I ♥ NY

Our next stop was Indian Village on Canandaigua Lake, one of the finger lakes of western New York. This is a private park of about 98% park models. You can’t stay here if you don’t know someone who spends the summer here. We are friends with a couple who live in our development in Florida who come here every summer. In fact Jean was raised in the Canandaigua, NY, area.


Larry took Julian out in the boat to do some fishing one of the first days we were there. They brought back enough fish for a great dinner for all of us. It was all very yummy.

On the first Saturday that we were there, the little community center a couple blocks away was holding a silent auction. I can’t remember who would benefit, but we went over and bid on several items. I got a local T-shirt, Heidi got some home-made treats and Julian got some wine. Everybody wins!

We met the couple next to us on the very first day. Jim and Carol were very nice people who also live in central Florida. They, too, enjoy gambling and Carol told me about the local casino on our first day there. So we had to go try our luck. We went there three or four times over the 18 days we were there. No we didn’t have any spectacular luck, but we didn’t spend everything, either. The NY Lottery runs the casinos and we kinda got the feeling that they were a bit more rigged than some places. If you were dealt two pair, you got two pair, even if you threw away one of the pairs. But we did have fun.

On the Saturday before Labor Day, the lake residents work together for what is called “Ring of Fire”. This turned out to be an awesome evening out on the lake in Larry & Jean’s boat. We got out on the lake by about 7:30pm and did a bit of a tour of the south end of the lake. There were some beautiful houses out there.


As darkness was falling, some residents started shooting off fireworks. (I’m told this is technically illegal, but that wasn‘t going to stop us from enjoying it all.) And then the “Ring of Fire” part kicks in. Everyone all around the lake lights up flares placed at the edge of the water.


It was so cool. It was like this in every direction, all around the lake. The picture doesn’t give the full effect, but hopefully, you get the idea.

But wait, there’s more! We got even luckier. As we continued to move around the southern part of the lake, we were suddenly VERY close to a barge which had been running without lights (also technically illegal). There was a second barge close by that appeared to have a bunch of people in party mode. Then, all of a sudden, without warning, the first barge fired off some fireworks. One of the other ladies in the boat was nearly knocked off her feet in surprise.


And it just kept going. This was a professional display.



And the best part was that we were literally RIGHT underneath the whole thing! My neck was getting tired by the time it was over, but it was worth it. We later found out that it was a wedding of a son of one of the wealthy residents of the lake. How lucky we felt to be right there and enjoy his “party”.

We walked many of the morning we spent here. The area was so pretty. Here’s a shot of the lake from one of the roads we walked.


This church was on our walking route. It was also right across the street from the community center where we had participated in the silent auction.


It seemed that there was always something going on in this little community. Our first night at Indian Village, they had a pot luck, which we attended. The afternoon after “Ring of Fire”, the owner of the park threw his annual “end of season” bash. He supplied all kinds of food and even drinks of about anything you could want. It was a really nice party.


Next to Donna is Jean in yellow and Larry in orange. (Better pic to follow.)

Another evening we had roast beef dinner purchased from the Middlesex fire department. I think about 14 of the residents, including us, gathered at Larry & Jean’s to eat. We called in the order and drove over to pick up the food. It was delicious.

We spent most of Labor Day on the lake. This time we headed to the north. It was a bit incredible to see the houses on the west banks of this lake. Jean had said that the east shore was millionaire’s row. The west side was billionaire’s row. And I could believe it.




We went all the way to the docks and resort area on the north end of the lake. We docked and everyone had “NY reds”, very good hot dogs with everything on them. It was a great lunch and a really fun trip.

Did you know that New York has wineries? Lots of them? This Finger Lake region has tons of them, maybe hundreds, of every size you might imagine. Over the course of our being there, we visited 12 of them - and barely made a dent!

The first one we visited was the most impressive, though we didn’t know it when we walked in. We drove to Naples on the south end of Canandaigua Lake. There were two there, the largest was Widmer Winery. We were lucky enough to have gotten there just as the tour was beginning. What we didn’t know was that this is where all Manischewitz products are produced. That was an interesting process: the entire area is in a locked cage and there is only one key, held by the rabbi who oversees every aspect of the production. We bought some of their Cream Peach and it was gone WAY too fast, very yummy.

Another day we drove to Seneca Lake where we went into several more wineries. Some had really beautiful grounds.


The entrance to one led right through the vineyards. We could easily see the grapes still on the vines.



Jim and Carol invited us to join them on a trip to the wineries around Keuka Lake. Heron Hill Winery had a particularly pretty building.


And this is the view from Bully Hill, and we did buy wine here.


Our last big outing was a trip to Letchworth State Park with Jean and Larry. Jean grew up very near this park and knew it very well. It is called “The Grand Canyon of the East”. This is Upper Falls and the train trestle that is still used. That’s Jean and Larry with us in the photo.


This is Middle Falls. (We didn’t make it to the Lower Falls.)


This is also Middle Falls, with some of the canyon walls, looking north. It was really pretty there.


And the canyon heading south.


From the park, we went into Castile (say cast-ISLE). We had a great lunch in a little restaurant that had been owned and operated by Jean’s mother some years ago.

Things you’ll learn today: In New York, the town of Chili is pronounced chie-lie. Nunda is noon-DAY. The definition of “upstate New York” is anything north of New York City. I guess that’s pretty much everything BUT New York City. Go figure! But, now you know.

We had a great time during our two and a half weeks in New York. We also met a number of really nice people who summer in this park. It was a great experience and we thank Jean & Larry for inviting us to share this great place with them.