Hubby and I have always enjoyed taking road trips. When my dog business was active, summers were usually too busy, so we often hit the road in September.
No crowded tourists areas, and the weather was still pleasantly warm!
In 2015, we thought it would be fun to drive all the way around Lake Ontario, scheduling several stops in the Thousand Islands area and Upstate New York.
It was a five-day excursion, Sept. 9 – 14.
This is a four-part series.
[Click on all images to view full size in a separate window.]
[Map data ©2023 Google]
SEPT. 12 & 13
SENECA FALLS, N.Y.
Crossing the border was a soggy affair!
At least it was dry in Seneca Falls, although overcast. We arrived early in the afternoon.
This small town (pop. approx. 9000) in the Finger Lakes region of New York State has two claims to fame:
It’s A Wonderful Life
Seneca Falls has long believed it was the inspiration for the movie and the film’s location of Bedford Falls, for several reasons:
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- Director Frank Capra and his staff spent time there in 1945 while working on the script.
- The movie references the Upper New York state area
- Seneca Falls also had a history of building affordable housing, just like Bedford Falls
- Much of the architecture is strikingly similar, especially the bridge.
- Just like George Bailey, a man in Seneca Falls jumped into the water to save someone from drowning. This video explains:
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The famous bridge:
Fans of the movie will recognize these names:
There is a museum, but it was closed at the time. Peering through the windows, I couldn’t see much – mostly a bunch of movie stills. It might be more interesting now, eight years later. Every December, they host a festival honouring the movie.
The Birthplace of Women’s Rights
Seneca Falls resident, Elizabeth Cady Stanton (November 12, 1815 – October 26, 1902) was an American writer and activist who was a leader of the women’s rights movement in the U.S. during the mid- to late-19th century.
She was the main force behind the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention, the first of its kind organized to discuss women’s rights, and the primary author of its Declaration of Sentiments.
Her demand for women’s right to vote generated a controversy at the convention but quickly became a central tenet of the women’s movement.
This is the Seneca Knitting Mill, which operated from 1844 until 1999. It was vacant when I took the photo (2015), but in 2017, reconstruction began to convert it into the new home of the National Women’s Hall of Fame.
SEPT. 13
GENEVA, N.Y. & ROSE HILL MANSION
Next, we headed to Geneva, 30 minutes west, where we stopped for lunch at the Lakeside Hotel. They have a lovely promenade there:
As a history nerd, I couldn’t pass up the chance to visit Rose Hill Mansion, built in the 1830s and restored to its former glory in the 1960s:
We started with the Carriage House, which contains a 1916 Ford Model T wagon, owned by a descendent of the former residents:
To be continued…
Before you go, visit my BOTB site to see what’s been happening.
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Next Chapter:
Rochester and Medina, N.Y.
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Dog Mom and (retired) Canine Innkeeper in suburban Toronto, Canada, known as The Doglady. Former corporate workaholic. Writer, photographer, digital creator. Animal lover, music fanatic, inveterate traveller. Eternal hippie/rockchick. History, literature and cinema buff. Hockey and soccer fan. Dedicated night owl. German/Canadian binational, multilingual. Let me entertain you!
27 thoughts on “CIRCLING LAKE ONTARIO #RoadTrip Part III”
It’s A Wonderful Life is one of my favorite Christmas classics. We don’t watch it every year but I love the story. How cool to visit the place that inspired the movie! I love learning things like this and it’s so neat to see Bedford Falls real-life town. 🙂
It was fun to see the locations that inspired the movie. 🙂 One of the main reasons I wanted to visit Seneca Falls! Thanks for taking the tour, Cathy.
I’ve got you now! You had to take the Thruway to get to Seneca Falls, which means you drove through Syracuse, which has 6 exits. Exit 38 means you were only 6 minutes from my house; sigh… lol
Oh no! I wish I’d known, Mitch! Ah well, maybe another trip is in order. 🙂 Thanks for coming by.
What an interesting and visual post. Thank you for sharing s part of your world, Debbie.
My pleasure, Eugi. 🙂 It preserves the memories for me as well. I’m glad you enjoyed the tour!
I’m aware of Seneca Falls because of its connection to Elizabeth Cady Stanton and women’s rights, but I didn’t realize it’s also connected to my favorite movie–––It’s A Wonderful Live. How Interesting!
Love,
Janie
Yes, I thought so too, but for me, it was the other way around. 🙂 Thanks for coming by, Janie.
This was interesting. I have driven the Canadian side of the lake, but not the American.
I’m glad you enjoyed it, Denise! 🙂 The American side of Lake Ontario has many places of interest.
We went to Seneca Falls over a decade ago when my step-daughter was going to school at Syracuse. It was for her graduation and my wife and I took her father and a couple of her sisters with us. We had a grand drive that also took us to Toronto with an overnight stay at Niagara Falls. Very scenic parts of our countries.
Lee
Scenic indeed! 🙂 We have several places in common, Lee. Thanks for coming by!
Great trip Deb. We’ve been to Seneca Casino plenty, and Buffalo shopping, but we never took these tours. 🙂 x
Thanks for coming by, Deb. 🙂 We enjoyed the trip. Believe it or not, I’ve never been to Seneca Casino – only the two on the Canadian side.
They have a nice hotel. And on that side drinks are free – also smoking.
Free drinks are a nice perk, but the smoking would turn me off. After quitting 20 years ago, I developed an acute aversion to the smell. 🤢
Some of those old preserved houses a pretty cool. I loved President Hayes’ old homestead.
Yes, it’s fascinating to see how people lived in earlier times. 🙂
This is on my bucket list along with my best friend. I really want to visit this place and it’s only , what, an hour and a half away? I am certain this town was an inspiration. I didn’t know about the women’s movement so that would be great to take in as well. I highly recommend visiting Jimmie Stewart’s home town and taking in his museum.
I had a hunch you would like this travelogue, Birgit! 🙂 Seneca Falls is more like 2.5 hours away from you, though (~230 km). Definitely doable. Jimmy Stewart was from Pennsylvania, yes? That’s also a reasonable distance.
Such a cool trip. Thanks so much for sharing it.
It was fun! 🙂 Thanks for checking it out, Patrick.
How fun and I’m with you on going when the tourist season is over. Hubby and I would have love doing this. We’ve done the same thing at Lake Tahoe. It was fabulous.
Have a fabulous day and week, Debbie. Hugs. ♥
Oh yes, trips are more pleasant when you don’t have hordes of other tourists to deal with. This was a fun adventure! 🙂 Thanks for coming by, Sandee. 🌹
I have lost count of the times I have seen ‘It’s A Wonderful Life’. Nice to see the location after all this time.
(I had to log in with a security code sent to my email to view the post, don’t remember that happening before.)
Best wishes, Pete.
Thanks for checking out the travelogue, Pete! 🙂 As for the security code business, I have NO clue what that was about! 😲 I’ll try to figure out what’s going on there.
I think the issue is fixed now. For some unknown reason, this post got set to subscribers only, so I changed it back to everyone. I never use that setting, so it must have been some kind of malfunction! Sorry about that.