SPRING GETAWAYS

Pack Your Bags, Capital Region!

From Lake Placid to the Finger Lakes, here are six must-see Upstate New York locales you should plan a trip to visit right now.

Lake Champlain

LakeChamplainRegion.com

Explore and relax! Nestled between Adirondack peaks and glittering lakes, the open spaces of the Lake Champlain Region glow golden. Witness storied forts, towns and picturesque rolling hills. Spend your day watching migratory birds flutter through the heart of the Champlain Valley, or find your perfect hike on boundless Champlain area trails. Cruise down winding roads by car or bike, and travel along one of the largest lakes in North America. However you choose to spend this spring, the Lake Champlain region will make your getaway legendary.

Howe Caverns

255 Discovery Dr., Howes Cave 518.296.8900; howecaverns.com

This spring, visit the largest show cave in the Northeast and the secondmost visited attraction in all of New York State. Located just off Interstate 88 (just 45 minutes from Albany!), Howe Caverns offers its traditional 90-minute cave tour all year round. The tour includes a mile-and-a-quarter walk and quarter-mile boat ride on the cave’s underground lake, and is perfect for explorers of all ages. Tickets for the tour must be purchased online in advance. The Howe Caverns team would like to thank everyone who voted for their Halloween Haunt as the best seasonal event in the Capital Region for the second year in a row.

The Lake House on Canandaigua

770 S Main St., Canandaigua 800.228.2801; lakehousecanandaigua.com

What if we told you you could get a Scandanivian spa treatment, a Frenchinspired dining experience and a Colorado-caliber ski vacation, all smack dab in the middle of New York’s wine country? Oh yeah, and on the shores of a gorgeous freshwater lake, no less? That’s exactly what The Lake House on Canandaigua, a new resort on the north shore of the fourth largest Finger Lake, has to offer. This spring, make the three-hour drive due west to experience all The Lake House has to offer, including the onsite Willowbrook Spa and renowned Rose Tavern, and explore the surrounding region—dozens of wineries, breweries and distilleries, plus spring skiing at Bristol Mountain, await.

John Boyd Thacher State Park

830 Thacher Park Rd., Voorheesville

Consistently voted one of the best parks and picnic spots in CRL’s Bestie awards, Thacher Park really is all it’s cracked up to be. Situated along the Helderberg Escarpment, Thacher is home to six miles of limestone cliff face, rock-strewn slopes, woodland and open fields, plus it offers unparalleled panoramic views of the Hudson-Mohawk Valleys and the Adirondack and Green Mountains. Add in volleyball courts, playgrounds, ball fields and picnic areas, and Thacher Park just might be your go-to spring day staycation.

The Cove at Sylvan Beach

750 Pioneer Ave., Sylvan Beach 315.356.1840; covesylvanbeach.com

Looking for the perfect getaway? The Cove at Sylvan Beach, a new lakeside vacation rental destination on Oneida Lake, offers space and activities for the whole family. A pontoon boat is included with each of The Cove’s 70 beautifully appointed two- and threebedroom lakeside cottage rentals, so you can enjoy carefree days on the water fishing, cruising and just soaking up lake life. Sylvan Beach Supply Co., The Cove’s flagship store, will also offer rentals for bicycles, paddleboards, kayaks, canoes and more for exploring the area during your stay.

Steuben County

corningfingerlakes.com

More than any other season, spring is the one we anticipate most. Trees bud. Flowers push up through the soil and blossom in vibrant color. The air fills once again with birdsong laughter, and streams flow with wild abandon as the world comes alive. Our spirits soar as we get outside, move again, explore. Such is spring, the season of new beginnings. Savor this spirit of spring by visiting Steuben’s exciting craft distillers—mad scientists and culinary wizards creating exceptional gin, vodka, whiskey and moonshine. Discover for yourself the latest ways the area’s creative tastemakers tantalize the tongue. This spring, Explore Steuben!

WHEN THE WORST THING IS THE BEST THING

BY JOHN GRAY

W

henever Jeremy Conroy needed to think, he’d walk in the park. There was a pond, a small amphitheater where they held concerts in the summer, and benches on which to sit and watch the pigeons. Mostly it was quiet, perfect for the 13-year-old to work. Jeremy’s teacher said the local magazine had just published its Best Of edition, where readers voted on their favorite places to shop, eat and be entertained. Inspired, the teacher decided to make that the eighth grade class’ weekend homework assignment: The students would have to come up with a list of their own favorite things. Jeremy immediately thought of his dog, Potter, the waffle house where he loved to get breakfast, and the big amusement park a dozen exits up the highway.

After taking a seat at the park, Jeremy noticed an old man in a jet-black fedora hat on the bench opposite him. He was a kind-looking soul who tipped that hat and asked Jeremy what he was writing in the notepad in his lap. Jeremy didn’t normally talk to strangers but, seeing how harmless the gentleman looked, he took a chance and explained his teacher’s assignment. The man took off the hat, placing it on the bench beside him, and said, “If you ask me, son, I’ve found in life that quite often the worst thing is the best thing.”

Jeremy pretended to understand and then politely went back to his notes to continue his own list.

“I’m sorry,” the nice man said. “That probably didn’t make sense. Let me explain.”

Jeremy put the pen back down and waited for an education from his new octogenarian friend. “My favorite restaurant is DiCaprio’s,” the man began, “because that’s where I asked Marcia Whitmore to marry me.”

Jeremy smiled and replied, “And she said yes?”

The man laughed, “Heavens no, she turned me down flat. Left me with her veal parm and the $40 check.” When it was clear Jeremy was confused, the man continued: “She wasn’t the right one, you see. Had she said yes, we both would have been miserable, and I wouldn’t have met my beautiful Margaret whom I was with for 56 wonderful years.” The old man went on, “My favorite college is RIT” Jeremy asked, “What did you study there?”

Again, the man smiled. And then said, “I didn’t. Despite having perfect grades, they rejected me, and I ended up at the University of Buffalo where I got a degree in engineering.” “And that was better?” Jeremy asked. The man took crackers from his pocket and tossed them to the patient pigeons, answering, “Oh yes, much better. My roommate became my best friend, I loved my teachers. Buffalo was right for me even if I didn’t know it.” He pressed on: “My favorite doctor was a man named Herbert Morton. He’s long gone now, but guess why he was my favorite doctor.” Jeremy was the one smiling now and answered, “I don’t know. Because he cured cancer or something?”

“No sir,” he replied. “Because he kicked me out of his office when I turned 40 and refused to quit smoking and drinking.” Jeremy was trying to understand, when the man added, “He said, ‘I like you, Frank, and I don’t want a front row seat when you die, and that’s what’s going to happen. You won’t listen to me, so get out.’”

“What happened?” Jeremy asked.

“He scared me is what happened,” he replied. “So I did straighten myself out.” The old man rose and picked up his hat. “My point is, son, that life is a mystery that reveals itself to us in its own good time,” he said. “And when things don’t go your way, remember–“

Jeremy interrupted man to excitedly say, “Sometimes the worst thing is the best thing.” The kind man nodded, then placed the remaining crackers in Jeremy’s small hand and said, “Finish this for me, would you please?” Jeremy tossed the crackers to the pavement to the delight of the birds. By the time he raised his eyes to say thank you, the old man was gone. The boy pondered his own life, both the triumphs and missteps, and when he handed in his homework, Jeremy’s teacher said it was the strangest yet loveliest thing she’d ever read. CRL