Vintage Retro Lake George Vacation Tips – For the Whole Retro Road Family!

Retro Roadsis just informed me that she and her Retro Roadfamily are heading to Lake George NY for a mini vacation, and I’m totally super-psyched for them! Here’s “Auntique” Mod Betty’s suggestions for a fun weekend of vintage retro fun, with some great additions from Debra Jane Seltzer of RoadsideArchitecture.com! 

Hola Retro Roadsis!

As you know, we had a great time when we stayed in Lake George, NY a few years ago, thanks to you, so I thought I’d compile a list of things you might want to check out with the fam, while you’re in the area yourselves.

One place that I think the Retro Roadkids would absolutely adore, but wasn’t open when we were there before the season, is the Magic Forest Amusement Park. There are some great photos at RoadsideArchitecture.com – Debra Jane Seltzer’s must-check resource for cool old stuff , and according to the Magic Forest website they have 19 kidddie rides, 4 adult rides, plus a train and a tram.Opened in 1963 it’s home to the world’s largest Uncle Sam!

We had a great time playing Sir Goony  Golf miniature golf, every hole is a pop culture delight and there are wacky photo ops galore, as you can see from the below photo.

Debra Jane Seltzer also recommends the Around The World mini-golf right in downtown Lake George – can’t believe I forgot it! Check out her fab photos of the Around The World mini-golf, with the Pink Roof Ice Cream next door:

  South of Lake George in Glens Falls is a place I think will appeal to your “Not-so-Retro” husband and the Retro Roadkids – Coopers Cave Ale Company – they make Beer AND ice cream! (Also beer-wise, there’s the Adirondack Brewery and Pub right in Lake George)

Speaking of south of LG – there are a few places we didn’t get to try, but if you can, there’s an A&W Root Beer Stand, a lunch place called Poopie’s (the kids will have a field day with that!) and Mr. B’s Best Beef & Subs (which at one point was a NEBA Roast Beef restaurant) looked visually interesting, and possibly worth checking out.

DJS has hepped me to another roadside delight that we missed on our trip – Mr. Bill’s Car Hop in South Glens Falls:

They used to be an A&W stand, and still have a Papa  Burger statue on site!

You must stop at Martha’s Dandee Creme in Queensbury as they have all sorts of flavors of soft serve, plus a giant chicken!

The Glen Drive In Movie Theatre is just down the street from Lake George too! We stumbled upon it when driving up from Glens Falls and had to pull in and watch a movie:

Speaking of Drive In’s – DJS of  RoadsideArchitecture.com let me  know that there’s a drive in with a fabulous sign in Malta, NY:

And a diner in Malta as well – the Quintessence:

There’s another Quintessence Diner in Albany as well.

I know you already have a place to stay, but I’m sure you’ll love spotting the cool old Cabin Court Motels that dot the roadside. I thought this place  looked incredibly adorable, complete with shuffleboard court!

And last time we were there, there were a number of motels with great vintage neon signs – hopefully they’re still there – and if not, it’s your duty as a Roving Retro Roadmap Reporter to let me know!

Virtual Retro Roadmap pal Mr. Modtomic just returned from a stay in LG, so you’ll want to check his post on the vintage signs of Lake George as well!

Now we didn’t get to eat here, as it was also closed when we were there in the off-season, but also north of Lake George  Bolton Beans is an actual Worcester Lunch Car Diner (#791) and that might be a good place for Retro Roadboy to get his fix of pancakes!

Alas I think the Howard Johnson’s – one of only 3 remaining in the world – is no longer open and the great vintage Prospect Mt. Diner burned down and was replaced by a shiny new diner, but as Larry Cultrera reminds us,”…a new Diner-Mite is better than no diner.”

But all and all you’re going to have a super duper time in Lake George – I want photos and a full report from the Retro Roadkid Reporters upon your Return!

Best to you and the Retro Roadfam –

xo – Auntique Beth / Mod Betty 😉

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