Wanted: Virtual Hitchhikers for Single Mom Solo Westward Ho! Road Trip - Part 6

With our earlier summer baseball mystique and memories behind us, I, for one, am absolutely ready for waterfalls, wineries, and lakeside wanderings. Shall we share a virtual Finger Lakes toast in anticipation? Horseheads, Painted Post, Dundee, and Beavers Dam, New York are behind us (and are all real city names, honest and true.) Watkins Glen we have arrived!

NOTE to any racing car fans among our virtual hitchhiking crew: We will be avoiding NASCAR completely during this scenic Watkins Glen trip.

I am not a race car fan (although my younger brother, who moved his wedding date to coincide with NASCAR honeymoon plans, makes up for both of us). I almost scratched the Watkins Glen stop from my Boston to St. Louis Single Mom road trip altogether, nervous that grand prix racing sights and sounds might overwhelm my outdoor yearnings. Thanks to our early summer travel schedule (and perhaps to my special anti-NASCAR tourist glasses, pictured), steering clear of the potentially dizzying vistas and deafening v-a-rooms of the local racing world was a breeze.

My internal reservoir of New York state scenic vistas bubbling over with the lush of rolling green, I find the approach to Watkins Glen disappointing. First impressions register more ordinary small town than tourist temptation, no quaint roadside attractions or breathtaking scenic turnouts to inspire sudden u-turns. Given my NASCAR worries, I had left my length of stay at Watkins Glen open-ended. Now, with no stunning views catching my eye, I'm thinking that this might be a much shorter day trip than I'd even imagined.

Whoa! Aaaaah!

Seneca Lake, the largest of the Finger Lakes, finally comes into beautiful view at the far southern end of main street. If you hold up a map of the Finger Lakes area, you'll see that the outline of the five lakes clearly resembles the five fingers pointing down on a very large hand. As legend has it, the Indian Spirit, Manitou, placed his handprint upon the Earth to create the Finger Lakes. Watkins Glen is just one of the many small towns along the winding ancient hills and deep waters.