The Finger Lakes, NY

I did a bed-and-breakfast (and biking and wineries) weekend in the Finger Lakes around '97 or so, then returned in the fall of 2002, stayed both times at Finton's Landing on Keuka Lake — by far the nicest of the B&B's I'd found on my first visit. Doug and Arianne Tepper are wonderful hosts, their home is charming, their breakfasts are scrumptious.

The photo was taken out in front of the house, and that's Keuka Lake in the background. You can't see it in the picture, but at the lower left there's a little beach where you can sit around a bonfire and make 'smores of an evening, and you can swim off the red dock and laze in a two-person hammock just out of sight on the right.

There's lots to see and do in the area: my personal favorite is hiking the gorge in Watkin's Glen, which is — if you'll forgive the pun — gorgeous. And then there are the wineries: New York wines have actually become really very good in recent years, particularly the whites....

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