Racing Hearts and Dancing Feet: Our latest tour of a diocesan county visits the August place to be for sports and history

But there's so much more to Saratoga County, as I learned by spending a recent Wednesday visiting two national museums and a lovely inn in the Spa before heading over to Schuylerville, where a national historic site, bed-and-breakfast and boat ride awaited.

I wrapped up my stay by driving down to Stillwater -- site of the turning point of the American Revolution -- and the Saratoga National Historic Park, where the 1777 Battle of Saratoga was fought.

Off the highway

The weather was beautiful; and as I drove through Burnt Hills, Ballston Lake and Ballston Spa on my way to Saratoga Springs, I enjoyed looking at the houses and shops along the way.

I had spoken with Rev. Anthony Diacetis, pastor of Our Lady of Grace Church in Ballston Lake, while planning my trip. He suggested a few places to visit and told me how much he loves being in his parish.

"Saratoga County is a wonderful place to live. It's a convenient location -- and it's the best parish in the world," he said.

First things

I stopped by St. Peter's Church on Broadway to visit with Rev. Robert LeFevre, pastor. He bought me breakfast at Shirley's Restaurant, a popular local hangout. The National Museum of Dance was one of the places in Saratoga Springs he suggested I visit, and he gave me a guest pass. What a guy!

But my first stop was the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, located on Union Avenue directly across from Saratoga Race Course (phone 584-0400 or visit www.racingmuseum.org). It recently reopened to the public after an expansion and renovation project. I've been known to play the ponies once in a while, so I wanted to see what the new place had to offer.

Racing feet

A room explaining the physiology of a thoroughbred taught me a few things about a horse's speed. Coming out of the starting gate, a horse reaches 40 miles per hour in six strides; a Ferrari accelerates from a standstill to 60 mph in five-and-a-half seconds. Talk about horsepower!

Exhibits show the stall of Charlie Whittingham, trainer of Kentucky Derby winners Ferdinand and Sunday Silence; the jockeys' quarters; a tote board; and the composition of dirt and turf courses. I also watched a movie, "Race America", on the thrill of training, racing, buying and betting on horses. The movie was shown in a room containing the Hall of Fame inductees' plaques and the colorful silks of some of racing's most famous stables.

Dancing feet

It's located in the former Washington Bath Pavilion, a National Historical Landmark in Saratoga Spa State Park; restoration was completed in 1986, and one year after the museum opened, the Mr. and Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney Hall of Fame was established.

While waiting at the admission booth, I overheard a woman mention how the dance lessons at the Lewis A. Swyer School for the Performing Arts would finish at noon, so I decided to see this part of the museum first. Boys and girls practiced in rooms with two-way mirrors, and I was amazed at how graceful and effortless they looked while dancing. My dancing experience is limited to weddings, and I'm certainly not nearly as light on my feet as these aspiring dancers.

Terpsichorean treats

Mr. Balanchine, whose catalogue of work includes more than 400 entries, was co-founder of the American Ballet and New York City Ballet. Ms. Graham danced in "Night Journey" and "Cave of the Heart," and her look is described in this way: "Through her 50s, that costume would fit her torso like a second skin. For much of her dancing career, Graham had the midsection of a goddess, and she knew it."

Mr. Astaire, whose first film was "Dancing Lady" with Joan Crawford, partnered with Ginger Rogers on 10 films in the 1930s, beginning with "Flying Down to Rio." During the 1940s and 1950s, he performed in musicals with Rita Hayworth and Audrey Hepburn.

The Picolino Step as danced by Fred Astaire is painted in shoeprints on the floor in one room, but I decided to go through the steps in my head and not risk injury or embarrassment by actually dancing the steps.

In the inn

He grew up in Niskayuna but has been coming to Saratoga since his teenage years. Living and working in Saratoga is nice not only because of horse racing and SPAC but also due to the art scene at Skidmore College, the mineral baths, and proximity to the Adirondacks, Lake George and Saratoga Lake.

"The business people take a lot of pride in their properties and keep them looking nice," he said. "Here, you have a small-town environment where it's a real luxury to walk to many things, from church to dining to markets."

More to see

Once I reached the end of Broadway, I turned onto Lake Avenue and took Route 29 into Schuylerville, where I stopped by the new Visitors Center at Schuyler's Canal Park. The center offers brochures and information for visitors, and is located on the Field of Grounded Arms, where the British Army turned over their weapons in defeat in October 1777 (phone 695-4159).

Schuylerville, then called Saratoga, was an armed camp fortified by the British Army; their surrender to the Americans followed six days of siege and bombardment.

Historic times

Paintings and furniture take you back to the days of the American Revolution, and it was interesting to see how the wealthy lived, ate and dressed.

Some facts were especially unusual: Tea cups didn't have handles because people poured the drink into saucers and drank that way; paintings showed the face of one person but often the torso and body of another.

Inn again

The Dovegate Inn has three guest rooms: the Garden Room, the Rose and Magnolia Room, and a third room where business people usually stay. Restaurant customers get to choose a key that could open a chest containing a prize in the gift shop, and Mrs. Myers is proud of her business for personal reasons.

"This was my best friend's house growing up, and there's a lot of good memories," she said.

On the water

I rode on the Sadie with a group of senior citizens from Massachusetts, and Mr. Foster proved he knows the Champlain Canal with his fact-filled, humorous, Boston-accented conversation as we floated up and down the Hudson River through Lock C5.

As we waited in the lock for the water level to change, Mr. Foster explained that a change of one inch equals 8,000 gallons of water, and 250,000 gallons of water flow into or out of the lock in one minute.

Canal roots

"You're in this kind of water, and it's very placid and protected, but you can get anywhere in the world from here," he said.

The Champlain Canal is 62 miles long, has 11 locks, and is 14 feet deep and 90 feet wide. Blocks built to keep barges from going over the waterfalls remain in place, and marks on trees show where the green and red buoys in the canal should be placed each spring.

Mr. Foster seems perfectly suited for this kind of work, and his knowledge of the canal is impressive. "I've always had this in mind," he said. "Certainly, anybody would be impressed with the river, and this business is an opportunity in the right location."

Battleground

I couldn't believe the view from the visitors center and stood there in silence for a minute simply taking in the scene. A marker is erected to the unknown American soldiers who died in the Battle of Saratoga, Sept. 19 and Oct. 7, 1777, and I paused to think about the significance of that battle and how close we are in the Albany Diocese to such a historic place.

Visitors can drive through the park on a one-way, one-lane road and look at other monuments, cannons and displays commemorating the Battle of Saratoga. There's a restoration of the original home of John Neilson, an American patriot whose house had been taken over by the British. An encampment of American soldiers on what was called Bemis Heights also is described.

Heading home

My day in Saratoga County included a little bit of everything I had hoped: horse-racing history, an education in dance, visits with friendly business owners, historical tours, and a boat ride to see places without driving a car.

The racing season is just starting, so I won't be a stranger to Saratoga. But I want to see more of a county that offers more than thoroughbred action.

(07-27-00) [[In-content Ad]]