Travelling to Upstate NY - what should I not miss?

I am going to be in Herkimer NY for a few weeks from 9 July onwards learning more about metalshaping. Hoping to get a heads up on anything that's reasonably close and worth a visit.
I will be going to the Syracuse Nats while I'm there. Anything come to mind?
I'll also have a few days in Massachusetts (Sturbridge) before flying out of Boston at the end of the month.
I'd appreciate any ideas of places or events around this time
Thanks
Barry

 

If your in Boston on the 27th come to our rod run. Look at" "HANDYCAPED KIDS SUMMER CAMP"

 

Syracuse nats put on by Right Coast at the NY state fairgrounds is a must.July 18-20.

 

Rhinebeck Aerodrome, antique cars on display in old hangars, as well as antique planes, some of the planes fly on weekends. The airshow is a little corny, but a different experience, if you have the time. About 15 miles north of Poughkeepsie.

 

Rhinebeck is a must see for sure, but if you can take the time, go to West Point and visit the museum there. If you're driving, go through my old hometown of Cornwall and take highway 218 over Storm King mountain to the 'point. Awsome drive, awsome museum.

 

Not car related but if you've never been to Niagara Falls its a must see. Bring your passport and call US and Canadian customs to see what you'll need (if anything) to cross the border. You can see the falls fine from the US side if you don't have time or can't get permission to cross the border.....the Canadian side, however, is more user friendly and more fun than the US side. In either case it would be worth the trip. Figure on pretty much a full day at/around the falls, especially if you can get across.

-Bigchief.

 

While not in upstate NY, the Corning Glass Museum is a fantastic [lace to visit. It is well worth the slight detour. Also, I live in Rochester and the George Eastman House(the founder of Kodak) is a great tour. And the Strong Museum is a fun place to visit. While it houses the largest collection of dolls in the world, it has so many historical items on display tht it warrants a trip. I would be glad to show you around our city if you would like, just PM me.

Also, just putting on my thinking cap, Watkin's Glen (where the Indy cars and Nascar race) is a place that should be seen. Then there is Letchworth Park, the Grand Canyon of the East, which is a grand park.

 

being from south africa you should get a kick from a visit to the herkimer diamond mine. for a few pesos you can dig your own. (really just quartz crystals but a fun way to kill a few hours)

 

Great hiking up in Saranac area,,and use to be a great water slide on the Lac

 

I found this one last time I was there......

 

As far as non-auto things I'd also recommend Watkins Glen (eat at Mr. Chicken), The Corning Glass Museum, and the Herkimer Diamond Mines. Sharon Springs is fun to poke around in, Ausable Chasm is great to see, and you can dig for fossils at Petrified Creatures near Richfield Springs (if it's still open?). Lots of cool things to do there. One of my favorite areas of the country.

 

Howe caverns is close by too.

 

almost forgot to mention if your a baseball fan the hall of fame in cooperstown

 

Thanks for all the replies!
This trip is going to be very much a metalshaping odyssey for me (spending 5 days in Denmark on the way over) I am sure I'll need a little break from pounding on metal every now and then! You guys have given some great ideas!
I am also keen on seeing anything "scene" (for want of a better word!) related.
Cruise nights, informal runs etc. Given that there are probably only maybe 10-20 traditional rods in the whole of South Africa, and 20 cars in one place constitutes a car show.....don't think I'd be easily dissapointed.
Syracuse is going to be extreme sensorial overload for me!!
Rusty - I'll be sure to get in touch if I can get to Boston at that time!
Thanks
Barry

 

Hi ,you are going to be at dutch comstock's shop for the metalmeet, if you have time you might want to check out the old car museum in norwich new york. Norwich is south of herkimer, the cars in the museum are good examples of old school coachbuilding and the inventory changes on a regular basis

 

If you're in Herkimer, these things are within an hour's drive:

Howe's Caverns
Herkimer Diamond Mine
Adirondack Scenic Railroad (boards in Utica)
Cooperstown & Charlotte Valley RR train excusrions
Cooperstown itself with the baseball hall of fame and several museums
Turning Stone Casino in Verona (usually the cheapest gas around, $4.11 for the cheap stuff tonight)
National Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota (right at the Thruway exit, literally, you don't even enter the main road)
Abovementioned Norwich car museum

And of course Mountain Motors is 6 miles from Herkimer as you go south on Route 28, 250 cars from 1920-1975 all for sale. You can't miss it, you go up and up and up the hill and about the third time it levels out (for the last time) we're on the right.

