We call them "leafers." Leafers are people who hop in their cars this time of the year and drive endless hours ooh-ing and aah-ing over the beautiful fall colors here in our north country.
I guess you could say there's a little leafer in all of us.
Leaves have already begun to turn in the Adirondacks and will actually peak in the coming weeks. It's a great time to take a weekend minivacation into the mountains, enjoy the scenery and enjoy some great dining and hospitality.
Here's a suggested "leafer trail" from Cranberry Lake to Old Forge with some restaurants and inns that we've enjoyed over the years.
Head east on Route 3 to the hamlet of Cranberry Lake. It's a quiet little village right on the lake with several restaurants and folksy watering holes.
Cranberry Lake Lodge has recently reopened under new ownership. "Lodge" may be a little misleading — it's more like a rustic motel. The bar and dining room are comfortably rustic, too, with a grand view of the lake and the glorious Adirondack mountains in the distance.
We haven't tried the new menu yet, but it covers all the bases, with burgers and wings for bar fare; chicken, seafood and, on weekends, prime rib in the dining room.
A few miles down Tooley Pond Road you'll find The Windfall Bar & Grill, another establishment that's been around for years, now under the ownership of Culinary Institute of America-trained chef John Dragun. For the area, it's got a pleasing, upscale menu. Chicken piccata with lemon caper beurre blanc sounds pretty good to me. You can usually count on seeing deer just outside the dining room windows.
Continue on Route 3 toward Tupper Lake. In Childwold, you can't miss The Thirsty Moose. Formerly Dumas's Restaurant, it's now owned by New Jersey transplants Mickey and Jan Sylvester.
Mickey does most of the cooking, and it's darn good. Soups are from scratch, half-pound burgers are big and juicy, steaks are hand-cut, chicken parm is hand-breaded and served with homemade red sauce, and there's always a medium-rare cut of prime rib on the weekend.
When he's done cooking, challenge him to a game of pool at the fun, well-stocked bar. Don't count on winning.
In Tupper Lake, White Birch Café has moved to a new, more spacious location on Park Street on the way to the new natural history museum, The Wild Center.
Lunches include salads, grilled chicken dishes, hot and cold sandwiches and "truly gourmet sandwiches" — roast beef, turkey, honey ham, cappicola and prosciutto. Fresh seafood including oysters and live lobsters are featured on the evening menu, available Thursday through Saturday.
For an unforgettable experience, dine at the exclusive Wawbeek resort, just outside Tupper toward Saranac Lake. The menu is certified upscale and the dining room has a priceless view overlooking Upper Saranac Lake. This may be your last chance to eat dinner at the Wawbeek. The property has been sold and will no longer be open to the public after this season.
Pick up Route 30 south toward Long Lake. On the way out of Tupper, you may want to stop for a cone or some casual eats at The Skyline, a '50s-looking drive-up joint. The food is well prepared by its hardworking owner, Deb Scoble. Try her broaster chicken or famous ice cream sundaes.
Speaking of hardworking owners, stop and see Carol Inserra's stunning Adirondack Hotel in Long Lake. She took a big chance when she took it out of mothballs over 20 years ago. Little by little, she and husband, Carmine, have remodeled every room and every inch of the place, restoring it to its original early 1900s look. It's here where you can still get a room in the Adirondacks for under $100 a night.
Dinner is served in the Victorian dining room, a thing of beauty with its original tin ceiling and period wallpaper. Enjoy well-prepared steaks, seafood and firebrick pizzas in the evening, or more relaxed fare during the day on the enclosed porch facing the lake.
We stopped for lunch last week and enjoyed a Reuben piled high with pastrami, a great grilled chicken sandwich and a thick homemade chicken/asparagus chowder.
I love their rustic taproom, with its rough-lumber walls and a bar full of locals who are as colorful as the leaves outside the window. If you feel like stopping for a quick pop at lunchtime, you won't be alone.
Around the corner is another Long Lake landmark, Hoss's Country Corner . It's been a must-stop attraction here since the '70s, packed with Adirondack gifts and goodies. You can get everything from balsam pillows to life-sized stuffed bears to an impressive selection of gourmet specialties and endless Adirondack cookbooks.
