Great Lakes Seaway Trail - The Most Scenic Drives in America: 120 Spectacular Road Trips - page 908

7. Southwick Beach State Park
Knownforitsoutstandingbathingbeach,SouthwickBeachStateParkservesastheentryto
the 3,400-acre Lakeview Wildlife Management Area, which also contains Lake Ontario's
mostextraordinarynetworkofdunes,someofthemupto60feethigh.Farthertothesouth-
westliestheshippingcityofOswego,atthemouthoftheOswegoRiver.HereFortOntario
reflects the strategic importance of this waterway during the 18th and 19th centuries.
8. Fair Haven
This elegant town, which occupies both sides of narrow Little Sodus Bay, was at one time
a busy shipping port. Nowadays, it is a delightful resort with charming lakeside inns and
expansive green lawns that slope toward the bay.
9. Sodus Bay Lighthouse
Afterswinginginlandforseveralmilesthroughorchardcountry,thedriveonceagainnears
the lakeshore, where the Sodus Bay Lighthouse comes into view. It is said that slaves es-
caping via the Underground Railroad longed to see the Sodus Light, the last waystation on
their 1,000-mile trek. From here they sailed across the lake to freedom in Canada.The lan-
tern room atop the lighthouse overlooks the spectacular Chimney Bluffs. Shimmering in
the distance, their twisted spires and serrated ridges trace intricate silhouettes against the
sky.
10. Rochester
As the drive heads west, the skyline of New York's third-largest city materializes above
acres of apple orchards. Standing at the northern end of a broad plain, Rochester was
chosen as the terminus of a branch of the Erie Canal—and once the canal was built in the
1820s, the population grew dramatically. Entrepreneurs founded so many flour mills along
the upper falls of the Genesee River that Rochester came to be called the Flour City.
The 100-foot waterfall in the Brown'sRace Historic District is spectacular in itself, but
allthemoresoforbeingrightinthemiddleoftown.Nearbyarerestoredfactoriesandmills
from Rochester's early days, along with an interpretive center and an overlook affording a
sweeping view of the river's deep gorge.
Duringthe1840stheRochestermillswentintodecline,yieldingtoaboominghorticul-
tural trade. Accordingly, the city changed its nickname from the Flour City to Flower City.