Spend a weekend in Bedford Falls and the It's A Wonderful Life Festival (Seneca Falls, NY in the Finger Lakes)
I love working in tourism, and one of the best parts is working hard to promote it. Enjoy a weekend of Upstate NY (specifcally Seneca County) activities and steal some ideas to plan your own trip!
FYI: This is not a writing post, but more of a lifestyle & travel post (I assure you I’ll circle back to the content everyone originally subscribed to with my year end reading wrap up and writing project/s checkin soon! This was just too fun to not share)
We spent three days enjoying Seneca County, here is everything we did
Day one
Sauders Store
Seneca Falls, NY
We started out at Sauders Store around 11 a.m., just before the lunch rush. We were able to grab some food before the line grew (because it’s delicious and everyone loves to go there on their lunch break in Seneca Falls and Waterloo) and eat in their cafe, which is available right inside of the store. After having sandwiches (grilled cheese, grilled chicken, and hot meatball sub) we perused the aisles within the store. Their candy aisle had almost every single thing you can imagine, and the baked goods all looked and smelled amazing. This store offers everything from furniture, to spices, to books and home decor. It’s not just a store to shop at but an entire experience.
Watershed Brewing Co.
Geneva, NY
Watershed Brewing Co. is locally owned and has an upstairs and downstairs bar, with a deck overlooking Seneca Lake and a vineyard. They offer plenty of options for craft beverages as well as locally made sodas like Fiz. We were able to schedule a tour of the brewery to see exactly where and how their craft beverages are made! Many of the drinks they sell are made directly on-site. They have live music often and sometimes food trucks are present. It’s definitely worth looking up their events on Facebook if you’re in the area!
Connie’s Diner
Waterloo, NY
We went to Connie’s Diner for lunch after stopping at Watershed, and the food their NEVER fails to disappoint. They offer breakfast all day long and many of their infamous specials, like The Quickie (a burger and fries, smothered in gravy which I definitely ordered) and their fully loaded milkshakes. The diner is family owned and operated and you’ll always find one of the owners there working hard. They’re the friendliest group of people you’ll ever meet, the service is always 5 stars, the food is delivered quickly, and they now have a photo booth to go along with their 50s diner feel! I’ve never in my life had a bad meal or experience at Connie’s, they LOVE their diner and you can taste every ounce of that love in their food.
del Lago Resort & Casino
Waterloo, NY
del Lago Resort & Casino is so amazing you could just go there, not leave the premises once, and still have days worth of things to do. We started out on the hotel side, where we were able to check out one of their huge and gorgeous hotel suites (it also smells AMAZING everywhere you go in that building). The room we visited had a bathroom bigger than my room, a living room, king sized bed, and it’s own separate half bath. We then went to Portico, a restaurant owned by Fabio Viviani. We were so full from Connie’s but couldn’t pass up the delicious food here, so we grabbed a few things to split. We ordered the Wedge Salad, which was iceberg lettuce, marinated tomato, gorgonzola dressing, pancetta, and pickled red onion; the Kobe Meatball: 16oz Kobe beef blended meatball, tomato sugo, ricotta, grana padano, and basil; and the Pappardelle Carbonara. The Pappardelle Carbonara came with a tableside presentation! In a mason jar our waitress put all the ingredients: egg, pancetta, onions, black pepper, and parmigiano cream, shaking it up until it was creamy and mixed perfectly. After this, we went out onto the casino floor and played the slot machines.
del Lago has so much more than what we were able to do in one night. They have a spa between the casino and resort where so many services are offered, they have banquet halls and ballrooms where you can host events like weddings or conferences as well as where they host various events of their own. They have a buffet for one night only this New Year’s Eve, and a really fun Murder on the Titanic dinner event! They also have a concert hall where huge stars have performed, like Daughtry, Ja’Rule, and so many others.
Woody’s Bar & Grille
Waterloo, NY
Woody’s Bar & Grille’s kitchen is run by the amazingly talented Chef Marshall, who was featured in The Great Chicken Wing Hunt and awarded for his amazing wing sauce! The Bayou Bleu was delicious (obviously, because it’s award winning), but my favorite was definitely the garlic parm (I will demolish anything with cheese and garlic in or on it).
Woody’s has a full menu and bar and is connected to The Lux Hotel & Conference Center. They’ve done some amazing things, including a benefit dinner for Connie’s Diner in the past when they were temporarily closed down due to a fire. They’ve also hosted holiday dinners for Thanksgiving (and other major holidays).
The award winning wings are a must-try if you’re in the area.
Day two
It’s a Wonderful Life Festival
Day two was spent in downtown Seneca Falls, where for one weekend a year the small town transforms itself into Bedford Falls (fun fact: the post office even changes the town to Bedford Falls for a very short time!) Bedford Falls is the fictional town in the movie, It’s A Wonderful Life, and Seneca Falls is said to be the town that inspired the movie.
The weekend is jam packed with events from Friday through Sunday, but Saturday is their longest and most eventful day (and the day we spent there). It’s cold- but totally worth the experience!
