Paul Szmal: And welcome back to FLX Morning on Finger Lakes News Radio. It is 816. Time for a visit with our friends from Finger Lakes Visitors Connection and for that we turn to Jessica Vandermeer joining us this morning. Jessica, good morning. How are you today?
Jessica VanDeMar: Good morning, Paul. I'm good today. How are you?
Paul Szmal: Doing well. Doing well. Doing well.
And is it still maple season here in the Finger Lakes region? Are we still doing maple syruping around the area?
Jessica VanDeMar: It sure is. Last weekend kicked off maple weekends, which do happen across New York State. And so if you missed out last weekend, you still have an opportunity this Saturday and Sunday. There's some great maple farms around the area. Last weekend went to Embers Rising Farm out in Clifton Springs with my parents and we had a great time learning about how maple syrup is made and tasting different flavors. And it was a great time. And there are, as you mentioned, a variety of different places around the region that are taking part in this.
Paul Szmal: Yeah, you can also go out towards Victor and go to Kettle Ridge Farm or down to Naples and to Cumming Nature Center or the Naples Maple Farm. And a lot of them are offering pancake breakfasts, some demonstrations. So it's a great opportunity for the family and everyone. It's kind of like a little bit of a cottage industry in the region, isn't it?
Jessica VanDeMar: Yeah, it certainly is.
Paul Szmal: And what are some of the other activities that are happening now as we turn our attention toward the spring months?
Jessica VanDeMar: Yeah, as we enter the spring months, we are seeing the different performing arts announcing their schedules for the spring and for the summertime. Bristol Valley Theater down in Naples has released their summer season. And I don't know about you, but I'm excited to see your good man, Charlie Brown.
Paul Szmal: Oh, yeah, that has always been a favorite of mine. So that looks like it'll be good.
Jessica VanDeMar: And then the Smith Center for the Arts out in Geneva always has an interesting lineup. They've got, it looks like some music events coming up, some different, I believe they have like a, gosh, a, words are hard today, Paul, a magic show, I believe, as well. So they have a good variety I am looking forward to, and it got moved to October. My husband and I were going to go see the Lord of the Rings concert that's going to be there this fall.
Paul Szmal: Oh, nice. Yeah, that's an event definitely worth looking forward to.
We're kind of blessed in this area because we do have a number of great performing arts venues all around the region.
Jessica VanDeMar: Yeah, we have great performing arts, and especially if you get in towards Canandaigua, there's also the Fort Hill Performing Arts Center, or up in Farmington, the Cobblestone Arts Center. And they all give a great performance from musical performances to plays to dance recitals. So it's really quite a great variety.
Paul Szmal: And of course, as we turn our attention towards spring, we hope for a little bit warmer weather. And that means for a lot of folks getting out and hitting the wine trails.
Jessica VanDeMar: Yeah, and if you're interested in the wine trails, you can check out Seneca Lake always has some great events that happen throughout the year. And then the Canandaigua Lake Wine Trail is selling their passport again. So there is passport information online at canandaigualakewinetrail.com. And you can hit seven different wineries, and it includes some different savings as well.
Paul Szmal: We're talking with Jessica Vandermeer from Finger Lakes Visitors Connection and Visit FLX here on FLX Morning. What are some of the other activities that usually come about this time of year that we start looking forward to?
Jessica VanDeMar: April typically brings the start of Sonnenberg Gardens. So you'll usually see a spring event from Sonnenberg Gardens ahead of their opening. They do a great arts in the park festival. And then people really start hitting the trails again, too. So a lot of great opportunities to get outside and start doing some hiking trails, especially along Ontario Pathways is a great way to see Ontario County in particular.
Paul Szmal: Yes. And I would think, too, that as we head further into the spring months, that people are going to start to think about camping and maybe visiting some of their local and regional parks.
Jessica VanDeMar: Yes. And the campgrounds are a great way to also explore the region in a budget-friendly manner and really just enjoy the beauty of the area. So that's certainly, you know, the KOA campground is a wonderful place for that as well.
Paul Szmal: We're talking with Jessica Vandermeer from Visit FLX and Finger Lakes Visitors Connection here on FLX Morning. Do you have a particular favorite springtime activity?
Jessica VanDeMar: I just enjoy getting out and starting to enjoy nice walks by the lake. Going down, our office, we're lucky enough to be right by Canandaigua Lake. So I get to get out and, you know, take a walk down by City Pier and really start just enjoying the sunshine that we begin to get. I know I think right now it might be a little bit of a gloomy day, but we've had some sunshine coming through.
Paul Szmal: And also it falls a little bit late on the calendar this year, but Easter is coming up and I know some places have some Easter activities.
Jessica VanDeMar: Yes, we are still working on gathering some of the Easter activities, but if folks go to visit fingerlakes.com backslash events, they'll be able to find some updated Easter activities. A lot of the local restaurants will often do Easter brunches, which is a great way to get out with the family.
Paul Szmal: All right. Well, Jessica, thank you so much for filling us in this morning. We appreciate it as always.
Jessica VanDeMar: Thank you, Paul.
Paul Szmal: All right. It is 822 on FLX Morning.
