This region in western upstate New York is a pastoral patchwork of storybook waterfront villages, grand Victorian homes, dairy farms, forests, waterfalls, and sloped vineyards. And throughout, the lakes run through it. The Finger Lakes are largely about outdoor recreation, relaxed wine tours (75 wineries dot Cayuga, Seneca, and Keuka lakes) and small-town life, though the area has a few surprises, such as the Antique and Classic Boat Show in beautiful Skaneateles; the small and pleasant but easy-to-overlook town of Cortland; Elmira, the summer haunt of Mark Twain, and hometown of Space Shuttle commander Eileen Collins; historic racing town Watkins Glen, site of an annual NASCAR road race; the glassworks of "crystal-city" Corning; and idylic Esperanza Mansion.