Sherman's Travel

With only about six weeks left before the end of the year, it’s time to look ahead to 2013 and the promise of new outdoor adventures. If you haven’t started yet, it’s also probably time to think about the outdoorsman on your holiday gift list. The trouble is, there’s a lot of stuff out there vying for your hard-earned money. Almost every season, new equipment ranging from the essential to the incidental appears in stores and online, and it can be tough to keep up with every new development in outerwear, boots, and backpacks. But since a few pieces of outdoor equipment always help to inspire travel and recreation, I’ve spent some time narrowing down the field. And so for the adventure-seeker you always have trouble shopping for, here’s a short list of gift-worthy gear they’ll be thrilled to unwrap this year.

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Around this time last year I suggested a family vacation to Rochester’s Strong National Museum of Play, “the best kids’ museum you never heard of” (to quote myself) and also noted briefly that the Finger Lakes region packed plenty of appeal for outdoorsy families.

It’s the latter idea that gets our attention this week, as New York State’s Ontario county – zestily rebranding its nine thousand square miles of goodness as “Nature’s Health Club”– is suggesting families try out a fitness trail studded with several local points of interest.

The trail in this case can be framed more realistically as a loose driving tour. The sites on the route – an historic site, creperie, sailboarding shop, water park, and apple orchard – lie south of U.S. 90, spanning a 25 mile area that bridges the Canandaigua and Seneca lakes. So the way I’d approach this trip is first spending a day or two in Rochester and then driving the 20 miles southeast to Ganondagan State Historic Site in Victor, NY, in whose vicinity you’ll find more than half a dozen inns and chain hotels hugging the south side of US 90 if you want to add an overnight or two to this tour. Read more