The 90s Summer Is Back + Local or Tourist

Is the "90s Summer" making a comeback?

In this episode of Off Track Saratoga, Noel and Zac talk about slowing life down, letting kids be kids, and why an unstructured summer might be exactly what families/ all people need.

Noel shares stories from the Jersey Shore, a commercial-grade waterslide that almost took over her front porch, and the joys (and occasional hornet stings) of raising two adventurous boys. Zac reflects on finding balance, rediscovering free time, and why adults might need a little "90s Summer" too.

Then it's time for the debut of a brand-new Off Track Saratoga game:

🎙️ Local or Tourist?

We hit the streets of downtown Saratoga Springs during racing season to see if we can tell who's local and who's just visiting. Some guesses are spot-on... others are hilariously wrong.

In this episode:

☀️ Why the "90s Summer" trend is taking off

🌊 The great waterslide debate

🐝 Surviving a hornet sting

🛶 Summer in Saratoga, Lake George, and the Jersey Shore

🎠 Saratoga Race Course tips—including why breakfast at the track is underrated

🎤 The very first edition of Local or Tourist

If you've ever spent a summer in Saratoga—or just miss the carefree summers of childhood—this one's for you.

New episodes every Tuesday.

Transcript

Noel 0:00

Ooh, I'm Emmy Award-winning journalist Noel McLaren.

Zac 0:03

And I'm local business owner Zac Denham. And this is Off Track Saratoga Podcast.

Noel 0:08

Sometimes we're on track.

Zac 0:09

Sometimes we're a little off.

Noel 0:11

But it's always worth the listen.

Zac 0:14

Okay, so summer, the kids are off. Um so how are the gremlins?

Noel 0:18

Oh yes, yes, yes. Um, all right, should we say welcome back? Do we do an intro?

Zac 0:22

Oh yeah, we should totally do that. Should we welcome people?

Noel 0:24

Actually, we probably're a little rusty.

Zac 0:27

Okay, welcome back to another riveting episode of Off Track.

Noel 0:32

We're back. Did you miss us?

Zac 0:35

I know I did.

Noel 0:36

I missed it. We're a little rusty, though. We sat down to record and none of us said a welcome. We were just like ready to get into it.

Zac 0:43

No, just dive right in, dive right in.

Noel 0:44

Dive right in. Which I think is kind of like the theme I'm going for for the summer. Just dive right in. Just do it.

Zac 0:50

Absolutely. Um what are you just doing? I mean, I'm j I'm just trying to live. Okay. I'm just trying to, you know, find that balance of life and responsibility and you know, all of the things, you know. Are we all? I'm really am just trying to find a a place of a place for myself, I guess. You know, you know what I mean.

Noel 1:18

Is that what you mean? Yeah, I mean a completely, you know, a place for Zach, Daddy, a place just detached from all of it.

Zac 1:24

You know, because it is hard, you know, sometimes not letting what I do become my entire personality. You know, so I want to try to figure out, you know, taking some time, you know, the businesses are stabilized. I have a wonderful team at both places. And now it's like, you know, I can kind of let go of the wheel just a little bit. Um, so now I'm trying to, you know, yeah, find some time for myself, maybe some some hobbies, some travel, you know.

Noel 1:50

Do you like letting go of go of the wheel?

Zac 1:52

Never. Yeah, I know. Same.

Noel 1:54

I'm always like, I want to let go of the wheel, and then I try to let go of the wheel and I'm like, boy, give it back.

Zac 1:59

Like exactly.

Noel 2:00

It's just so hard.

Zac 2:01

No, and I think that's just our personality types of um, you know, the perfectionist millennial of of it all. Um and I, you know, so yeah, I want to kind of make the most of the summer a little bit. Yeah, where are you going? What you doing? Um, I mean, I've got a couple of like little day things here and there. Like I'm gonna head down to the city and nice um check out uh John Bon Jovi. They're doing a residency at MSG. So I'm gonna, you know, we're gonna catch that. Um, you know, and a couple, I just I really want to make time to get to Lake George and enjoy that a bit. So yeah, and then we're looking for, you know, of course, we're in the throes of you know, summer now and the and the busier time for downtown businesses and stuff.

Noel 2:43

So is this the parallel parking thing you were talking about? Is this the spot?

