Eden (?), New York

I lived a good part of my life near Saratoga. It's a nice little city, but it always comes alive in August thanks to the month of racing at Saratoga Race Track. There's something special about Saratoga during August thanks to the racing.

Seeing as I'm not a horse racing fan, I don't really know how Saratoga's track compares with other racing venues, but according to Chris McGrath of the Independent, it's "Eden".

The enchantment of Saratoga has a bittersweet quality. Every summer, this clapboard spa town, lost among blue woods and green creeks in upstate New York, grants a pristine image of how America is supposed to be. For five weeks, it provides sanctuary to some of the best horses, jockeys and trainers in the world.

…The warren of stables beyond the back stretch is the most bucolic in the land: flower baskets hanging along rows of timber stalls, trees spreading shade and birdsong as the sun burns off the dawn mist. Trainers sip coffee, shoot the breeze, watch their horses snorting past the deserted grandstand - with its crouched, sloping tiles, antique boxes, and gigantic wooden fans to relieve the sultry afternoons.

Makes me want to visit again, but the truth is I haven't been to the race track since 1987. Hard to believe.