Our Lake - Lake George

Lake George, nicknamed the Queen of American Lakes, is located in the Adirondack mountains. At 32 miles long it starts in Lake George at the southern tip and ends in Ticonderoga on the northern point. It is 3 miles wide at its widest point which is in front of the Sagamore Resort in Bolton Landing, NY, the average width of the lake is a little over 1-mile. It has a maximum depth of 178 feet (this number varies based on the source you find) located between Dome Island and Buck Mountain but on average the depth is around 70 feet.

10,000 years ago as the glaciers receded they paused at each end of the lake and essentially formed a dam from the leftover boulders and sand. Some ice was left and as it melted it helped to fill up the lake, today the lake is fed by springs and brooks. The lake flows northerly to an outlet in Ticonderoga that links to Lake Champlain.

There are over 170 islands on Lake George, a majority of them being within the town of Bolton. Most of the islands are state owned with about 30 being privately owned. Around 50 of those state owned islands allow camping, a popular summer activity on Lake George. Another popular activity on Lake George is fishing and there are 36 species of fish in the lake according to the Lake George Association.

The lake will freeze completely most winters but there has been a few in recent memory that it hasn’t occurred. The complete freeze, called ice-in, usually happens mid to end of January but you will see ice fishermen out there as soon as there is some visible ice.

Do you think the lake will fully freeze this year? We will see soon enough but in the meantime I will be trying to get in a couple more boat rides on this beautiful lake and waiting for warmer weather again.

Our Town - Bolton Landing

Bolton Landing, established in 1799, is located on the shores of Lake George in the Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York. It is 10 miles north of Lake George Village and has a current population of about 2,000 year-round residents. It draws many visitors from Memorial Day to Labor Day as a quieter getaway from bustling Lake George Village. Even though it is smaller it still boasts a variety of outdoor and recreational activities, such as boating, swimming, hiking, and golfing.

Lake Shore Drive (NY Route 9N) runs directly through downtown Bolton Landing. When exploring downtown you will find many shops, restaurants, and marinas. There are two main public beaches, the Bolton Historical Museum, the Sembrich Museum, the public library, Town Hall, a grocery store, public school, fire station, and of course the McDonald Real Estate Professionals office. While there are a handful of lodging options on this short strip of downtown Bolton Landing, you will find the historic Sagamore Resort, probably the most notable place in town. But on your way to the Sagamore is the elegant Boathouse Bed & Breakfast, I highly recommend them if you are looking for accommodations in Bolton Landing, the property is beautiful and the hosts are amazing.

I think this description from the Bolton Landing Chamber of Commerce website sums up the town pretty well. “For two hundred years travelers have proclaimed Bolton Landing on beautiful Lake George a refuge from their hectic daily lives. Since 1799, this sheltered Adirondack community on the shores of Lake George has drawn world-weary writers, artists, musicians, and generations of families enjoying the pure crystalline waters of Lake George.”

It was that particular quaint, picturesque, and artsy vibe described above that brought me here almost 30 years ago. I will post more on the history of Bolton in a later post so keep your eyes peeled for that.

QuaranTACO Tuesdays

With restaurants currently closed for dine-in options, most have come up with creative ways to offer food (and beverages) to their customers. Some of those include fantastic specials, like Frederick’s Restaurant Quarantaco Tuesdays.

We needed a break from cooking at home so we decided to order from Frederick’s for pick-up. It just happened to be on a Tuesday when they were offering their QuaranTaco Tuesday specials. We ordered el pastor tacos and strip steak fajitas, and it was all delicious. Everything was very flavorful and well-cooked, and the portions provided us with multiple meals. I mean there are 4 tacos per order, more than even I could eat on a hungry day! I think we had about a dozen containers with all sorts of toppings. They even gave us chips and salsa to complete our meal.

They also offer adult beverages for takeout to compliment your meal and I regret not ordering a pitcher of their blueberry lime margarita special that evening. What was I thinking!?

We ordered a couple of weeks ago and they did a taco Tuesday menu again last week, check out that scrumptious sounding menu to the left. I am hoping that they will have a similar QuaranTaco menu for tomorrow, especially with it also being Cinco de Mayo, and I WILL be ordering the margaritas if they do. I will be stalking their Facebook page to see what the menu will be. They have been posting their specials there daily so if tacos aren’t your thing they have other options. Give yourself a great meal while also supporting a local family-owned restaurant in Bolton Landing.

