Tag Archives: Geneva

Riding (and Strolling) Routes 5 and 20

A couple of days after Christmas, feeling the need for a getaway, we took an overnight in Geneva, stretching our visit in both directions along Routes 5 and 20.

*Our family has a long history with the long road that has two numbers. In 1939, during the Great Depression, my father-in-law and his cousin drove down 5 and 20, heading from Vermont to Oklahoma, trying without success to find work in the oil fields. At each diner or gas station where they stopped, people were huddled around the radio, listening to news of the German invasion of Poland. It was the first week of the Second World War.

*Little did he know that he would one day have a daughter, and that 53 years after that trip she would be living within sight of 5 and 20, along with her husbnad and their two sons.

*We lived back then in “The Bloomfields,” and as part of our trip we took a drive through Holcomb/East Bloomfield, to find that not much has changed. The green, the church, and the cemetery still welcome visitors. But the Wireless Museum has now moved out to newer facilities on the edge of town, and the historical society is in the old place next to the church.

*One of the reasons we like Canandaigua is because Main Street has a needlework store (Expressions in Needleart) AND a comic book store (Pulp Nouveau). This, we find, is a perfect arrangement for domestic harmony! The Chamber of Commerce has a visitor’s center on Main Street, in case you want directions and information (or a public rest room).

*There’s a new and used bookstore, and the Ontario County Historical Society museum. You can see the lovely courthouse where Susan B. Anthony was tried for daring to vote. (“I will never pay one penny of your unjust fine,” she told the judge, and she didn’t, either.) The business district is busy. There are fine churches, interesting downtown commercial architecture, and a great view of the lake (though in January, you may feel the wind). We had lunch at The Villager, which is where we usually wind up when we’re in Canandaigua, because we like it so much.

*Sonnenberg Mansion and Gardens is closed this time of year, and so is Granger Homestead (historic mansions and carriage collection). But the library is open, with armchairs to sit and read, and rest rooms open to the public. If you have a card in the Pioneer Library System (as I do), you can borrow books.

*In Geneva we stayed at the Holiday Inn Express, and in the mroning explored around the visitors center on the edge of the village, at the foot of Seneca Lake. Even with rain and snow lightly in the air, and wind whipping up whitecaps, we wandered the waterfront (where we once watched a mink dart around, but not that day). Our courage in the face of the weather was as nothing compared to that of the two parasurfers sailing along, zooming across the surface, occasionally losing their progress to sink completely below the waves, then rise again to full height and even higher, lifted high by the hydrofoil.

*The Finger Lakes Welcome Center wasn’t open yet, but we enjoyed the outside, with its benches and playground, and plaques set into the sidewalks recognizing inductees of the Finger Lakes Walk of Fame. Why isn’t Glenn Curtiss there? I must find out how to put in a nomination.

*Waterloo prides itself as the birthplace of Memorial Day. We strolled Main Street, enjoying the turn-of-the-century commercial architecture as far as the Presbyterian church and back, then turned down North Virginia Street to see a church that we’d spotted. This led us to the breathtaking 19th-century library, looking for all the world like an English manor house, replete with high stacks and warm lovely woodwork, and worth a visit all by itself.

*The Christmas decorations were still nice, and a hotel had a countdown set up for New Year’s Eve.

*In Seneca Falls the national sites were closed by the government shutdown, but the Christmas windows still brought smiles as we strolled Main Street. Christmas in senecal Falls means celebrating the movie “It’s a Wonderful Life,” said by some to have been filmed locally (it wasn’t), or to have insored the setting of Bedford Falls (possible.)

*We walked as far as Van Vleet Lake and the stone Gothic Episcopal church, where our friend Brad Benson has recently transferred from Bath to become the rector, then spent some time in the museum and visitors center, and got a good overview of the village’s development, the canal and industrial history, and changes in the watercourse. But I have to confess that I only saw one staff person, and she was just hurrying through to get to the office area.

