It doesn't matter what the calendar says or what the weather is like, you KNOW it's officially summer in Central New York when you start seeing these specific things...

1 - Kids and Water: It could be kids running through the sprinkler or throwing water balloons at each other. Maybe it's just a bunch of kids swimming in a backyard pool. Summer is here in CNY when it's warm enough for the water.

hamburgers and hotdogs cooking on flaming grill
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2 - Grilling: Sometimes you don't even see this one, you just smell it. It's grilling season in our area, which means it's summer.

Bike lane and traffic, Berlin
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3 - People Riding Bikes: And this isn't necessarily children, although you'll probably see a LOT of kids out on bikes.

Rv and Camping Show
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4 - Loading Up the Car: You're definitely experiencing summer (and more specifically summer in Central New York), when you see your neighbors or friends loading up their car to get ready for camping. It may be them putting the kayaks on top of their vehicle or it may be them hooking up the camper to their truck.

Summer beach
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5 - Flip-Flops: And dirty feet. It goes hand-in-hand (or should we say "foot"?!). But it's summer, so we just kind of expect that.

Terrier playing with a colourful ball
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6 - Dogs: Dogs everywhere! The weather is warmer and nicer so everyone is taking their furry little friends for walks. And we think that's probably one of the BEST sights of summer.

Boy (2-4) licking ice cream, close-up, other children in background
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7 - Ice Cream: And not just hearing the ice cream truck driving around town, but seeing people walking around with ice cream cones. Nothing beats wrapping up a nice walk with a stop to Nicky Doodles, Tasty Treat, or one of the other many ice cream places we have.

Young woman on a hot day
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8 - Trying to Keep Cool: You're bound to see someone holding a cold water bottle up to their head at one point this summer. Granted, it will be probably closer to July or August when it's really hot before you see this sight, or something close to it. Maybe you'll be in the convenience store and you'll see someone holding the cooler door open and enjoying the cold air blowing on them.

A Bunch of Kayaks on Shore of a Campground
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9 - Kayakers: It could be (like mentioned earlier), your neighbors, family, or friends loading up kayaks onto the top of their vehicles, or it could be as you drive over a bridge you see kayakers in the water below. Once you see people kayaking all around the area, you KNOW it's summer.

Fireworks in night sky
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10 - Fireworks: Is it even summer if you don't see fireworks going off, at least once?! Between all the festivals and events in the cities and towns throughout Central New York, we're sure you'll see fireworks at one point or another. You may even see them off in the distance, while you're coming home from a different event or activity.

 


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