Considering how many linear miles of shoreline they constitute, there are not many lakeside restaurants along the Finger Lakes. The peculiar history of the lakes means that they are mostly lined with private residences with state parks and boat launches here and there and, very rarely, a vil…

Depending on one’s personal tastes in social gatherings, it either sounds like the greatest dog-friendly party ever conceived or a recipe for disaster: 500 people, enjoying the finest offerings of the Seneca Wine Trail, accompanied by hundreds of dogs.

Beer lovers living in or visiting Ithaca have no shortage of options when it comes to looking for a cold craft beer that’s ripe for the summer. The Fingers Lakes is world-renowned for its wineries, but it’s also become a hot bed for microbreweries—several of which offer their own take of wha…

A few years ago, during the reign of Dubb’yuh the Younger we traversed his home state several times—a long, dull, and arduous journey across desert and dry barbed-wire grazing land. To preserve our sanity during this dull transit, we drove from ‘cue joint to ‘cue joint. In nearly every littl…

Many people think of Ithaca as a very literary town, but it’s certainly not the only town in the area with a literary history. In fact, nearby Elmira has at least one very deep and important connection to literary history—it was the part-time home of Mark Twain.

Finger Lakes Rieslings and their winemakers have been quietly celebrated with regional awards, state and national recognition, but winning enduring respect for the quality of Finger Lakes wines remains a struggle.

Finding great ice cream in and around Ithaca doesn’t take much. There are at least a dozen ice cream shops throughout Tompkins, Seneca and Tioga counties. But for the lactose intolerant or vegan (or both), the search isn’t always paved with cookies and cream. In a place as food-conscious as …

The Village of Aurora, the sort of fairy-tale town that might have been dreamed up by the Disney factory, has in the last decade or so been upgraded to uber-fairy-tale status thanks to the decorative and restorative ministrations (and a sizable cash infusion) of American Girl doll doyenne Pl…

Syracuse’s New York State Blues Festival is back this summer.

You will see them hanging on walls all the way around Keuka Lake: elliptical artist’s palettes painted with never-ending inventiveness. The Hammondsport Chamber of Commerce began this fundraising event seven years ago to give a platform to local painters and to raise money for arts education…

"I am relatively new to organized hiking,” said Roger Hopkins, the president of the Cayuga Trails Club, which maintains the Finger Lakes Trail in a three-county region around Ithaca. “I’ve always been an outdoorsy person, but I became a member [of the trails club] when I moved to Ithaca in 2002.”

The annual Skaneateles’ Curbstone Festival and Sidewalk Sales will return from July 17 to July 19 along Genesee, Jordan, and Fennell streets. The long-running festival will run from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Thursday and Friday, and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. The event will feature more than 40 me…

The International Motor Racing Research Center (IMRRC) in Watkins Glen is a research library, an archive, but not really a museum. “We have collections,” said Glenda Gephart, Director of Administration and Communications, “and that includes memorabilia, fine art, trophies—both active and ina…