A fall themed trip can never come soon enough, for me that means a trip to the north east. This time I focused on weekend maxing in the Finger Lakes, a wine region located in upstate New York. I flew into Buffalo on a Thursday evening and drove 2.5 hours to Watkins Glen. This is a small town located on the southern tip of Seneca Lake. I decided to stay at a local inn (with 26 perfect Google reviews) and focus on what I love about this region- the food.
🏨 The Red Kettle Inn- 9.5/10⭐️
The Red Kettle Inn has a 5 star rating on Google (26 reviews) and an incredibly small footprint on social media. We have a lot in common. I booked the rose room, a corner bedroom with an en suite bathroom (note not all rooms have private bathrooms). A 3 course breakfast was included (photos to follow) and there was plenty of parking.
The inn:
The room:
Breakfast:
Day 1:
Day 2:
Nickel’s Pit BBQ (7/10)
If you are looking for a solid lunch option, Nickel’s Pit BBQ offers fast service, along with indoor and outdoor seating. However due to its location parking will be very difficult.
- Burnt ends-wich with Mac and cheese on top ($2 extra) and coleslaw: 6/10 overall
- Little Red Corvette (vodka, pineapple, coconut, cherry vanilla cocktail)- 8/10
🍷 Atwater Vineyards- 8/10 overall ⭐️
My wine expertise is very limited. Typically I like my wines light and dry, and I cannot tell if one is well made or not- for the sake of this blog post I am basing my ratings on service and overall ambiance.
The most notable thing about Atwater Vineyards was the exceptional view and service. They offer both indoor (air conditioned) seating as well as outdoor patio options (both shaded and sunny seating).
For my wines I tried their Riesling and the Dry Riesling. Both were great and the view couldn’t be beat.
Stonecat Cafe- ⛔️
If you are like me and rely on the recommendations of chatGPT for restaurants and activities you need to take those with a grain of salt. On the positive side Stonecat Cafe offers plenty of parking and the interior was gorgeous.
As much as I wanted to love a locally sourced restaurant with great service, the food held me back.
My ratings:
- Stonecat Mac and cheese (with BBQ pork added as an extra)- 3/10. The Mac and cheese lacked flavor and was overcooked- but the bbq pork was the highlight.
- Fried pickles- 4/10 overall. The cornmeal crust had a great crunch, the chips were not soggy at all but there was so much salt added to the dish it made it hard to eat.
- Blueberry Thyme Machine– 2/10. While I love a strong drink, something about the botanicals and mix of vodka and gin made this hard to enjoy.
🍷 Weis Vineyards- 9/10 overall⭐️
Weis Vineyards is spacious, beautifully decorated, and comes with multiple seating options.
It is located directly on Keuka Lake and offered wine by the bottles, glass as well as a tasting.
This is a great place to bring pets and spend an hour relaxing near the lake. my personal favorite wines were the Estate Riesling as well as the Semi Dry Riesling
🍷 Domaine LeSuerre Winery
This vineyard is right next to Weis, making it a great second stop on your wine tour. The outside areas are beautiful but the service felt rushed and somewhat disorganized. I tried a semi-dry Riesling, which had a good flavor, but this could easily found as a skip for me. My main reasons for this being that they did not have comfortable patio chairs, the outside seating needed to be wiped down, and they did not offer the chance to sample a flight of wine outside. All wines had to be ordered at the front desk.
🍷 Bully Hill Vineyard- 8/10⭐️
Bully Hill Vineyards is a large venue consisting of a restaurant, wine tasting room and a separate gift shop. They offer samples of their wines, which are located in their tasting room. I opted to go with my tried and true method of just asking for a recommendation. This time I tried the “vintage Riesling”, which was on the sweeter side but still had a great balance and flavor. This is a family friendly location with plenty to do, even for solo travelers!
Bully Hill Vineyard: Restaurant- 5.5/10 ⚠️
While visiting Bully Hill Vineyard I had a chance to stop by the Resturant for some lunch. While the view was gorgeous, the food was average. Next time I would stick with the wine tasting and eat elsewhere.
