A Labor Day Getaway

Sandy cheeks. Children laughing. Music bumping. Sunscreen squirting. Burgers grilling.

Have your senses been stimulated yet? Are we far enough past the summer season for nostalgia?

Up on the southern tip of Lake Ontario is Sodus Point, a quaint little town much like many of the others that dot the coast. For this past year’s Labor Day celebrations, the town received a surge of crowds and was the perfect place to spend a day or two off the radar. With boats lining the bay, anchored by college students looking to get those last rays of sunshine in, you could almost feel the energy in the air, that one final buzz of excitement before the summer months unfold into a much calmer Upstate NY fall..

Music drifts down from the community park where a band has set up to play in the afternoon. As the sun drifts across the sky, morning turning to afternoon, people mill about, laying down blankets and picking them back up off the beach, reapplying sunscreen and shouting to each other as the waves roll in. An elderly couple strolls by holding hands, stopping once in awhile to bend down and pick up a particularly beautiful stone. This is the scene of a typical summer day in Upstate and Central New York, and one that I can for sure say I have taken for granted growing up in the area. The beaches are clean, the sand is smooth, and people are here for no reason other than to unwind and enjoy themselves. This is truly the perfect escape from reality and the obligations that await us at home.

Located only a little over an hour north of Syracuse, Sodus Point is easily accessible via the NYS Thruway, making it the perfect weekend getaway. While the summer weather is slowly dwindling down, this town is arguably more beautiful in autumn and certainly less crowded. Enjoy having the pristine beaches all to yourself, take a stroll through town and enjoy an ice cream cone while scoping out the fall foliage. Being lucky enough to have family with property up on the Point, I can say (although biasedly) that Sodus is one of my favorite places to spend a long weekend.

#labordaybeachsodusbaysoduspointsodusnyupstateny