I was recently invited to a wedding in the Finger Lakes wine country of upstate New York (also the ceremony takes place at a winery). This 70 year old former athlete runs the wine program at a university, writes about 40 wine and travel articles a year and co-directs the largest wine education club in the New York area. So you might assume this is another wine story, but you would be wrong.
It was a pleasant four plus hour drive through New Jersey and Pennsylvania and back into New York through Binghamton and Elmira to Horseheads. My home for two nights was the Country Inn & Suites, the headquarter hotel for the wedding party; large rooms, free breakfast, a pool and fitness room. While not fancy, it is made pleasant by Jennifer Morse, the assistant general manager, who gave me directions, maps, cookies and even let me use her computer- and the price was quite reasonable.
Open my bag, change clothes and rush to the Wings of Eagles Discovery Center, a few miles away at the Elmira/Corning regional airport. Formerly known as the National Warplane Museum it has 36 aircraft on display from B17 Flying Fortress, Catalina Flying Boat, Grumman F14 Tomcat, MIG Russian fighter, A10 Warhog, helicopters, gliders and more. Watch as volunteers restore warplanes to flying condition. There are display cases showing planes from World War I through Operation Dessert Storm, as well as a theatre, library and gift shop. There are advantages to being a journalist as I got comped a 15 minute ride on an AT6 Pearl Harbor survivor Navy plane with US Air pilot Mike Baier at the controls. They recently added a hands-on children’s Science & Discovery Center to the museum. After I left a group of cub scouts were spending the night in the museum.
Next day it was the magic of silent flight at the National Soaring Museum, home to the largest collection of gliders and sailplanes in the world (70). Located 10 minutes from my hotel in Horseheads, it was the site of the first US National Soaring contest in 1930. I was lucky enough to get a sailplane ride with Director of Operation Norm Smith’s son Ryan. http://www.soaringmuseum.org . I thought my readers would like to hear from Ryan. “When I was eleven I went to the five day Eileen Collins Aviation Camp in Elmira organized by the National Soaring Museum. Space Shuttle Astronaut Collins led us on aviation related trips. One of the activities was a ride on a sailplane, at the Harris Hill Soaring Club located next to the museum. I noticed several teenagers doing the grunt work of pushing the gliders to and from the flight line and hooking them up to the tow planes. I found out they were learning to fly sailplanes in return for their work. That is what I did when I turned 14 and three years later I am a licensed commercial glider and private single engine land airplane pilot. It took me one year to solo, and another to become a licensed glider pilot; then I started my first lesson in a powered airplane. In August 2004 at age 17 I have not earned my driver’s license but I am a real, honest to god airplane pilot. I have come full circle since I now do much of the technical instruction during the current Eileen Collins Aviation Camp. The Harris Hill Soaring Club Junior Program is the largest in the US with 37 members under 18 years of age”.
My weekend adventure continued at Watkins Glen International (the first post-WWII road race in the US started here in 1948) located ½ hour from my hotel, where I was able to ride in a pace car for 5 laps around the track with Brett Powell the tracks marketing coordinator. Besides NASCAR & Indy Car racing that may draw over 150,000 spectators, they host the Finger Lakes Wine Festival (sponsored by the Corning Museum of Glass) every mid-July. There are new grandstands with seatbacks, a private club and plenty of room for RV’s and campers.
Real Travel Adventures 