This is either my ninth or tenth Winter Carnival in Saranac Lake and – wow – this one’s been picture-perfect.<\/p>\n
There were some worries early on about whether organizers had enough money to pull the whole thing off – but thanks to about a billion volunteers, it’s been amazing.<\/p>\n
Despite some rain, our Ice Palace has held up, and it’s fabulous. <\/p>\n
Actually, there are four (!) palaces this year: a pirate ship, a small blockhouse right on the shore of Lake Flower, a glowing blue pyramid, and the main palace.<\/p>\n
Today, four ski-planes winged in and landed on the ice, drawing tourists and locals out onto Lake Flower to look them over. <\/p>\n
Definitely a cool way to tour the North Country mid-winter.<\/p>\n
And the parade yesterday was almost too long – the floats just kept coming. <\/p>\n
The Adirondack lawnchair ladies were out in force, along with the Bearded Men marchers (think hirsute activists…) and one pirate ship float actually fired confetti canons into the crowd. <\/p>\n
And people are still talking about Joey Izzo’s piano rendition of Styx’s “Come Sail Away” (nautical theme, get it?) at the Rotary show Friday night. <\/p>\n