Rows of charming wooden boathouses on Canandaigua City Pier have a distinct old village “seaside “charm . The Historic Canandaigua Boathouses rustic beauty and unique personality make a visit to the Canandaigua Pier a Summer bucket list activity. If you ever find yourself in the Canandaigua area, make it a point to schedule time to…
Tourist attractions & local treasures
Free Fishing Weekend in New York State
June 24-25, 2017 you can get out and experience the great fishing on the lakes, ponds, rivers, and streams of New York, no fishing license required!
Vintage Gardens Bed and Breakfast (The Jackson & Perkins Estate) Newark, NY
The town of Newark holds so much history that I find myself constantly returning and researching it. A short drive to many of the Finger Lakes attractions and historical sites, you definitely need to consider visiting. There is so much history in this town that was once the industrial and retail center of the county,…
Phelps Sauerkraut Festival
Post Updated 8/1/2017 Nestled in the Finger Lakes region just north of Geneva in Ontario County is the small village of Phelps. First settled in 1793, today Phelps is a charming little community that once was the largest producer of sauerkraut in the world. I can only imagine the olfactory experience Phelps must have been…
Upcoming Public Tour of Willard Asylum for the Insane
updated 4/22/2016 Willard Asylum for the Insane In a nutshell Willard officially opened in 1869. By 1877 Willard, at 475 acres (1500 patients) was the largest asylum in the United States1 . In 1995 Willard Psychiatric Center closed its doors, but a portion of the campus is a New York State Department of Corrections rehabilitation facility for inmates. Obviously,…
Book Review: A Taste of Upstate New York: The People and the Stories Behind 40 Food Favorites
I remember when I first learned that salt potatoes are a regional dish. I was shocked that the rest of the country is oblivious to what is clearly the best way ever to prepare potatoes. Salt potatoes are so popular in Upstate New York I can not imagine a family picnic, carnival or fireman’s chicken barbecue…
Amish and Mennonite Food Stores in New York
Upstate New York is home to a growing community of Amish and Mennonite families. Drawn to the area’s fertile soil and available farmland, they have become a pleasant fixture here. It is very common to see horse-drawn buggies on the roads, young Mennonites in their late teens and early 20′s are often seen riding…
Seneca Falls: George Bailey’s (It’s a Wonderful Life) Bridge
I wrote this article in the summer of 2013, but because watching It’s a Wonderful Life is part of our Christmas tradition and with the upcoming 68th Anniversary Festival of It’s a Wonderful Life in Seneca Falls next week I wanted to share this again. This was not on my Summer Bucket list, but I…
Lady In Granite, Penn Yan, NY
I am excited to have a guest writer today! The local legends surrounding the mysterious face of a woman showing in a white marking on a granite gravestone in Penn Yan is shared here by Chris Clemens, a local history buff, and friend I almost met at the Willard Tour. Thank you Chris for sharing this!…
Willard Tour: Grandview building
This post is part of a series. To see all the buildings I visited on the Willard Tour click the links below. Morning at the Asylum by the Lake Grandview (You are here!) Hadley Hall The Morgue Elliot Hall Brookside The Bleak House The Cemetery The first stop on the tour was the Grandview…
Willard Tour: Elliot Hall
Elliot Hall was built in 1931 and was used as the institution’s on site hospital and admitting offices. Elliot Hall was used right up until the early 80’s as the medical center for Willard. Doctors were brought in from neighboring communities to perform medical procedures and surgeries. One of the people on the tour said…
Willard Tour: Brookside
This post is part of a series. To see all the buildings I visited on the Willard Tour click the links below. Morning at the Asylum by the Lake Grandview Hadley Hall The Morgue Elliot Hall Brookside (you are here) The Bleak House The Cemetery The Brookside house served as the home to the medical directors…
Willard Tour: The Morgue
This post is part of a series. To see all the buildings I visited on the Willard Tour click the links below. Morning at the Asylum by the Lake Grandview Hadley Hall The Morgue ( you are here) Elliot Hall Brookside The Bleak House The Cemetery Possibly the eeriest stop on the Willard tour was the…
Morning at the Asylum by the Lake in Willard NY
This post is part of a series. To see all the buildings, I visited on the Willard Tour click the links below. Morning at the Asylum by the Lake (You are here!) Grandview Hadley Hall The Morgue Elliot Hall Brookside The Bleak House The Cemetery Saturday morning my mother and I took the rare…
Willard Tour: Gilbert House/ Bleak House
This post is part of a series. To see all the buildings I visited on the Willard Tour click the links below. Morning at the Asylum by the Lake Grandview Hadley Hall The Morgue Elliot Hall Brookside The Bleak House (You are here!) The Cemetery Our tour guide told us that the Bleak house was given…
Willard Asylum: Hadley Hall
This post is part of a series. To see all the buildings I visited on the Willard Tour click the links below. Morning at the Asylum by the Lake Grandview Hadley Hall ( You are here!) The Morgue Elliot Hall Brookside The Bleak House The Cemetery Hadley Hall had to be my favorite building on the…
Visiting Perkins Park in Newark
This post was intended to be a wordless Wednesday post. While running errands last week I found myself with a few minutes to kill. It was a beautiful day and visiting Perkins Park in Newark to try to get a few duck pictures sounded like a good idea The thing about the Finger Lakes area is each town has it’s…
Waterloo NY Birthplace of Memorial Day
We all know Memorial Day is day of honoring fallen soldiers, although some might be surprised to learn of the local origins of this celebrated federal holiday. Originally called Decoration Day, the earliest celebrations of today’s Memorial Day began during the aftermath of the Civil War to honor both the Union and Confederate soldiers who died in the Civil…
Lake Ontario Beach Glass Hunting
I was in Williamson on Monday with the kids who are off for spring break this week. The kids have been whining that everyone else is at a beach for spring break, so I decided to take them to B. Foreman Park on Lake Ontario, not even close to what they had in…
Deteriorating Barn in Macedon
I often pass this deteriorating barn in Macedon on Route 31 when I am out running errands. Precariously situated on the edge of Wal-mart sprawl, it silently sits empty awaiting it’s fate. I honestly can not recall how long the barn and farm-house has sat empty, but believe it has been a while. Recently a “Land…
