Images of a Hometown

I was blessed to grow up in a particularly gorgeous town. In fact, I have never been to a place more consistenly gorgeous both naturally and in the man-made realm, than Skaneateles, New York. Skaneateles is the smallest lake of the NY Fingerlakes. The town that grew up around it is breathtaking. Stately mansions, a picturesque downtown area, and rolling green lawns are some of the things I most miss. I have not lived in Skaneateles for over 14 years now, but I still miss the beauty of it, sometimes so much that it aches. None of my family lives there any more, so we never go back. In the past 14 years I have only gotten to drive past my town on my way to my husband's parent's home. I think that maybe once we did get out and walk around a little bit. It's not enough. Although you will only get a small idea of how beautiful it is, here are some photos of my hometown.

Here is The Krebs restaurant, which is quite famous in the region for serving it's traditional 7-course meal for the past 150 years or something. I slaved away here as a waitress for 2 years. The restaurant might be more aptly named "The Crabs" thanks to the horrible, mean spirited people that owned and operated the place during my tenure. It was amazing to see how charming they could be to their patrons, and how utterly wretched they would be to the workers.

Doug's Fish Fry is a local favorite as well. People will literally line up down the street and around the corner to stand in line under the "Good Food" awning for a fish sandwich from this local eatery. I've never been a fish sandwich fan, but they did have good ice cream. I used to take the little girl that I babysat for a walk and we'd get an ice cream cone from Doug's for a fun treat. I babysat for that girl and her brother for probably 5 years, and now they are both graduated from college, and one is married. Their parents still send me a Christmas card each year with a family picture in it that never fails to amaze me at how old I must be to have babysat them.










Sunset on the lake




This gorgeous church is right downtown and on the lakefront. Looking at it always made me wish I was Episcopal just so I could go to church there. Anytime there was a wedding and you happened to drive by as the bride was exiting the church, it was incredibly picturesque. The first picture up at the top of the gazebo is just a short walk from this church, and is a popular place for wedding photos.




The Sherwood Inn and Restaurant is directly across from the lakefront downtown.




Downtown shops along the lake. (This is a downtown that people actually do still shop in and stroll down the sidewalks. Thankfully, there are no malls or fast food restaurants in Skaneateles!)




Long shot of the lake.




Many homes (read: mansions) on the lake receive their mail via mail boat. You can take a mail boat cruise and see how the rich get their bills.





Some artwork featuring the parks and gardens by the lakefront.

Thanks for taking a walk through my hometown with me! Maybe I'll be a little less wistful today now that I have these.

( Sadly, it seems they are stuck in this teeny size, so you surely are not getting as good a view as you could be. Oh well. I've already spent all this time on it, and I can't figure out how to change it. Bummer.)