Summer Guide	Day Tripping by Patricia Watson

From Woodlawn Beach to Clifton Springs, With Bites to Eat Along the Way

Living about half a mile from one of the Great Lakes is great: From the window of my downtown office, I can see Lake Erie sparkling. But on a hot summer day when I am covered with dirt from the garden, sometimes I just want to be able to run to the beach, take a quick dip, relax for a while, and come home.

Sonnenberg Gardens

There is, as we all know, a lamentable lack of beach access here in Buffalo. But if you are willing to hop on the Skyway, drive south on Route 5 to Route 179, follow the signs for Woodlawn Beach State Park, park and pay admission ($6), you will find a place that is just perfect for a quick trip to the beach. I am told the beach was once a place of wild debauchery; those days seem to be long gone. Today the park has a nature center, and informative signs describing the habitat. A boardwalk has been carved through shady trees, leading to pristine sand. White windmills turn gently off to the right. In the expanse, Lake Erie’s waters beckon. A walk along the shoreline offers lots of chances to find colored beach glass, or just that right mix of water, air, and light to clear the mind. The park offers other activities, all of which can be found on the New York State Parks Web site (nysparks.state.ny.us/parks/).

If you are hungry, there are lots of quirky places for fun food on that strip of Route 5. I love to stop at the Excell Market and Fuel at 2368 Hamburg Turnpike (Route 5) and hit Cruisin fried chicken. The spanking clean market has been open about two years and is managed by Mogeeb Nagi. His nephew, Anwar, is the cook. Born in Alabama, Cruisin has many locations through the south. This is the only one I know of in our area. And the chicken is great. They use local product (from Will Poultry), applying the company’s recipes for seasonings and sides. For $4.69 you can get white chicken with a biscuit and two sides (choose from potato salad, coleslaw, potato wedges, macaroni and cheese, and others). If you’re not in the mood for chicken, subs, hamburgers, and Nathan’s hot dogs are available. Give yourself a break from cooking and grab some takeout on your way home from the beach.

Or if it seems a totally Western New York experience is in order, try Curt’s Stop Inn at 3379 Hamburg Turnpike. It’s a cool place to have a hot dog or hamburger accompanied by a huge mound of curly q’s and a milkshake. It’s summer! Revel in it!

I read about Clifton Springs in the New York Times in early May. The healing waters found in spas across Upstate New York were vital health treatments in the 1800s. In Western New York, a visionary physician, Dr. Henry Foster, established a sanitarium south of Rochester. There was a tiled spa bath built around the bubbling waters of sulphur spring, whose healing powers were introduced to white settlers by the Native Americans who had long used their powers. By the 1950s, the spa had been torn down, but a healing clinic incorporating the waters and other alternative therapies is still operating in this picturesque Finger Lakes town. Intriguing! So on a recent Friday, to celebrate my friend Maryann’s birthday, she and Laura and I ventured down the Thruway to explore.

To get ready for the trip, we visited the clinic’s Web site (thespringsofclifton.com). There is an array of healing therapies beyond those offered by the baths. Acupuncture, facials, massages, naturopathy, reiki, homeopathy, and healing touch are among the many choices. Appointments are essential, so we got ours set up for Friday morning.

The clinic is located in a wing of what we were told is the longest-operating hospital in Western New York. It is located behind the old sanitarium, which has been converted to senior citizen housing. A modern building, it also displays many historical artifacts of its century and a half of operation. We were welcomed warmly. Laura and I had opted for the baths. They are drawn from the sulphur springs (which bubble up in a park like setting on the grounds of the clinic) into tall white tubs in individual treatment rooms. Maryann had a 90-minute facial, and Laura finished off with a massage. The spa uses the products of Dr. Hauschka, which are made from ingredients grown organically and biodynamically at the WALA Gardens in Germany. They are pricey, but people who use them are convinced they bring balance and healing to the skin.

