we had peanut butter & jelly sandwiches for breakfast before i went outside to explore the property. there was a lot of bird activities and i saw a pileated woodpecker swooping through the trees but couldn't get a photo. a pair of phoebes were building a nest on the crook of a drainage spout, clumps of moss in their beaks. the birdfeeder attracted the goldfinches and chickadees as well as an assortment of sparrows, including a white-throated sparrow looking for dropped seeds on the ground.

john took us on a tour to downtown saratoga, just a commercial stretch of road with stores and cafes. the town, famous for its race track, featured plenty of horse statues and signs. the place had a money feel to it with the abundance of old school mansions dotting the area. nearby skidmore college provided a steady stream of female eye candy. natural spring water flowed from fountains in the park.

next we went to the saratoga national historical park, site of the decisive battle between american revolutionaries and british forces that resulted in the french coming to america's aid.

the drive to and from was quite scenic; the weather was picture perfect and the landscape of upper new york has a pastoral charm.

we returned to john's parents' place and gathered up our stuff. john was in a hurry to leave (in order to beat the traffic back to NYC) and left first. after thanking his parents, dan and i left as well. we made a quick stop at a stewart's gas station so i could get a bottle of root beer and we could get an ice cream before driving back to boston. we stopped at a rest stop around 5pm to get some food (i had a big mac) and finally got back before 8pm.