Summer visits to Papa's Ice Cream Parlor in Lake Luzerne, NY are among my fondest memories of living upstate. Lake Luzerne is a village in the Adirondack foothills where the Hudson and Sacandaga rivers meet. Along the Hudson, before the rivers meet, just upriver from a small falls, there is a house with a big porch overlooking the Hudson. That's Papa's.
Papa's was an old school ice cream parlor, even though it was only established in the 1970s. Teenage waitresses working their summer jobs would wear tees saying "Papa's Girl," serving ice cream and soda fountain treats in glass dishes. At Papa's you could sit on the shady dining porch overlooking the river, chow down on a barbecue chicken sandwich, and then contemplate the most important choice of the day: what to eat for dessert. I always chose fruit flavors. My dessert of choice was a brownie sundae with cherry ice cream. Heaven on earth.
Papa's was only open in summer, and each year I dream of visiting. I had my heart set on actually getting to Papa's this summer and I was crestfallen to learn that it is no longer open. Though, I suppose, I'm not totally surprised. In 2002, the original Papa's caught fire and the Gardner family rebuilt their restaurant on an adjacent lot. In 2008 Papa's was sold. Now the building and business are for sale again. Here's hoping someone brings Papa's back to life.
One of the nicest days I ever spent with my friend PD was one Fourth of July more than a decade ago, punctuated by my first trip to Papa's. We walked down to the river and watched boys jumping (terrifyingly) off a bridge into the deep water below the falls. We ate lunch on the porch and gorged ourselves on ice cream. We went back to Saratoga Springs and watched fireworks.
The pencil cup on my desk is a mug from Papa's, a reminder of the sweet things in life.
Photos via Flickr user, warsze
