Merry Christmas!!! Each year we try to visit a different region for the Christmas Holidays. Last year we spent the Holidays in North Conway, New Hampshire hoping to experience a typical New England Christmas. Well, it was typical, however, it was one of the warmest Holiday Seasons on record for that part of the White Mountain Range. It snowed once for about 2 hours on the evening we arrived. About an inch worth. Nice while it lasted. Was gone before dawn. Other than that, the Holidays were wonderful.

This year we decided to try again for a snowy Christmas Holiday. Where else can one find more snow east of the Mississippi than in Up State New York with all that lake effect snow? We picked the small college town of Ithaca, New York (http://visitithaca.com/) because of its proximity to the Finger Lake Region (http://www.visitfingerlakes.com/) and other points of interest in that area.

We located and chose the small short-term lease community of Horizon Villages (http://www.horizonvillages.com/) for our Christmas Holiday home. A great choice; very comfortable and cozy and very close to everything. We arrived Saturday afternoon after a leisurely five-hour drive from Baltimore. After immediately setting up house, to include our small Christmas tree, we prepared our agenda for the following week.

Ithaca is the home Cornell University (http://www.cornell.edu/) and Ithaca College (http://www.ithaca.edu/). Both schools are very large and comprise a majority of the city’s land area. The city is located at the southern tip of Cayuga Lake, one of the region’s Finger Lakes.

While in the area we visited Niagara Falls (http://www.niagarafallstourism.com/) where we, and thousands of other visitors, enjoyed the awesome experience of this natural wonder. Also, we dropped by the Anchor Bar (http://www.anchorbar.com/) in Buffalo where we enjoyed a platter of their scrumptious Buffalo wings and a cold brew. The Anchor claims to be the inventor of this tasty treat. Among the many of our day trips, the two that were the most memorable were Watkins Glen and Corning.

Watkins Glen (http://www.watkinsglen.com/), also, is at the southern tip of one of the Finger Lakes, Seneca Lake. The Glen has a beautiful state park (http://nysparks.state.ny.us/parks/info.asp?parkID=105) within its city limits. It is also the home of the Watkins Glen International (http://www.theglen.com/), a road course racetrack that is host to many famous racing venues. Before the building of the racetrack, the races were held on the streets of the village and through the roads in the surrounding countryside. In addition, the Glen is the home of the International Motor Racing Research Center (http://www.racingarchives.org/). The highlight of this visit was driving the original racecourse from start-to-finish. All in all, a beautiful and interesting place to visit. This can be said for Corning, too.

Corning, New York (http://www.corningny.com/) is the home of Corning glass and one of its main attractions is the Corning Museum of Glass (http://www.cmog.org/). This museum is worth the trip to the city alone. If you’re into aviation, the Glenn Curtiss Museum, the National Soaring Museum, and the Wings of Eagles Discovery Center are located within minutes of one another. The city itself is nestled in a valley on the Chemung River and is filled with plenty of shopping opportunities.

This area was filled with so many waterfalls (http://www.naturalhighs.net/cgi-bin/wfall_alf.pl) it would have taken us weeks to visit them all. So many photo ops available. But, the one thing we wanted to experience here was the snow and guess what…it was the warmest Christmas Season on record. Again…no snow, except for the day we visited Watkins Glen when it snowed, but did not stick. Made it a beautiful scene. Shortly afterwards,however, the area was inundated by snow for the rest of the winter. Timing, I guess.

This Christmas Holiday will be spent in Savannah, hopefully, in our new home. If not there then in our trailer where we will live until the house is inhabitable. Look for more on this.