Dr. Watkins' Glen

by Warren D. Jorgensen

When the ice age ended and the glaciers receded, they left deep, narrow troughs that formed New York’s Finger Lakes. It also cut a cleft in the basalt cliffs at the foot of the lake American settlers called Seneca 120 centuries later. On land occupied by the Iroquois Confederation for millennia, Dr. Samuel Watkins founded a village at the foot of the lake and the base of the cleft everyone called “The Glen.” It is today the name that raises hairs on every racing buff’s neck: Watkins Glen.

Gary Gross spent 30 years troubleshooting air conditioning systems inside the canyon walls of New York City. He never thought about living in a small town or owning a bed and breakfast. He did think about racing, however, and since 1973 had made the annual pilgrimage to the U.S. Grand Prix at The Glen.

On one such trip to watch the Vintage Car races, Gary and his wife, Nancee, stayed at a partially restored B&B. They loved both Watkins Glen and the B&B and ended up buying the latter in 1996—leaving New York City for good, just as Dr. Watkins had done in 1828.

“It had a peace about it, a comfortable feeling,” Nancee says of their decision to move to The Glen. “We realized that if you don’t go for your dream when you have the chance, you may never go for it.”

He traded a job for a lifestyle, sharing the cooking and cleaning just as she shares the construction and renovations. They redecorated each room in turn. “I’d get the idea, and then talk him into it,” Nancee says, laughing. Underlying it all—for both of them—is a deep satisfaction with life in a small town.

“Sometimes you go through your whole life not knowing what you want to do,” says Gary, sitting on the porch of their 170-year-old B&B overlooking Seneca Lake—one of the five Finger Lakes of western New York state.” Then you open a door and it’s right there.”

There, in this case, is a tidy, handsome town of 2,500 in the heart of the lakes region—known largely for its lakes, scenery, and agriculture. Grapes in particular are a major crop, supporting the wineries around Seneca Lake. Many vintners work together to offer a local Wine Trail, which is popular with visitors during the summer and is part of what brings people to Watkins Glen and Gary and Nancee’s B&B.

Those who drilled for oil and natural gas here nearly a century ago found salt instead, and Schuyler County remains a major salt producer today.

Perhaps the most spectacular attraction, however, is the gorge at Watkins Glen State Park—the deep trough scoured out by glaciers, where 1.5 miles of trails pass 19 waterfalls, caverns, and 300-foot cliffs rising almost vertically above the river.

Not far away is the attraction for which Watkins Glen is known worldwide: the 3.45-mile racecourse which was the site of grand prix racing from 1948 through 1980. The first race was eight laps on a 6.6-mile track. Of 15 cars entering, 10 finished. From 1961 through 1980, the U.S. Grand Prix was held at Watkins Glen. And while the owners of the track declared bankruptcy the following year, racing was saved at The Glen when the track was purchased by a division of Corning Glass (from the nearby town of Corning), which reopened it in 1983.

Today, with its Walk of Fame dedicated to a who’s who of international racing, The Glen is the site of New York state’s only NASCAR track, where vintage car racing and other events continue drawing crowds every summer.

Gary and Nancee came here originally for the racing—then stayed because of the town and the pleasure of restoring their B&B—but Gary is smitten with the spirit of the former. He has dropped a Chevy 350 engine into a 1976 TR7, Gary has taken performance driving lessons, and he and Nancee take in as much racing as they can.

“I don’t like all the noise,” says Nancee, who favors the vintage vehicle races, “But I do love those beautiful old cars.”

Warren Jorgensen writes from his home in Tarrytown, N.Y.

first appeared: 1/14/2001