180 Years of the Inn at Saratoga

for the kids Brittany Wilson-DeMarco

@brittwd

Lucky’s Adventure in Saratoga

$17.99 Northshire Bookstore Lucky’s Adventure in Saratoga is the first of a three-book series featuring Lucky the dog by local author Elizabeth Macy. Lucky’s adventures take her to some awesome spots around town, including the old Lake Local, a special spot near and dear to my family’s hearts. We absolutely love reading this book to our son.

Museum Membership

$100 for one adult and one child Children's Museum of Saratoga Nothing screams entertainment in the wintertime like the Children’s Museum at Saratoga. This interactive museum offers yearly membership passes for families, so the kids can enjoy the fun as often as they’d like.

Loog Mini Guitar

Starting at $89 Lex & Cleo The Loog Mini Guitar is a real guitar for children ages 3 and up. For all the future musicians out there, this is the perfect gift. To say our toddler is obsessed is an absolute understatement: He loves to put on performances for us! Bonus points for this toy being aesthetically pleasing for all the moms who want their kids’ toys to match the rest of the house.

Babiator Sunglasses

$24-$40 Lex & Cleo Babiators are an adorable accessory for children that not only dresses up their look but protects their eyes, too. These stylish sunglasses for children ages 0-2, 3-5, and 6+ offer 100 percent UVB & UVA protection, while simultaneously being super cute. And if your kid is anything like mine, he or she will absolutely love wearing them.

Green Sprouts Stacking Cups

$5.99 Play Hollow I stumbled upon this adorable children’s store in Ballston Spa on a whim, and wanted to purchase something to support a local business. I never dreamed that the few dollars I spent on colorful stacking cups would give me hours of my time back! My baby was mesmerized by these simple stacking cups, and would play with them nonstop for huge stretches of time. An absolute win.

Cheese Club Membership

Starting at $70/box for a 3-month membership The Cheese Lover Shop Why not give your favorite foodie the gift that keeps on giving? With a cheese subscription from The Cheese Lover Shop (cheeselovershop.com), the charcuterie connoisseur in your life will have endless opportunities to sample cheeses, charcuterie and expertly paired accouterments monthly. What could be better than that?

for the foodie Erika Dibble

@saratogagrazingco

Doily Serving Tray

$60 Beekman 1802 Buying a gift for a foodie who loves to entertain? This stoneware serving tray, designed by Jasmine Crowe and available at Beekman 1802 in Sharon Springs, will be the perfect addition to his or her home entertaining collection. Each of these sleek trays has a unique design and is an absolutely stunning piece.

The Saratoga Basket

$87 Saratoga Tea and Honey Chilly winter temperatures definitely call for a gift to warm the body and soul, and this box does just that! Filled with local honey, Spa City Earl Tea, Saratoga Chocolate’s Genmai Cha dark chocolate bar, honey candy, a honey dipper and a tea infuser, the Saratoga Basket is winter-gift perfection.

Half Baked Harvest Every Day: Recipes for Balanced, Flexible, Feel-Good Meals

$25 Northshire Bookstore This cookbook by Tieghan Gerard has it all—delicious comfort foods, creative cocktails and gorgeous photography. Her unique take on classic dishes is sure to inspire any foodie.

Wine Tasting/Food Pairing

Starting at $200 (plus product) The Saratoga Sommelier This experience gift is the perfect way to give the foodie in your life a memorable experience and an opportunity to learn about complementary wine and food pairings. The Saratoga Sommelier’s (saratogasommelier.com) tasting is totally customizable and can be as fancy or as laid back as you’d like.

Inn with the Old

CHEERS THE HOLIDAY SEASON WITH A COCKTAIL FROM THE 1920S—AND NEARLY 180 YEARS OF INN AT SARATOGA HISTORY. By Karen Bjornland

decked out The Inn at

Saratoga’s front porch, Side Room and Victorian Ballroom are always dressed up in traditional style for the holidays.

If you’re an old soul or history buff who dreams of turning back the clock to escape to another century, walking through the doors of The Inn at Saratoga is about as close as you can get.

As the cold winds blow down Broadway, the cheery hotel with its toast- and pumpkin-colored exterior welcomes guests into its Side Room, a former lobby that’s been carefully curated to whisk you back more than 150 years. There’s a glowing fireplace, chandeliers, an oh-so-elegant red velvet banquette, antique furniture and china, and a 1912 Steinway. In the morning, overnight guests enjoy a breakfast buffet in this exquisite Victorian parlor; in the evening, it’s a restaurant that’s open to the public.

Cocktails anyone? Bee’s Knees and Aviation, gin concoctions that were all the rage in the Roaring Twenties, are crafted in the hotel’s intimate Tavern.

The Inn at Saratoga, the oldest continuously operating lodging in town, will be 180 years old next year. On the cusp of this milestone birthday, while the cherished inn is decked out in its holiday finest, it seemed as good a time as any to celebrate the rich history of this downtown jewel. If only its walls could talk—for perspective, the hotel predates the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. When it first swung open its doors in 1847 (there are no known records of how the building had been used since being built in 1843), as a boarding house for ailing visitors hoping for a mineral water cure, there was no Saratoga Race Course, Adelphi Hotel or Canfield Casino.

When Bob Israel, a man with a passion for restoring Saratoga’s historic buildings, bought the hotel in 2003, it was the Coachman Motor Inn. Since then, he and his daughter, Liz, the hotel’s owner/operator, have passionately worked their time-traveling magic.

israel light Owners Bob Israel and daughter Liz, in the inn's

Side Room parlor, love their hotel's historic charm. In its past, the hotel catered to Cuban vacationers in the 1800s, and for nearly 50 years in the 20th century, it served Jewish guests from New York City as the Hotel Brenner.