Albany-Saratoga is not that far away either, from Herkimer it's about the same as Syracuse. Seems to me there's a museum dedicated to horse racing there, my sister is the one into single-horsepower vehicles though.

Niagara Falls is 3-4 hours down the Thruway, Rhinebeck is 3-4 hours the other way down the Thruway, Watkins Glen is 2 1/2 hours down the Thruway plus another hour down NY 14, Corning is another hour past that, and so on. Syracuse to the fairgrounds for the Nats is about 90 minutes on the dot from Exit 30 to exit 36 via I-81 and some surface roads. It takes me about the same 90 minutes to go from Exit 36 to Herkimer and up the hill (usually via 5S from Utica to Herkimer though).

I didn't suggest checking out the FX Matts brewery in Utica because I don't know what's up with that right now, they had a fire a few weeks ago.

If you have a day to blow, you could go to Rhinebeck via NY Route 28 through the Catskills instead of down the Thruway. There's still another tourist line down there, the Delaware & Ulster in Arkville, it will take a little longer but it's a very scenic drive through a lot of small towns.

You could also take US Route 20 and head towards Albany - it's also scenic, but a lot of it is four lanes. It would take you towards Howes Caverns, and if you like antique shops and junk shops and little, old-fashioned sort of tourist traps you'll find stuff like that along here.

Feel free to PM if you have any questions, most of what I mentioned I'm familiar with how to get to and my friened Mark lives right there in Mohawk so what I don't know I can ask him.

You can even see a relative to a famous movie car while you're there.



Okay, I know it's kinda corny, but it might make some little kid's day, so why not?

 

As well as what was mentioned above,

Cruise ins Friday night in Rome NY about 20 miles west of Herkimer
Tuesday at the Syracuse Regional Market near Carosel Mall
Wed at the Wegmans Market on RT 11 between North Syracuse and Cicero
Thursday night at the lake side park in Sylvan Beach at the east end of Oneida Lake, all three will be overflowing the week before the NATS.

Old Forge NY and the Adirondack Senic Railway

Lake Placid Olympic Training site ride the bobsled on the short course, take the chiarlift to the summit of Whiteface MT.

Finger lakes wine trails countless wineries to visit and sample wares from, nice drives also.

Syracuse Armory Square and the Dinosaur Bar B Q, or for cloth napkin Pascal's Wine bar.

Erie Canal Museum in Syracuse, The Salt Museum at Onondage Lake park
Syrcause's nick name the Salt City is for producing salt, not spreading it on the roads in winter)

Corning regional airport (located in Elmira) the National warbird Mueseum
and the National Soaring Museum. William Remington Art Museum.

Hammondsport, NY the Glenn Curtis Museum, motor cycles, early aircraft, rum runner boats.

Cape Vincent and Alexandria Bay on the St. Lawrence River, The anique Boat Museum, lots of old Criss Crafts, GarWood, and Century wooden inboards.

The Baseball Hall of Fame is in Cooperstown, along with the New York State Agricultural Mueseum and a couple nice micro breweries.

The Boxing Hall of Fame is just off the Thruway (I 90) in Canastota, NY.

Find New York RT 10 and drive it. Pick it up in Canajoharie about 3 exits east of Herkimer, One of Car and Driver's best. Also Route 13 and Route 8.

When traveling east and west use Route 5 or US Route 20, instead of the Thruway (I 90) no toll, no traffic, and great views.

Doesn't seem to leave much time for the purpose of your trip does it?????

 

That's for sure!!
Thanks especially for the info about routes, events etc. - good information to have.
As far as driving, don't know if anyone has any tips/advice on car hire? The quotes I'm getting online seem to vary massively. Right now the best deal is one booked by my local travel agent (with Alamo) I would generally just look at picking up a car and looking for the best deal when I get there ( but have also been stranded once when there was no stock available)

That is unless someone has a spare '34 five window with Hemi that needs the cobwebs blown out. I'll even provide the service at no charge - just provide the gas money.......

