5 Reasons I Love the Finger Lakes

Are you sick of hearing about the Finger Lakes yet? I can’t help it! I’ve always thought of myself as a beach girl & yet, bam, here I am loving a lake. Here are five reasons why I love this hidden gem in Upstate New York:

1. “Lake attitude” is contagious & unplugging is the norm. 

One of the things I hate about living in a big city is that everyone walks around with their nose in their phone. Walking down the sidewalk, it’s a game of dodgeball to avoid people checking email, checking Facebook, checking some new app I’ve never even heard of. I’m making a conscious effort to stop doing that myself, but sometimes it’s hard to not getting sucked in.

Not in the Finger Lakes though. Now, your phone likely won’t get a great cell or data signal, but it won’t bother you because of the lake attitude. Because of this:

2. They’ve convinced me that maybe I am a wine drinker. 

I’m Italian, so by heritage I like big, bold, super dry red wines. White wine was for sipping at a work lunch or at a bridal shower. Something to be tolerated, but not enjoyed.

Well, Finger Lakes wineries, congratulations: you’ve convinced me otherwise. Finger Lakes rieslings are totally unique from the sickeningly sweet riesling that you’ve had before on your friends patios – nope, this is actually drinkable, semi-dry white wine goodness. My favorite comes from Heron Hill winery, but we also had good bottles from Wagner Winery, J.R. Dill Winery, Silver Thread Vineyard & Atwater Vineyard.

3. The accommodations are luxury – or not. 

I’m a huge hotel snob. I love luxury hotels – Four Seasons, independent boutique inns – & always appreciate high end options, even in small towns. I’m not a camper – I have never spent a single night in a tent, have no desire to sleep on the ground. Yet, on our most recent trip to the Finger Lakes, we decided to rent a cabin for the first time ever.

It was very basic: a simple kitchen perfectly equipped to make breakfast every morning & dinner most evenings, a three-piece bathroom, a living room with TV with no cable, & a small bedroom. But it was everything we needed & was just the perfect place to truly relax. I thought not having cable would be an issue – after all, we stayed there the first weekend of football season! – but it really wasn’t an issue.

The best thing about where we stayed was the direct access to the lake. Down 63 stairs we went every day & enjoyed sitting on the dock, watching the sunset, & then making a campfire. A campfire is the ultimate way to relax, don’t you think? And s’mores… we ate a lot of those.

4. There’s a Wegmans.

I grew up in Florida with the 8th wonder of the world known as Publix. Once I moved further up the east coast after college, I started hearing about this store called Wegmans. Some even claimed that they had better subs than Publix (which is just impossible). There aren’t really any Wegmans stores convenient to me in the DC area, so I was excited to try one out on our Finger Lakes trip.

We stopped at the store in Corning on the way into town for our first ever Wegmans experience. I will give you this: it was impressive. They had a great selection of prepared foods & had everything we needed to get groceries for our week at the cabin.

However, the really impressive Wegmans experience occurred on our way home, when we stopped in Williamsport for lunch. Since it was Labor Day, all the restaurants in town were closed – except Wegmans. We grabbed subs from a store that looked as impressive as the one below. We enjoyed our subs on their covered patio space & checked our email using their free wifi.

It was all pretty darn impressive. Not Publix impressive, but close.

5. The accessible hiking is unparalleled. 

We love to be the outdoorsy types, but sometimes when traveling, as easy hike is in your best interest. Hiking in the Finger Lakes is some of the most accessible, beginner hiking I’ve ever found. Thanks to the area’s numerous waterfalls, there’s always something to hike to, which really makes the whole thing that much better. We prefer to hike in hiking shoes so we don’t have to worry about puddles & mud, but Finger Lakes hiking trails are equally accessible in tennis shoes. Looking for an easy Finger Lakes hike? Try Watkins Glen State Park (lots of stone stairs!) or Taughannock State Park (flat gravel).

Bonus: it’s incredibly accessible from various places on the east coast:
5.5 hours from DC.
5 hours from Pittsburgh.
4.5 hours from NYC & Philly.