Long Islanders have always had a compelling excuse to visit one of the New York State's most enjoyable, adorable and, well, heat-free summertime destinations — Saratoga Springs — even before the New York Racing Association moved the Belmont Stakes north while the Elmont racetrack undergoes renovations. Horses chasing each other around a track is only but one of the entertainments in this historic upstate village. “There’s nothing else like it,” said Elizabeth Sobol, head of the Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC), whose outdoor amphitheater has long provided a summer home for the New York City Ballet, Philadelphia Orchestra and artists making concert tour stops.
Between that and the robust bar and restaurant scene, not to mention its historical significance — the defeat of the British at Saratoga marked a turning point in the Revolutionary War — there’s almost too much to see and do, particularly over a single weekend. But give it a shot. Friday, 3:15 p.
m.: Take a soak back in time Saratoga Springs is often called America’s first resort town, a distinction it owes to past seismic and geologic activity that causes mineral water with natural carbonation to bubble up to the earth’s surface. Claims that its springs could cure ailments from malaria to diabetes led generations of well-heeled Americans to seek healing in Saratoga, and while science would eventually claim otherwise, the springs continue to heal the spirit in ways science can’t possibly unders.
