[itinerary | lodging] Do you feel that? It’s the breeze of spring in Upstate NY. Time to hit the village streets and remember how the sun and air used to open your skin up to the world. One village that’s been on your list from the beginning of Conesus Lake House’s history is Honeoye Falls — not to be confused with Honeoye by itself, though you have yet to explore the Lake that bears its name. Honeoye Falls occupies a corner of the Town of Mendon where Honeoye Lake’s outlet creek tumbles down rocky waterfalls on its way toward the Genesee River. A gateway to Monroe County and greater Rochester, Honeoye Falls developed around the grist mill built by Zebulon Norton in 1791. It’s a short drive beyond the home of your favorite BBQ place in Lima, so you venture out on a warm day in early March.

Downtown Honeoye Falls, NY

The village features classic American row buildings, the façades of which have been well maintained or updated to reflect a modern style. The cornerstone of the downtown district is the historic Mendon Town Hall occupying one of the original grist mills erected by Zebulon back during the dawn of America. As you park in front of Town Hall, you can hear the roaring of the falls just beyond the memorial crankshaft leftover from the building’s prior history. You approach the edge of the memorial pensively, the mist and spray of the falls already tickling your nose.

Honeoye Falls Overview

The falls move rapidly and voluminously, a pocket of foam swirling around its base like a whirlpool. Across Honeoye Creek, a redbrick former sawmill exposes its naked foundation from the opposite bank. You can see the remnants of a turbine hedged between the foot of the building and the falls, and you imagine what awesome power once transacted between nature and the machine. Peering downstream, you observe East Street carried over the creek by a metal bridge as the Village Hall looks on from its embankment. A solitary park bench perches under a tall Douglas fur, affixing its gaze over the therapeutic white noise of the waterfall.

Hypnotic Falls of Honeoye Creek

You meditate briefly by the falls before winding your way around the girth of the Town Hall building, searching for that solitary park bench. Your past travels have taught you to take a different perspective of things. Despite your newfound life in the Finger Lakes, anxiety has been creeping up lately. New fears have presented themselves. Work feels like running in a hamster wheel, circling endlessly like the foam at the pit of the waterfall. Great for a perpetual milling machine, but you are not a machine — though the prospect of a machine taking your place is very real these days. Personal relationships have changed, too. Friends become enemies, enemies become friends. These are the themes of the bildungsroman of your life, the great American novel you always said you’d write. Most glaringly, a tiny new person is about to start living in your Conesus Lake House. What will she be like? Will you both get along with each other? Will you be able to take care of her? Were it not for your travel companion, you barely took care of yourself for the past two decades.

And the wheel of time cares nothing about your fears and anxieties. Big wheel keep on turning; Western NY sunsets keep on burning. The park bench offers another perspective of the falls, facing them head-on rather than from the sidelines. It would be asinine trying to stop the water from flowing, like plugging up holes in a dam with as many fingers and toes as you can. Water, like that Upstate NY spring breeze — or fate itself — cannot be contained. It fills the surrounding space whether you or the machines like it or not. You’ve learned to embrace your anxieties, and this time is no different. The only constant in life is change. It’s up to you how you handle it.

Honeoye Falls: Where Zebulon saw progress, you see peace and tranquility.

You take comfort knowing the falls will always be flowing, just like Conesus Lake will always be there to greet you when you wake up to each new day. You’ve enjoyed sharing your love of the Lake and Upstate NY with your followers, friends and strangers alike. Soon you will get to share it all with the most important follower of your lifetime. Your hard work will pay off in more ways than you can ever imagine. You are grateful to have found such a safe and beautiful region in which to raise your daughter. So you conclude your meditation, get back up, and do what you do best, where anxiety has never stood a chance: you explore, and you write about it. It’s going to be okay: there is more Honeoye Falls waiting.

Scenes from Mendon Town Hall and Honeoye Creek Overview, with a cameo by the Conesus Lake House-mobile

The Village proper is quiet on a sleepy Sunday, but there are a few stirrings of activity. A man sells American flags at the intersection of Main and East. An independent book shop beckons to you with promises of a light but fulfilling “lunch.” The pavilion at Harry Allen Park stands empty, but the playground is bustling with families taking advantage of this unexpected spring day. You walk past medical offices, a landscape architecture firm, real estate agencies, a neighborhood pub, Chinese restaurant, and a pizzeria. You pause in front of Howard Hanna’s window, where a sampling of houses for sale is posted. Already thinking of buying the next Conesus Lake House? You can’t go wrong investing in this area, that’s for sure.

Scenes from around Honeoye Falls, NY

Okay Beer at West Main Lanes

The pizzeria, Chinese place, the pub, and even the bookstore are making you hungry. But there is a specific destination in mind for lunch today. As you cross back over Main to where you parked by Town Hall, you wave good-bye to the downtown district of Honeoye Falls. Just down the road lies a combination brewery-bowling alley that’s been on your list since this past summer. You’ve finally made it to Okay Beer Company.

Okay Beer Company and West Main Lanes

Occupying the former lanes of Brongo Bowl, Okay Beer Company made, in your opinion, the correct aesthetic decision when taking over the space: leave the retro look untouched. From the bright orange velvet sofas, drop ceilings, and wicker loungers to the wood paneling and yellow leather-clad chairs (say that three times fast), Okay Beer’s bar section brings you back to a more innocent time. A colorful mural of a thumbs-up brightens the entrance to the restrooms, while hazy ’60s and ’70s jams waft gently in the background. A window from the bar allows you to peer into the bowling alley, where several families have started to set up shop for a Sunday fun day. Is that the sound of striking bowling pins or your stomach growling? You pony up the bar and ask for a menu.

The bartender is polite, upbeat, and energetic — she’s eager to serve, and you soon learn she comes from the local family who, after a stint in San Francisco, returned to their hometown to buy the alley and transform it into Okay Beer two years ago. You appreciate the story and their journey, having yourself “boomeranged” from roots in Upstate NY to a larger city far away, only to end up back in the towns and villages you remember. Conesus Lake House will hit its two-year anniversary soon, too. You feel a sense of comradery with the Okay Beer family.

Step into an oxidizing Polaroid from the past at Okay Beer

Even better, the menu looks right up your alley, so to speak. Ever the lighter beer fan, you select a house-brewed Czech pilsner that’s crisp and refreshing, while your companion enjoys a ginger ale. A few sips will help narrow down your decision on lunch. The menu is composed of the usual tavern comfort food, including burgers, sandwiches, and tacos, as well as the unique offering of a Nigerian rice bowl. You elect for the North Shore Beef while your companion orders the fried chicken sandwich. You are happy to share both, the beef sandwich melting in your mouth against tangy BBQ and mayonnaise while the crispy chicken sandwich explodes with sweet and spicy “pepper island” sauce. Indeed, the fried chicken and its accompanying sauce are reasons alone to visit Okay Beer. The fries seal the deal with an Old Bay-style seasoning that packs a nice punch.

Counter-clockwise from top: House-brewed Czech Pilsner; North Shore Beef sandwich; OKB Fried Chicken sandwich; seasoned fries

As you enjoy your bites and brews, you can’t help but watch the bowling parties happening across from the bar. Some day you will bring your own little family to enjoy a time-honored American tradition: birthday parties, social play dates, company bowling nights. The perfectly relaxed way to get to know one another without the pressures and limitations of time and space. Just good food, good beer, and lane or two. Seeing families enjoy each other’s company while rolling a few frames gives you hope that everything is going to be okay.

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