Zac 2:47

It's happening. Oh, they gave up, they gave up as they were running nearby cars.

Noel 2:53

Guys, we just went a live parallel parking attempt.

Zac 2:56

It is, it really is a that's actually a whole segment. No, for sure. For sure. Rate my parking.

Noel 3:03

We could just sit there on your sidewalk.

Zac 3:06

Absolutely. Uh, you know, take a sip every time they fail. Um anyway. Sorry. But yeah, so that's kind of what I, you know, I want to just make sure that I have time to do something for us, do something for me. Yeah, yeah. I feel that. How are the kids?

Noel 3:19

They're great. They're um actually, I feel like I've entered this magical season of just like the perfect age with the two of them. So I remember just wait, have I told you the story of the water slide yet? I entered like all spring, I was worried about summer with two boys being home. Okay, should I tell the people? So I have been so nervous about summer at home with two boys because they they're they're so full of energy and they're so much fun, but like they're either beating the living crap out of each other or loving the living crap out of each other. There's no in between. The house is so hard to keep up with because if they're having fun, they're making a mess. Yeah, obviously. But like I very much like you, I'm just like trying to give it to God, let it go, and like, you know, have fun and and just anyway. So I feel like I've entered this magical season with the boys where they're like old enough to like wake up, do things on their own without like bothering me too much. Like they can get their own cereal and like, you know, wake up and go read or go play by themselves for a little bit, but also still young enough and still sweet enough to want to snuggle and like be around mommy. So I feel like I've entered these magical years, you know, five ages five and eight, where they just are great. They're still young enough and and cute enough to enjoy and love me, but also want to be around me, but also independent and old enough to, you know, have some time on their own and you know, wanna not be super. That's how you feel really good, right? Yeah. Yeah.

Zac 4:56

Uh-huh. Because you can finally reclaim a little bit of time. That's what I'm doing. Yeah.

Noel 4:59

This is like, it's not the summer of Noelle quite yet, because Ace is not in kindergarten, but it's gonna be the fall. Yeah. The fall of Noelle. That doesn't sound like it's gonna be the fall.

Zac 5:11

But it's gonna be so good. It's gonna be so good.

Noel 5:14

But like I'm really just enjoying them. I mean, I kind of right before we started this, we took a little break. I went down to um the Jersey Shore with my family, Barnegat, New Jersey, right near Long Beach Island. Um, my family has a home there, and the boys just we would get up and we didn't really have a plan for the day, and we'd go sit on the dock and feed swans on the dock and go to the beach and just jump in the waves, collect shells, and like kind of wherever the wind took us is where we went. And I'm really, really enjoying that. And I feel like I'm finally able to. I haven't always been able to do that.

Zac 5:45

So I mean, we've commented on this a little bit before, um, or at least I have, you know, it it about, you know, letting letting the kids be bored, right? You know, and I think there's beauty in that simplicity because, you know, not over-curating their summer break or not over-curating every moment, right? Right, right, and letting them kind of just hang out and enjoy the time. To find their interests.

Noel 6:09

They're doing what you're doing, they're finding who they are and what they want to do.

Zac 6:12

Listen, we still listen.

Noel 6:16

I mean, they still, don't get me wrong, they're currently at wrestling camp. They need to get that energy out.

Zac 6:20

Yeah, for sure.

Noel 6:21

Um, you know, we have swim lessons here and there, we have activities sprinkled. I still need to get stuff and work done, but at the end of the day, I want them to be able to have a free, fun summer because childhood is not what it was.

Zac 6:32

No, it's not. So wait, let's um let's go back to the water slide incident.

Noel 6:37

Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry. Um, yeah, so the water slide incident. So I was so scared of summer home with two crazy boys, um, with you know, a few free weeks, no summer camps, um, that I ordered a commercial grade water slide. And I thought this was brilliant because we had a smaller one. And it's like anytime they're it's hot out and like they're like, mommy, I'm bored, and nothing to do, water slide. Yeah. Just add water, water slide. Right. You know, we can always go, their grandparents, my parents have a pool, we can do that. But there's something different about the water slide.

Speaker 4 7:13

Yeah.

