Our spontaneous decision to start our trip a day early proved to be a good one. Our drive through PA into NY was beautiful. Orange, red, yellow, light green, brown leaves on oaks, maples, birches and then the deep green of evergreen trees were a backdrop to golden fields of corn all made more intense in color by the wonderful sunshine that graced our day.
We arrived at our stopping point for that day earlier than the original plan because of our drive the day before. It had put us about two and a half hours ahead of schedule but now it was allowing us plenty of time to explore the lovely little town of Hammondsport, NY.
Hammondsport sits on one of the finger lakes of NY. What a perfectly relaxing atmosphere at least for this time of year. I imagine during the summer season it gets pretty busy. Lake Keuka acually resembles a long finger when you look at it on the map. It reminded me a bit of Lock Ness in Scotland. No monsters reported though.
We wandered two of the parks. The first was called Depot Park and featured an old station house that was now a souvenir shop with a place to get coffee and snacks. Bob got his afternoon coffee and we walked the short boardwalk along the shore.
Curtiss Park was a short walk away but still on the lake bordering some wetlands. The park honors Glenn Hammond Curtiss who was the founder of the aircraft industry. He was born in Hammondsport and I'm guessig his middle name indicates his family heritage and the naming of the town.
We found a picnic table to watch on Bob's phone the updated score of the the Browns game in the last few minutes of the fourth quarter. Another football game with a heart stopping Browns win.
As we explored the main town area, we noticed many places were closed for the season. It was going to be a challenge to find a place to eat that appealed to us. There were a couple on the lake but one was closed and the other adverised that this was the last day of the season for them. They were celebrating with a Buffalo Bills watch party. We decided to give it a shot.
The restaurant was listed as The Lakeside Restaurant and Tavern on Tripadvisor but turned out to be called Louie's Lakeside. I'm not sure what the dynamics of the whole thing were. There was a large white building with a nice restaurant facility inside but the only thing open was the patio bar on the large dock area. The weather was warm enough so that was fine and there were only a handful of Bills fans watching the game so it wasn't crowded.
When our food came, we found very large portions and wondered if they were trying to clean out the kitchen before closing for the season. My pasta was great with extra meatballs but way more than I could eat. The waitress was a little distressed when Bob ordered a smash burger but with only one patty instead of the two in the description. They were probably hoping to finish those off as well.
The lake was spectacular surrounded with all that color reflected in its smooth surface. I wished the day could have lasted longer to enjoy the sunshine and the trees and the fresh air but alas, the days were getting shorter, a signal that all of this would be covered in ice and snow in a few months or less. It was obviously a summer place more than a winter resort and I can imagine a wonderful place to spend more time. A place to return to sometime.
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