Watkins Glen Gorge, Reisingers Apple Orchard, Lively Run Creamery, Finger Lakes Cider House, Hammondsport, Wagner Wineries — Exploring Seneca and Keuka Lakes (Finger Lakes)

I have always wanted to explore more of the Finger Lakes west of Cayuga Lake, which is my Go-to Lake and so we did on another spectacular Fall day. We drove on scenic backroads about 30 Miles west to Watkins Glen State ParK, an old favorite where we did the course hiking, stopping first at a great outfitters store Famous Brands, with a sale (I needed a warmer sweater, which I got for $13).

On we went to Reisingers Apple orchard where we got Snap Dragon apples, which I’d never heard over. Snap is the perfect word for this hard, crisp, sweet/tart, juicy apple concocted by Cornell. Next stop two maker outposts in the countryside near Interlaken on the west side of Cayuga Lake north of Trumanburg. Both a dream! At Lively Run Dairy and Creamery, we got a cheese sampler plate of the cheese made there, eight samples, four goat cheese, four cows milk cheese. A nice young guy, masked, explained what we were eating through a pandemic-friendly plexiglass barrier. We ended up buying several: The creamy goat cheese, the Blue Yonder and Finger Lakes Gold Reserve.

Next stop: Finger Lakes Cidery, a stylish place with lots of people (but not too many) where we had a half flight of ciders, sampling four. (Honeyoye was our favorite) and fantastic food – a killer grilled cheese sandwich with fresh greens, the best tomato soup I’ve ever tasted (not campbells), grilled cornbread with two flavors of fresh whipped butter (jalapeño, and we think strawberries from the farm.) We sat outside on the deck, with the farmland rolling out to the narrow finger of Cayuga lake and the wooded banks on the other side. Heaven. From there we drove over to the eastern shore of Seneca Lake and down along a scenic road high above the lake lined with wineries and cideries. amazing the number. Then onto Hammpondsport which turned out to be a sweet little village that reminded us of a summer lake town in Northern Michigan or Door County Wisconsin. Very quiet and peaceful with a pretty lakefront park and village green lined with a few antique shops.

The wedding of Dan and Elizabeth was spectacularly situated overlooking Seneca Lake at Wagner Winery, with a very dramatic sunset and the sun breaking through the clouds as the festivities began.