Noel 7:13

The neighbors come over and you just blow it up and instant fun. This one is on its last leg, the one that we had before. Um, it's getting a little small for Mac, who's eight. So I'm like, great, let's we got some Amazon points, let's get this commercial water slide. We order this thing and it's 150 pounds in several boxes. And my husband, like, very great with manual labor, strong dude. He was like, I am not opening this thing and and moving it, and like, I'm the one who has to put it away. I'm the one who has to take care of it, and we have to dry it out because if you don't like dry it out, it gets moldy. So, like, my next door neighbor and everybody's like, This is a great idea. I'm coming to your house. And Rob's like, that's because none of them have to take care of it. You don't have to take care of it, I have to take care of it. So then I had I basically I felt bad. I was like, okay, I'll get a little bit of a smaller one, one that I can move to when he's like not around. And I did that. Um, but first I had to return this one to get like my points back. The process of just returning it, like I had to like shove it out on my front porch because Rob wasn't home. Did they ever come get it? They did so. This was the thing. I had to, because it's so heavy, you can't just like bring it to Cole's and get your coupon.

Zac 8:24

Yeah.

Noel 8:25

You have to literally put it out on your front porch for a special heavy return day. And so, like, some big macho guy comes with like his dolly and has to come card it away and put it in the back of the truck. The first day that it was scheduled, you have to schedule this heavy return day. He did not show up. So, customer service, I call them and Rob's like, you better get rid of it. You need to get rid of it because I don't want this. It's sitting on our front porch. So I call them and they're like, Yeah, well, we'll give you your money back. I'm sorry they missed the day, but there's a chance that they might not even show up. And I'm like, free water slide. So, like, even though Rob doesn't want it, I'm just like, well, we could sell it, we could do something with it. I'll donate.

Zac 9:06

I mean, there's plenty of people, there's plenty of people in the neighborhood who may want the responsibility.

Noel 9:12

Commercial, not Rob Merton, but like free water slide. So anyway, um, I was really excited. I thought I was getting a free commercial water slide. So they did come. They did come. They did come the second day. But I got them a different one, and it's great, and it's awesome. Um, beside the fact that um sometimes bees get stuck in the top. That's like all of them. And um Mac got stung in the eye by a hornet on Friday. Oh my god. His eye literally was swollen shut. So that was fun. That was how we spent the 4th of July. But other than that, everything's great. I actually said to him, because he got this giant hornet sting, I was like, let me know if it freezes your face a little bit. Because I mean, Hornet Sting Botox, I mean, Oh, that's what I was gonna say. I was like, I mean, it's no, he has full mobility back, unfortunately.

Zac 9:57

So I mean listen, uh, when we were kids, uh, summer was a lot of free time. Um that my that's one thing my mom did, you know. Yes, we signed up for I uh yeah, I did like a painting camp at one point. I didn't know, you know, like I did I didn't uh she kept that painting that I finished. It's actually still it's still at my parents' place.

Noel 10:20

Um put it in standard fare.

Zac 10:22

Oh, it's not the vibe.

Noel 10:24

Describes that painting.

Zac 10:25

It is literally like a uh a swamp scape. You know what I mean? Like lots of little boy paintings and Ace likes to draw monsters. Yeah, no, no, this is this is very Louisiana specific.

Noel 10:40

Please get your dad to take a picture and send it.

Zac 10:42

Girl, I'll try. Um, but anyway, yeah, I mean that was one thing when we were kids, we didn't we had stuff, but you know, mom still allowed time for us to have free time. And that was great, you know, because we would do things like, oh, like I'm bored, let's go. I mean, it was not like let's get on the s the, you know, we had slips and slides, you know, the crocodile mile, you know. Ordered for them. Very different in the in the 90s. Um but yeah, I mean, like I get it. And having those that just that little flexibility for a water day is fun, you know, kind of just changes it up.

Noel 11:15

What's trending a lot on social media right now is parents talking about giving their kids a 90s summer and okay.

Zac 11:21

So walk me through it.

Noel 11:22

A 90 summer is basically what we're describing. A 90 summer is one without a lot of screens, not a lot of schedules, lots of just add water, random snacks, not necessarily like scheduled meal times, or you know, it's just kind of like enjoying your mortgage, quite frankly, which we all kind of are in that, you know, go with the flow kind of feeling. And it's funny that you mentioned that because I feel like my kids are leading the way or leading the charge in that right now. So the first day we got down to the shore, um, it was kind of rainy. Um, and then we had a couple of hot days sprinkled in. So, yes, we were outside a lot.

