Before there was the Big Apple, there were bushels of little apples … and wheat, grapes, even black raspberries. Not to mention all the cheese. Visitors to the New York Wine & Culinary Center can wander through the LeCesse New York Garden to see live examples of local agricultural crops that hint at how New York State, the enormous swath of fertile, rolling country north and west of the big city, has been a breadbasket, cider maker, and cheesemaker for nearly 200 years. Learn how to cook using New York ingredients in the state-of-the-art hands-on kitchen, or sit down to a delicious meal of New York State-produced foods in the Taste of New York Lounge. Balcony diners enjoy a view of Canandaigua Lake and the City Pier. The Center provides information about New York state wine trails and offers a thorough overview of the industry in the Eber Brothers Wine Tasting room (non-alcoholic flights are available, too).

800 South Main St.
Canandaigua, New York
14424
(585) 394-7070
www.nywcc.com

Seen from the open-air patio at Esperanza Mansion, Keuka Lake sparkles and green hills rise from the shoreline. The food, however, pulls you back to the table. Accompanied by sweet potato fries and wrapped in puff pastry, the warm turkey and brie sandwich ($14) spills richly upon the plate and earns its neighborhood fame. Diners may enjoy the lunch and dinner options (inventive American fare) outside during good weather, inside when desired, or aboard the Esperanza Rose, which tours Keuka Lake on regularly scheduled cruises. Increasingly the menu options derive from local food sources via the Finger Lakes Culinary Bounty, an organization that connects “hometown” food producers with area chefs and retailers. The mansion itself has been a part of the landscape since 1838, when John Rose finished the Greek Revival home. Within its pale yellow stuccoed walls, visitors may spend the night in one of nine rooms or stay in the small inn, situated steps from the house.

3456 NY 54A
Bluff Point, New York
14478
(866) 927-4400
www.esperanzamansion.com

Three generations of landmark glass architecture make up the Corning Museum of Glass, which houses more than just a collection of fragile artifacts. Exhibits show how glass has been a part of everyday culture for thousands of years, but as importantly, demonstrations reveal how integral it is today. Kids do the honors at the glass-breaking show, which makes you think more of your windshield when the window panes shatter but the windshield glass shards hang together. The physics behind fiber optics aren't necessarily intelligible, but there's no doubt modern communications wouldn't exist without glass. Throughout the day, glassworkers manipulate blobs of fiery molten glass into exquisite items onstage at the Hot Glass Show. Visitors who get the glassblowing bug can sign up to shape a flower, fuse a frame, flamework glass beads, or sandblast a beaker ($10-27). If you're a flower maker, pulling at the rubbery stuff and feeling it stiffen with each second, as if resisting on purpose, almost fools you into thinking the glass is alive. If you don't relish getting that close to molten blobs, the GlassMarket offers a way to bring home the goods. Its collection of more than 15,000 items includes $1,000 paperweights and $35 earrings.

One Museum Way
Corning, New York
14830
(800) 732-6845
www.cmog.org

Serious birders rub elbows with casual enthusiasts at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Johnson Center for Birds and Biodiversity , the epicenter of bioacoustics and avian research. Visitors come to watch and listen—on four-and-a-half miles of trails that wind through Sapsucker Woods, from the two-story windowed atrium, in the replica sound studio. The atrium overlooks the pond, which attracts kingfishers, ducks, and geese. Backyard species such as goldfinches, hummingbirds, and downy woodpeckers flit about the birdfeeder garden; scopes are available for up-close observation. Inside the sound studio, you can listen to birds and other animals, then record your versions of the calls and compare the sonic “thumbprints” to see how close you came. The Visitors' Center offers access to information on citizen science projects such as Project FeederWatch (regular folks count the birds at their feeders and report the numbers). A deceptively small Wild Birds Unlimited shop is crammed with kids' games, books, and activities; myriad birdsong recordings and field guides; an array of birding optics ($90-$2,000); bird-themed jewelry and house décor; and, naturally, bird feeders.

159 Sapsucker Woods Rd.
Ithaca, New York
14850
(800) 843-2473
www.birds.cornell.edu

For 90 minutes aboard the Lil' Diamond II cruise boat, Captain Jerry entertains with tales of the canal: what Clinton's Ditch was, how it was expanded, why it's still important to upstate New York culture. This particular stretch is along the Erie Barge Canal, dug parallel to the Mohawk River in the early 20th century. The tour passes giant storm surge gates reminiscent of the Thames Barrier, Historic Fort Herkimer Church (second-oldest in the state), and often birds of interest such as green herons. Lock 18, through which the boat passes, is the last one with all-original equipment. The boat goes in, the doors close, and suddenly the lock house seems to rise into the air as slimy walls creep up alongside the boat. When something especially cool happens, such as a great blue heron taking flight 20 feet in front of the boat, Captain Jerry interrupts his talk to make sure no one misses it. (Cruises mid-May – mid-October, $18 adults/$12 kids 3-10.)

800 Mohawk St.
Herkimer, New York
13350
(315) 717-0350
www.eriecanalcruises.com

The glaciers came to and left what is now upstate New York thousands of years ago, leaving behind deep lakes and rocky hillsides. That kind of soil drains well, and the deep water moderates the climate, making for perfect grape-growing conditions. Today Bully Hill (so named by English settlers in 1797 for their home in England) produces nearly 200,000 cases of wine in myriad varieties, from the sweetest whites to the driest reds. Vineyard visitors enjoy 30-minute tours (free) and the tasting room ($2), which makes wine tasting fun and casual rather than intimidating. An adjacent wine shop sells all of the more than 40 varieties made at Bully Hill. From May through October, a restaurant serves lunch daily and dinner Friday and Saturday. The Cooper Shop Building offers exhibits detailing barrel making. Next door, the Wine Museum and Art Gallery feature the contributions of the Taylor family to the local wine industry.

