Pretty lake views from New York’s Lake Geneva

I spent four years of my life at the “neighboring” lake of New York’s Finger Lakes. I already wrote about visiting my alma mater, Cornell University, on the edge of Cayuga Lake, but on that same visit, we also made the trip to the town of Geneva, on Geneva Lake.

Geneva is home to Hobart and William Smith Colleges, which we visited on a college tour. Although it’s only a short trip from Ithaca, where Cornell is located, I’d never been before.

It’s a shame, because it really is quite beautiful.

Unlike Cornell, which is situated on a hill overlooking Cayuga Lake in the distance, Hobart is right on the edge of Geneva Lake. The whole campus unrolls beside the lake, and it’s stunning to keep catching glimpses of it as you wander along. When we visited in the summertime, students were out swimming and boating from the college lake house.

Experience living in upstate New York proved to me that those halcyon days of summer don’t last long, and soon enough those lakes become pretty icy. And I imagine the cold blasts coming from the lake in the winter time seem somewhat less romantic on the coldest days of January and February.

Still, we enjoyed our time visiting the campus, the tiny town and this picturesque Finger Lake.

If we’d had more time, we would have stopped by some of the Finger Lake wineries scattered all over this countryside. They’ve really come a long way since my time back here.

So if you’re ever passing through this section of western New York, take time to visit Geneva Lake.