Showing posts with label adirondack. Show all posts
Showing posts with label adirondack. Show all posts

Tuesday, October 8, 2019

Off To The Races In Saratoga Springs

HELLO SARATOGA SPRINGS!

To alleviate Megan's sadness at leaving the Wilson Foundation (http://wilsonfdn.org/) after 9 years and to temper her excitement at joining the Farash Foundation (https://www.farashfoundation.org/), we took a very quick trip to nearby Saratoga Springs, New York.


"Were you born in a barn?"
"No, but I did sleep in a horse stable..."

The Brentwood Hotel (https://brentwood-hotel.com/) was a nice, fun, and comfortable place to stay within the grounds of the Saratoga Race Track (https://www.saratogaracetrack.com/).  Very European accommodations.  And close to town, but far enough away to be very, very quiet.

While it was the off-season, the Brentwood Hotel was a great place to watch all the horses head to the track from their stables for training.

Druther's Brewing (http://www.druthersbrewing.com) with their good beer and food of gigantic proportions.  We saw another table order a mac and cheese that could easily feed a family of four.

Friends gathering around the table.

When there's a bit of rain on vacation, the best thing to do is try everything a brewery offers.  To see what's on our flight, visit: http://www.druthersbrewing.com/beer

Megan trying our race day hats at Soave Faire Art & Office Supplies (http://www.soavefaire.com).  This store somehow carried everything.  They had fashion, cards, home decor, art supplies, and so much more.  If they carried food, there'd be no reason to shop anywhere else.

Since 1938, this is the Louisiana cooking they've been serving at Hattie's Chicken Shack (http://hattiesrestaurant.com).  Great food and atmosphere.  Almost like taking a vacation while on vacation.

Just a sliver of the expansive grounds of the Saratoga Race Track.  It's at least 125 acres (if not more) of race tracks, stables, fields, barns, Hall of Fame, and more.

Please tell me that mini horse racing is a thing.  Com' on Lil' Sebastian!

Taking our morning strill into town we were able to watch some harness racing warm-ups and training.

Just a small slice of the enormous mansions around town.

The little Hobbit House known as the Bread Basket Bakery (https://www.saratogabreadbasket.com)

Enjoying our maple twist and raspberry bear claw in Congress park.  These were pretty amazing.

A bit of the historic and old world charm of Congress Park (https://www.saratoga.com/hotspots/congress-park/)

Megan overlooking Lake George from Pilot Knob Preserve (https://www.lakegeorge.com/hiking/pilot-knob/#1).

This is protected lands in the Adirondack Mountains.  A mile-long driveway and house was constructed on this site, which blighted the unbroken wilderness of the Pilot Knob range.  The property was confiscated, rehabilitated by the Zug Family, and the house was torn down to the cheers of the crowd of people in 40 boats below.


The hemlock and oak forest on the back part of Schumann's Preserve at Pilot Knob.



Back at the gazebo overlooking Lake George


After all that vertical hiking, we earned these burritos at the Cantina (https://www.cantinasaratoga.com/).  Chicken Tinga with cactus fries really hit the spot.

Watching the horses return to the Bond Racing Stables (https://www.jamesbondracing.com) after some training at the race track.


It's amazing how athletic these horses look compared to the horses you see wandering around the fields on farms.

Five Points Grocery (https://www.saratoga5points.com/) wonderful little grocery store perfectly situated between our place and town.

Hathorn Spring One is one of the namesakes of the city.  "Discovered in 1866, by a workman, Samuel Freeburn, while digging an excavation for Congress Hall, and named after Henry H, Hathorn owner of the Congress Hotel .A highly-carbonated water of an Alkaline-Saline flavor noted for its high mineral content, and renowned as a digestive curative..."

Compton's Restaurant (https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Diner/Comptons-Restaurant-159286897415115/) for breakfast.  It's the perfect no-nonsense, good food and reasonable prices greasy spoon.


Adelphi Hotel (https://www.theadelphihotel.com/) and Morrissey Restaurant (https://www.morrisseyslounge.com/) showing some of the grandeur of Broadway.

Some of General Philip Schuyler's 168,000 acre estate (https://www.nps.gov/sara/planyourvisit/schuyler-house.htm) given to him and maintained by tenant farmers and slaves.  Also, just know the difficulty of navigating the area when every house, laundromat, rest stop, and street is named Schuyler...

Saratoga National Park (https://www.nps.gov/sara/index.htm) overlooking the battlefield where the British faced their first surrender ever.  A feat that encouraged the French to join the America cause for independence, which turned the endeavor to our favor.


Our final stop on our way home.  The eerie nesting grounds of the Heron at Ballston Creek Preserve (https://www.saratogaplan.org/explore/public-preserves-trails/ballston-creek-preserve/) in Ballston Spa, NY.  While we didn't see any Heron, Megan did see a Bald Eagle from I-90 at the Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge (https://www.fws.gov/refuge/montezuma/).

