Round Lake is one of the lakes at Green Lakes State Park. Will any of my turkey rocks still be there? IDK! This is a busy hiking trail. Good luck!
Tag Archives: Green Lakes State Park
ISO Fish Fry – Yards Grille
Yesterday, we held our final Chittenango Art department faculty meeting for the year (my final ever meeting) at Yards Grille (at Green Lakes State Park, Fayetteville, New York). I was the only one in search of fish fry. There’s a variety of sandwiches, salads and other entrees on the menu. We all chose different meals.
Presentation: This is their fish sandwich. It comes with french fries or potato chips but no coleslaw. Instead the fish is served tartared and laden with pickles on a brioche bun.
Taste: It was delish! I loved every bite. The fries had an air fryer look to them – very seasoned, which made me covet them. I don’t eat like this every day – it probably seems like it, lol, but I mainly eat a very bland plant based diet – so when I have something salty I think it tricks my mind into wanting more times infinity. And that it not to say that I regret eating them. Because I don’t regret a thing.
Restaurant Experience: The restaurant overlooks the golf course and the lake at Green Lakes State Park. If you’ve never been there, you must make a plan to go because the view is spectacular!
We had planned this excursion a week in advance. On Thursday night when I checked the weather report, it declared Friday a rainy day. I thought we were going to end up eating inside – well…it turned out to be a magnificent weather day. Perfect, in fact. Seventy-eight degrees and sunny. We were able to dine on the outdoor deck. We sat in the shade and enjoyed the view while reminiscing, evaluating the school year and sharing plans for summer vacation and beyond.
Katy and I arrived together. We approached the hostess and she brought us to our table. Madison had already arrived. Allison and Gina appeared quickly after. The waitress and the manager asked us how everything was – they really pampered us.
If you have never been to this restaurant, I highly recommend you head there on a beautiful day to enjoy the ambiance. Yards Grille is only open from Memorial Day through Labor Day, I believe, and is open from 7:00 AM to 8:00 PM every day during that period.
Location:
Green Lakes State Park
5648 Green Lakes Park Dr
Fayetteville, NY 13066
Parking: There is a huge parking lot in front of the restaurant. When we arrived at noon yesterday, the parking lot was full of cars but the restaurant was not filled to capacity because the parking lot doubles as parking for golfers. There is plenty of space.
If you drive into Green Lakes from Route 5, you do not have to pay to go through the park – the entrance gate to the park does not include the restaurant.
Camp Spooky
If you are looking for something to do tonight, look no further than a drive out to Green Lakes State Park. The campgrounds will host a spooky drive-thru.
Campers are out in full force and have decorated their sites with all sorts of Halloween fun! Starting at around 6:30 pm, cars can drive through the venue, just bring canned goods to donate to the food pantry.
I stumbled upon this today during an afternoon hike. It looks like a lot of fun! It’s tonight only – Saturday, October 23, 2021.
Green Lakes State Park – take the rt. 290 entrance to get in – is located at 7900 Green Lakes Road, Fayetteville, NY 13066. Call (315) 637-6111 for more information.
Guidance
Finding hearts on the trails at Green Lakes State Park gives me a feeling of clarity, guiding me to everything my heart desires. That is when I know I am in alignment with my source energy. Call it god or the universe, or whatever you like. Love is always the answer, no matter the question. #gratitude #blessed #lifeisgood
Storybook Trail
An illustrated children’s book, displayed as a storyboard, exists on a trail overlooking Round Lake at Green Lakes State Park – it’s between the upper and lower campgrounds and runs parallel to the street.
It is incredibly special. A magnificent way to engage children with art and writing in the fresh air while maintaining social distancing policies.
It is, like, finding a treasure without leaving the path. How cool is that?
Art is alive and well in Central New York. Art will always find a home here – find its way to you.
If you feel motivated to investigate this, there is something similar at Clark Reservation, as well. Those storyboards are placed closer together. They are in the open space between the playground and the museum. <3
Educational Center at Green Lakes!
The Educational Center at Green Lakes is now up and running! Wow – it has taken something like a year to rebuild the boat house and transform it into this amazing space. It is really beautiful. And it has Stickley furniture!
There is a lot of history here. Information on the meromictic lakes, the story behind the purchase of the land – and its stunning World War II connection. Yes – there was a POW camp on-site. It was near the golf course by the east entrance to the park. German soldiers created many of the trails and farmed the land!
