As a celebration of a retirement, Ye Olde Photographer and his Faire Spouse, having too many obstacles peppered into their schedule to go west to the national parks or whatever, decided to do a tour of some portions of upstate New York in grand style. We began with a couple of nights at the Glen Iris Inn, located in Letchworth State Park. The park is large and stretches along a significant portion of the Genesee River Gorge, a spectacular formation lined with limestone cliffs and featuring three large waterfalls. One, the Middle Falls is right in front of the inn. We got in some good walks and enjoyed good food, dining within earshot of the falls.

YOP brought along his Yashica Mat 124g, a TLR used with a few rolls of Fuji Acros to document some old infrastructure, a genre of his favorite topics.

From Letchworth Park, we wandered over to Seneca Falls for three nights. From there we visited a number of wineries, indulged in local ice cream, and did a day trip to Lake Ontario. On our way, we made a brief stop at the Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge and also checked out Lock 25 on the Erie Canal. We took in the lighthouse at Sodus Point and enjoyed spectacular scenery in weather that could hardly have been better. We then wandered eastward a bit and had a late lunch overlooking the harbor at Fair Haven. One favorite lunch during this period was at the Bistro at Thirsty Owl Winery. There we tasted (and bought) some wines then sat out on a deck way up on a hillside looking out over vineyards with Cayuga Lake as a backdrop; doesn't get much better!

Eventually we moved on, traveling east, then north through Utica where Faire Spouse's iPhone app indicated a major quilting supply store. The store, and a pleasant sandwich shop where we had lunch, were located in one of several ancient and huge mill buildings that appear to be undergoing a revitalization. From there we traveled north and northeast into the Adirondacks to the town of Old Forge where we had the good fortune to be able to take in the Adirondack National Exhibition of American Watercolor, an annual show that had some really nice work displayed in a beautiful art center. The center was a recently built facility with a theater for the performing arts as well as a gallery of a quality associated with major city museums. That day ended by driving on across the Adirondacks and descending into Saratoga Springs where we spent three nights in a spectacular late 19th century B&B within walking distance of dozens of restaurants in the middle of an amazing city full of remarkable old homes. We took in the history museum, art center, and the state park while there. We also walked through town out to Yaddo Gardens, part of an an artists' retreat, and enjoyed the gardens which are open to the public. It was off season as far as horse racing, the Philadelphia Orchestra and New York Ballet in residence and all that, so we were able to enjoy an uncrowded and relaxed time sightseeing.

From Saratoga Springs we moved southward into the Catskill Region, staying in a delight