The Adirondack Carousel

On the second day of my sister's visit, we left the dogs at home and drove south, into the Adirondack Park. When we arrived at the village of Saranac Lake, we stopped at the Adirondack Carousel:

We walked right inside and began taking pictures. The top of the carousel featured paintings of beloved Adirondack scenery and wildflowers:

The animals of the carousel were all Adirondack wildlife:

Before it began turning, the man in the green shirt told each kid what kind of animal they were riding and a little bit about the species as it lived in the Adirondacks:

The music played, the carousel turned at a surprisingly rapid speed, and the children appeared to be having a great deal of fun:

A beaver, a red squirrel, a raccoon and either a lynx or bobcat (I wasn't sure which, as both are native to the area):

Here's a closer look at the cat. What's that other animal? I'm guessing it's a toad:

We investigated the gift shop and were told that each hand carved carousel animal had a ladybug, New York's official insect, on it somewhere - and they sold ladybug umbrellas:

There were a few extra carousel animals like this red fox which, we were told, are occasionally switched out so that all the animals get a chance on the carousel:

You can see that this frog has a ladybug at the rear center of its saddle. It also has a series of tadpoles, growing into adult frogs, around its neck:

It was a great diversion and an interesting stop along the way, but we had another destination in mind. So we bid farewell to the Adirondack Carousel and continued on our way to Whiteface Mountain. I'll post about that tomorrow: