Madison County: Tourist Haven! How's It Sound?Not bad, eh? The county has made it semi-official. It recently published online brochures to help attract tourists and their pocketbooks.
The four-color online brochures outline some of the area's leading attractions. These range from Oneida's Mansion House to Hamilton's Americana Village. In between are lakes, streams, restaurants, hotels and special events. Unlike other similar tourist promotion publications, Madison County's doesn't stop there. Not at all. No, Madison County's online brochures lists banks, insurance agents, real estate firms, attorneys, physicians, contractors, mobile home parks, and a funeral home. Honest. That may well qualify the county as one of the most eclectic tourist destinations in New York, if not all of the country. Think of it: "Visit Madison County for your funeral!" or "While on vacation in Madison County, why not have your annual physical, and shutters put on your home!" But, considering the things that are in the online brochures is one thing. Examining the things not included is something else. Chief among those things left off the pages of the brochure is my hometown, Hubbardsville. On 16 pages, there was no room for even a brief mention of Hubbardsville and its varied attractions. Even if I didn't live here, I'd wonder about such an oversight. Deserving a notation, if not a photo, in the brochure are such Hubbardsville tourist spots as: -- Hotel Loomis. This is the only five-star hotel in Madison County. Each wing is based upon the life and crimes of one of the members of the infamous Loomis Gang. Various forms of mayhem occur in each wing, and guests are routinely beaten, shot, or stabbed by waiters and waitresses dressed in authentic horsetheif garb. Reservations are not necessary. -- HubbardsLand Amusement Park and Water Slide. Built along the lush banks of the Sangerfield River, this ultra-modern theme park features the county's largest rollercoaster, the triple-decker Ferris wheel that was featured at the 1980 World's Fair, and the only bumper-tractors ride in North America. The six-story water slide ends in a portion of Nine Mile Swamp shaped like a giant mosquito. -- Finally, the healing waters of Hubbardsville Springs. From deep within the earth, natural springs bubble to the surface, bringing along the healing properties of various minerals. For hours at a time, groups of people sit in steaming tubs of this water. Later, it's bottled and sent to France. As you can see, somehow the wonders of Hubbardsville were overlooked when Madison County decided to promote its tourist attractions. Even this list fails to touch on my hometown's bustling downtown, its rows of quaint antique shops, its museums, performing arts center, and dog track. Maybe next year we'll be mentioned ... or as soon as we get a funeral home, trailer park and insurance broker. |