*We drove past Montezuma National Wildlife refuge (also shut down, we suppose) to the edge of Auburn, where we finally visited Bass Pro Shops… I get numerous e-mails from them every week, but have no idea why. We enjoyed the visit, then turned back to Seneca Falss for pizza. We had headed up to Bloomfield through Prattsburgh and Naples, and now headed hime by way of Geneva, Pre-Emption Road, Bellona, Penn Yan, the East Shore of Keuka Lake, and finally back to Bath.

*Routes 5 and 20 run from Auburn to Avon, following Indian paths. Later the same corridor would carry the Erie Canal, the New York central railroad, and the New York State Thruway. It’s the Route 66 of western New York. We like to drive it. We like to visit.

Winter Fun in the Summer Towns

It isn’t summer any more. Most of the tourists have long since gone home. The boat liveries are closed, the canoes are up on racks. The beaches belong to coots and sea gulls. The ice cream shops are closed. And here we’re left, in the towns that live and die on the summer trade.

*So what about US? What do WE do, all winter long?

*Well, there’s no reason to stop visiting the summer towns. There’s actually still a lot going on. (Though you should check for winter hours.)

*In HAMMONDSPORT (south end of Keuka Lake), as long as the day’s not too windy you can still stroll the streets and appreciate the dramatic scenery of the little village in the deep cleft… a cleft that it shares with the Lake to the north, and Pleasant Valley to the west and south.

*There are a couple of antique stores still open year-round, and one just outside the village, on State Route 54.

*You should really visit the Glenn Curtiss Museum… 56,000 square feet of pioneering aviation and motorcycling history.

*You can find a comfortable chair at the Fred and Harriet Taylor Memorial Library, and open up a book. Or a magazine. Or your laptop.

*Drive up to the other end of the Lake at PENN YAN, and you’ll find two bookstores (one new books, one used books) just a block or so apart. Besides new books, Long’s also has cards, gifts, and office supplies.

*Penn Yan has a museum complex at Yates County History Center, and an art gallery at the Arts Center of Yates County… both on Main Street. Also on Main is Penn Yan Public Library, where the original part of the building was donated by Andrew Carnegie.

*Take a stroll and enjoy the architecture of the historic business district (blending into fine homes and churches), or drop down to water level and hike (yes, even in winter if conditions permit) on the Keuka Outlet Trail. At times you can watch the ice fishers on the East Branch. There’s a triplex movie theater on the edge of town.

*If conditions permit, you can walk out on the pier and the docks at WATKINS GLEN (south end of Seneca Lake). Watkins has an old-fashioned downtown walk-in movie theater (The Glen), so see if they’re playing something you’d like.

*Even when it’s chilly you can stroll the streets to see memorials for racing drivers, set into the sidewalk, and wall-art murals celebrating the Glen’s ongoing racing heritage.

*You can also stop in at the Motor Racing Research Center, to see which historic racing cars are now on show in the lobby. Go down the hall, and you enter Watkins Glen Public Library.

*Main Street has two antique shops, a fiber arts store, an art gallery, and Famous Brands.

*At GENEVA (Seneca’s north end) try out lunch at the elegant Belhurst Castle. You could also visit Geneva History Museum at the 1829 Prouty-Chew House..

*CANANDAIGUA (north end of the lake of the same name) has a comic book store, a needlework store, a used book store, art galleries, antique shops, Unique Toy Shop, and lots more… the mile-long Main Street is still a thriving site for business and shopping. You can learn a little about “olden days” at the Ontario County Historical Museum. Or you could spend some time at Wood Library… all on Main Street!

*Anyway, don’t mope. There’s still lots to do!

On to Ontario!

Leave a reply

One of the great mysteries of western New York is: why doesn’t Ontario County touch Lake Ontario?

*Well, the answer is that once upon a time it did. When Ontario was created, back in 1789, it included all or part of 11 modern counties.

*What’s left has a special place in my heart, as we lived in Ontario for the first two years of our residence in New York state, in “The Bloomfields.” In 1939 my father-in-law and his cousin drove down Routes 5 and 20 on their way from Vermont to Oklahoma, hoping vainly to get work in the oil fields. At every stop they made, a knot of men huddled around the radio, listening to news of Hitler’s invasion of Poland. Little did he think that six decades later he would have a daughter, a son-in-law, and two grandsons living along that route.

