FLX Seneca Lake 2022

Book your transportation to Rochester, NY where we will start our group tour! You can arrive any time today and we will be staying at the Courtyard by Marriott Rochester Brighton. If you are booking flights, please fly into ROC airport. 

Your room will be available after 4PM and there is a free airport shuttle to the hotel between 7AM-11PM if you arrive by plane. Meals are on your own today as participants will be arriving at different times. It was important that we schedule this buffer day at the start of the trip due to the state of the airline industry at this time.

We have a day filled with activities to get us started today! After loading up the van and a simple, included, breakfast we head to our first stop: Ganondagan State Historic Site, the Seneca Arts and Culture Center.

Ganondagan is a National Historic Landmark and New York State Historic Site. It is the original site of the 17th century Seneca town. We’ll visit the full-size Seneca Bark Longhouse built in 1998 that is fully furnished to reflect a typical Seneca family from the late 1600’s and the center to learn the story of Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) contributions to society. While this is a Historic Landmark and Site, the region is still home to many Haudenosaunee and in 2022 The Onondaga Nation regained 1,023 Acres of land (further east from where we will be on our trip) from New York State in an unprecedented Land Back Moment.

After our visit we will drive to the Fox Run Vineyard for our included welcome lunch and wine flight! We may need to exhibit patience as reservations are not taken, but it’s worth the wait if there is one.

What’s a better way to promenade after a delicious and wine-filled lunch than a stroll through a local apple orchard? We’ll participate in this seasonal activity and pick apples as a group to enjoy throughout the weekend! On our way to the hotel we will make a few stops to view local waterfalls as well.

If we arrive before our rooms are ready at the gorgeous and perfectly located Watkins Glen Harbor Hotel, our home for the next two nights, you can enjoy the lobby, bar, or outdoor patio, or even take a stroll around town. Due to it being high-peak season in the region and top-rated local restaurants not taking reservations, dinner is on your own tonight. However, might we recommend Graft Wine and Cider Bar, Nickel’s BBQ, or the hotel’s restaurant - Blue Pointe? There is a lot of great dining in town and you’ll want to take advantage of it! 

This morning we have blocked out a period of free time for you to enjoy Watkins Glen on your own or with fellow participants! We highly recommend hiking the Watkins Glen State Park Gorge Trail to take in one of the most beautiful sites in the region. It gets busy, so head out early to avoid the crowds. Other suggestions are a spa treatment or relaxing in your room, kayaking or paddle boarding, or taking a walk around the town. Don’t forget to enjoy breakfast because once we gather as a group, we have a busy afternoon! 

We drive the distance between Seneca and Cayuga Lake, stopping at the Taughannock Falls Overlook Visitors Center. Fingers crossed for prime foliage because it will surround the Falls for a beautiful view if the conditions are just right! Keep your eyes peeled as well - the local turkey vulture inhabitants are often visible flying around the gorge.

Next up is lunch at the incredible Finger Lakes Cider House on Good Life Farm. As you decide what you’ll purchase for your drinks, there are options for ciders, cider flights, local beers and wine, and nonalcoholic beverages. Plus, all of the ingredients used to make their food are from local farms and bakeries, which provides a high level of quality!  

On our way back to Watkins Glen we have a few stops to make. Perhaps a winery to purchase some bottles to bring onboard our schooner sail tonight? Maybe a look at the upper part of the waterfall we have a chance of seeing while on the sailboat as it empties directly into the lake?

We’ll board the Schooner True Love for a sunset cruise this evening as we enjoy the Seneca Lake landscape with local wine in hand! This highly rated experience takes place on a schooner that was originally built in Wiscasset, Maine in 1926. After a storied history that involved racing, Hollywood films, cruising the Atlantic Coast and Caribbean, sinking in 1960 during Hurricane Donna and then being salvaged in 1963, plus the journey in 2008 through the canals and locks that brought her to Seneca Lake it’s our turn!

Interested in a historical preview of the ship? Watch the musical movie “High Society” or this YouTube clip and see Bing Crosby sing “True Love”, composed by Cole Porter, to Grace Kelly while onboard! Upon our return to land, enjoy another local dinner at your leisure!

We have another relaxed morning today with breakfast and some free time on your own before we load up the van and head north along the Western side of Seneca Lake to Geneva. Tabora Farm & Winery is our first stop for an included wine tasting and then you can grab lunch (and trust us on this one) pastries at their deli & bakery. The pastries are the perfect carbo-load after one wine tasting and before another, but also they’re known to sell out daily because they are so good!

Then it’s time for the cherry on top - our private wine tasting at Ravines Wine Cellar! Ravines is one of the top-rated wineries in the world and is one of only two in the Finger Lakes region that has been ranked in the top 100 worldwide by Wine & Spirits Magazine (2014, 2017, 2022). Their dry wines are a tour-de-force and a perfect last wine tasting stop on our journey together.

After our wine tasting we’ll head into Geneva downtown and check-in to our hotel, the Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott Geneva Finger Lakes. You can enjoy some downtime, freshen up before dinner, or bebop around town. Some ideas include: a local juice tasting at Red Jacket Orchard, WeBe Brewing, a walk to the lake side or State Park, or wine and gift shopping.

Our included farewell dinner takes place at the tasty and beautiful Kindred Fare restaurant. Making everything from scratch, they’re known for working with farm-to-table local products and seasonal ingredients.

Our hotel stay includes a light continental breakfast or you can walk down the street to the fantastic Bagels & Cakes by Club 86 for breakfast sandwiches, pastries, and smoothies. Afterwards we depart for the Rochester airport as a group for the worst part of the trip - the end!

***Important, do not book your return flight departure time earlier than 12PM.***