.
This is around where it hit me: holy crap, is it cold. Just that brief ride was enough to sap all sensation from my fingers. But luckily, in the bottom of the ski jump tower where you wait for the elevator is a heat lamp (praise the lawd!), so we thawed out for a bit before ascending even higher. Not that that warmth lasted very long, though. As soon as you step out of the observation room onto the viewing platforms, you're frozen again.
The views are kind of okay, though.
Seriously, I don't think I've ever been as cold as I was up there. It was worth it, but if you're planning on doing this while there's snow on the ground, be prepared to worry about the onset of frostbite.
But also be prepared to subject yourself to the cold for a few minutes longer when you get back to solid ground, because who can resist podium pictures?!
I wanted to take a jumping picture on the top step, but a) it was pretty small, and b) at this point I was numb below my ankles and I didn't trust my feet to catch me when I landed.
Our next stop (after briefly thawing out in the snack bar/gift shop at the bottom of the hill) was the Lake Placid Horse Show grounds right across the road, because that's where the Olympic cauldron lives! It's absurd to think that an Olympic Opening Ceremony took place on an open field with some temporary bleachers set up around it, but the Games in 1980 were a completely different animal than they are today. So you can literally just drive right up to the cauldron, hop out of the car and snap a few pictures.
Then we headed back to the Olympic Center (after a brief stop in the hotel room to put on a few more pairs of socks) for a tour! When we got there, the guy in the tour ticket booth was talking to another woman about the Miracle on Ice reunion that night and how it was his birthday -- hey, birthday twins! When I mentioned it was mine too, he said "Forget the hockey team! Tonight's a celebration for our birthdays!" And I was like YES!... Except... Let's not forget the hockey team? Haha. And as a birthday "gift," he let my parents and I into the sport simulator for free. It's a little "ride" in front of a screen; the seats move and the screen projects point-of-view shots of bobsled, luge, skeleton and ski jumping, so it's supposed to feel like you're actually doing it. The bobsled part actually does feel pretty accurate!
Once our simulator spin was finished, it was time to tour. We met up with the tour guide (mentioned here), named Jim, who was a phenomenal wealth of knowledge and stories and kept us thoroughly entertained the whole time. He took us into the 1980 arena first, where dress rehearsal for the event that night had just wrapped up -- I spotted Ken Morrow, Phil Verchota, Neal Broten and Dave Christian down at ice level! :) But then Jim took us up into the bleachers in the far corner, where a few TVs are set up, and we watched the last few minutes of the Miracle on Ice. So that was SUPER COOL, and we also happened to be sitting in a good place:
I kind of love Buzz a lot.
I won't totally spoil the tour for you (because if you're in town, it's a must-do), but I'll leave you with my favorite tidbit: in Lake Placid, you can see the top of every Olympic venue from the top of every other Olympic venue. IS THAT NOT THE COOLEST?
In this direction is speed skating (obviously), ski jumping, Nordic skiing and bobsledding.
Another favorite moment of the tour? When I told Jim that I'm a huge Mark Pavelich fan (I was actually wearing his jersey under my coat!), and he asked, "Are you a loner too?" LOL. Pav is notoriously reclusive, so apparently merely associating myself with him indicates my introverted tendencies. And y'know what? I don't hate it! :)
When the tour finished up, it was time for (a very late) lunch at the Lake Placid Pub and Brewery. On the walk back to the hotel, I sort of made my parents stand outside in the snow with me as I ogled the speed skating oval a little bit. (And the high school building right behind it, which was the press center during the Olympics!)
I really wanted to skate -- because this ice is practically holy -- but considering how cold it was, it just wasn't in the cards. It'll have to be a project for next time.
Then it was back to the hotel to thaw out again and watch some Canes basketball (they just couldn't manage to pull out a win for me on my birthday, could they?) before The Big Event. But that, my friends, I will chat about on Monday. :)
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