Customer Reviews

Great Destinations The Adirondack Book, Fourth Edition

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The Adirondack Book is written with a heart for the place it describes, and with a nose for just the right level of detail. The author is clearly a native of the area, with an understanding of its people and its ways, and this shows in her tack on nearly everything she wrtes. Her descriptions of many of the events and places are dead on, and good information is given to the reader about how to find said place or event, and how to find out more information about the subject. Her asides in particular (for example, short essays about blackflies, wildlife, and hypothermia) are well written and dead on target, great advice for the traveler. Finally, she resists speaking overly much about the many topics, and this is a good thing: a book fully describing every last item she mentions would be several thousand pages long! Still, Folwell's book is a boon for the traveler, a great starting place for exploring the biggest park in the contiguous 48.

The only drawback in this book is that of organization. The book is sectioned by activity/attraction, then by region, then by town, instead of region/town/activity. This makes it much more difficult to, say, find out everything you want to know about Speculator or Lake Placid. Still, the entries one finds are clear and concise, and with some extra effort you can find all you want.

Ok, I like to shop when I travel, so I was pleased (make that delighted) to see lots of quirky stores owned by artists and crafters listed in the Adirondack Book. Their stuff was good, not tacky or touristy. And when I go shop, I like to stay in interesting places and eat at restaurants where an actual chef prepared the meal I found that info in the Adirondacks book with more detail than Fodor's, etc.