8843 Greyton H. Taylor Memorial Drive
Hammondsport, New York
14840
(607) 868-3210
www.bullyhill.com

Inside this understated brick Federal-style home, visitors find a portal into the mid–19th century. William H. Seward was the home's most famous occupant, though he actually spent most of his time in Washington, where he was a two–term Senator, then secretary of state. Seward was an important national figure, and the home's furnishings reflect this. The dining room table displays a gigantic silver pear and candle holder complete with a fox hunting scene; the staircase was given to Seward by the California 49ers; a Burmese statue rests above the fireplace. Thousands of volumes line the library walls, which make room for a case enclosing Fanny Seward's personal library. It's a poignant personal touch—Fanny was her parents' favorite and died in her early 20s—in a house crammed with items amassed over decades of public service and world travel. In fact, the home is unusual because so many items are original to it, having been occupied by the Seward family until 1951.

33 South St.
Auburn, New York
13021
(315) 252-1283
www.sewardhouse.org

Most people know Oneida as a brand of flatware, but few realize the company got its start as a utopian community that supported itself with metalworking. The Oneida Community, a utopian group dedicated to Perfectionism, began building the imposing structure in 1861. Over the years, it expanded to cover 93,000 square feet. Visitors may tour the house on their own or with a guide. An exhibit details the development and precepts of the Oneida Community, making the case for it being one of New York's first tourist attractions (some people were interested in seeing the fruits of the radical experiment that decried many social norms of the mid-19th century). Some of the rooms are available as overnight accommodations, and the on-site restaurant, Zabroso, features Latin American, Spanish, and French cuisine.

170 Kenwood Ave.
Oneida, New York
13421
(315) 363-0745
www.oneidacommunity.org

Three small museums, several buildings, and a packet boat comprise the living history experience at Erie Canal Village. Located at the spot where in 1817 workers began digging the canal, the village offers the only authentic packet boat rides available on the canal system. Three times a day, visitors enjoy a short trip down the waterway and get a sense for what it was like as a 19th-century canal passenger. Arranged along a path, the various buildings include three houses representative of New York life before the canal, at its very beginning, and in its prosperous aftermath. The Erie Canal museum traces the history of the canal; the Harden museum demonstrates what horse-drawn travel was like; the New York State Museum of Cheese details cheesemaking in New York and how the Erie Canal affected the industry. Special programs and festivals are held throughout the summer.

5789 Rome New London Rd (NY 46/49)
New York
13440
(315) 337-3999
www.eriecanalvillage.net

Glenora Wine Cellars, located about eight miles north of Watkins Glen, overlooks long, deep Seneca Lake. The rocky soil drains well, and the sheer volume of water in the 600-foot-deep Finger Lake moderates the local climate, both necessary conditions for growing grapes. Glenora produces champion vintages and invites visitors to tour the cellars where the wine is made. Tours are guided hourly from 11 am to 5 pm. Bottles are available for purchase in the shop, adjacent to the tasting room, where experts guide purchasing decisions. The Inn at Glenora offers rooms overlooking Seneca Lake, which include private balconies, custom-made Stickley furniture, and a complimentary bottle of wine in the refrigerator. Veraisons restaurant features a menu thick with locally produced meats and vegetables and, of course, Glenora wines.

5435 NY 14
Dundee, New York
14837
(607) 243-9500
(800) 243-5513
www.glenora.com

The 1833 Federal-style Aurora Inn offers tasty meals and comfortable accommodations. The restaurant resides on the first floor and spills out onto the veranda overlooking Cayuga Lake. Many of the inside tables have expansive views, too. The kitchen turns increasingly to local farms for its produce, dairy, and meats, which results in delicious dishes such as the marinated grilled flank steak salad. The bell peppers are crispy and sweet, the goat cheese tangy. Local vintages are on the wine list. The inn itself underwent a total renovation (completed in 2003) that preserved its mid-19th-century flavor. When visitors step inside the front door, they're welcomed by a warm, open space that feels more like a home than a hotel.

391 Main St.
Aurora, New York
13026
(315) 364-8888
(866) 364-8808
www.aurora-inn.com

On a hill overlooking Cayuga Lake, a grand Second Empire "farmhouse" displays just about every permutation of the locally made MacKenzie-Childs housewares in a real-life setting. Tours of the farmhouse, held throughout the year, help visitors make sense of the blizzard of elaborately decorated chairs, rugs, sconces, and tableware encountered in the store. For MacKenzie-Childs devotees, the adjacent visitors center offers the chance to see the artisans in action via artisan demonstrations and a studio tour video. The buildings are located on a 65-acre farm that includes an aviary, duck pond, and Scottish Highland cattle pasture, all of which may be viewed on a walk around the grounds.

3260 NY 90
Aurora, New York
13026
(315) 364-6118
www.mackenzie-childs.com

Nestled into the landscape north of Cooperstown, the Alice Busch Opera Theater presents Glimmerglass Opera productions in a building designed for its setting. It resembles nothing so much as a very large barn, in keeping with the farms in the surrounding countryside. Inside, the overhead light fixtures echo quilting patterns common to the area. And prior to performances and during intermissions, the walls slide open to permit outside and inside to mingle–fresh breezes and cricket song wash over the audience. The four annual productions vary from season to season and are often critically acclaimed. Operagoers make an outdoors expedition out of the evening, bringing a picnic to enjoy pre-performance on the hillside overlooking the theater, and strolling the 43-acre grounds. The performance season is during July and August.

7300 NY 80
Cooperstown, New York
13326
(607) 547-2255
www.glimmerglass.org