What a delightful discovery!
After setting up my exhibition for this weekend’s show at Tannery Pond, I spent the day in the tiny Adirondack town of North Creek, NY. The Vermonter in me wants to pronounce that “North Crick”.
What’s so special about this remote village in the middle of the mountains? I can’t quite say exactly. It doesn’t look like much at first glance, but as I wandered along Main Street I found a delightful small-town vibrancy mixed in with just the right amount of tourism – something about it that makes you feel more like a “temporary resident” than a tourist.
Parking my car at the train station, I was thrilled to find the Saratoga-North Creek train had arrived. I wanted to check out the Dome Car I heard so much about, so the conductor graciously allowed me on board for a quick peek.
Talking with some of the passengers who came up to North Creek from Saratoga, I learned that the food is as good as the view from this two-story car…….and that view should be even more spectacular around mid-October when the foliage is in full bloom. It’s now on my Artful Vagabond bucket list!
Just outside the train station, I met Tom, one of the volunteer chauffeurs for North Creek’s complimentary shuttle service.
The free shuttle is for anyone who wants to get from one end of Main Street to the other without walking – tourist and locals alike hop on and off as they like throughout the day. During my conversation with Tom, he mentioned a cafe that serves up a regional ice cream made with wine and offered to take me there. Wine ice cream? Say no more! I hopped on Tom’s shuttle and got the grand tour of North Creek…..
And ended up at the Ski Bowl Cafe to sample some of that wine ice cream. Tom promised he’d be back to pick me up and went off to continue his route.
Mercer’s Wine Ice Cream is made in Booneville, New York – and yes, there’s real wine in it!
Check out the all the wonderful flavors…….Cherry Merlot, Chocolate Cabernet, Peach White Zinfandel, Port, Red Raspberry Chardonnay, Riesling. This is a true wine ice cream, not just wine-flavored, with 12% butterfat and up to 5% alcohol created with a secret formula by Mercer’s Dairy. It was hard to decide which to choose, but I’m a real Merlot girl so I opted for the Cherry Merlot. It was heaven! I could taste the wine as the ice cream melted in my mouth. ”I’m glad I have a chauffeur coming to retrieve me!” I thought as I enjoyed the delicacy on the outside deck of the cafe, with the faint scent of Adirondack balsam in the afternoon breeze.
And just as I was licking the last of the ice cream from my spoon, Tom returned as promised to bring me back into town.
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