Saranac, Dew Drop, Elvis

Back from a highly successful weekend shoot at Saranac Lake, arguably the most important American location in the history of sanatoria (God, how I hate that word, but my dictionary has it as the only plural). The only area that might compete is the Denver/Aspen area, where we also intend to shoot.

The trip out was more than six hours, much of it in driving rain, but Bettencourt was heroic behind the wheel. One part of the trip was through true Deliverance territory, and if we didn’t need gas, we would not have stopped or set foot outside our SUV, since we were unarmed. But we had to get gas, and it was while paying for it that we discovered that folks in James Dickey-land heat and sell their hotdogs vertically – yes, as in a test tube holder. We were too afraid to ask why, lest one of the inhabitants declare: “Squeal, piggy.”

The Hotel Saranac, where we stayed, was, well, virtually indescribable. “Seen better days” will have to suffice, though we hear through the grapevine there are plans to restore it to its former splendor, and good luck with that. Although watching the idiotic but strangely mesmerizing When Pets Go Bad, which I had never seen, and listening to the wind howl as Dave snored (OK, he didn't, but he does talk in his sleep... OK, he doesn't do that, either) was pretty cool. And so was dinner at the Morgan's 11, Dave will blog on that. Elvis lives!

Everyone we met was most helpful, despite Miller’s instinctive (and almost always wrong) snap judgments. We got great material from the Saranac Lake Library archives, and our host at Historic Saranac Lake, Mary Hotaling, was charming, enormously helpful, and a great interview on Saturday. She also put us in touch with a woman whose parents met at pioneer Dr. Edward Trudeau’s sanatorium, fell in love, and married. Janet has great photos – and also another piece of The Holy Grail, which audiences will discover when they watch the movie (hey, you never know, somebody else might get ideas). Shot lots of exteriors, some super-8, and some of ourselves, still not sure why...

Driving back, we brainstormed our project beyond OTL and came up with an idea, which, being paranoid, we must keep under wraps. Dave, Jeff, Josh and I are sworn to secrecy, at least for now.

We are back in Rhode Island this week, a Wednesday evening shoot.

-- Wayne