Memorial Day holiday weekend was beautiful. Gave me the opportunity to bum around Watkins Glen one afternoon and to go hiking for a day.
For the afternoon of 'bumming', I parked a few doors down from the "Lake House" that I examined a few weeks ago. Nice easy walk to downtown Watkins from there - maybe 1/2 mile to 1 mile. Watkins Glen has
alot more 'junk stores' than I would have guessed. One of them had every imaginable
collectible item. They were slowly selling a collection from a landmark Elmira
restaurant.
There are also
alot of second hand clothing stores; antique clothing? One of them was the stop for a bridal shower party. The goal was to put together a wedding dress (complete!) for less than $100. The actual dress they selected had already been dry cleaned and fit perfectly. The shoes needed to be bleached first - they were a little grey from the dust I guessed. At the end, each person pitched in and the future bride decided she actually liked the dress much better than the one she had found at the dress shop!! Guess it was a good day for them.
After seeing one side of the street, stopped for a break at Wildflower Cafe. Something about that place -- nice music, very very relaxed waitstaff, and always good. More window shopping on the other side of the street before an early dinner at the Harbor. Good seafood!
A good day and more push to make an offer on the "Lake House" so I could enjoy the water, company, and walking to dinner often.
Memorial Day was the perfect day for hiking. The selected trail was "Backbone Trail" - 5.5 miles one way; 'easy' 
category. The trail was also used for horseback riding so watching your steps was a requirement! 
