Saratoga Springs and Gloversville Adventure

Mary and I wanted to have one last day trip before my move across the state.  We made plans and set a date and I met up with her in Oneonta this morning and we got on I-88 and headed towards Saratoga Springs.  Our first stop was at the visitors center, where the kind workers suggested various ideas  to fill the few hours we had available.  By the time we had talked to them and picked up brochures, we were wishing we had more than a few hours.

First we went to CONGRESS PARK and saw some natural springs and tasted the water!

 It
 is a gorgeous park. There is a huge museum in the center, that is in a building that used to be a casino.    After that we went to YADDOW, an artists retreat which has some gardens.  Unfortunately, it is too early in the year for flowers, but we enjoyed walking the grounds, which are meticulously cared for and beautiful.

I would like to return to the gardens at Yaddow when the flowers are in bloom.

I think our next stop was lunch.  The ladies at the visitors center had recommended Mrs. Londons so that is where we went.  We shared a sandwich and a desert.  This is one of the restaurants that Rachael Ray featured on one of her shows.  After lunch we did a bit of shopping...........I bought a pair of capris at EDDIE BAUERS.  Then we found the library and Mary bought a book in the library bookstore.  I took a break and rested in one of the comfy seats scattered around while she was looking at the books.

Then we went to Saratoga Spa State Park.  I had information about a virtual geocache that looked very interesting.  I did not want to take the time to find the answers to the questions, but going to this area was worthwhile......seeing Geyser Island Spouter.

and  hiking the trail alongside Geyser Creek was so neat.  Near the end of the trail there is this huge deposit of minerals....(Orenda Spring and Mineral Bank)  If you look closely you can see the water running down the sides of the mound.    

Somewhere in this area we talked with a young man who lives in the area and has walked this trail many times over the years.  He said it is the "highlight" of the park.

Apparently, there are a lot of spouters in this area, but we only saw one or two others, near the parking area.  One in particular is a very popular spot to fill up gallon jugs with water.  I tasted it and it is very good, with a slight iron taste to it.  

It was getting late and we were feeling a bit tired and a LOT thirsty.  After driving out of Saratoga Springs we found this place:  I had an old fashioned cherry ice cream soda (made with soft twist)

After that we continued towards Gloversville,  It was a nice scenic drive and if it had not been getting late, I would have liked to make a few stops.

When we got to Gloversville it was five p.m.  I suggested to Mary that we allow ourselves one hour to find one geocache and a few ghost signs.   We took a detour to see if Mary would recognize the house she lived in with her former husband.  The geocache was fairly easy to find and on the property of an old factory.  We found a ghost sign at another old factory that may or may not be totally abandoned.  The third ghost sign was a Coca Cola sign on the side of the building which one held the opera house.  We were checking out that area and taking pictures, and at the GLOVE THEATRE, Mary mentioned that there was a man inside the lobby.  He came out and I spoke to him about the possibility of going into the Glove Theatre (I had tried unsuccessfully to make contact with someone about doing this before we came).  He said the man who ran it would be there in a few minutes.  

Richard Samrov took us into the GLOVE THEATRE MUSEUM.  Here is a picture of him with the jacket he wore for his first job as usher in the theatre in l953.  After that he took us into the theatre itself and told us all about it.  People were waiting to have a meeting with him, but he was not in a hurry!  

This is the theatre: 

Right next door to the museum is STORTO'S GLOVE SHOP.  It must be the very last of the glove shops in Gloversville.  It was closed for the day, but we peeked in.  

You can see the patterns for the gloves hanging up.  According to Richard, Mr. Storto makes gloves for celebrities.  

We went into an organic grocery store on the first floor of the old opera house building before heading back to Mary's truck.  I stopped to take a picture of a ghost sign for a jewelry store, as well as the vacant storefront itself.  Finally, we headed home.  In Caroga Lake, we passed Sherman's Amusement Park and I would have loved to stop and look at this very old park,but it was really getting way too late.  At some point, we also passed Saltzmans Hotel (in Ephrata).

So much to see and so little time!

my full set of pictures can be seen here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/juneny/sets/72157644656230901