Thoughts unavoidably turn to the North Pole this time of year, and the lesser-known North Pole sits in the shadow of Whiteface Mountain in New York's Adirondack Park. It's a real town (hamlet, actually, in the town of Wilmington) in the state's northeast corner, just about 12 miles from Lake Placid. Appropriately, it's home to Santa's Workshop, believed to be the nation's oldest theme park.