A Visit to the TOP Corner of the World

Words by Euan Forrester
Pictures by Euan Forrester and Kathryn Toews

We stayed at La Belle Vie (photo by Euan)

Mike wrote a post recently hectoring his readers to come visit him at TOP World Headquarters in the Finger Lakes area of upstate New York. While his post listed many interesting museums and wineries, those weren’t the aspects of the area that got us the most excited on our recent trip to visit him. And when I mentioned to people at home that I was going to upstate New York, all I got was blank stares. So we wanted to share a few of the things we saw in the hopes of cajoling a few more readers to come out and see this perhaps-underappreciated part of the world.

Howe Cavern (photo by Euan)

My favourite non-Mike part of the trip was visiting Howe Cavern. The "traditional tour" of the cave is along well-built walkways amongst well-lit rock features, but we booked the "adventure tour" which involved a special suit (it's muddy), headlamps, and a guide. I would be too scared to explore a cave like this on my own, but our guide was fun and interesting and took our minds off how frightening it was to wiggle through Fat Man’s Misery.

Sampling the waters at Saratoga Springs (photo by Katie)

Katie’s favourite non-Mike part of the trip was Saratoga Springs State Park. She stumbled onto it randomly while Googling around for how to spend an afternoon one day, and we found a short walk where you can sample water from five different springs. I was skeptical, but they all taste different. We didn’t plan this day at all, but I get the feeling from the maps of the area that there’s lots of little random gems like this to discover.

We got "spectacular fatigue" at Watkins Glen. Note the relative size of the people on the bridge. (Photo by Euan)

Mike did mention Watkins Glen, as did a reader, but it only got a sentence and it deserves much more. If we could do it again we’d put this last because it set the standard for beauty everywhere else we went, and nothing quite matched up. It’s a long gorge, and around every corner was another beautiful waterfall. We eventually got “spectacular fatigue” from the constant bombardment of beauty.

At the Watkins Glen International raceway it seems there are often amateur events that aren’t advertised but are inexpensive to attend. And being amateur events, I expect it’s easy to get up close to the race—and even to the pits. It can be a little tricky to find out when events are happening, but we chatted up a security guard for information.

The Grand Canyon of the East (photo by Katie)

Letchworth State Park is home to “the Grand Canyon of the East.” Never having been to the Grand Canyon of Everywhere Else, I was intrigued. We initially planned to hike along it, but it turns out to be better (or at least easier) to see by it car. There’s plenty of viewpoints, a nature centre that’s quite interesting, and three large waterfalls that are easy to get to.

Katie pausing at an overlook (photo by Euan)

There’s plenty of hiking in the area: whenever we were off the main Interstates we could see small parking areas with cars indicating one hike after another. We did a short hike called Vroman’s Nose, which is an interesting glacial formation with a moderate slope up one side and steep cliffs on the other.

A private showing of Winogrand prints, just for us! (Photo by Katie)

Mike wrote about the George Eastman Museum recently and his “one more thing” at the end made me really excited to visit: the chance to put on white cotton gloves and see prints up close and without glass in front. My only problem was that I didn’t know what photos to ask to see, and I didn’t know they have their collection online to browse.

So when I called and they asked, I blurted out the first name that came to mind: Garry Winogrand. But then they asked “Which project?” and I was stumped again. The gentleman kindly said that they’d arrange for an overview, and we we arrived we saw that he’d selected some matted prints and then a collection from Women Are Beautiful. It was the perfect choice: I have most of Winogrand’s books but not that one, and Katie wasn’t familiar with his work at all and this provided an excellent entry point. It was a magical experience that left me tingling with excitement.

Playing at the Museum of Play (photo by Euan)

Also in Rochester is the Museum of Play, which was also recommended by a reader. It’s excellent. I was expected a stuffy, dusty, collection of toys behind glass and instead we found a Sesame Street neighbourhood to walk through (complete with a cab to drive Elmo wherever he wants to go), a scaled down grocery store to practice our cashier skills, an automatic Etch-a-Sketch that took our picture, videogames to play, dance moves to show off, and a giant Mr. Potato Head to play with.

