Variety is the Spice of Upstate New York — Conversations Across America

Thursday’s ride took us from near Batavia, skirting well outside of Rochester, New York, and into the heart of the Finger Lakes in Waterloo and Seneca Falls. The ride was marked by variety, from the agricultural land we usually see, to old industrial sites, to ex-urbs that represented the fingers of Rochester reaching into the rural areas to its south, to small villages, and finally into the Finger Lakes region.

We saw one last winery from the Great Lakes region as we headed away from both Lake Erie and Ontario. It was early in the day, so we did not stop.

Well preserved 19th century houses shared the countryside with open fields.

And then the road lead through cool, shaded woods.

Around the next corner, we came across an old (and still operating) quarry site. The shovel shown here dates from the early 20th century and is thought to be the same type that was used to construct the Panama Canal; the trucks that came out of the quarry across the street were more modern!

I have not mentioned the numerous graveyards our route has passed. When you ride through the back country, you realize that there are a lot of farms and a lot of graveyards. This graveyard near Mumford, NY was particularly picturesque.

We also came across this reminder of the days when the village blacksmith was a central part of the town.

The blacksmith’s building was in the village of Shortville, and we passed through a number of active villages. Clifton Springs, which developed in the mid-19th century when its waters were thought to be healing, continues as an active community based around the Clifton Springs Hospital and Clinic. This old hotel used by those coming to “take the cure” has been converted into a large apartment building.