Last summer I went on my exciting road trip from Boston to the Finger Lakes to the Niagara Falls to Toronto. All the more exciting because my car kept grunting. The advantage of a road trip is definitely though that with a car I can change my mind about where to go next all the time. And since I can’t even decide which frozen pizza to buy when I stand in a supermarket, that is quite handy. After I had visited the Cornell Botanic Gardens, I decided to see some waterfalls. Because I love waterfalls. It is as simple as that. I am still not sure how to pronounce them correctly, but the I drove to the Taughannock Falls.
Yes, I drove there. I even drove the scenic route to the top from where you can see the Taughannock Falls. Other people (like most of them) stop at the bottom and hike several kilometers to the falls, but that so isn’t me. It was a warm day and I had already walked around for a few hours. And I just don’t hike. Ever. But I enjoy views. So I parked my car, sat down on one of the many benches, and enjoyed the view. The drop is 66 m and thus even taller than the Niagara Falls (by about 5 m). The latter are much wider of course.
I think the walls are great even from above, and there was no need at all for me to hike. Also, I knew that a few days later I would visit the Niagara Falls anyways.
When I looked at the map then, I happened to see that the hamlet of Mecklenburg was almost on my way to my overnight accomodation. Like: Mecklenburg in the middle of nowhere in Upstate New York?! Is it a coincidence or a quirk of fate? I am from the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in Germany – and that is more or less in the middle of nowhere (the village I am from definitely is). I spontaneously decided to drive to Mecklenburg since it was nearby.
As a matter of fact, Mecklenburg is tiny and not exciting at all. There are a few houses, I couldn’t see any person or shop or driving car. At least there was a nice town sign so that I could take photos as proof that I was indeed in Mecklenburg. And then I continued my trip to Watkins Glen, where there are few more things to see and do. But if you were ever wondering where Mecklenburg is exactly in Upstate New York: it is close to Trumansburg, Interlaken and Odessa. One can’t help loving the Americans for copying all the European place names.
© janavar
