“Queen of America’s Lakes”

This is far more home than anyone needs but it sure is nice to look at. There's even a faux water fountain cascading down the rock to the left. It sprang on while our boat was passing by.

This is Lake George, a mecca for the rich and filthy rich. Thomas Jefferson rhapsodized that it was one of the most beautiful bodies of water in the world. It's a place of old money, legions of industrialists first built themselves private cottages or 30-room mansions in the roaring twenties.

But unlike the cold crystal-clear water finding out who vacations here now is murky. There are dozens of new construction homes (plantations more like it) and historic old castles but who's to say who owns them or where they come from?

Hordes of summer tourists rush back to Lake George to boat, fish, swim and tan on the 32-mile-long lake. They turn the normally peaceful and reflective towns of Bolton Landing and Lake George into a thriving commercial zone.

But who in world would own a gorgeous piece of heaven and only stay in it 3 months out of the year? Curious minds like mine would love to know! Any of my insightful readers have any ideas?