The warmer months present the perfect opportunity to shift from cozy afternoons with hot chocolate and movie nights to fun-filled days outdoors—whether it’s strolling around the lake, enjoying water sports, or simply having a picnic to soak up some vitamin D. Ontario County and the Finger Lakes are the perfect place for a year-round celebration of family and fun, and we’d love to share some of the activities you can enjoy while you’re here to keep everyone smiling.
1. Museum Day
When you’re having a multi-generational day out, with so many ages and so many interests, it’s hard to please everyone, but here’s how I’d try. Give a list of local museums, send the small groups out with those cameras and come back to the dinner table and share your day. For instance, wouldn’t it be fun to have Grandpa, born in the 1940s, and the grandchildren, born in the 2000s, tour the Antique Wireless Museum (AWA Communications & Technologies Museum) in Bloomfield? The guides there are incredibly knowledgeable and can explain anything you see from both a technical and historical perspective. But I’d love to be a fly on the wall as grandparents reflect on the days when they listened to the first radios or watched early television, while the children marvel at the first cell phones and together have a conversation about how family communication has changed over time.
For the younger ones, there are so many choices, but I think I’d defer to a day at Strong Museum of Play. Hey, if you have a National Museum in your backyard – make it part of your museum day. You know how kids like to repeat doing things that they are comfortable with? Well, since we’ve taken Hudson there before, I know a return visit would be high on the list. What’s even better about this experience is that this museum brings out the inner child in all of us.
2. Get outside! Together!
That’s what my parents used to tell us! Weather didn’t matter, there was always something that could be done outside. Well, in our area that couldn’t be more true. In summer there are a multitude of activities on the water. We are the Finger Lakes region! Kayak, canoe, standup paddle board or sail across the pristine waters and enjoy the incredible views of the shoreline. Plus, every community has a park or playground where tennis, soccer, swimming, basketball, and frisbee golf are just a few more ways to play. Go there—and see for yourself. You can look around and see lots of families having so much fun!
3. Roseland Bowl Family Fun Center in Canandaigua – here we come.
Well, we’ve been here before with the family, I’ll admit. It’s like Americana Fusion of good old-fashioned fun of bowling with the other games of challenge that even a mother can do! Every generation can go here—and you can even rent your own space now with their VIP area. Laser Tag is the place to play if you want to take out some of those family hostilities you’ve harbored for a few years! Or, it’s good exercise and great fun to see who can touch more “dots” in 2 minutes. It’s like a room full of Simon says, “touch me” and you can see who gets there first. I may not be describing Roseland in the most technical terms because it’s not about the technical, it’s about the family fun, whether it’s in bumper cars or skee ball challenges. (What do you mean some of those kids don’t know what skee ball is? See why it needs to be a multi-generational challenge?)
4. Plan an adults only night
Yep, I said it. Everyone will be smiling with this. Get the right babysitter—and you can “hop” between fun things including – a night at Finger Lakes Gaming and Racetrack in Farmington. Take that roll of quarters and see who can make it last the longest! Join a cooking demonstration at the New York Kitchen in Canandaigua—and then take the knowledge home and re-gift it to your friends who weren’t lucky enough to be there themselves!
5. Stay in a hotel (with a pool!)
Seriously, the hotels in the Finger Lakes are fantastic. I’ve had family at so many hotels in Ontario County and the region and it seems that each of them like something a little different. Want a lakeview, lakeside experience with a pool and an exercise room, and so many food options? We got it. Want to get your points at your favorite Marriott property? The Fairfield Inn & Suites in Geneva here we come! How about a place that will give your family their own little dining space/meeting space—and still have a pool? Check out the Holiday Inn Express in Canandaigua. TripAdvisor reviews say, “it’s worth a few pennies more” and “it’s a great stay at a great cost.”
It’s fun for me to be able to show off my area to my family—and more importantly to get “hands-on” with them at so many fun places. If we have it here, let’s gift it to each other because these family getaways are the gifts that keep on giving and the memories will live on forever!
