Music Legends

Posted On February 5, 2025

My wife & I drove over from Watertown today (Wednesday, February 5th) to see my boyhood hometown’s 2025 Ice Palace. The sun along the drive up along Route 3 was bright, making sunglasses required, especially when it reflected off the fresh fallen snow. The outdoor air temperature, however, rebuffed every effort the sun’s rays made at offering anything remotely akin to a mid-winter warm-up. Unless one considers the rise from -5F (our 9 a.m. Watertown departure temp) to +7F (our 11:30 a.m. Saranac Lake arrival temp) a “warm-up”.

We didn’t have much of an agenda, really; tour the ice palace, snap a few photos, stop in at the Carnival Kiosk to buy this year’s button, then scoot over to my brother Ray’s house to pick up my signed Garry Trudeau Winter carnival poster.

Probably in part due to better ice making weather, this year’s ice palace is much larger than last year’s iteration, and, with a variety of music themed displays, much more elaborate. Bravo to the palace construction crew. It’s well worth a visit & very well done.

They even included an ice fishing contest as an intermission show, with what looked to me like a perch, pike & rock bass encased within blocks of ice. I’m not sure exactly how they accomplished that, but it’s pretty cool!

With the outdoor air temps hovering just below 10F and the breeze off Lake Flower, the morning was brisk. We finished our self-guided palace tour and walked across the parking lot to the Carnival Kiosk to buy this year’s button. We were too early though. We had finished touring the Ice Palace at 11:55 and the kiosk did not open until noon. So, we stood and waited. Once the kiosk opened, we bought this year’s button, keeping my collection complete. then we walked back up to the St. Bernard’s parking lot where we had parked and headed across town to my brother’s, where my signed poster awaited.

I’m number 65 on the singed poster list. Garry Trudeau only signs 100. This year’s poster, for the first time, is sideways. I’m not sure if its unique sideways status in any way enhances valuable, but it is pretty cool!

With all of our day’s agenda items complete, Robin & I headed for home. It was a nice little mid-winter day trip diversion.

Our Music Legends ice palace tour was really enjoyable…

But the band stole the show.

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Until Our Trails Cross Again:

ADKO