Perfect Proposal

By: Holly K.
Rochester, NY

“We should definitely think about spending a weekend at this hotel sometime,” I mentioned to my boyfriend, Bryan, while looking at an advertisement for the Mirror Lake Inn in Lake Placid. The small ad showed a picture of the outside of the hotel and also the Adirondack room. I was already impressed.
Two weeks later, Bryan and I both had a weekend off from work, and he decided he wanted to go to the Adirondacks to do some hiking. I reminded him of the Mirror Lake Inn and asked if he would check their website for any specials that might be offered. Little did I know that Bryan (with help from Marissa at the front desk) had already planned an amazing weekend for us and that “hiking” was actually a cover-up for the real purpose of the weekend- He wanted to ask me to marry him!
We arrived late on Friday night and when Bryan was checking in I overheard something about check-out on Saturday. I thought it was a mistake and when I asked Bryan about it he told me not to worry he had everything taken care of. Later I realized we were staying in three different rooms for our three night stay. Bryan really wanted to reserve the Adirondack room but it was full until Sunday, so we had a chance to sample two other rooms until then.
When we stepped into the first room, 203, with the cherry wood fireplace, luxurious king size bed, amazing whirlpool tub and views of the lake and mountains; I couldn’t imagine why we would want to leave for another room. That night we relaxed in the whirlpool and enjoyed the chocolates and sparkling water that had been placed there for us.
In the morning, Bryan told me we had to eat breakfast and be ready for a surprise at 9:00. We ate at the hot breakfast buffet in The View restaurant, which was delicious. When we were leaving, Bryan told me what the surprise was- I was going to the spa!
I had never been to a spa before, and I wasn’t sure what to expect. When I arrived I was given a locker complete with robe and spa shoes and a tour of the whole facility. I was no longer nervous, but very excited. Terri, who was going to give me a mineral crystal body exfoliation, greeted me in the women’s sanctuary. She was very professional and explained everything to me before she got started. The scrub was wonderful, and Terri’s attention to detail made it even better. When she had finished with the crystals, she offered me some natural green tea and smothered my skin with lotion. I have never had that type of luxurious service before, and I loved it!
After soaking in the whirlpool and enjoying the steam room at the spa for a while, I went back upstairs to meet up with Bryan. I was unaware that while I was relaxing he was frantically trying to set up his plans for the day. He picked up a picnic lunch from Chef Paul, who had prepared it specially for him, and ran out to the florist to get a rose. Because the weather was very wet and rainy, his idea of a mountain top proposal was not working out, so he was looking for other options besides hiking. After working with Janice, the concierge, to try different ideas, he decided we would go to the High Falls Gorge and hope the rain would let up a little while we walked through. We drove there and enjoyed the beautiful waterfalls despite the rain. While I was standing on one of the overlook platforms taking pictures of the falls, Bryan decided it was the right time. I turned around to find him smiling at me and then he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him, pulling a diamond ring from his pocket. The next few minutes were a combination of me saying “yes- of course I will marry you,” a few tears and hugs, and my question “Are you sure?” “Holly, I have never been more sure about anything”, he told me. We forgot all about the rain and just enjoyed the moment for a while. After completing the circle around the gorge, we went back to the lodge, where I explained to the staff there that we were getting married and we had this great picnic lunch, but it was too wet to eat outside. No problem, they told us, you can eat here by the fireplace. We must have stayed there for two hours talking and enjoying the lunch packed for us by Chef Paul, which was shrimp cocktail, steak sandwiches, fresh fruit and veggies, and chocolate covered strawberries. It was a perfect afternoon.
When we arrived back at the Inn we had a chance to see our room for the night. It was even better than the first room! Our bags had already been moved for us, and there was champagne chilling and chocolate covered strawberries on the table. This room, 310, had another great fireplace with a leather sofa and beautiful balcony with a view, and also a spiral staircase going up to the king size bed, which had a Jacuzzi tub at the end of it. This was the most amazing hotel room I had ever seen!
We had some time to wander through the shops of Lake Placid before I headed back to the spa for my next appointment that evening. This time, Bryan had arranged for me to have a deep tissue massage with Sarah. That was a wonderful experience, and I shared my news about the engagement with everyone I saw. “I love muscles” Sarah said to me as she worked on my back, making me feel very relaxed and confident in her abilities. After being completely relaxed and rejuvenated by the massage and another soak in the whirlpool, I went to get ready for our dinner reservations.
“Did you have a special day today?” asked Molly, our server at The View restaurant, when we arrived. It turns out most people at the hotel knew Bryan was planning to propose to me that day, and I had known nothing! When Molly came back she had two complimentary glasses of champagne for us. We ate a wonderful meal and enjoyed the high quality of service at the restaurant very much. When returning to the room, we noticed more gifts had arrived for us. Bryan’s mom, who lives in Arizona, had called the Inn and arranged for a gift that included more champagne, flowers, a basket full of snacks, and souvenir coasters of Mirror Lake.
We woke up to a beautiful sunny day and decided we should spend the day hiking. We climbed to the summit of Catamount Mountain, a challenging but very rewarding climb. That evening we had more time to walk down the main street of Lake Placid and enjoy the great shops. When we returned to the Inn this time, I was surprised that we were going across the street into a different building. We were staying in the Adirondack room at the Lake Cottage! This was the room that had first drawn my attention to the Mirror Lake Inn from a picture in a magazine! Our bags had once again been delivered to the room, and my shoes and jacket were even placed in the closet! There was a fresh vegetable tray on the table for us, and the bed had been turned down. This room was perfect in every way; from the tree branches on the bed frame to the birch bark wall coverings. We enjoyed a very relaxing evening of soaking in the Jacuzzi tub, sipping wine, and reading by the fireplace.
The next morning we stayed in bed for a long time enjoying the view out the picture window, and talking about plans for the future. Then we headed over to the pool for a little exercise. The pool was amazing, I have never seen anything like it before, with the natural look of a forest surrounding you, and it feels like paradise. We swam for a while and then enjoyed a soak in the spectacular hot tub.
We packed up with anticipation of returning home, but very sad to leave behind the fairy tale weekend at Mirror Lake Inn. I know we will be back someday! Thank you to all of the people at Mirror Lake Inn that made our weekend special.