Finger Lakes Wine Country isn't overflowing with just wine, it's also overflowing with history. The region is rich in aviation history, Civil War and Revolutionary War history, and of course literary history. Mark Twain spent about twenty summers in Elmira, NY, now known as Mark Twain Country. He married Olivia Langdon of Elmira, and while Twain was well traveled, he loved the region so much that he spent a majority of his time here writing many of his classics. Twain loved the quaint city of Elmira and relished in the beauty and peacefulness of the Chemung River Valley. Twain's sister-in-law Susan Crane, and her husband, Theodore owned a farmhouse on one of Elmira's many surrounding hills called Quarry Farm. Theodore and Susan presented Twain with a octagonal study where he spent a majority of his time writing. The study sat high on a hill overlooking the Chemung River Valley that Twain referenced as "a foretaste of heaven." You can still visit this study where it sits today on the Elmira College campus.
Just down the road from Quarry Farm is Chemung County's oldest Restaurant, Hill Top Inn. Hill Top Inn was opened in 1933 by the Sullivan family. Now in its third generation, owners Michael & Suzanne continue to set the benchmark in Finger Lakes Wine Country for the finest food and Irish Hospitality around. Savor delicious food paired with Finger Lakes wine while you enjoy the same breathtaking view that Mark Twain did when he was writing his classics.
Being an Elmira native, I must say that the view from Hill Top Inn is one of my personal favorites in the region. Any time of year the restaurant offers you a wonderful experience, but there is something about sitting on the terrace in the early days of fall that is extra special. I'm certain that with a visit to Hill Top Inn you will be agreeing with Mark Twain's opinion of the Chemung River Valley being "a foretaste of Heaven."
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