Watkins Glen State Park, New York

Watkins Glen State Park 6/24-6/26

Tuesday 6/24

We had a beautiful drive from Bowman Lake to Watkins Glenn State Park. It was only 82 miles away, but the back roads we took were twisting and rolling over hills. I love this type of driving. Much better than an interstate!

Watkins Glen State Park is on the southern part of Seneca Lake (one of the finger lakes of New York). It took awhile to find the campground. Our GPS kept taking us to the Upper entrance to the Park. I finally took the old fashion approach and used the address on our reservation. 

Since we did not have a long drive  today, we were able to check in to our campsite early (1:00pm). We had reserved campsite #15. This was a much easier campsite to back the camper into. I took the time to level the camper from side to side (using blocks to elevate the left tire of the trailer). I did not do this at Bowman lake and I noticed that I kept sliding to the side of the camper during the night. Learning the importance of the details as I go!.

Our Campsite.

The weather was really hot (upper 90’s), so we put the dog in the car and headed out for drive to explore the area. (In the comfort of the car’s AC). We decided to do the drive around the lake, about a 2 hour drive. There are a ton of wineries out here, but it was 4:00 and most closed at 5:00. Plus it was too hot for wine. I was in the mood for a cold beer. Luck for us, there are also a good number of breweries here as well. 

Our first stop was at The Beerocracy of Seneca lake Brewing. This was interesting as it was set up as an authentic English Pub. The beer was cask brewed and served at room temp (it was also a bit flat), but this is how it is served in England. They also had a great selection of gin. Sandy opted for the warm flat beer and I ordered a gin and tonic. I was impressed with my drink as it was served just like the gin and. Tonics I had while traveling in the Cotswold area of England. It was served in a stemmed glass with the proper tonic water and garnish. Sandy liked her beer. She said it reminded her of beers she had in England, but she really wanted a cold beer since it was so hot out. At least the pub was air conditioned. 

We decided our next stop had to have cold beers. 

Halfway around the lake near Geneva at the top of the lake, we found the Watershed Brewing Company. They also allowed dogs in the brewery. The beers were cold, but the brewery was not. We finished out beers and moved on. 

 We were determined to find a cold beer in an air conditioned bar the allowed dogs. A few places we stopped would only allow dogs on the patio or lawn, It was 97 degrees and that is too hot to sit int he sun.

Finally around Hector NY, we drove past Two Goats Brewing. They allowed dogs inside and it was air conditioned with cold beers. The deck had a great view of the lake, and despite what we decided earlier, we got our beers and sat outside looking over the lake. the weather was cooling and it was tolerable. Our dog was not too happy, but I had a bowl of water for him and he mostly stayed under the table in the shade. 

That was it for our beer tour for the day, It was almost 8:00pm by the time we drove back to the campground. We were not feeling very hungry because the heat, so we just snacked on cheese and crackers in our screen room. 

We have electrical hookup at this campsite, so were were able to use the AC unit in the camper. I turned it on a half hour before we went to bed to cool it down. I also took a shower to help cool down before bed. The showers here were nice and clean and had decent pressure and warm water (not hot).The AC unit in the camper is a bit loud and blows right on the bed. But it was cool and I was able to snuggle under a blanket. Eventually I got used to the nose and fell asleep. 

Wednesday 6/25

Today we hiked the Glenn at Watkins Glen. Dogs are not allowed, so we planned a morning hike and left the dog in the camper. The morning weather was cool (74 degrees), so we felt good leaving him in the camper with the windows open and ceiling vent turned on.

We drove to the top of the Glenn and hiked down. About a 1.5 mile hike. We had planned on taking the shuttle back to the top to get th car. The hike was stunning. So many waterfalls and carved slots in the shale canyon.

When we got to the bottom, we found out the shuttle service was not running today. Ugh! We had tow options, hike back up the Glenn in the Gourde trail (the way we came) or hike up the North Rim Trail. The North Rim trail was 1.1 miles as opposed to the gourde trail that is 1.5 miles. I offered to hike up and get the car and drive back to pick up Sandy, but she insisted on hiking with me. The first part of the North Rim Trail was 350 stairs. This was supposed to be an easy hike along the top of the rim. For the most part, I would consider it a moderate hike as there were a lot of steep inclines along the top of the trail. It took us over 2 hours to get back to the car. 

The AC in the car felt so good. We drove back to camp to check on the dog and ended up sitting in the car (with the dog) keeping cool with the AC. Thank goodness I had cold beers in the cooler! Eventually we got out of the car and relaxed in the screen room.

We needed some internet service, so we drive into town to the Lucky Hare for cold drink, internet and a great view of the harbor. 

Thursday 6/26
Our stay here was too short. We needed to leave today as we have a wedding in Frankenmuth Michigan on Friday. It is a 9 hour drive and the wedding is at 4:00 on Friday. We thought it better to break camp a day early and get started on the drive. Would love to come back here again someday.