Thousand Islands, Finger Lakes, Adirondacks, Catskills?
 

Mr Glover and I are thinking of tooling around NY between 2 scheduled events coming up quickly - on the front end a reunion at Lake Michigan and on the back end several nights over long Labor Day weekend at friend’s place on New Hampshire Lake. We’ll have about a week between Aug 23 and pre Labor Day. We’re well travelled retired couple, like cities and culture but also nature, birds etc. just looking for some ideas and recs from those in the know. Thanks.

Lots of options in the Adirondacks, from Saratoga at the south (horse racing, spas, mineral springs, small city with good restaurant and shopping scene, revolutionary war history, etc)... Likely to be a madhouse this summer with fans back at the races after none last year. Mon/Tue (dark/no racing days) and Wed are quieter/cheaper than Thu to Sun. AirBnB/VRBO for a night or two might be a better deal than a hotel. I know the town well so if you have specific questions I'm happy to weigh in.

Lake George. Large beautiful lake, great place if you avoid the honkey tonk LG village at the southern end. We'll go there for day trips, swimming, or occasional kayaking.

Lake Placid - fun little town, also gets quite busy with tourists. We'll go there for a lunch or dinner when we stay in nearby Saranac but don't typically stay in LP town. Several nice resorts as well.

Countless other lakes and smaller towns across the Adirondacks to use as a base for a few days. We travel to Saranac Lake each fall for a long weekend as it's much quieter but still nice accommodations, nearby hiking, and countless miles of kayaking, canoeing on meandering river.

Loads of hiking options, from flat trails to mountains.

You can fill in a nice week of activities across NYS with as much activity and relaxation as you like. This is not a recommended list - just of list of things for you to not to miss considering while doing your research on your trip across NYS (using I-90). Coming from the west:

1. Niagara Falls (only 25 minutes north of the I-90 - can be done in less than a full day, especially considering you can't go over to Canada these days.
2. Letchworth Park (Recently named America's #1 state park) it has very nice hiking and scenic views from both top and bottom.
3. Finger Lakes - winery tour, Watkins Glen/Montour Falls for hiking. This is the Seneca Lake area - you can tick a number of boxes here.
4. Thousand Islands - definitely worth the trip if you haven't been there before - you will not forget it and it can be done in one day. Activities would include a tour of Boldt Castle on Heart Island (if time is an issue, skip the yacht house which chews up a lot of time boating over there, getting the tour, and boating back with marginal incremental value after touring the castle) and a Thousand Islands boat tour
5. Lake Placid & the Adirondacks - hiking, lakes, mountains, Olympic site, and black flies. It's at least a couple of days.
6. Lake George & Saratoga area - NYC's wealthy playground. Posh resorts (Sagamore), horse racing, and certainly consider a relaxing ride on a Lake George tour boat to become educated about the summer homes of the rich and famous from the last couple of centuries.

Driving across NYS (PA line to Albany) takes only a little over 5 hours so these places in between are only a couple of hours from each other - so pretty easy to get around (in summer that is - haha!!).

I would bag the Catskills as the Adirondacks are better (more lakes, higher mountains, more to do - there were no Olympics in the Catskills for good reason). The Adirondacks are also more in line with where you are headed - the Catskills take you much farther south.

DD

In the Finger Lakes, I would suggest a visit to the Corning Museum of Glass. Fascinating collection of ancient to modern glasswork, demonstrations, etc. https://home.cmog.org

in addition I would add that the finger Lakes have a lot of wineries to tour.

In the Adirondacks, Hemlock Hall lodge near Blue Mountain Lake is a wonderful get away with good food included in the price. Lots of water toys available for use by guests. I can still smell the homemade bread baking each morning. Close to the Adirondack Museum and The Wild Center. Check them all out.