For upscale campers, there's an upscale selection of frozen foods, including lobster tails, crab legs and Delmonico steaks. In a new cluster of cabins behind the main building, they've added a deli and cyber café with a great selection of wraps and sandwiches you can eat right there or take out for a picnic along the way.
A picnic would be a great idea. As you continue on Route 30 you'll find virtually no eating establishments, even in the picturesque village of Blue Mountain Lake, home to Adirondack Museum, 32 acres of exhibits and collections reflecting life and work in the Adirondacks.
For an overnight stay, you may want to look into Hemlock Hall, a family-friendly off-the-beaten-trail resort with rooming in the main lodge and outbuildings. Family-style dinners are served nightly for guests and walk-ins.
Take Route 28 toward Old Forge. The first town you'll come to is Raquette Lake, also short on places to eat. But you can "cruise and dine" aboard the W.W. Durant, a vessel that navigates the lake almost daily. It offers a luncheon buffet during the week, and four-course dinners most weekend nights through early October, with choices like grilled medallions of duck, coriander-encrusted salmon and Angus prime rib of beef.
Next is Inlet, a cute little town that has taken on a personality all its own over the years, with some nice shops and the impressively restored Woods Inn.
This historic hotel, built in 1894, sat in disrepair from the 1980s until 2004, when the current proprietors executed a complete makeover. Each room is unique and lovely, decorated in true Adirondack style. A solo pianist performed on the wraparound porch the evening we were there.
The menu was certainly tempting: beef carpaccio and tuna tataki are right up my alley, along with lamb shank and pork osso buco. Particularly interesting is the "I can't believe it's a beet salad," diced beets marinated in balsamic vinegar with julienne of carrots and celery, chopped walnuts and blue cheese on a bed of spinach.
Tempting as it was, we journeyed 10 miles down the road just past Old Forge to Cindy and Gary Isensee's Knotty Pine in Thendara. We had reviewed the Knotty Pine about two years ago and vowed to return "off duty" someday.
This was the day. We were as impressed with the food now — classic American fare — as we were then. And their award-winning Wine Spectator wine list was similarly up to par.
Oysters Rockefeller and seafood stuffed portobello made for great starters. Field green salads were fresh and crisp. The wine sauce on the chicken Marsala was perfect. You could cut the chicken with a fork. Veal Napoleon was pounded thin and layered with spinach, red peppers and cheeses, served with an excellent tomato cream sauce.
It's interesting to note that a former side-street restaurant in Old Forge, Frankie's Taste of Italy, has moved to larger, impressive-looking quarters just down the road from the Knotty Pine. It serves chicken, veal, seafood and pasta dishes, plus "Greens Anthony," its version of the sautéed escarole favorite, Utica greens.
These are just highlights. There's much more along the "Leafer Trail," and many more routes to look at leaves. Take a drive before you have to put the snow tires on and experience what our north country has to offer this time of year.
Many restaurants and hotels are now on limited fall hours.
Be sure to call ahead for up-to-date information.
You can contact Walter E. Siebel via e-mail: wsiebel@wdt.net.
Cranberry Lake Lodge
7202 Route 3
Cranberry Lake
848-3301
Windfall Bar & Grill
550 Tooley Pond Road
Cranberry Lake
848-3559
The Thirsty Moose
9754 Route 3
Childwold
1 (518) 359-2540
White Birch Café
218 Park St.
Tupper Lake
1 (518) 359-8044
The Wawbeek
553 Hawk Ridge
Tupper Lake
1 (518) 359-2656
The Skyline
1976 Route 30
Tupper Lake.
1 (518) 359-8513
Adirondack Hotel
1245 Route 30
Long Lake
1 (518) 624-4700
Hoss's Country Corner
Corner Routes 30 & 28N
Long Lake
1 (518) 624-2451
Hemlock Hall
Maple Lodge Road
Blue Mountain Lake, N.Y.
1 (518) 352-7706
W.W. Durant
Raquette Lake Navigation Co.
1 Mick Drive
Raquette Lake
354-5532
www.raquettelakenavigation.com
The Woods Inn
Route 28
Inlet
357-5300
Knotty Pine Restaurant
2776 Route 28
Thendara.
369-6859
Frankie's Taste of Italy
Route 28
Thendara
369-2400