That's it from our sample-sized vacation.

Friday, August 9, 2019

Autumn In the Adirondacks

Brightscapes: The Way To Beauty


Autumn In the Adirondacks
Acrylic paint on canvas
8" x 10" (20.3 cm x 25.4 cm)
© copyright Mike Kraus

It was a steep and treacherous hike up the mountain in the Adirondacks.  A wild region full of deer, herons, and chipmunks.  You may even find a moose, coyote, or black bear on these trails.  The dense pine forest opens up to a meadow full of brisk autumn air.  There is a startling calmness.  And from this view, it's as if we can see all six million acres of this park.

This painting would look best in a space that is red, orange, purple, yellow, green, blue, beige, or wood.

Michael Kraus was born on the industrial shoreline of Muskegon, Michigan. After earning his Fine Arts Degree from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, he attended Grand Valley State University for his graduate degree. From there, he gained varied experiences from the Chicago Architecture Foundation, Art Institute of Chicago, Hauenstein Center For Presidential Studies, Lollypop Farm Humane Society, and the Children's Memorial Foundation. And every place he worked, he had his sketchbook with him and found ways to be actively creative. In 2014, Kraus became a full-time artist by establishing Mike Kraus Art. Since then, he has sold hundreds of paintings that are displayed in nearly every state and dozens of countries. Currently, Kraus lives in Rochester, New York with his beautiful wife and goofy dog.


For more information or custom order, please visit:
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/mkraus


Jakelin was a 7-year-old fleeing gang infested Guatemala.  
Felipe Gómez Alonzo died of an infection and the flu at 8-years-old
Juan de León Gutiérrez was 16-years-old when he died from an infection.
A 2-year-old died of pneumonia.

These are just a few of the 15,000 children imprisoned by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and other United States Government Agencies and their for-profit contractors.  They are being kept in concrete cells, deprived of basic necessities, and starving from hunger.  The filth they are forced to live in has led to flu, lice, and respiratory outbreaks, that are purposefully being neglected.  And guards punish these children for minor offences by taking away their blankets, mats, and forcing them to sleep directly on the concrete floor (Southern Poverty Law Center)

I am extremely disturbed that a country that has shown me and my family such kindness is so cruel to others. This is not about politics. This is about justice, kindness, and truth. These children and parents are fleeing Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala because government-supported gangs are violently attacking them (United Nations). After a dangerous journey, we deny them their rights to asylum (Amnesty International), we kidnap and lose their children (American Civil Liberties Union), cage and sexually assault kids (New York Times), and deny them due process and indefinite imprisonment at detention/internment/concentration camps (Los Angeles Times).  We're allowing them to die in these terrible conditions (NBC News).  And we arrest and try to imprison good, Christians who provide food and water to those in need (The Guardian).

I don't care about politics and find involvement in them to be humiliating.  I do care about honesty, fairness, and respect.  I ask that you remember your family roots, that you search your heart, and confront cruelty in all its forms.

For ways to help, please visit:




Friday, July 28, 2017

Adirondack Sunset

Adirondack Sunset, 2017
acrylic paint on canvas
18" x 24 (45.7 cm x 61.0 cm)
201707077
© copyright Mike Kraus

Some places are just magical.  And she considers herself very fortunate to have lived in such a place.  On the shores of a lake in the Adirondacks.  At night, they'd place their lawn chairs under the tree and make s'mores.  The sun would set as boats aimlessly float and children laugh in the water.  Mothers and daughters.  Generations of memories

For more information or custom order, please visit:
Etsy: MikeKrausArt.etsy.com


Want to see my work in person?  Then visit these galleries:
Whitman Works Co1826 Penfield Rd, Penfield, NY 14526 (585) 747-9999 https://www.whitmanworks.com/

Art Cats Gallery 1845 Lakeshore Dr, Muskegon, MI 49441 (231) 755-7606 http://artcatsgallery.com/


Tuesday, July 19, 2016

A View of the Blue Mountains of the Adirondacks

A View of the Blue Mountains of the Adirondacks, 2015
Acrylic on canvas 
16" x 20" in a frame (40.6 cm x 50.8 cm in a frame)
© copyright Mike Kraus

This painting was featured at:
BRIGHTSCAPES
Canandaigua National Bank and Trust
210 Alexander Street
Rochester, NY 14607 USA

10% OFF with coupon code JOINTHEFUN

It was a steep and treacherous hike up the mountain in the Adirondacks.  A wild region full of deer, herons, and chipmunks.  You may even find a moose, coyote, or black bear on these trails.  The dense pine forest opens up to a meadow full of brisk autumn air.  There is a startling calmness.  And from this view, it's as if we can see all six million acres of this park.

This painting would look best in a space that is light red, orange, purple, yellow, green, blue, black, white, gray, beige, or wood.

For more information or custom order, please visit:

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