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Small Travel: Grafton Lakes State Park
I live in a part of New York State that hasn’t changed much in the nearly 25 years that I’ve been here. Sometimes this is maddening. “How is it that we have only two new restaurants?” I’ve whined to friends, in the way that only those plagued with first-world problems do. (“Why does that have to open here?” I’ve simultaneously bemoaned, after noticing a Dollar General going up in my rural town of about 3,000.) But oftentimes, the things that changed the least are the things I have the most affection for. One of these is Grafton Lakes State Park. The park is in Grafton, a conservative rural town not…
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An Ode to Vacation Food
We spend about an hour and a half a day eating. On vacations, this figure generally doubles, as we take a more leisurely approach to meals. And if you’re like me, you spend at least as much time plotting what to eat next. Vacation food is just better. Often that’s because it’s new and novel. Sometimes it’s because the food we choose when we travel is richer or more decadent—a departure (mostly) from what we eat at home. While I do know some exceptionally disciplined souls who budget their calories even when they’re traveling, for me, it’s an all-bets-off time to sample a new cuisine, or a new take on…
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1000 Islands Road Trip: Penn Yan to Clayton, Cape Vincent & Sackets Harbor
Many thanks to CM Communications and the 1000 Islands Harbor Hotel for hosting me on my 1000 Islands road trip. The support of businesses and organizations such as these helps me to create useful guides for readers like you. All opinions are my own. This is part 2 of a road trip through the Finger Lakes and 1000 Islands. If you missed part 1, start here. 1000 Islands Road Trip Day 3 Itinerary: Watkins Glen to Clayton Along Route 14, on the western lip of Seneca Lake, broad fields tumble down to the shoreline, their flat-topped hills crowned with enormous rolled bales of hay bleaching in the sun. We make…
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Finger Lakes Road Trip: Watkins Glen & Seneca Lake
“Wait,” my husband, Floren, says, and catches my arm. He holds out his hand, a blue surgical mask dangling from one fingertip. I take it and pull it over my nose and mouth. I’ll never get used to this, I think, and head for the coffee shop. Four months into the pandemic that’s finally loosening its grip on New York State, and I still step out of my car and, as if nothing has changed, head toward the store or office, only to double back when I remember the one thing that seems to be keeping most of the world’s population healthy.
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Does the World Really Need Another Travel Blog?
Does the world really need another travel blog? Ever the pragmatist, I wrestled with this question before making the decision to toss one more set of opinions, especially on coastal travel, out into cyberspace. There are already millions of travel blogs online, some terrific, many run by bloggers who work their tails off and have mastered SEO and social media, and have followings that will probably always be many times larger than I’ll ever have. All signs point to no. So why bother? Simply put, because I didn’t see the kind of travel stories I wanted to read. You can find a “10 best things to do in [name the…
Writing the waves of coastal travel
