Goodbye, Watkins Glen

One of the days we stayed here, we walked around the town of Watkins Glen, which is situated on the south shore of Seneca Lake.  The view up the lake from the waterfront is beautiful:

The town has built a little observatory, out on the end of a pier, which we explored:

The observatory is closed on three sides, permitting the hardy to watch the lake even in inclement weather:

Near the observatory, and situated on a train line that runs through the town, is Seneca Harbor Station, originally the train station built in 1876 but now a restaurant, where we ate lunch:

Remarkably, the town has little character of any sort:  not much in the way of historic buildings, no big, thriving tourist retail district, not a lot of antiques or art around.  In short, the town itself was disappointing.  One building sported an original mural that caught our eye:

A new hotel has also been built on the waterfront, but, over all, it appears that tourists who come to the area stay outside the town and focus on Watkins Glen International Raceway (affectionately self-named, "The Glen"), Watkins Glen State Park and the Glen Creek Gorge, which we blogged about earlier in our stay here, any of the 50 waterfalls in the area, including Montour Falls, which we mentioned in an earlier blog entry, or the hundreds of wineries on Seneca Lakes and in adjoining areas.  We think this is sad and a big missed opportunity for the town.  The town does have some necessary services, but aside from a Walmart, one grocery store, a pharmacy and numerous restaurants, even the services area sparse.

After our walk around town, we did drop over to Cayuta Lake, which is drained by the trout stream, Cayuta Creek, which we fished the other day.  The lake appears to attract lots of fisherman.  Here's a panoramic photo of Cayuta Lake:

The area has had to much to offer us, however, that we feel sad leaving it, and we fully intend to get back to the Finger Lakes District later this season.  Nevertheless, for now, we must say, "Goodbye, Watkins Glen."