*“Five-and-twenty,” which is a single road, was our first road west, following the “natural corridor” route later exploited by the Erie Canal, the New York Central Railroad, and the New York State Thruway. Our son Josh and I first drove this from west to east, heading from Lima back to Vermont. As we approached Canandaigua we gaped to see a golden dome resplendent in the sun and topped by a statue. “Is that some Mormon thing?” we asked. It’s the county courthouse, of course, but a gold star to my eighth-grade son, with no background in Mormonism or in western New York, for knowing that Ontario County is the birthplace of that religion.

*There are several Mormon historic sites in the county, not to mention the spectacular Hill Cumorah Festival, a gigantic sound-and-light-and-stage show scripted, in its latest incarnation, by science-fiction great Orson Scott Card. We’ve been – it’s impressive.

*While counties such as Yates, Chemung, Schuyler and Monroe each have a community that by virtue of its population forms the definite hub of its region, Ontario has two cities – Geneva and Canandaigua – nearly equal in size. Each lies at the foot (or north end) of a major Finger Lake… Seneca and Canandaigua, respectively. Two smaller Finger Lakes, Canadice and Honeoye, are completely within Ontario County, which also boasts the east shore of Hemlock Lake.

*Ontario is home to Boy Scout Camp Dittmer, and also to the New York State Pageant of Steam. Just as I’ve been to Hill Cumorah Festival at least once, I’ve also been to the Steam Pageant at least once. You don’t have to be especially interested, and you certainly don’t need to be an expert, to be overwhelmed. It’s really a terrific experience.

*Sonnenberg Gardens and Mansion I’ve been to MANY more times than once or twice. I love to wander the grounds and weave through the greenhouses, while in the great entrance hall I expect Theodore Roosevelt or Frederick Remington to stride in any minute. Ontario County Fair could be bottled for essence of American county fair.

*Naples, with its lovely mile-long Main Street, lies in Ontario County – the ride from Naples to Canandaigua is a ride through vineyard country, often overlooking Canandaigua Lake. Pause in Cheshire, and check out The Company Store and Cheshire Union Gifts & Antique Center.

*Canandaigua’s Main Street is a good place to shop and stroll. It has an embroidery store (Expressions in Needlearts) AND a comic book store (Pulp Nouveau)… the perfect recipe for domestic harmony. I once saw a coyote on Main Street, and last week a Cooper’s Hawk. Sunken gardens set into the sidewalks add green space and process storm water.

*I know good libraries in Geneva, Bloomfield, and Canandaigua, and shoppers love Eastview Mall in Victor. Skiers like Bristol Mountain Ski Resort, while LeTourneau Christian Center camp and retreat center is washed by Canandaigua’s eastern waters. Roseland Waterpark is a popular attraction, borrowing its name from a well-remembered but long-gone amusement park. Those who like the ponies visit Finger Lakes Racetrack in Farmington. Ontario County Historical Society has a museum worth visiting, as does Geneva Historical Society.

*Canandaigua is home to Finger Lakes Community College, and to the open-air Constellation Brands-Marvin Sands Performing Arts Center, where we’ve seen Garrison Keillor, and also Peter, Paul, and Mary. The 1894 Smith Opera House in Geneva makes a lovely baroque setting for performances.

*Last week I was at the Jumpoff Point, a cliff with a dramatic view in Ontario County Park, when a cyclist appeared, looked around, and proclaimed it well worth his trip. This spot also marks the northern terminus of the rugged 55-mile Bristol Hills Trail, which I found a hard slog but a joy to hike.

*If you’re reading this in the main “Leader” coverage area, it may remind you of lots of places you plan to get around to visiting, but which are just far enough away that you never quite get there. My advice is to pick a date, pick a destination, grit your teeth, and go. I’ll be very surprised if you decide that you’d rather have puttered at home.