We started first thing at 10 a.m. and watched the singers perform at the gorgeous Trinity Church where we watched the George Bailey Award presentation. The church is one of the most beautiful structures I’ve ever seen with the most detailed stained glass windows. The building overlooks Van Cleef Lake, and looks so pretty in the background. The church was also where the event kicked off on Saturday with a pancake breakfast!
Following this we ventured up the street to Cafe XIX to watch the cinnamon bun eating contest, which is done by weight. The buns with bread and frosting totaled 2.5 pounds, with a time limit. Whoever had the least left would win. Cafe XIX also offers delicious drinks and food, and is a major point to visit if you’re interested in the Women’s Rights stops in Seneca Falls.
After the contest, we stopped by The Gould Hotel to see some of the actors for autographs. The lines were long but it was one of the most popular morning events. From there we stopped by Little Italy for lunch and I got some fantastic mozz sticks and fried pickles to hold me over until dinner.
The next big event for the day was the parade at 1 p.m., where downtown Fall Street was closed and the Bedford Falls Mediocre Marching Band played Tequila! by The Champs throughout the event. All of the local fire departments and organizations were in the parade, and tons of adorable dogs marched too.
After this we spent some time walking around downtown, stopping in the stores and local businesses, and of course, buying things. We stopped into Blush by CVDesigns, which was so busy you could hardly walk (in a good way) and got these really cute hot pink earmuffs and a winter beanie! My dog thinks the puffy top on the beanie is a toy because it’s so big and cute (I got it away from him thankfully I would’ve been devastated).
We stopped into The Perfect Pair to say hello and grab a drink, where they specialize in takeout and have some amazing options. In the past I’ve had their brisket sandwiches and I’ve never tasted anything SO GOOD! We also stopped into LocalFLX and chatted with the owner, and I was able to grab a new copy of their spring 2024 zine, Women.
Following the parade and visiting local businesses, the second biggest event of the night was the It’s A Wonderful Run 5K. There were more than 5,000 runners starting together on the George Bailey Bridge. It was so busy my cell phone couldn’t even send a text, and we got some great pictures of the runners and their crazy costumes.
Finally, it was time for dinner and we went to Fall Street Brewing!
They were PACKED wall to wall with people, but the food and drinks were so worth the wait. I go here to get brewed iced tea periodically, and it’s always so fresh and delicious. I had two of these this day- and I ordered the Italian Meat Trio Pizza Sandwich: sliced capicola, pepperoni, salami, arugula, marinated tomatoes, fire-roasted red peppers, pickled banana peppers, fresh mozzarella, pecorino parm, finished with lemon zest and balsamic glaze. It was a 10/10. Others in my group ordered the Suffragist Pizza: cup and char pepperoni, mozzarella, red sauce, finished with a hot honey drizzle.
We also got lemonade and kombucha, both made there and delicious. It was a great end to a long but fun and eventful day.
There is so much to do during every minute of the festival that it’s impossible to do it all. They turned a store into an artisan market where they also created a little theater to watch the movie It’s A Wonderful Life on loop all day.
Day three
Finger Lakes Premium Outlets
Waterloo, NY
We went to the Finger Lakes Premium Outlets first thing Sunday morning, where a holiday selfie station was set up in the food court. The outlet mall has over one hundred stores and restaurants to choose from, with some really unique places. Their food court features Steak & Potato, where great hot subs are sold, Margarita’s Latin Soul Food, and 13 Sip ‘n Slice where you can get so many different things from pizza to smoothies to Indian cuisine. There is also an Indian restaurant near H&M across the mall.
The mall has name brand stores like Nike, Puma, American Eagle, Adidas, and many others, but they also have a special group of locally owned and operated stores. There’s a perfume store, a gaming store where tournaments are hosted, and even a unique snack store called Jawns Over where you can get foreign snacks or even nostalgic food and drink.
It’s easy to spend an entire day at the mall and not run out of things to do!
Sunset Bowl
Waterloo, NY
Our final stop after our three day adventure in Seneca County ended at Sunset Bowl, a locally owned bowling alley in Border City between Geneva and Waterloo. We bowled one game and were lucky to get in they were so busy! They had children’s birthday parties, leagues, and so much going on. We bowled one game and ordered food (some of my favorite food regularly I might add) and really enjoyed ourselves. I of course ordered The Quickie (because I cannot resist gravy covered potatoes) and the photographer with us actually asked if quickies were a regional thing, so I didn’t realize people didn’t eat those everywhere! Now I’m deeply regretting not getting a photo of my food at either place I ordered a quickie! (Both times I was starving and couldn’t get into them fast enough)
Was my weekend exhausting? Yes. Was it worth it? Yes. Would I go this hard for three days straight if I could do all these amazing things again? Also yes.
I know this wasn’t a book or author or writing related post, but it’s been so long since I’ve posted because I’ve been either sick, or busy, or both, and I wanted to share this weekend itinerary in case anyone else was looking for something local to do or somewhere to travel.
I have two more blog posts planned (hopefully I find the time!) before the end of the year. One, which I’m still working on, is a year end wrap up of everything I’ve read since August. There are so many books it’s taken me quite a while to chip away at it. The next is where I am on my writing journey, and my plans for self publishing and attempting to traditionally publish.
If you read this far- thanks! And sorry for any typos- it’s been a crazy long weekend and I’m tired!