Zac 11:59

Yeah, I want to get to the heat too.

Noel 12:02

But yeah, so like we had some days we were just in the house in a different scenery in a different location. And do you know what they wanted to do? Two things. They wanted to play bad guys and good guys. They literally found bad guys and good guys with like old keyboards that were in the closet, and they were like, Oh, what should we do today? Try and take over the world. Like, then we're just typing and playing with each other. It was awesome. And then I had to get involved at some point. I was the bad guy. Um so gotta defeat mom and dad. But then also Ace, and you're not gonna be surprised by this, but it's actually really funny. Nobody can beat him at a game of war. He loves cards. Okay, they love card games. Like I'm out there buying board games and like, you know, no, I'll give him a deck of cards. Oh my gosh.

Zac 12:50

That's one thing I never learned how to do, though.

Noel 12:52

You don't know how to play cards? No. An episode is gonna be Ace teaching you how to play war. I I I would I would really participate.

Zac 13:00

Yeah, that's one thing. Like, I never really learned how to play cards. But it's so funny. Because like when we were like hiding it, you know, like hunkering down for a hurricane or whatever when we were kids, we always had cards, uh-huh, Scrabble. Yes, Scrabble. Um, so we would play all kinds of different things, you know, like um cards or Scrabble, read a book. But you know, I find that there was I turned out okay, you know? So like yeah, let the kids have that kind of vibe.

Noel 13:29

Yeah. So I mean, that's the new trend. And I don't know if it's just we're all so overstimulated that we're like enough already.

Zac 13:35

Like, yeah, the overstimulation is real.

Noel 13:38

But what I think is cool is I feel like I'm learning from that. Like giving them that, I'm like, they want this. I want this. And like you just I'm just following their lead, and it's been great. Like they have camp Monday through Thursday, and I was all worried about stacking these camps here and there so I can get something done.

Speaker 4 13:56

Yeah.

Noel 13:56

They don't have camp on Friday. I cannot wait until Friday. I can't wait. I don't know what kind of nonsense we're getting into.

Zac 14:02

You guys can have a long weekend together, but like, you know, weekend starts Friday. Yeah. It's fantastic.

Noel 14:07

It's awesome. So the summer I'm living summer 2026, awesome. Just kind of, yeah. You're gonna come up to the boat?

Zac 14:13

I'm gonna come up to the lake. Listen, I love a lake. I love a boat.

Noel 14:16

Should do it.

Zac 14:16

Let's do it. Yeah, I I mean, uh, we got a couple of like really, really hot days though, a couple like last week or the week before. And it was um uh quite jarring. Yeah, you know, because it was like a hundred. You know, I yes, we like walked outside and was like, oh, like it's definitely summer.

Noel 14:34

It's like when you open the oven and it just hits you in the face. That's it.

Zac 14:37

I mean, thankfully, we finally got a little reprieve and stuff. Um, but it that heat wave was like crazy. It was insane. We had actually quite a few people who I was chatting with, um, Epicage specifically, that were people from the city that just they were like, we had to get out of the city, we work remote. Like so we decided to kind of like take a midweek escape from the heat. Because like, I mean, the heat in the city is the worst. Um you know, the concrete makes it really, really bad.

Noel 15:03

A hot tip is if it's hot out and you don't want to be stuck inside all day, go to the middle of any of our lakes up here, find an Adirondack lake and sit in the middle of it because it's like having an air conditioner. It's it's 10 degrees colder. When we were down the shore, we were on the mainland. My parents' place is on the mainland. We drove to the island, a little barrier island, LBI. And because you have the bay on one side, you have the ocean on the other side, it it was, I'm not kidding, 15 degrees cooler.

Zac 15:32

Nice and brilliant.

Noel 15:33

15 degrees cooler, and it's the same way on the lake. So, I mean, that's the only way to survive these days. These people at the track, God bless them.

