I kept referring to the Finger Lakes region as Upstate until I was told it was absolutely not Upstate. To me anything west of the Hudson was Upstate, but I gather Upstate proper is toward the Adirondacks, or at least something north from Albany. The Finger Lakes is the Finger Lakes.
My impression of the Finger Lakes region of New York is that it is very similar to what we in Michigan call Up North. It's as green as green can be. Two lane roads wind among the lakes taking you from small town to small town. Most recreation involves lake activities of some sort, if even just a picnic in a lakeside park. Roadside stands and farmers markets offer local edibles. Deer scurry about, giving drivers heart attacks. There are festivals every weekend for any excuse you can find. Bicyclists troll the highways and trails. Village cafes and antique shops are humming. Brewery and winery (and increasingly, distillery) tours are overbooked. It's all just a way to value our beautiful summers which always seem so fleeting. I guess you'd call it Lake Culture.
New York is, however, a good deal more hilly. Using Ithaca as a base of operations, this becomes clear. Wandering Ithaca will build up your quads. Many sidewalk stretches are a steep as a mountain trail out west.
Ithaca is a college town, so as a veteran of Ann Arbor life it was very familiar to me. Surrounding the university -- or universities in this case: Cornell and Ithaca College -- there is the standard region of run down houses that have been converted into multi-unit rentals. Step further out and you get the upper middle class housing of the admins and professors and such. If you're at the real high-end you are on a lake or a river. More than one resident said the typical story is that someone comes to Cornell for school and just stays in town -- I know that story well.
Another thing Ithaca and Ann Arbor have in common is parks and general greenery. I think folks from standard big city suburbs would be surprised at how thickly treed and lushly verdant these places are. And then there is the predominance of parks -- city park, county parks, state parks -- usually situated around rivers of lakes. Maybe Park Culture would be a better euphemism.
But whereas Ann Arbor's geography provides nothing more than rolling hills, Ithaca is borderline mountainous with lovely deep gorges for scenery -- hence their tagline: Ithaca is Gorges. The result is that you get all the recreational capabilities of my home base, but also waterfalls. Ithaca Falls, right in town, is postcard perfect. The lakes are peppered with state parks, several of them have waterfalls (overview), a couple of them even swimmable -- not the falls themselves but the pools at the bottom. The main swimmable one is at Robert Treman State Park. On a hot Saturday it is as crowded as any public beach, but a good deal more scenic. The water is cold but refreshing. Congrats to the NY State Park system for rolling with the desire to swim, rather than ban any activity in the service of preserving nature. They even have a diving board set up. This is actually a big plus over my home, which I don't really have a counter for.
Although most of the falls are situated in close proximity to parking, there are also hikes you can take through the parks -- mostly short, a mile or so, but very steep and usually offering good views. The paths are paved or at least hard packed -- I was able to do them in sandals.
There are also wineries nearby. Dozens of them. This is a big grape growing region and wine tours are the order of the day. Again comparing: we have a number of wineries in Michigan, mostly Up North, but I don't think they quite have the reputation of the NYS wines. (Michigan is stronger in breweries.) Michigan wineries occasionally have B&Bs attached to them so you can actually stay at the winery, whereas I saw no such thing in NY. The wineries range from quite lovely with great views to a dark room with plastic tables. If you are so inclined I highly recommend doing this as part of packaged tour rather than trolling them on your own. You'll get better service and more swag, but more importantly, you won't have to drive. Honestly, after tastings at three wineries and you're a DUI waiting to happen. And a sloshed tour group can be good entertainment in itself.
Ithaca and Watkins Glen are the key towns in the area, situated at the bottom tip of lakes Cayuga and Seneca, respectively. Ithaca is a little more cosmopolitan because of the universities -- more dining options and so forth -- Watkins Glen a little more homey. Another, smaller town that has gained a bit of notoriety is Skaneateles -- which in the tongue of the locals comes out sounding like "Skinny-Atlas." It is situated at the top end of Lake Skaneateles and is famous because that is where the Clintons settled when Hillary decided she was going to make New York her home state for her senate run.
It's not surprising. Skaneateles is the Kennebunkport or Martha's Vineyard of New York. Unmistakably wealthy, yet conspicuously understated and self-consciously folksy. The short main street is loaded with homespun boutiques and antique shops. There are a couple of nice restaurants where you no doubt can get a carefully prepared entree (possibly deconstructed comfort food, or something with avocado) and a glass of wine from a fashionable winery. Then there is a Doug's Fish Fry which serves as the stylishly kitsch, street-food eatery that "everybody goes to."
I'm being snide towards the hipster elite vibe of Skaneateles, but I would live there. It's lovely, and well taken care of. There are lake activities, including little cruise boats that run tours. I bet the infrastructure is second to none. Like I said, it's essentially a high-end New England preppy town transplanted to mid-NY, which is a very nice thing. It's crowded, though. On the weekends everyone in the area comes into town to stroll and shop. Who can blame them?
Lastly, I have to offer a strong recommendation for Inn on Columbia in Ithaca. A non-traditional B&B, there are a couple of separate residences filled with interesting design and decor. The owners collect old cars and motorcycles which are sprinkled about the property. But the real plus is breakfast. Everything fresh made. Some of the best egg dishes I have ever had. It is in (hilly) walking distance to everything of interest in Ithaca. Couple all that with the most genial hosts imaginable and it's a real winner.
Needless to say I like the Finger Lakes region. It is best done with a car and a skeleton plan for exploration, then let the chips fall. It is supports a lifestyle familiar to me, but with enough variation to make it interesting. If it was half of the nine hour drive to get there I'd probably spend a lot of time in the Finger Lakes. As it stands for me, Up North is closer and the lakes are Greater. If you aren't from a similar area, it's a good place to experience Lake Culture or Park Culture or a place where summers are a gift that doesn't last. You may become a regular.
