The midst of winter is a world of romance, if you’re someone who loves the snow. Alongside crackling fires and hushed snowy nights, there is a vibrant energy to go climb mountains and skate on frozen lakes. Is it the beauty of being out in a world covered in snowflakes, or the promise of coming home again? Regardless, we are a winter family that seeks out thermal baths and ski slopes, and for our birthdays we wanted to go ice-skating. So we pulled out the map and found Lake Placid. Perfect! A New York version of the Austria where all these memories for us started, and only about 8 hours away.

The town of Lake Placid is a small and charming place, with a main street still decked with Christmas lights in February, cafes, boutiques, carved wooden bears, and shoppes selling potholders decorated with fish. The sidewalks teemed with people in thick winter coats, dodging slush puddles and ducking into warm dining rooms for cappuccino and craft brews. There was even an ice cream place packed with people needing ice cream. In the middle of winter! Jake and I joined them. They had hot fudge and mocha chip, and we ate it outside on the sidewalk where it was so cold, it didn’t make a single drip.

And the Olympics! There is something so glamorous about the Olympics. All the old photos and ski jumps and nostalgic glory that somehow leaves room for future hope, too. We watched the freestyle ski jump team flipping around in the air, doing things that a normal person would never do, and thinking about the magic of dreams.

What are the odds of this coincidence? Three of our homelands, waving in a row…

Along the edge of Lake Placid, Mirror Lake was frozen solid. Serene and smooth, partly covered in drifts, it was a giant winter playground for the whole town and their dogs. Children were sledding, men played hockey, couples clutched each other’s arms, and a wide ring was cleared around the perimeter for people to take long winter walks. On the first day it was snowing too much to skate, but the next two days were bright with cold sunshine.

Here is Jake, skating on Mirror Lake.

Here are the Sled Dogs. They were so happy! I’m not sure if there is controversy around sled dogs, but these dogs LOVED what they were doing.

And here are our morning danish.

For breakfast each day, after a first round of pastries, the guys needed eggs and bacon. Soulshine Bagel was doing a brisk business selling coffee and bagels and cafe con panna, and I would bet my life it was run by a family of Ukrainians. At dinner time we sifted through various versions of burgers and fries, and one night had Italian food which was not too bad. I don’t know where all the other travelers were from, but I saw families and Germans and teenagers with their friends, and we felt like the perfect participants in this long February weekend.

The boys took a biathalon class with Mike, skiing and shooting, while I lost myself on cross-country skis up in the snowy hills, my happy place for a whole morning. When we met back at the lodge, we were warmed through and shiny with cold all at the same time, and eased out of our ski boots into hot bowls of soup and crackers.

We did not expect to find a winter escape as beautiful as this. It was a nice reminder not to worry about the future so much, when the present is right in front of us, promising all the life we need.