Chittenango Choo-Choo!
There are a lot of things I've never done and seen in the area. There's an art park, a historical society, a lake and a yacht club in fancy-pants Cazenovia. I've passed the Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota, literally hundreds of times and never been inside. Sylvan Beach, on Oneida Lake, is the small-time, freshwater version of the Jersey Shore, complete with deathtrap carnival rides, scary bikers and fried everything.
Chittenango, the actual town in which I grew up and went to high school, is the birthplace of L. Frank Baum, the author of The Wizard of Oz. Downtown Chittenango, such as it is, has yellow brick sidewalks, several Oz-themed businesses, and a small Oz museum; every June there is an Oz Parade, at which a handful of surviving Munchkins make trembly appearances.
Oohs and Oz.
The whole Oz thing was miles beneath my contempt as a teenager, before I knew the value (or, to be honest, the definition) of kitsch .
There are dozens of golf courses in the area, three separate Erie Canal museums, a salt museum, the museum of freaking distance running, places where you can pick your own berries, state parks for hiking and swimming, ice cream stands and family-run dairy farms.
Something for everyone, if I can just keep myself from apologizing for the lameness of it all.
While I was amused by your description of Cazenovia as "fancy-pants", I can assure you that most people here wear jeans or Dockers and nothing much fancier. But that doesn't mean there isn't plenty to do, especially in summer. Check out the Cazenovia Chamber of Commerce web site (http://www.cazenoviachamber.com/) for detailed information about local events.
Cazenovia is home to a beautiful lake, spectacular walking trails, many working farms, parks, events ranging from road races to chili cookoffs, a terrific weekend farmer's market, and much more. Please tell your guests to come visit Cazenovia. From Canastota and points East you can take Nelson Road and go right past the spectacular Fenner wind farm; from Chittenango and points north you come right by Chittenango Falls state park on Route 13.
See, that's the nice thing about Cazenovia. People from Cazenovia actually *read* the New York Observer, and write gentle, literate invitations to visit. But there is a class divide between the two towns. I remember that the kids from Cazenovia used to hang a 'shit-kicker' boot off their basketball hoop to taunt us blue-collar Chittenango types when we'd visit the Lakers gym to play basketball. And they called us "Chitt-kickers" and worse. If you ever saw a Saab or a Volvo in Chittenango, chances are it contained someone on their way to Cazenovia, Fayetteville or Manlius. Perhaps things are different, now that there are so few jobs in that part of the state, and surely the old money must be dying or flocking south.
I do hope that my guests will make their way to Cazenovia during our wedding weekend. It's a great place.
I'm not sure of the dates involved Laurie, but who could resist a riveting tour of "famous Holsteins of CNY" or a narrated adventure of all the fields we held parties in during high school. Then there's always Onondaga Lake -- depending on who's collecting the data the #1 or #2 worst polluted lake in the US, but getting better!
I'm not sure if it has changed since "way back when," but I always thought of Chittenango as Molly Ringwald and Cazenovia as James Spader in a giant cosmic "Pretty in Pink." Except Chittenango never got Andrew McCarthy and was instead stuck with a farmer version of Duckie.
BTW - congratulations on the wedding and getting out of Chittenango in one piece - from what I have been able to follow you have a lot to be proud of!