It was a 5 hr drive to Watkins Glen, NY. That last hour and a half were pretty boring but I had waterfall fever and a deep desire to explore a new place. This could stem from a great deal of Star Trek watching (where no man woman has gone before...). We drove through the town of Ithica which looked interesting (college towns are always interesting) and a bit confusing. It looks like they park their cars in parking lots in the middle of the main street that goes through the town. Odd...unsafe even...outright weird. I wonder how many accidents they have in that town each year.
Arriving at our motel we discovered (much to our dismay) that the motel was perched on a steep hillside and the driveway looked to be straight up with a turn and a platue at the top. My mind bauked at the sight and I actually stopped the vehicle in the middle of the road to stare in disbelief. My head kept repeating "I'm not going up there! that's crazy!" over and over while I sat there looking. (There was no traffic on this road while I sat there. I assumed they had all attempted the driveway and tumbled down the hill into the lake. I was sure that's where we were going to end up too).
As I finally took on a do or die trying attitude (Star Trek influence again I'm sure), I started up the driveway and used more gas than I expected because fear makes you want to get it over with quickly. We all gave a tiny scream of terror in unison as we crested the top and turned sharply to the left. My legs turned to rubber while I parked and waited for my heart to climb back down from my throat. Directly above us there were cabins built even higher up the hill. I refused to even look for the driveway to get up to them!
We met the owner; checked into our ordinary room and met his two exceptionally sweet and friendly dogs. We then discovered there was not even a coffee pot in the room and no ice in the ice machine. We were told to go to the tiki bar to get ice, which was down the hill; across the street; across the railroad tracks; down another hill....next to the lake. (Oh, I see...we have to WORK for our ice.) I did the deed and needed a wee rest after filling our coolers. The hills are steep around here! And now I knew why their website was an aerial view of the motel and grounds. Rather sneaky that is...
We later went back to the tiki bar for expensive drinks (the wines they serve are only the local ones...my pick was yucky) and picture taking while watching some of the locals get loaded and trying fried pickles for the first (and last) time. I didn't like my fried pickle (what did that pickle ever do to deserve that??!!) but I convinced the local bar dog (Nuts is his name) that he liked it so he ate it for me. The other assorted fried foods likewise mostly went to the dog. He didn't mind that they were over cooked in old oil. Good boy Nuts!
The next day there was exploring of the town; picture taking and a lovely outside dinner where I was served the best burger I've ever eaten (with a sherry sauce and mushrooms on top) coupled with sauteed veggies and fly. Yes, that's right there was a fly in my sauteed veggies (also very sauteed). I don't know if there had been any of the flies buddies in or on my burger. I had already eaten that. And I was trying to convince myself that there had NOT been so that delicious burger would stay put.
My meal was free of course; apologies were made; a free glass of wine was given and we were on our way. The rest of the trip involved very close scrutiny of all foods before eating them.
The town was cute and had several different kinds of shops( and an unending supply of wineries). Some of them being the usual tourist type place and others having their own concept of how to draw people in for a look around. 
We found stockades (luckily they had a size to fit everyone) and not far from that Zultar was giving out fortunes. Odd...but fun!
And as much fun as the fly in my food was it was not the highlight of the trip. The Watkins Glen State Park was really why we had come to this beautiful town.
I took many more pictures than I have room for here...but I've tried to give you enough to at least make you jealous that you weren't there too!
It took us probably a couple of hours to go through the entire gorge and we only traveled the main walkway. There were many other trails off the main one that would take you in other directions to view the gorge and it's many waterfalls from other vantage points. I was tempted to follow one of these paths. They all looked so inviting. But I suspected we were still be there if I tried to walk all the trails.
Toward the end of our trail it was very hot; our water was gone (plenty of water around us but dying of thirst!) and the stone steps became steeper; twisting and unrelenting. Pockets of deep shade were welcome havens from the hot sun and heavy air. We stopped often in the shade and cooled off while taking pictures.
I asked an elderly couple coming down from the top how much farther it was to the top...should we go back? They said we were in the 11th hour and we could make it. We believed them (silly us) and shortly later found a stone seat to rest in a tiny bit of shade. It was at this point that Bunny leaned in and said "You know we hate you Elaine". I laughed but I didn't blame them for feeling that way. I also made sure my back was never facing the edge for the rest of the climb to the top. I was ready to kill for water myself actually.
We made it to the end of the trail. I found a much needed restroom and water. Bunny found the snack bar (we both discovered ice cream) and we all enjoyed the gift shop.
When the suggestion was made that we walk back down I was too busy looking for $3 to take the shuttle back down to even consider the suggestion. Nope, not gonna walk another step you crazy sister of mine! (Marie's suggestion of all people!) In fact I would have loved being carried the rest of the day but that wasn't one of the services they offered at the park.
We did enjoy another nice meal in town at a restaurant that didn't include fly on the menu or even hidden for free in the food! The picture below is part of their decor. Very cute and you usually can't go wrong with an Italian place.
We did take the time to visit Farm Sanctuary before heading home. However I think I'll leave that for the next post. They deserve a post of their own.
Our trip home was long and tiring. It was good to get home and unwind....although I'm not sure exactly what I was unwinding from...fly inspections perhaps? I would love to go back to that area and stay longer next time. There are much more things to see that we didn't have time for on this trip. And you can be very sure that I will be very careful to avoid motels perched on steep hills!!
What a sweet little piggy...slept through our entire tour too! :)