The mists of Niagara (photo by Katie)

Niagara Falls didn’t disappoint. We saw them from every conceivable angle: standing right beside the top as they plunge over, looking up from the bottom on Maid of the Mist, feeling their power on the Journey Behind the Falls, and from our restaurants and hotel room high above. Despite all this time staring at them over the course of two days, I still felt that I had not fully appreciated them: they’re too big to fully comprehend.

Mike and friends (photo by Euan)

When I met Mike, it was easy to get over the asymmetrical nature of our relationship (I’ve been a reader for about a decade, and he of course knew nothing about me), and we talked about plenty of things that involved photography and plenty of things that didn’t. I showed him some prints and we talked about the work I’d done and the difficulties I was having. Our breakfast at La Belle Vie the next day was delicious and the conversation was similarly wide-ranging. Despite Mike’s admonition that “people meet writers hoping for a special extra something, but our best selves are already in our writing,” I respectfully disagree and I left feeling energized and happy.

Buttermilk Falls (photo by Euan)

If you’ve been thinking of a trip to visit Mike, I highly recommend it.

Euan

©2017 by Euan Forrester and Kathryn Toews, all rights reserved

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(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

Frank Petronio: "Looking for that thumbs up button...."

Terry Burnes: "Our California-raised son attended college at Colgate University in Hamilton New York not far from the Finger Lakes. We visited that area at least twice a year while he was there. I must say the Winters, and even Fall and Spring, can have daunting weather. Almost every visit ran the gamut from sun to snow. But what a beautiful area with a huge amount of history. We visited many of the places mentioned in this post and more. Even took a week long cruise on the Erie Canal in a little rented boat.

"On an RV trip around the perimeter of the USA in 2006 our three favorite states were Texas, Florida and New York. Why? It was the diversity of each and the way they contradicted stereotypes. New York State is so much more than New York City. Go!"

Jackson Bart: "Upstate New York is such an underrated place. I was in Cazenovia last summer, so beautiful there."

Comments

[Ken Tanaka]

Wow,what a terrific visit log! Really. The images are well-shot and perfectly composed to illustrate the text. Geez Euan and Kate, I think ya done rung the bell this summer. Now Mike is going to start charging more for visits!

[Nikhil Ramkarran]

Thanks for this. My turn is coming up soon. Can't wait now 😊

[Stephen Scharf]

Really nice article, thank you, Euan. All the more reason to get up to the Finger Lakes region to visit Mike and TOP World Headquarters.

BTW, Watkins Glen International Raceway was once one of the most preeminent road racing courses in the entire country and home for a long time to the United States Grand Prix. Many famous racing drivers have raced there, including Jim Clark, Dan Gurney, Bruce McLaren, etc.

[Eolake]

I'll be gosh-darned.

[Henning Wulff]

While the writeup of the area is great, the picture of you, Mike and the dogs is what makes this post special!

[Stuart]

A lovely review! It appears that there are many "Fat man's "xxx"", as one of my favourite walks in the UK's Lake District (my vote for the most beautiful place in the UK) is "Fat Man's Agony", https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/nov/17/great-langdale-lake-district-walkers-tight-spot

[Bear.]

Anyone interested in Saratoga Springs, or Ian Fleming's James Bond, and hasn't done so, should read Diamonds are Forever...

[Raiden99]

A Great Article with a good photography.

[JimK]

Euan,

Sounds like you had a good trip! I grew up in the area (Rochester), and took my daughter and boyfriend to visit for a few days. Stayed with my sister and husband in Avon; we did a trip down Conesus lake to Letchworth and did some hiking around the area. This area is beautiful; we would have headed to Dansville and Stony Brook except I was concerned all the rain would have made the water yucky to play in. My only disappointment is that we were just there for a few days and I didn't have time to go and harass Mike...

[Ugo Bessi]

By the way, Lawrence Beck did some beatiful B&W photos of Watkins Glen.

[bt]

And then there's Troy, NY, where I went to College.

One of the more unusual places. World class symphony hall at the Troy Savings Bank - There's a strange tale.

[bt]

Seriously, if you live in that area you really need to see a show at the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall.

I saw Dave Brubeck there in 1982 - and many others, I had an apartment on the same block. It's one of the 2 or 3 best halls for acoustic music in the world. It's an unknown jewel, but well known to musicians and acousticians.

http://www.troymusichall.org/

In weird Troy.