Well I paid my first visit to Chautauqua Lake in New York this past weekend. A fun family reunion with the in-laws at Midway State Park (one of the nation's oldest amusement parks) - it was a lovely time, especially after I stopped in the game arcade and took out some stress on the Whack-A-Mole machine. :evil:

 

Main building - the upper floor used to be a rollerrink:

 

The carousel:

 

Docking for boaters:

 

Rides and stuff for the kids:

 

But as the evening progressed, these lovely clouds showed up :-o

 

Good thing we bailed - bad storms later in the night, and someone (not anyone in our group) got hit by lightning!

 

So off we went to our hotel, but on the way we stopped in Mayville (helLO, beer run!):

 

Lovely church across from the beer outlet grocery store:

 

The next day we did some sight-seeing - a local landmark - Webb's Candy/Gift/Fudge/Tchotchke shop adjacent to Webb's restaurant and Webb's hotel:

 

And the main attraction, the Chautauqua Institution - started in 1874 by an Akron native, it's: "a non-for-profit organization that serves as a community, a center, and a resource where the human spirit is renewed, minds stimulated, faith restored and the arts valued. It has performance venues, hotel, golf, tennis, and educational and recreational facilities."

 

 

The strange part is that they charge $6.00 to park in an enormous lot across the street (except on Sundays before 1:30pm so we lucked out) and charge varying admission starting at $16.00 - just to get on the grounds. Don't know if I'd pay that much, but hey - we got in free so I can't complain:

 

It's an odd semi-private largely pedestrian-friendly neighborhood tucked along the lake with charming streets, cottages, etc:

 

 

 

 

 

A few newer in-fill small-scale hotels:

 

 

 

Bestor Plaza, the main hub of activity:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Miller Bell Tower:

 

 

 

The historic Athenaeum Hotel - from all the tripadvisor.com reviews, absolutely NOT worth the $500ish a night! Oh and we wanted a bite to eat, but $45 for Sunday brunch?!?

 

Buuut the porch is definitely a nice spot to relax:

 

And it has a lovely view:

 

 

The amphitheatre, which had a church service going on - my skin started to crackle so off we went:

 

 

 

 

 

And that was it - hope you enjoyed!

The historic Athenaeum Hotel - from all the tripadvisor.com reviews, absolutely NOT worth the $500ish a night! Oh and we wanted a bite to eat, but $45 for Sunday brunch?!?

 

Buuut the porch is definitely a nice spot to relax:

 

Very nice town and great way to capture its charm.  It is like the hotel is trying to become the Mackinac Island, Grand Hotel of NY.... nice try

 

 

 

Looks just like Lakeside, Ohio, except the lake isn't as big.

Mansfield's carousel is so much better.  :-P

 

Nice pictures, I really like the ones of the clouds. Oh, and the town was charming too.

" It is like the hotel is trying to become the Mackinac Island, Grand Hotel of NY.... nice try"

 

Oops, the Athenaeum predates the Grand by six years :-|

 

The photos are at least nice.

Chautauqua is Cleveland's version of the Hamptons.  I've been going there since I was 3, as my family has a place there, and it's truly a great place.  Bemus Point is a blast on the weekends, with great bars and a fun mix of young professionals and older couples.  The lake big enough, but not huge, and great for skiing/tubing.

 

PS - I have no idea why you would go all the way to Mayville for beer when there is a gas station/mini mart directly across the street on 430 (I frequent it when there).

Looks like a nice place to retire to.

Looks like a nice place to retire to.

 

Yes and no.. the winters are very empty, unless you like to hunt.  So if you want peace and quiet, literally, you'd like it.  Skiing is nice in the area also.

"PS - I have no idea why you would go all the way to Mayville for beer when there is a gas station/mini mart directly across the street on 430 (I frequent it when there)."

 

Left the reunion at Midway park, hotel was Chautauqua Suites (opposite side of the lake). Took main road north from Midway west-ish to Mayville then south to hotel. Took us maybe 10 minutes? And did I mention that I was looking for decent beer, and in my book gas stations usually don't make the cut? ;-)

 

Anyway, the area had some cute hamlets, lovely homes, etc. but the Institution itself? I had heard so much about it, that it was a "creative" hub of the region, which in its way I'm sure it is. Still, the layout was nice and I can appreciate what it has to offer, but to my mind - I was hoping for more diversity, more of a creative angst, that kind of thing. Instead of a "artists colony" it came off more like an elitist "artsy" retreat kind of place for the over-50 crowd. Given the prices for most of it, I think they like it that way. Nice for what it is, but not my cup of tea.

 

And why were all the beaches closed? Pollution? :?

what an amazing place

The amusement park kind of reminds me of Conneaut Lake Park. Nice pics.

looks like a nice time.

 

i am endlessly fascinated with chatauqua's and the whole chatauqua movement. i wonder if in our modern times perhaps it's spirit has morphed onto the internet in some ways?

 

both lakeside and lake chatauqua are true local area treasures.

 

other beautiful chatauqua towns i have been to off and on are ocean grove, nj, which is also a victorian era tent chatauqua, & oak bluffs on martha's vineyard, mass.

 

i've found that if the religious angle is distasteful or not your flavor, it seems pretty easy to skirt. i also read that there are even a few non-religious chatauquas still around too -- ie., wiki mentions one in colorado.

 

nice pictures...my family has gone to Chautauqua inst. for a while..

 

where you only there on a sunday?  most of the place is shut down on sundays

I feel like I've been transported to the set of "Meet Me in St. Louis" after looking at some of those pictures.  Beautiful maintenance/restoration work! 

 

Those lake villages in New York are all super expensive.  We've got family that lives in Skaneateles (one of the finger lakes) that we visit over Thanksgiving every year, and every year we just walk through all the shops and look because we can't actually afford any of it.  The cost of living there is obviously quite high too....

Chautauqua doesn't really try to market itself in any sort of "average joe" or "starving artist" type of place.  It is an upper-crust type of vacation spot and I could have told you that from the get-go.  With that said, I'm not looking for starving artists, nor do I go to the Institute but once in a blue moon.  If you wanted fun, you should have went to Bemus.

Did you see the art school on the north end (I think)?  I was actually surprised at how "artsy" it seemed (and was bigger than I expected, although I guess I wasn't expecting much)...and that was where most of the young artsy crowd seemed to be hanging out.  Of course, being there on a Sunday might have made a difference.

 

I do agree that much of it has been "gentrified" though so that it's a rich older white people's resort.  The whole time I was there I felt that it was cool/odd/boring/interesting all at the same time.

"It is an upper-crust type of vacation spot"

 

I guess I prefer more upper than crust - I'm allowed not to like certain aspects of the place, but apparently I should consider myself lucky that they allowed me into the place :roll:

mmmm Southern Tier!

The city looks nice too.

I should consider myself lucky that they allowed me into the place :roll:

 

Damn right :P

I'll be at the casino if you need me.

I should consider myself lucky that they allowed me into the place :roll:

 

Damn right :P

 

yeah, considering he is so into witchcraft!