I was doing some online research the other day, and happened across some photos of an actual town in the Adirondacks that fit my vision of Thompson Lake to a "T".
For those of you who love the verse, and would like a glimpse of what it looks like -- here you go!
The heart of town, during the summer.
Coming into town from "the main road."
From the air. Town is (obviously) the big white thing in the middle. Follow the road north to where it starts to bend, head to the left (towards the lake), and that's the Lodge.
Some new development I haven't talked about yet -- at the south end of the lake. Town's off to the right, the Lodge further to the north.
And there you have it!