Finger Lakes, New York

The Finger Lakes

Seneca Lake
It was a beautiful drive through the spring-time mountains of Pennsylvania. The Amish farms are so neat and we passed through several small towns where we had to slow down for horse and buggy to share the road. It’s amazing that so many people in this part of the country stay with the old fashioned ways of life - still wearing the traditional suits and plain dresses that they have for over a hundred years, with no make up or adornment - very plain, and homes with no electricity and farms still tended with a horse and plow. It makes one wonder if we aren’t missing something by having so much.
We entered New York State and made our way past Watkins Glen up the west side of Seneca Lake to Dundee until we saw the sign for “Scottish Glen” which is the B&B owned by our friends Fiona and Bob Taylor. Fiona was born and raised in Scotland but has lived in England before marrying Bob and moving to the U.S. in the late 80's. I met Bob in Washington where we both worked in international marketing and were involved in the export of aerospace and defense products overseas. We last saw Bob & Fiona on the Queen Mary cruise earlier this year.

Again, we arrived in time for happy hour (this is becoming a pattern) and made our way down the steep wooden stairs to their original cottage which sits right on the edge of Seneca Lake. This is where we first visited them in 1992, before they built the B&B which sits on a high cliff overlooking the cottage and the lake. It was a beautiful, warm, sunny afternoon and we sat on Adirondack chairs at the end of their dock and watched the water birds and fish all around us. Fiona prepared a lovely dinner which she served by candlelight on the deck, under a starry sky and we enjoyed catching up and learning of future plans. They live here year round but typically spend January through April traveling to warmer climes. After the cruise in January, they spent several months this year in the Florida Keys and the Bahamas. Next winter, they’re talking about spending a month or two in the Canary Islands. They have a Christmas tree farm and also make and sell Christmas wreaths so are very busy in November and December and then again May through October with the B&B.
In the morning we enjoyed the Pennsylvania sticky buns, which were just like I remembered them). Later we visited a very interesting farmers market with lots of hand-crafted items, fresh produce, baked goods, plants and wine. This is wonderful wine country and there were several booths set up for tasting. We made another stop at Glennora Winery (one of my favorites) where we bought a few bottles to take to our hosts at the next stop. In the afternoon we took the boat out on the lake and visited Miles Winery, the only winery accessible by boat (but not very good wine so we didn’t buy any there). We had planned to continue on to Watkins Glen for dinner but we could see a storm moving in so headed back to the dock and got the boat out of the water before the rain started. Again, we had a nice dinner at home and continued to “swap lies” and drink wine until we ran out of both (not really).

Owasco Lake
Sunday morning, Doug and I fixed breakfast - I made creamed chipped beef and he made biscuits, before leaving to visit my nephew, Randy, and family in Scipio Center on Owasco Lake (between Cayuga and Skaneateles Lakes).
Randy grew up in this area but when we was fifteen, he spent a summer with us in Virginia. He was a big help around the house and yard and my kids adored him. Eric was two and Julie was newborn that year. He returned the following summer and worked at the restaurant supply company where my husband, Glenn, worked at the time. When Randy graduated, he came back to Virginia and worked their full-time and lived with us until he got his own place. He and his wife, Michelle, moved to New York about twenty years ago (that’s hard to believe) and now have three children: Michael, Megan and Jenna, all teenagers now. They built their home on the property of Randy’s grandparents farm which Randy bought several years ago. He rents out the old farmhouse and barn and another farmer now works the land.
We enjoyed chatting about old times and getting to know the kids, before we enjoyed a wonderful Sunday dinner. Randy cooked beef shish-ka-bobs and marinated pork tenderloin on the grill and Michelle prepared salt potatoes (a favorite of mine), deviled eggs and a fresh fruit salad. Like so many people we’re visiting this year, I regret that we let so much time go by without getting together.
In addition to wanting to reconnect with Randy and family, I also wanted to visit the site where a memorial stone was erected in memory of my son, Eric, who died in July of 2000. The memorial is at the end of a long lane leading from the farm house to what was always called “the gully.” There’s also a stone for Carolyn Chamberlain (my mother-in-law), Ernest Chamberlain (my father-in-law), and Barbara Heath (my sister-in-law), whose ashes were scattered here. Glenn and other family members had visited recently and planted flowers. I brought a small holly bush and Randy and I planted it next to Eric’s memorial. We could see there was a storm moving in and the rain started as we headed back the lane. It hadn’t rained in this area for over 40 days so they were thankful it started and it also gave the little holly bush a good start.


We returned to Seneca Lake and met Bob & Fiona at a little restaurant on the water at Watkins Glen where we enjoyed some tasty appetizers and chatted with some boaters at the marina. We met a couple who give sailboat tours of the lake on their 38-foot Cabo Rico, and they invited us aboard. They eventually plan to be live-aboard cruisers and they were interested to hear about our experiences.
Monday morning, we had Bob’s famous blueberry pancakes, before saying our goodbyes, promising to keep in touch, and heading for our next stop: The Berkshires.