The
people's choice in Livingston County... and beyond!
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The
people's choice in Livingston County... and beyond!
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Please note: More complete information about this and related subjects
can be found in our new Western New York Travel
Guide. You may wish to change your bookmarks to:
My obsession with one "finger" consummated, a second campaign was
born; go for two handfuls! Over the past eight years I've walked around six
of Keuka's sisters, relishing the discovery of their similarities and differences.
They vary in size, from three-mile-long pinky, Canadice, to the 35-mile-long
index finger, Seneca, whose 600 foot depth reaches below sea level.
They vary in function, too: Hemlock and Canadice are wild, uninhabited reservoirs,
while Cayuga and Seneca are virtual inland seas, home to Wells, Ithaca, Cornell,
Hobart and William Smith colleges, with global access by boat via New York's
canal system and the Great Lakes.
Seneca's orchards speak to the agricultural legacy of the Iroquois. The vineyards
and wineries of Keuka, Seneca and Canandaigua are a monument to commercial success,
while stoney reminders of that tough-to-cultivate, yet vine-friendly soil common
to most of the lakes. Gamefish jumping and fishing boats dotting every lake
are reminders of what has drawn sportsmen here for generations.
Canandaigua's posh, beautifully-kept real estate suggests opulence and smart
ecology are not mutually exclusive. The intense level of recreational activity
found on Conesus on a summer weekend is in sharp contrast to the isolation just
over the hill on Hemlock Lake, where, one bitter March day, I stood a stone's
throw from a pair of bald eagles and watched them hack away at a frozen carp
protruding from the thick ice.
When one considers the plethora of cottages, bed and breakfasts, wineries, marinas,
public boat accesses, beaches and full-service parks found on these lakes, perhaps
the Iroquois saw into the region's future when they named lake No. 7 "Canandaigua,
the chosen place."
If you go: Year-round fishing, summer boating and water sports, cruises,
fall wine tastings and foliage viewing, ice fishing and snowmobiling.
Rich Gardner shared his observations as "The Urban Beachcomber" in
the Summer '95 issue of Genesee Country.
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