small town – okay andie

Although I don’t think I could ever live in a very small town/village, I am quite fond of visiting them! It’s lovely to see places that maintain their history (America is so good at this) and are filled with small town charm that just doesn’t exist in a metropolitan city. I am intrigued by the idea of living in a big old house, in a very small town, with a population just under 2,000, but that’s me romanticizing things. The truth of it is, I would become stir crazy, maybe even bat-shit. Heck, I even become crazy living here in the big city, although that probably surprises no one. The subway at rush hour…that is all I have to say.

These are just a few snaps from Watkins Glen, and Montour Falls, NY. This was directly after a torrential downpour while we were laying on the beach, and taking a dip in the surprisingly warm water. We hid under a tree for a bit, trying to wait it out, but realized the rain wasn’t going to let us enjoy our beach day. We hopped in the car, drove around, and were pleased when the rain ceased and allowed us to take in some scenic surroundings of these neighbor villages.

Dress: vintage via Common Sort
Shoes: Seychelles

I’m going to be totally honest and say Matt and I didn’t do as much hiking and exploring the great outdoors while camping this time around. We spent our first two nights in Watkins Glen State Park, and the following two nights in Taughannock Falls State Park. We were both pretty disappointed in Watkins Glen State Park. I think the Bruce kind of ruined everything for us. We just kept comparing the two, and well, State/Provincial Parks just can’t compare to the natural beauty of a National Park. We were not close to any body of water in Watkins Glen, and you could literally hike about 20 mins to the village. Which ended up being fine, as we spent a lot of time exploring the small villages around the Finger Lakes. These towns/villages have the most insanely beautiful and historical homes. I would kill a man just to live in one of them.

We were however very close to the Gorge Trail in Watkins Glen. So we hiked over, and did quite a bit of the walk. It was very touristy, and was a huge disappointment to find there were so many rules. You had to stay on the path, and that was it. Boring! Totally different from hiking in the Bruce. Wow, I sound totally disenchanted here! It WAS beautiful! Waterfalls everywhere you looked, standing hundreds of feet above, looking down at the gorge. It really was quite stunning. We spent the remainder of the day on a beach and explored a little of Watkins Glen, and it’s neighbouring village, Montour Falls. Such charming places! NY State is full of these gems!

I have a butt load more photos to share – some from the town, some from the beach, some from Farm Sanctuary(!!!), and a little photo shoot Matt and I did in the Blair Witch forest behind our camp site. I also thrifted so many great things during our trip, so keep an eye on the shop for magical small town thrift shop goodness!