We recently returned from a great trip to the fingerlakes area of NY.

some highlights:

we visited Seneca falls - the national women's rights museum - very well done. good movie and good exhibits. also saw the womens' hall of fame down the street.

Montezuma wildlife refuge is in the area too. has a good visitors center and a 4 mile drive through the refuge. If you go slow you can see some great birds. binoculars help. saw herons, cormorants. assorted ducks, grebes. etc. etc.

watkins glen gorge - a great 1 1/2 mile walk through the gorge. great scenery. water was a little low since not much rain this summer.

also took a boat tour on seneca lake - interesting.

glen curtiss museum in Hammondsport is worth a stop. He was one of the first to build and fly planes. Not as well known as the wright brothers but appears to have done more.

went on 2 winery tours ( we were with a group for this part of our trip). bully hill - which is not that great. and great western, which was ok. I think there are better wineries in the area. next time.

Corning Glass museum in corning is fantastic. great exhibits. great children's section. steuben glass making demonstrations. workshops for children to make glass object available. Don't miss it. need at least 1/2 to a full day there.

Also went to baseball hall of fame in cooperstown. we were not impressed. not that well done. dark. the best thing there was the Abbott and Costello skit of "who's on First".

also saw Fenimore cooper art museum in cooperstown. lovely site, somewhat interesting art.

Ate very casually, so no recommendations on restaurants.

Motels we stayed at included - Wyndham in east syracuse - ok.
holiday inn in cooperstown - expensive and noisy on the first floor - make sure you get a room on the second floor.

Holiday Inn in Seneca falls/waterloo NY. a little tired, but ok.

rest of the time we were at an elderhostel and stayed at watson homestead. (private I believe).

thanks for all the suggestions I got from this board.

pictures of trip if interested are at
http://www.pbase.com/joanel/fingerlakes, have to click on each inital image to see pictures in that section.

Nice work, Joanel. Haven't been to NY in decades. Ouch, I'm aging. Great photos on your website, too.

Thanks. One lunch place worth mentioning was at the fenimore museum. great food. eat outside on terrace with view of the lake!

Also ZuZu cafe in seneca falls.

There are, as you suggest, many more better wineries in the Finger Lakes. Unfortunately, you visited 2 of the worst, IMO (ie, tourist traps vs. the boutique wineries that really care about the product they serve vs. bringing in hordes of people on buses.)

Sounds like a good trip! Montezuma (for anybody interested) is a premier birding spot, with an incredible spring waterfowl and shorebird migration. Also has nesting bald eagles and osprey which can be seen nearly all the time. Good thing you stopped there!