Thanks
Barry

 

couple more .... Utica-rome speedway is on route 5 in Vernon ( dirt racing ) Vernon Downs is just up the road a couple of miles in Vernon ( horse racing ) and Tucci engineerings shop is in Marcy .

 

If you ever end up coming to the Boston MA area- look me up . Im right outside of there and would be happy to have you stop by. A few HAMB guys have come by since Ive been here- its been cool.

 

I've been on Storm King Mountain a few times. Very nice view. Must really suck in the snow !! Storm, I live in Rockland Cty

 

Depending on where your arrival point is there should be plenty of hire cars. We do drive on the wrong side, so you'll need to get that sorted. Budget, Dollar, and Enterprise are also available in the moderate price range at the Syracuse airport. If you are flying into Logan in Boston, not really familiar with what is available there but those 4 are pretty much all across the states.

I'm retired so shoot me a PM when you get in the area, perhaps we can meet somewhere.

 

Alot of great Ideas allready mentioned.

As for the brewery in Utica, Take the tour its really cool.
And on thursdays they have "Saranac thursdays" its a big party
live bands etc. After go on a pub crawl on Varick St. right next to Brewery.(couple of strip joints not to far from there too)

Some other local cruises a little closer to Herkimer are Daves diner in
Schuyler right on RTE 5 on Tues. And at Four seasons Pizza in Marcy,right down the road from Tucci's on Wed. And Sylvan Beach on Thurs is by far the best one, esp. the week of the Nats.

One thing not mentioned is fort stanwix in rome, an old fort from
the american revolution.

Utica also has some of the best Italian food in the country.
Try The Chesterfield, Ventura's, Grimaldi's theres a ton of them.
Ask around when you get here everyone has there favorites.

The Remington arms museum is in Illion.

Also being that your from south africa how about the National
Soccer Hall or Fame in Oneonta.

Heres some links:
http://www.uticaromespeedway.com/
http://www.rome-ny.gov/organization.asp?orgid=75
http://www.classiccarmuseum.org/
http://www.sylvanbeachny.com/
http://www.turningstone.com/
http://www.tuccihotrods.com
http://www.saranac.com

Have fun when your here its a great place to visit.

 

This too may sound corny, but get some gear and spend a day & night camping and hiking. I grew up in that area of NY and where you're headed has some of the coolest hike and camp sites in the freaking USA! Do it and just relax in the great outdoors.

Watch for bears. They sometimes eat humans.

 

Climb all 46 peaks of the adirondacks!

 

Up there I wouldn't worry about bears, I'd worry about those giant dive bomber blood thirsty New York mosquitos. They're so big they carry plastic bags .

Farther east on Saturday nights you can catch the big block DIRT Modifieds race at Lebanon Valley Speedway. Or to the west, you can catch them on the same night at Canandaigua Speedway.

There's GREAT dirt track racing all over New York State.

 

Go to www.rodandpiston.com and click on "database" on the left side. Then click on "car shows" and you will be able to search through a calendar showing dates of all different car events in WNY and beyond. Two of the best are Wednesday July 13th at the North Tonawanda/Tonawanda Canal Fest Cruise Night on the Erie Canal. Lots to do besides the car show--rides, etc. Also, August 1-3rd (I think) is an event at Dunn Motorsports Park (formerly Lancaster Speedway) and it is a nostalgia drag race/car show event. This is something you don't want to miss if you are in the area. Lots of Willys, Anglias and more from all over the country drag racing on the 1/8th plus lots of hot rods. The day before is the Willys reunion in West Seneca, NY for all the gasser guys. I see that Spencerport, near Rochester, also has a Canal Fest type event. Go to this rodandpiston site, it might help you out. Bruce

 

not to be a worry wart, but if you are going hiking or camping. beware there are many black bear sitings this year. i live in a small town we had one a couple of streets away last night with her cubs. not dangerous unless?????......great waterfalls all over upstate and central new york. each town has a visiter center which can give local info. have a good time, see you at the syracuse nats. cadillac dave

 

While is Syracuse (or Rochester)......two words.

DINOSAUR BARBQUE!!!!!! Some of the best ribs north of the Mason-Dixon line.

http://www.dinosaurbarbque.com/syrIndex.php

-Bigchief.

 

Stock car racing museum in Weedsport, NY