We stayed at a Best Western as my sister is in a wheel chair. Most of the beautiful old Inns and Bed and Breakfasts are not accessable. The rest of the city wasn't generally a problem. We found the ramps down to the handicap seating at the Saratoga Performing Center very steep but luckily the ushers were very helpful. They arranged for us to be picked up after the performance by a golf type cart and returned to the parking lot. We saw the NYC Ballet perform Balanchine's "Jewels" and it was spectacular.
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| Gracious old Inns line the main street. A wide swath of lawn, flowers and benches separate the sidewalk from the street. |
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| A large variety of stores and restaurants fill every available storefront - unlike many down towns like our own in Rutland, VT |
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| Another view of the mini parks that line the streets |
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| Horses are the city's mascot and beautifully painted ones decorated the streets and parks |
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| The Adelphi Hotel is one of the oldest remaining Inns in the city. An example of High Victorian it was built in 1877. |
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| Congress Park in the heart of the city. Laid out and built in 1822 around some of the springs. Frederick Law Olmsted did the landscape design in 1876. It was neglected and fell into disrepair in the 1930's and renovated beginning in 1976. |
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| Two of the pavilions surrounding the still working springs |
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| Great lawns and paths surround the ponds, streams, statues and fountains |
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| Part of the Italian gardens in a corner of the park. |
The city is really beautiful and luckily we had perfect weather. As you can see from the photos, it's a great place to walk around. We enjoyed all our meals there as well. Before leaving we stopped in at the Saratoga Race Track which was opening the following weekend. Scott and I hope to get over there in August for the early morning breakfast to watch the horses work out. I've done it before and it's amazing.
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| Looking back at the statues of Pan and the Meneads placed around the sundial. In the back left is the path and stream seen above. |
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| The former casino known as The Clubhouse was built in 1870 and is now home to the Saratoga Springs History Musuem. |
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| Shakespeare in the Park - almost every night for two weeks in July. This year it was Merchant of Venice |
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| You can ride for free on this beautiful carousel carved by Marcus Charles Illions. |
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| The Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC) is host to the NYC Ballet and the Philadelphia Orchestra as well as a number of popular musical performers during the summer months |
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| There is a huge variety of retail stores downtown. I found some elegant clothing here at Lifestyles on sale. |
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| The Bread Basket Bakery is a great way to start the morning! |
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| We had our first night's dinner at the Lake Ridge Restaurant in Round Lake, NY around 15 minutes from Saratoga - very good food, nice atmosphere and service, expensive |
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| Forno Toscano Bistro at 541 Broadway, right downtown was a fun, lively place with very tasty food, moderate to expensive prices. You can eat outside too. |
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| The Karavalli Regional Restaurant at 47 Caroline St., also downtown, had good Indian food at moderate prices with attractive decor |
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