This education center is chock-full of information. There is a large map of the park on the center island. A bunch of interactive displays can be found in pull-out drawers. There’s an outdoor classroom too. They offer classes that are aligned with New York State standards and they welcome all age groups (and not just science students).
To set up a school field trip, contact Katie Mulvihill at katie.mulvihill@parks.ny.gov or call (315) 492-1756. Green Lakes State Park is located at 7900 Green Lakes Road, Fayetteville, New York 13066-3385.
White Out
Last week it snowed. I know! Too soon. It is pretty much gone now. It was basically a non-stop blizzard that shut Syracuse down for, like, a day, lol.
I walked around Green Lakes for the first time under these circumstances. Still beautiful, but so different wrapped in this white blanket.
Santa, please bring me hiking boots for Christmas….
Sums Me Up
For those of you who may actually think highly of me, this is going to make me look very bad.
I did not go to the art reception for this new exhibition at The Point of Contact Gallery, 350 W. Fayette Street in Syracuse, NY. I pilfered the photos off Facebook.
In my defense, if there can be one, I have been spending my days chasing pokemon at Green Lakes State Park and my nights enjoying live music at various venues in the area. I blame the pokemon craze on my twenty-three-year-old friend Helen, who exposed me to this phenomenon. I kept wondering why people had their cell phones at the ready while hiking the trails instead of experiencing the wonder and beauty of nature.
No apologies. I was obsessed with the game for three days. It is all I talked about to CFOs of major corporations and other super-duper successfuls at my high school reunion.
Of course, once I ran out of weapons to capture the pokemons, the thought of purchasing more ended it for me and I snapped out of it, lol.
Now I am back to normal, albeit obsessed with getting a good photo op of the owl family that lives in the space between the two lakes. (This one was taken by my friend, Animal Behaviorist Janet Ridgeway).
I am not apologetic about my social life either. This has been an amazing summer so far. Many memories with very special people. A lot of singing and dancing. (In fact, I was doing exactly that on the night of the opening – to Brass, Inc. at Borio’s.)
Good times and great fun!!!!! <3
I will try to get out to see the Sum Art show in person. A lot of fabulous work by some of the best talent in Syracuse. It is up for another week or so. Check their Facebook page for more information here.
Treasure in the Trail
Some say there are no coincidences in life. That everything in front of you is either a gift or simply put there as a lesson. And it is up to you to figure it all out….
When you check your surroundings, you can immediately be in tune to how you are feeling. Life is a reflection of you!
So what does it say about me, the woman who paints hearts, surrounds herself with hearts, says I-love-you all the time – even using it as one of the steps in a plaster of Paris lesson, lol (my students know what I am talking about) that I am seeing hearts on the trail at Green Lakes?
They are EVERYWHERE!
It doesn’t seem real. I mean, I never noticed them before, you know? And yet, here they are – hearts in mulch, in leaves, in stone….
It’s just so beautiful and adds another dimension to my happy place! I guess I am in love with love. It is so special. I am soooo grateful to have Green Lakes State Park in my life. It is the best! <3
Orange You Glad…
Not sure if these pictures do justice to the beauty that is Green Lakes in autumn. OMG, yesterday was spectacular. Talk about being in a happy place!!!! It is just so wonderful.
Sometimes I think there’s no place I would rather be and when I am there I feel like anything is possible. It is such a profound thing to find a place that feels like home where I can be the real me.
When I am there, any silly drama that has gripped me ceases to exist and I am just filled with happiness and joy.
Corny, I know. But there are certainly times when I can get lost inside my head – and then I start thinking too much about a disappointment, thinking what I could have done differently so that I could have had the outcome I desired.
They always say that everything happens for a reason. The universe is on your side and all that. That life will present you with everything you ask for as long as you are grateful. As long as you shed your worry, fear, stress and doubt.
They say that you can be a magnet for miracles. I have seen loads of miracles happen throughout my life and so I do have a lot of faith. But then, something happens once in a blue moon and you just can’t understand why it didn’t…why it doesn’t work out.
Walking around Green Lakes now, with the crisp orange leaves crackling at every step, creates a sort of blanket of love around me. And I am free to trust in my dreams again and know for certain that they will come true – maybe not in the way I thought or expected, but I know in my heart that it will be a magnificent outcome nonetheless.
