Paul Szmal: Time to check in with Carolina Taylor from Finger Lakes Visitors Connection so we can chat about some of the events coming up in the month of August and a couple other things too. Carolina, good morning. How are you this morning?
Guest: Good morning, Paul. Happy to be here and talk to everyone about what's going on this August.
Paul Szmal: Yeah, and you know these events in August kind of have a recurring theme because a lot of them surround food. Starting with one of the traditional events in the Finger Lakes for this time of year, beginning of August usually means it's time for the Phelps Sauerkraut Festival.
Guest: Yes, this is going on between July 30 and August 2nd and it's going to be this annual festival with a carnival with games, rides, food, entertainment, a special parade and of course everything sauerkraut so it's going to be very exciting and as you said it's a big foodie month.
Paul Szmal: Yeah, and if you are a fan of sauerkraut this is the place to go because they're going to have everything from sauerkraut on the hot dogs to sauerkraut cake I believe somebody makes too as part of the Phelps Sauerkraut Festival. Now if you're a little more into the stronger stuff so to speak, the next event that is happening right about the same time so you can actually hit both of these events in the same weekend will be along the Geneva lakefront and that is the annual Glorious Garlic Festival.
Guest: Yes, that's also this weekend and they're going to feature more than 50 farms and vendors in a garlic paradise as we say. You can enjoy live music, beer, food and a bunch of different garlic products so it's a great chance to just enjoy these ingredients and taste different things.
Paul Szmal: And the best news of all if you're going to head to either one of these events this weekend, meteorologist Kevin Williams is saying the rain is going to clear out by the end of the week and Friday and Saturday and Sunday right now look to be absolutely picture perfect. Hold your breath because we all know that the weather can change in the Finger Lakes. Later on in the month of August, not this coming weekend, but the next weekend is the Victor Music and Food Festival.
Guest: Yes, that's on Saturday August 8th and people can enjoy live music from 4 to 10 p.m. and they're also going to have food trucks and vendors so it's going to be a great food and music celebration as well.
Paul Szmal: Yeah and by the way parking for that's going to be at the Fireman's Field in the Municipal Lots and on Main Street as well. Of course we're keeping our friends and Victor in our thoughts because some of them are still doing cleanup from those bad storms we had a couple of weeks ago. Hopefully they'll have everything taken care of in time for that food and music festival next weekend. We're talking with Carolina Taylor here from Finger Lakes Visitors Connection on FLX Morning. Okay, this event has food but it's not centered on food. It's another one of those benchmark events in the Finger Lakes for summertime. We're talking about the annual Pageant of Steam.
Guest: This is a great event that's happening between August 5th and 8th and it's presented by the New York Steam Engine Association and it's a four-day celebration that features a large outdoor display of operating machinery that even dates back to the early 1900s and they're going to have special displays, activities, and demonstrations, daily parades, a craft show, live music, and different activities to enjoy.
Paul Szmal: Yeah if you want to see just how much technology has advanced in say the last 100-125 years go check out the Pageant of Steam. It is a very cool event that happens here every year. Now if you're looking for something a little bit different, if you go to visitfingerlakes.com you're going to find a couple of different historical themed suggestions here, one of which centers around the indigenous heritage of the region.
Guest: Yes Paul, so you know that this year the country is commemorating America 250 and we wanted to make sure that we invite everyone to explore Ontario County's history not only during July 4th and July but also throughout the year. So we put together some itineraries to explore the history in our county and one of the itineraries is focused around the Native American heritage that we have and it suggests different stops like an underground historic site in Victor, Ontario County Historical Society where people can see the 1794 Treaty of Canandaigua and people can stop in Canandaigua Lake, enjoy the lake, learn some about the history and also go to Sonnenberg Gardens and Mansion.
Paul Szmal: And if you're looking for something in regards to women's history there's an itinerary for that as well.
Guest: Yes and you can see it in visitfingerlakes.com as well and people can visit the Ontario County Courthouse, the Historical Society, also stop by Sonnenberg Gardens and Mansion and the City Bureau Lakefront, the Hobart and William Smith Colleges and also go a little further to the Women's Rights National Historic Park which is in Seneca Falls and it's a great way to spend a day just exploring women's history in not only in Ontario County but in the Finger Lakes.
Paul Szmal: Now I'm not really sure where the summer is gone but we're on the doorstep of August already and that means we're a month away from Labor Day which is the traditional end of summer in the region. There are a couple of big events that happen on Labor Day weekend and one of them is a pretty awesome one. It is the Ring of Fire on Canandaigua Lake.
Guest: Yes so people can enjoy some lights around the lake and it's just a great opportunity to enjoy the outdoors before fall comes and just bring out a chair see some lights and enjoy the lake.
Paul Szmal: Yeah and one of the things you can do to get a unique perspective on that experience is through the Canandaigua Lady Boat Tour because they're going to be running their Ring of Fire cruise. Canandaigua Lake is a great place like a great boat where people can just go out in the water and enjoy the view directly from the water and it's a great experience and to be in the boat maybe have a drink or eat something and be in the water enjoying the show. And of course there are a couple of great places along Canandaigua Lake you can check out for just kind of relaxing chilling out maybe having a picnic one of those of course being Kershaw Park.
Guest: Kershaw Park is a great place people can bring their chairs they can do a picnic they can also just walk or get in a kayak and just explore like a full day of relaxation outdoors so you can come and and spend the day and it's really really fun explore historic downtown Canandaigua as well and some restaurants.
Paul Szmal: Yeah and you can also this is a good tip for the Ring of Fire if you're planning on this on Labor Day weekend is uh hanging out at the lake house on Canandaigua.
Guest: Yes the lake house is a great place people can come and stay overnight but if you don't want to spend the night you can also just come and enjoy some food in one of their two restaurants they also have a deck with some private boats so you can have a boat tour and it's just a great place to hang out see the lake and also you can enjoy historic downtown Canandaigua if you're here and just walk around and explore Canandaigua.
Paul Szmal: And here's another tip too this is good for the kids or for adults and that is also in Canandaigua that's worth checking out that's the Roseland Bowl Family Fun Center. It's a great place where people can just go and play and Roseland Mini Golf also opened recently so for families that are coming to visit and just spend some hours having fun playing and enjoying the outdoors as well before fall comes.
Guest: Yeah and they have more than just bowling they also have the laser tag experience and a couple other things that they have going on there.
Paul Szmal: That's a great rainy day activity so you know if you have a day like today where you're cooped up with the kids or the grandkids and you want to get them out but it's raining outside they're looking for something to do that is a great recommendation. And of course you can find out information on all of the stuff that we talked about here this morning by going to the website visitfingerlakes.com.
Guest: visitfingerlakes.com.
Paul Szmal: Carolina as always appreciate having you on board thanks for sharing.
Guest: Yes thank you so much and I hope that everyone enjoys the last month of summer.
