Postcards from the Finger Lakes

 

We took an extra long weekend last week, and drove up to the Finger Lakes in Upstate NY. I had never been there before, but wow was it beautiful. We spent our days there hiking in the mornings, and checking out wineries in the afternoon. It was a great time, and we picked the perfect time to go because the fall colors were gorgeous, and it hadn't gotten too chilly to sit outside and enjoy a glass of wine. Here are some snapshots from the fun little road trip! Lots of pictures ahead!

We stayed at this funky little refurbished church Airbnb. It was actually a pretty cool place to stay because it had a lot of history, and was beautifully redone. Look at those original floors! The location is pretty good too because it is between Keuka and Seneca lakes- so good access to a lot of wineries, haha. 

On our first full day, we spent the morning hiking the Keuka Outlet Trail. The trail is lined with trees and the colors were just incredible. This trail is also has water falls in both directions, and one direction goes alway the way into Penn Yan. It was a nice, wide trail and easy to social distance if we passed others.

That afternoon, we went to a couple wineries and one brewery along Keuka lake. The first winery we went to was Weis Vineyards. The view was beautiful, and the wine was great. Right behind it is a winery in the french style of wine called Domaine LeSeurre. Such great wine, again! And of course had to get a cheeseboard!

The second morning, we hiked Watkins Glen State Park. The pictures above are the Gorge Trail, and wow was it pretty. There was so many waterfalls, and a stream running through the middle. This one does get busy, so get there early to avoid crowds in the trail- it is narrow and one-way so there can be back-ups when it is busy. We were on it by 8:45am, and there was only a few other small groups.

After our morning hike, we went winery hopping (again 😋). We headed to the East side of Seneca lake, and first went to Lamoreaux Landing. The views of the vines and lake is so beautiful. I had the new release pinot noir, and really enjoyed it.

Next stop was Boundary Breaks winery, which is somewhat off the beaten path, and a must visit in my opinion! The views and the tasting were amazing. I loved dry sparkling wine and the red.

Ok, yes...I did take a selfie with all of my glasses of wine, lol. We ended the night going to Atwater Vineyards, and had the most delicious sparkling rosé. The sun was starting to set, and we headed next door to Two Goats Brewing, where others had some brews, and I enjoyed the sunset ahahah. 

On the last full day, we started by hiking the Fingers Lakes National Forest. There are so many trails, and we just picked one at random. It was stunning- the colors, the views, and the adorable little lakes we found! Because it is a woodsy trail, there were a lot of ticks on the dog, so just be careful if you go and check yourself for ticks when you  are done!

The rest of the that day, we just hung around the church, played games, relaxed and got take out for dinner. We played Cranium before bed, and my team won! I am such a nerd and love that game, haha. 

The next day, before we headed home, we made a few more stops. One of them was Lucky Hare Brewing. Since I can't drink beer, I got a local cider they had, and fries...lots of their fries...they make them fresh, and serve them hot, and WOW best french fries I have ever had, and we may have ordered some to-go to take home!!

We ended the trip back at Atwater for more sparking rosé, and ended up buying bottles of it! It was the perfect way to end such a fun trip. I want to go back to the Finger Lakes someday because there is so many wineries, so little time. It was beautiful, and we picked the perfect time for some leaf peeping. I am working on a more detailed travel guide, and a post to link all of the outfits I wore!

As always,

#dontforgetyourpearls