Thousands of foods still to try.
You won’t leave the Bravo Italiano Festival hungry. Pasta, meatballs, chicken parm, gnocchi, lasagna and so many more foods will line the Watertown Fairgrounds Arena, September 14-15. Top it off with fried dough, homemade Italian cookies, and hearty wines and beers. Enjoy a bocce tournament, magic shows, music, dancing and the Canoli Contest for Kids.
What better setting than magnificent Boldt Castle for sampling fine wines and fresh harvest foods? September 15 brings top wineries and local food purveyors to Heart Island for the Boldt Castle Wine Festival and Farmers’ Market. Thousand Islands Winery, Coyote Moon, Otter Creek, River Myst and Yellow Barn will offer their best vintages for tasting and sale through the afternoon, while a big farmers’ market serves fresh food pairings.
Smell the aroma of fresh-dipped candy apples and fresh-from-the-oven muffins during the Fall Jamboree at Ontario Orchards Farms in Sterling, September 22-23. Artists, crafters and entertainers help celebrate the season while you enjoy apples and fresh produce, homemade fudge and just-pressed cider.
Pumpkin will be the popular color at Oswego’s Great Pumpkin Festival, October 6 in Washington Square, where growers throughout New York, Pennsylvania and Canada will compete to find the greatest pumpkin. Past winners include a thousand pound pumpkin. Besides record setting veggies, you can enjoy live music, craft vendors, pumpkin carving, scarecrow building and a farmers’ market.
Partiers wait all year for Oktoberfest at Thousand Islands Winery in Alexandria Bay. This year’s 9th annual genuinely German celebration happens October 6 with live music and Bavarian dancers, grape stomping and hay rides. Best of all are the authentic German foods, beer and award winning wines that make this day a hit.
Thousand Islands dining fits every occasion. In Alexandria Bay, Capt.’s Landing Floating Lounge “docks” in the St. Lawrence River where you’ll enjoy a cocktail with spectacular views of Boldt Castle and passing ships through mid-September. Breakfast, lunch and dinner is served at cozy Riley’s by the River, with lovely lower harbor and main channel views.
A working brewery and eatery, Sackets Harbor Brewing Company offers expansive views of Lake Ontario from its dining room and deck. Within this restored New York Central Railroad Station, fine dining entrees and dry-aged steaks are paired with a rotating selection of more than 30 original craft beers, all brewed on-site.
If it’s elegance you’re after, the 1903 Wellesley Hotel and Restaurant in Thousand Island Park is among the finest local restaurants, transforming local farm products and fresh ingredients into world-class cuisine. If it’s balmy, dine on the lower porch overlooking the river. Only the atmosphere can top the food.
Like some laughs with dinner? The Lake Ontario Playhouse offers a great pub menu with promising stand-up comics entertaining on the weekend, year-round. Catch a soon to be famous comic on Main Street in Sackets Harbor.
Visit Thousand Islands-Seaway for more information.