- Brisket Sandwich with coleslaw: 5/10- the meat was fatty and the coleslaw came with a very watery dressing. The bbq sauce, which is produced by the winery, was decent.
- Hugo Spritz: 9/10- one of my favorite cocktails of the trip. It consisted of the wineries rose, along with club soda, like and mint. Not overly sweet with a great lime flavor.
- Chocolate peanut butter pie with a house made port wine: 3/10- My main issue was then there was no salt in this desert. Typically with any peanut based dish, one expects a hint of saltiness to help draw out the peanut flavor, since this dish lacked that balance this left it with an overly sweet taste that had room for improvement. The port wine, which was a restaurant recommended pairing, was as a great addition.
🍷 Dr. Konstantin Frank Winery ⚠️
This is a very popular vineyard. I don’t think it’s meant for amateur wine tasters, when I arrived there I felt rushed and the service wasn’t as great as the other places in the area. This is a skip for me. Again, since I’m not a wine expert, I ordered the Riesling flight, no complaints.
🍷 Vineyard View Winery- 9.5/10 ⭐️
A smaller vineyard with a gorgeous views Vineyard View Winery is definitely a must see on your Keuka wine tour.
It is a smaller, more intimate winery with great service and a plethora of tastings and flights available.
I ordered the “rooted in generations” and a glass of the dry rose- both lived up to expectations with a great view as well.
🍷 Krookid Leyk Distillery ⭐️
Krookid Leyk distillery has a direct view of Lake Keuka. It is small, peaceful, and serves a wonderful piña colada (aka bluff adventures). As a solo traveler I highly recommend this distillery.
🍷 Grist Iron Brewing Company 6/10
This was a great evening stop. The atmosphere was lively and there was plenty of outdoor seating with a great view of the lake. I tried the “That’s my jam!” mixed berry kettle sour.
🍨 Seneca Farms (ice cream) ⭐️
This is a local ice cream stop located at the northern end of Kneuka lake. They offer both a drive through and in store ordering. I ordered a regular hot fudge Sunday with grasshopper ice cream and enjoyed every second of it.
🍨 Shtayburne Farm Creamery ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
Of all the places I went to this trip, this had to be an unexpected highlight- I went both nights for their dairy flight. This gives customers a chance to mix and match a number of cheese and ice cream flavors. My first night I ordered 4 samples, my second night I went for 8. My favorite samplings were the maple cinnamon quark and the purple cow ice cream.
🧀 Muranda Cheese Company
Located in Waterloo, New York is the lively and shockingly social Muranda Cheese Company.
Since I had a chance to visit on a Sunday, I was able to enjoy the live music as well as a wine slushy and a cheese tasting.
🚂 Finger Lakes Rail Experience ⛔️
Since my flight home was in the evening, I had an extra day of sight seeing. I decided to take my chance to take one last wine tour and book a ticket on the Finger Lakes Rail Experience. This is an old fashioned train that offered 4 wine tastings with a charcuterie box.
There were options to purchase full glasses of wine as well. I booked a first class ticket (because why not). The seats were comfortable, the charcuterie box was good but the wine servings were small.
And while I understand a full bodied red is never going to be made in the Finger Lakes, I found the lack of red wine options weird. When another passenger asked about the lack of reds- the tour guide replies with “because it’s August”. I have no idea what that means. While this was a way to pass the time before my flight, I would not book this again.
🌲 Watkins Glen State Park 🌲
One of the most famous state parks in New York is located in Watkins Glen. It is home to the famous “gorge” hiking trail, which included ~850 steps and many different waterfalls. I was able to walk from my inn (which I highly recommend, Watkins Glen is very walkable, especially if you are bad at parallel parking).
One of my favorite parts of this walk was the gift shops at both entrances. Here you could pick up water bottles, as well as wine slushies. I tried the white wine sangria slushy and it was refreshing yet not overly sweet.
Was the trip worth it?
Absolutely. This is a great location solo travelers, families or a friends trip. There is truly something for everyone. They have boating, hiking, wine, cheese and live music. I will definitely be back for another weekend getaway!
Limitless wanderer 
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