Zac 15:40

Sweetie, it ain't me. Uh-uh. It ain't me. Listen, I'm not gonna go out there because here's the thing. We talked about it. I mean, you gotta have your costume on if you go into the track. Your costume. Because that's what I called it. I did get some nasty. Did you get some plastic? I did get some nasty, a couple of nasty DMs about it. But that's I mean, here's the thing. It is what it is. I'm always gonna say what I what I think. I know. Um we love you for it. Yeah, uh, you know, the thought of like getting in that, you know, the garbs that are required to kind of just like be fully present and fully on brand for the track. I mean, like, honey, it ain't me.

Noel 16:17

No, absolutely not.

Zac 16:18

Listen, I'll go to the clubhouse, but I'm not you're not gonna see me sitting outside. You're so bougie.

Noel 16:24

But I get it. But I mean, why?

Zac 16:27

Why would I? Yeah, you know.

Noel 16:28

Well, and it's different if like you can go, like, and you're like little shorty shorts and a tank. Like you can't.

Zac 16:34

I mean, here's the thing. I also have that opinion as somebody who when they go to the track, I'm there for the day. So if I'm there for the day, then yeah, I need to be so I need to be like comfy. So yes, I will go to the we will be in the clubhouse. But if it's just like, hey, we're gonna go like for a little while or whatever, of course it's fine to kind of, you know.

Noel 16:54

When you say the clubhouse, do you mean like 1863 club?

Zac 16:56

Okay, so like where there's AC and a bartender and like couches.

Noel 17:05

I feel that. I do wish that there was more of that accessible for everybody. Hell yeah.

Zac 17:10

Because I am determined to tailgate at the first turn though, because I know that they like have you can roll up. I forgot, I forget how many cars, it's not a lot of cars, but you can literally roll up on that first turn. Um, so yeah, you know, they're different, there are a lot of ways to enjoy the track. So, you know, we we try to get out there at least once or twice a season uh if scheduling allows. And when we do, we're there for the day and we we do the whole thing. Yeah, you know.

Noel 17:37

Did you ever do breakfast at the track? That's actually my favorite. So when I used to anchor the news, um, I used to get there like at four in the morning when the like it was still dark. We had a set at the track and it was great because I would get there and you'd get to see everything kind of coming together. Like the mist hasn't even risen yet, and like the horses are running through it. And like if you get there for breakfast, and I love taking the kids, it's like a buffet, and like they just can be kids and climb the fence and look over and not deal with crowds.

Zac 18:04

But if you haven't done that yet, no, that sounds really, really it's really fun.

Noel 18:07

And sometimes, and sometimes like because they don't care about like the bedding and stuff, like they just want to go and see the horses run. So, like, I think they're finally old enough to go to like the actual track, and we'll do that. And they would enjoy it, and they would enjoy it, but like I think uh to go regularly, breakfast is where it's at for us anyway.

Zac 18:24

That's a good tip. Yeah, um, great.

Noel 18:29

All right, so we have a little game that we want to play, and I'm so excited for this. We came up with this idea before track season, but we were itching to get it out there during track season.

Speaker 3 18:40

It's called Local or Tourist.

Noel 18:44

So here's what we do. We're gonna go out on Broadway, popular areas around Saratoga, and uh we're gonna guess is this person local to the area or are they not from around here? Are they just visiting for the track? We are in the heat of track season.

Zac 19:01

Yep.

Noel 19:02

So there's definitely gonna be some tourists.

Zac 19:04

Yeah, let's take it to the streets.

Noel 19:05

Okay, let's take it to the streets. We're on a mission.

Zac 19:08

We're taking it to the streets.

Noel 19:10

We're here to find out are they a local or are they a tourist? Let's find whoever.

unknown 19:15

Let's go.

Noel 19:16

Who's our first victim? Here, these people who are dining at Tea and Honey, do you think this this couple with the dog here, are they locals or are they tourists?

Speaker 3 19:24

Local.

Noel 19:25

I have to agree. I think they're local. Alright, let's go ask.

Speaker 3 19:29

Local.

Speaker 1 19:30

Okay.

Noel 19:31

Are you a local or a tourist? Local.

Speaker 1 19:35

I know a local when I see one. My wife and I played the same game.

Noel 19:39

Oh my goodness.

Speaker 1 19:40

Wonderful summer, guys.

Noel 19:41

Wonderful summer!

Speaker 1 19:42

Here comes a gay.

Zac 19:43

A gay, gay, gay.