COVID-19 and Real Estate

I know everyone has heard so much about COVID-19 and how it is currently changing our lives every day right now but I wanted to also let you know how that affects real estate. The real estate industry, at least in NY, the status from non-essential to essential changed during the process and the directives we were given were changing daily. We have now settled into more of a so-called routine for the time being.

It started that everyone needed to follow the CDC guidelines by minimizing people in the office and support greater sanitizing and cleaning methods. Shortly after that we became non-essential, offices had to close, and we could no longer do any real estate transactions that required face-to-face contact.

Just when we had accepted that real estate would be put indefinitely on hold the Empire State Development agency deemed us essential. Immediately people started to resume business as usual. The agency then had to clarify things and after a few more changes we are at the point we are now.

We can conduct business but nothing that requires face-to-face contact meaning we can not attend closings, we can do virtual showings if the seller allows access to the property, we can get new listings but only if it can be done without physical contact, brokerage offices must remain closed, and we must follow the CDC guidelines if we are in public or entering a property.

So what does this mean for my clients? For buyers, you can still look at listings online but will not be able to see a place in person until we are cleared to resume business. Sellers have probably already noticed a slowdown in activity for this same reason, that most customers are unlikely to purchase a place they can not see in person. Hopefully, we will get back to business soon, I miss all my clients, but in the meantime know I am here to help in any way I can.

Most importantly, I hope everyone stays safe and healthy!

This is how I have been keeping in touch with my family.

15 Church Restaurant Experience

A couple of my favorite things, outside of real estate of course, are great food and great wine. So last week when I took my wife out for her birthday dinner I picked 15 Church in Saratoga Springs. It is one that had been on my list to try for a while and it didn’t disappoint. The ambiance, the food, and the service were all beyond what I expected. Others must already know this though because it was a rainy Tuesday night and there wasn’t an empty seat.

We started with a bottle of zinfandel from Buehler Vineyards in St. Helena, CA, a great wine region north of Napa and Sonoma for those unfamiliar. After we ordered we were presented with some amazing crusty but soft bread that was sprinkled with herbs and cheese. We shared the Burrata cheese that had apple jam and other delicious ingredients on it and I also got the Sea Bass Soup, which was a special that night, it had a smooth rich broth with plenty of sea bass in it.

For our main entrees, my wife ordered the Lobster Fra Diavolo. I stole a bite so I can confirm that it was just as tasty as she said it was. She loved the buttery lobster with the sauce that wasn’t too spicy. I opted for another special that night which was the Cowboy Steak. A generous portion that was cooked to perfection and served with some delicious fried potatoes. As if that wasn’t enough food we also couldn’t resist trying the Brussels Sprouts as a side, they are prepared with bacon, apples and caramelized onions and served with a fried egg on top!

Since it was my wife’s birthday we had to have a celebratory dessert and she loves a good Creme Brulee so it was a no-brainer on what to order. Again that didn’t disappoint with the creamy richness of the vanilla bean custard to that crunchy caramelized sugar on top.

As I mentioned briefly the service was fantastic, very attentive but not overly. They do little things for you like the manager gave us some wonderful complimentary Limoncello to thank us for celebrating with them. I can’t recommend this place enough. Now my mouth is watering reliving that meal and I can’t wait for another reason to get back to 15 Church.

Welcome to my blog

Thanks for coming to my website and taking the time to read some of my thoughts. While this is only my first post I plan to post regularly to provide you with important real estate news, market trends, community news and events, general information about me and the things I do. I hope you enjoy what you read and please leave your comments.

So I suppose I should tell you a little more about me to start. I was born in Staten Island, NY, found my wonderful wife there and had our two daughters there as well. When my kids were approaching double digits my wife and I decided we were ready to move somewhere quieter. After searching all the areas of upstate New York for a while we fell in love with Bolton Landing. We loved how quaint it was and beautiful on Lake George, we thought this would be a great place to raise our daughters.

We walked into McDonald Real Estate Professionals and asked to see some properties that we could build our home on. After some searching, we found a few acres in the woods and made the move in 1992. We rented a house right in downtown Bolton Landing for the first year while we built our custom log home. At this time I was retired from the New York City Department of Sanitation and if you know me I like to keep busy so when Willie Bea McDonald approached me to get my real estate license and work in her office I decided to go for it. In 1993 I successfully became a licensed NYS Real Estate Salesperson.

Since then I have been working full-time doing real estate. My favorite part of the job is all the great people I have meet over the years. I love helping to make people’s dreams come true, whether it is a first-time homeowner or someone looking for that unique island property, it is all rewarding to me. Not to mention I get to do this in one of the most beautiful places in the country.