It’s hard to describe the beauty of the Finger Lakes to someone who doesn’t live here. Last spring Susan, Jeanette’s daughter, brought a friend of hers from Pittsburgh for a visit. It was one of those last minute things and our visitor had never been to Upstate New York and she thought that the Finger Lakes Region would be like New York City. After all, the Finger Lakes are located in New York State.
I can sometimes better describe something with a picture rather than trying to explain it in words. Every summer we return to the Castel Grish Winery and Restaurant (click here) in Watkins Glen, NY. It’s one of those out of the way places that we have visited for perhaps 15 years now, sometimes with friends, sometimes alone. For us, it’s sort of like having a refresher course on why we chose to live in the Finger Lakes – especially when the cold winds of winter are blowing and there is nothing on the horizon except the lifeless forms of leafless trees.
But last Saturday night, the Finger Lakes were at their summer peak. The vineyards and the trees are fully leafed out, set against a backdrop of Seneca Lake in the valley with the beautiful ascending hills in the far distance, and the puffy white clouds floating overhead. We enjoyed a glass of wine and dinner on the deck as we gazed in awe at the beauty of the scene which unfolded before us.
It’s a scene that I never tire of as it brings back memories of summers past and of friends past. And yes Colleen, Susan’s friend, wants to come back to the Finger Lakes for a visit – now that she better understands the geography of New York State.
