Friday night (June 19) is Cruisin’ Night in Penn Yan. They close off Main Street – roughly from the post office down to the bridge – and they PACK the street with vintage cars. It is seriously cool! Crowds wander up and down, admiring the vehicles and visiting with the proud owners. People find cars they remember excitedly from their youths… and cars they WISH they remembered from their youths. The stores and shops and restaurants are open, and all you need is adequate weather (forecast looks good!) to have a terrific time.

What will you find besides cars? Well, there are three bookshops in Penn Yan. Long’s Cards and Books is a delightful independent bookseller – the only one I know of in a three- or four-county area. Books’ Landing (used books) has recently moved from the corner by the bridge to more spacious quarters farther up Main Street. Belknap Books, almost across from Long’s, is also for collectors and used book enthusiasts. I once found (and bought) a volume from the Tom Corbett, Space Cadet series, complete with dust jacket.

Farther up Main Street, outside of the Cruisin’ Night space, is the Penn Yan Public Library, which has recently been going through renovations. I hope that those renovations preserve the dedicated parking for buggies, which is the only one I know of in the area. The original portion of the library was donated by Andrew Carnegie, and you can borrow books with a card from most of the Southern Tier System libraries.

Next door to the library is the Yates County courthouse (Penn Yan is the county seat), with its green space of war memorials.

Back a little toward the shopping district is the Yates County History Center with its twin facilities, the Oliver House Museum and the Underwood Museum. Also on site is the carriage house with pioneer prophetess Jemima Wilkinson’s coachee, the 1790s version of a really hot ride.

There are several eating places down in the Cruisin’ Night area, from sit-down dining to pizza and lunch counters. The Pinwheel Market & Cafe by Milly’s Pantry (typically open until 4) serves sandwiches, desserts, and such, in the process raising funds “so children won’t go hungry.” President Obama honored founder Milly Bloomquist with the Presidential Citizens Medal for her decades of labor on behalf of children.

A few steps off Main Street, the Penn Yan Diner is a vintage manufactured diner, in keeping with the cruisin’ theme. There are other eateries, including fast food chains, a few blocks away.

Formerly down by the diner, and now up on Main Street, is the Arts Center of Yates County, with changing exhibits and other activities all year long in its gallery. Main Street also has retailers from hardware to drug store to antiques to electronics.

Since 1990 or so the Penn Yan area has been home to increasing numbers of conservative “horse and buggy” anabaptists, especially Groffdale Mennonites. Some of them operate Main Street farm stands on summer Saturdays, plus an annual relief sale at Penn Yan’s Yates County Fairgrounds.

Of course, Penn Yan is also noted for the lake, and for the Keuka Outlet Trail. I can’t make any promises as to what will be open during Cruisin’ Night, but I can promise that Penn Yan is a great place to visit. Maybe we’ll see you there.