While Laura and MaryAnn continued with their treatments, Charlotte Wytias, a registered nurse and program manager of the Springs, gave me a tour of the grounds. Ducks and swans were climbing the stone steps of the sulphur brook’s banks, and purple phlox blanketed the area. We entered the senior citizens apartment building, which is the former sanitarium and visited the chapel Dr. Foster had built so many years ago. The windows were made by Tiffany (and are included in a different Finger Lakes tour, featuring tea and Tiffany, highlighting the many beautiful examples of the glass in the region). On the top floor was a sort of living room porch, with a panorama of the lush green area. Charlotte left me at the Labyrinth, a circular path near the clinic, and metaphor for life’s journey. I walked the circle, thinking about what an unexpected treat I had just had—the warmth I felt from Charlotte and the sense that great things are happening at the Springs.

It was time to eat. Warfields Restaurant and Bakery (Warfields.com), walking distance from the clinic, was highly recommended. We entered, and a glass case of yummy-looking baked goods was on our right. The sandwiches and salads looked fresh and tasty, too, but we decided to eat on the water in Canandaigua.

Pressing on, we drove about 20 minutes to the Inn on the Lake. Max’s restaurant is located in the Waterfront Resort and Conference Center at 770 S. Main Street, Canandaigua (585-394-7800 / visitinnonthelake.com). The waterfront patio was set up with lots of tables, but it was just too cold to eat outside. Next time. The lunch menu has some interesting salads (a chopped salad was appealing) as well as sandwiches in the $7-$9 range, and a nice choice of entrees. There is also an extensive wine list, but we didn’t partake. MaryAnn and Laura chose the Atlantic salmon, with a brown sugar-black peppercorn crust on currant-toasted pine nut basmati rice, at $15. I chose Max Meatloaf, with sautéed broccolini, mashed potatoes, tobacco onions, and Burgundy pan gravy ($11). Both entrees were served with a house salad of the freshest greens and the lightest house-made balsamic vinegar. The crusty salmon was tender and tasty, and the rice a good accompaniment. My meatloaf was meatloaf, which was what I wanted that day. I gobbled those crunchy onions, and we all liked the lumpy mashed potatoes. Since the restaurant makes homemade potato chips, we had them for an appetizer. They were nice and brown and crisp but cut way too thick for perfection. We were too full to try any desserts, and we needed to get to the last leg of our trip.

The Sonnenberg Gardens and Mansion State Historic Park at 151 Charlotte Street (585-394-4922 / sonnenberg.org) was a quick jaunt from the restaurant. In the late 19th century, Frederick and Mary Thompson (he started what is now Citibank) traveled from New York City to summer in Canandaigua. Frederick died in 1899, and Mary developed the gardens between 1903 an 1920. Following her death, a VA hospital was established on the farmland and their Victorian mansion served as nurse’s quarters. Since 1973, the gardens have been restored and the house and grounds are open to the public. For $10 admission, you can enjoy a free guided tour a couple of times as day or do a self tour using information provided at the gate. The gardens are open 9:30am-5:30pm.

Approaching the mansion, the trees shading the walk are utterly magnificent, the green weeping beeches bowing and sighing. It’s easy to envision the airy mansion alive with children running up and down the stairs, or adults with their feet up in the great room meeting the eyes of the animals mounted on the walls and carpeting the floor. Songs of the day lilt through the house from the Thompson’s music machines.

Mary Thompson had an ambitious vision. There is a rock garden, a Japanese garden, a Roman bath and more. Follow the paths: crossing bridges, skirting ponds, climbing steps, under archways, breathing the clean air. We ended up at the conservatory, where there is a wine and gift center featuring Finger Lakes wines and a small restaurant. The High Noon Café, open 10:30am-5pm daily, has homemade soups (the famous chilled melon and berry is always available), as well as crepes and salads in the $10 to $13 range. Sitting in the conservatory, or outside on the patio, surrounded by the gardens seems like the perfect way to relax after a walk through the park.