The Beauty Around Us

Five NY State Parks in One Weekend: Watkins Glen State Park

By Linda G. on June 29, 2015

We spent two nights at the Best Western Grand Victorian Inn in Sayre, PA during the weekend of June 26th.  We decided to go on our planned weekend getaway to the Finger Lakes region, regardless of the weather.  The weather forecast called for a very soggy weekend. Rain amounts of 1-2 inches (or more) was expected to fall.

We departed home at 12:45 pm on Friday, June 26th, en route Watkins Glen, NY.  We arrived in Watkins Glen around 4:00 pm and entered Watkins Glen State Park, using the New York State Empire Passport that we purchased earlier in the year. Within the park, Glen Creek descends 400 feet past 200-foot cliffs, generating 19 waterfalls along its course. The gorge path winds over and under waterfalls and through the spray of Cavern Cascade. Rim trails overlook the gorge.  We caught a shuttle bus ($5.00 each) to the upper entrance to the gorge and hiked the 1 1/2 miles down to the main entrance. Our hike took us about 1 ½ hours, with lots of photo stops.

It was a perfect afternoon for a hike. It was a warm, not a hot and humid day.

After hiking the gorge, we drove to Sayre and ate dinner at the Original Italian Grille.  This restaurant was recommended to us by one of Bob’s coworkers.  I ordered lasagna and a side salad.  The lasagna was generous enough that two people could have eaten it easily.  Bob ordered the Seared Ahi Tuna Salad (Chilled Sashimi-style tuna, rubbed and seared, served rare, with tomatoes, red onion, wonton crisps and sesame seeds paired with our Wasabi vinaigrette).  In addition to the tuna salad, Bob helped me eat the lasagna.  Our meals also were served with homemade bread.  Dinner was delicious, and the service was okay. The waitress made a couple mistakes with our order. She brought me water instead of unsweetened tea, and she forgot to bring me a salad. The mistakes were quickly corrected.

After dinner, we drove the short distance to our hotel. Our accommodation at Best Western Grand Victorian Inn was a generously-sized room with king bed, two night stands, dresser and flat screen TV, desk with chair, arm chair with ottoman and small refrigerator and microwave. The closet was large enough to walk inside. The bathroom was large as well.  As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, the Best Western Grand Victorian Inn was home for us for 2 nights.