Noel 19:48

Save the day! You're blocking traffic.

Speaker 3 19:51

I know.

Noel 19:52

Okay, these two on the bikes, local or tourist.

Speaker 3 19:55

Tourist. Tourist. Hey, quick question are you guys local or tourist? Oh, we're native. Native? Wow. As soon as we saw you guys, I said, oh, they have bikes. So it's like, I guarantee they're tourists.

Noel 20:09

You guys look like you're enjoying yourselves. I think that's that's it.

Speaker 3 20:12

I love it. Introduction is total. We come downtown all the time. So we love it. Yeah. Well, enjoy today because the weather couldn't be better. Enjoy it, friends. Thank you.

Noel 20:24

Take care. Man, you got one wrong.

Speaker 3 20:28

Like, honestly, genuinely. I was like, oh, these guys are, you know, they're they're they're catching the sights, you know.

Noel 20:38

This crawl is a local, I think. What do you think?

Zac 20:41

I mean, yeah, local.

Noel 20:43

Okay. Zach thinks you're local. I also think you're local. Are you from around here? Yes, I'm from Boston Spa.

Speaker 3 20:50

Okay, so we're uh we're two for three.

Noel 20:55

Take care. Excuse me, sir. Are you a local or are you a tourist? Oh my god, a baby! Sarah, excuse me, excuse me, tiny. Are you from around here? Are you local or are you tourists?

Zac 21:13

The world may never know.

Noel 21:15

What do you think? Local or tourist?

Zac 21:17

I think I think uh tourist.

Noel 21:20

So I'm a tourist, but they're all from Saratoga. Oh, okay. From are you like did you move away from Saratoga? No, from I'm from Dallas, but my husband and I, he's from Saratoga.

Speaker 3 21:32

Okay. And I'm a captain.

Zac 21:34

So I'm a Louisianian. Alright. Louisianian. Oh no, wait, what part?

Speaker 3 21:40

Uh Morgan City.

Zac 21:42

Morgan City, girl. I'm from Gonzales. Oh wow. Okay. Oh wow. You heard it here first, folks.

Noel 21:48

I think they're tourists.

Zac 21:49

I agree.

Noel 21:50

You agree?

Zac 21:50

I think they're tourists.

Noel 21:52

I said tourists because the way you were looking around and just like trying to figure it out, but that also be because you were getting a kid out of the car. So I don't know. I'm gonna go with tourists, Zach.

Speaker 3 22:02

I'm going with tourists.

Noel 22:03

Okay, and what is it? Taurus. Where are you guys from? Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania. Pittsburgh. Um, we live in the South Hills. Right, alright. Do we think these people coming out of the Merc are local or tourists? Tourists. Tourists.

unknown 22:21

Okay.

Noel 22:22

Taurus. Okay, let's find out. So we're doing a segment called Local or Tourist. Trying to guess if you're local or tourists. So I guessed that you guys were tourists. Are you local or are you tourists? We are tourists. Where are you from? Orlando. Orlando! You brought the heat with you. Yes, we did. Thank you.

Zac 22:42

Local.

Noel 22:43

Hey guys, we're playing a game called Local or Taurus. Are you guys local or are you from around here? I'm gonna go with tourists.

Speaker 1 22:50

I'm local.

Noel 22:51

What about you?

Speaker 1 22:52

I guess you could say tourists, yeah.

Noel 22:54

Where are you from? Wait, where are you from?

Speaker 1 22:56

New Hampshire.

Noel 22:57

New Hampshire, and you're from Saratoga. You got it right.

Zac 23:01

I love it. I mean, listen, the uh I love the I love being caught by surprise, you know. Um it's always fun to kind of uh really see who's out there and uh interact with listeners and not listeners.

Speaker 4 23:13

Yes, get more.

Zac 23:14

Thank you, thank you for you know, uh to all of our folks out there who were good sports about it.

Noel 23:19

Yeah, it was a great time. All right, well, thank you so much everybody for tuning in. Be sure to like, subscribe, comment. All the things, yeah, and be sure to download our episodes too.

Zac 23:29

Downloading uh the episodes is uh is key, you know, especially for someone like me who likes to look at metrics.

Noel 23:38

All right, everybody, we'll see you next time. Yeah, bye.