Saranac Lake

Because the time in Saranac Lake was extended on this departure we had time to walk to the Museum.  And since it was raining quite heavily, that was pretty much all we managed - except of course for an ice cream stop at Stewart's on the corner near the station! As usual, our lunch would be late again today...

once we arrived in Saranac Lake via the train we walked the few blocks in the rain to the museum-

I took the photo below because my dad's first job out of college was for the Sperti-Faraday company which was the company that made the sun lamp below.  I remember having the exact same model in our house as a kid - we were not allowed to touch it or use it- but my dad would sometimes take a few minutes under the sun lamp with these weird glasses to protect his eyes.... so it was really strange seeing this contraption in this museum. 

 

 

Built in 1894, The Saranac Laboratory was the first lab built in the U.S. for the research of tuberculosis.  Dr. Edward Livingstone Trudeau came to the Adirondacks in 1873, seriously ill with tuberculosis. Here his health improved in the mountain climate. After seven years and repeated attempts to return to New York City, all with bad effects on his health, Trudeau built a winter home in Saranac Lake, and founded the Adirondack Cottage Sanitarium to care for incipient cases of tuberculosis among the working poor. 

"Curing" was the term used for "taking the cure", or being treated in a sanatorium, whether a large establishment, such as the New York State Hospital at Ray Brook, or a smaller commercial private sanatorium, or Cure Cottage. Some even cured in tents. The "cure" consisted in resting in fresh air as much as possible, even in bitterly cold weather, combined with a high calorie diet, moderate exercise as able, and keeping the patient's spirits up.  Other elements of the cure had to do with attempts to limit coughing, which could be exhausting, and could lead to hemorrhages in the lung. Cough suppressants, including heroin, were used.

The Trudeau Sanatorium closed on December 1, 1954, after the discovery of effective antibiotic treatments for tuberculosis. The property was sold by Trudeau's grandson, Dr. Francis B. Trudeau, Jr., to the American Management Association in 1957.

The museum held a special exhibit on millinery all collected by a descent of Trudeau's second wife - who also by the way ends up being Garry Trudeau's stepmother...LOL

After we took the train back to Lake Placid we scouted out a way to head to Saranac Lake (without going through the overcrowded Lake Placid yet again) to do some exploring beyond the train station area - especially the location of the former Trudeau Sanatorium which the museum docent had given us directions to... and after that we had lunch at an Italian place in Saranac called Nonna Tina...

after fully exploring the abandoned (mostly) site of the sanatorium (now owned by the American Management Association) we checked out some other parts of town before we headed out to the west - our stop tonight will be near Watertown NY because tomorrow we start the Sea Way byway.... on our way west we saw the first tree with the changing colors- and a cute beaver lodge at its base...

and as we headed to the west and the coast of Lake Ontario we were thinking of dinner- so we stopped in Sackett's Harbor - tried to get a hotel room (LOL) and when that failed we decided to eat instead... oh - and to drink...

again surprised by the shortage of hotel rooms in Watertown NY (not in the ADK Park or that close to it) we found rooms at the entrance to Ft Drum at the Candlewood Inn- very nice and a good price via hotels.com.... so we pulled in there around 9 PM and since they had free laundry TB washed clothes (along with two of my shirts- thanks!) I was traveling in an 18" suitcase and a small briefcase for the maps etc. and TB had  two 50 pound bags - so never let anyone stereotype gender based packing! LOL