Finger Lakes, New York

Another late entry... damn we're getting lazy!
I'll just put the adbridged version here to get us all caught up.
I decided to suprise Phil for his birthday with a weekend away doing something he loves... out of the gutter people. I booked a weekend at the John Morris Manor B&B in Seneca Falls, NY at the northwest corner of Cayuga Lake in the heart of the Finger Lake Wine Country! Surprise Surprise!! Incidentally, The Finger Lakes region does make for a great weekend away for anyone. There is great natural beauty, outdoor fun, boating, hiking, a host of charming towns, great restaurants, an arts scene... and did I mention the wine. Oh yeah, between the 5 major finger lakes, I think there are over 100 wineries.

We did our usual late night road trip and left from Lincoln Center at the end of Phil's workday. Let me just tell you, trying to leave NYC at 5:30 on a Friday is just about the worst thing you can do to yourself!! We spent an extra hour just leaving Manhattan! Thankfully, things got better after that... except for the rain... and the fog... oh, and the fact that we couldn't seem to find any place to eat for a LONG time along the way!! Perfect otherwise though, really. We had fun anyway. I kept Phil in suspense for the first 4 hours, and then finally told him where we were headed... I had to recruit him to help me get in touch with the owners to let them know we were behind schedule. Thankfully our hosts were gracious enough to wait up for us and we settled into the very gay Rose Room for well earned night's rest!

The next morning we got a much better look at the room and house. It was just as gay as we figured the night before... gayer even, as the sun really accentuated the roses, especially the rose pillow! The JMM is owned by a very nice older couple, John and Tony. Tony ended up doing all of the the work, and he was our morning host! He is colorful man, not shy about giving his opinions on anything! Our plan for the day was to get up early, have breakfast, and then drive through the Montezuma Wildlife Preserve at the north end of the lake to see if we would be lucky enough to spot some of the interesting migratory birds going through the preserve, and maybe even a bald eagle, before heading south along the wine trail torwards Ithaca. Sadly, what we found by the time we finally got out the door was a marhsland filled with common ducks and a huge number of Canada Geese! Just like home! Maybe next time... but I digress, Tony treated us to an incredibly delicious and hearty 3 course breakfast. Tony is quite the cook, and the breakfast alone is worth the stay!! Happily stuffed, we decided to head out and start the day. The weather was flawless. The evening rain gave way to glorious blue skies and we were greeted with a crisp cool clean country air as we poured ourselves into the car!

Side note.. For those interested, here is a brief word about the Region. The lakes get their name from their linear shape and north-south orientation, which collectively reminded early map-makers of the fingers of a hand. The Finger Lakes were modified by glaciers over time, and as the ice retreated from the last ice age, the deposits they left behind dammed the valleys, impounding water. Cayuga Lake and Seneca Lake both are close to 40 miles from end to end, but never more than 3.5 miles wide. They are also among the deepest in America; Seneca is also the deepest at 618 feet, followed by Cayuga at 435 feet. It is their great depth that modifies the region's climate enough to help support the lush vineyards that flank their shores. Retaining residual summer warmth in the winter, and winter's cold in the spring, the grapes are protected from disastrous spring frost during grape formation, and early frost before the harvest. The Finger Lakes area is New York's largest wine producing region, and the second largest in the United States behind the Napa Valley in California. Not too shabby. All you wine lovers should definitely plan a stay.

Now back to the trip... we had comfortably stuffed our faces with an obscenely large breakfast and had made the underwhelming drive through the Wildlife Preserve. Now it was time to start hitting the wineries. I should mention something about Seneca Falls as well. The town is actually quite famous for a couple of reasons. It is actually the location of the first Women's Rights Convention in 1848 and is now home to the National Women's Hall of Fame. If that was not enough, the fictional town of Bedford Falls in Frank Capra's “It's a Wonderful Life” was modeled on Seneca Falls. Okay, now I'm really moving forward to the story. We hit the road south along the western shore of Cayuga and started at Cobblestone

I think I will spare you all the messy details... but suffice it to say, by the end of the first day, Phil was comfortably numb, and enjoying his birthday gift! The short answer is, GO GO GO... all you winoes... get on the road and drink up! We had a fantastic weekend, and are sure to be back in the near future. So much to drink, so little time... that's terrible. I mean, there's so much natural beauty, yeah, I want to go and hike, and swim, and play... and drink.

Here are the historic and natural wonders we visited...
Taughannock Falls

And here are the wineries... don't judge!
Cayuga Wine Trail
Cobblestone Farm Winery
Knapp Vineyards
Goose Watch Winery
Buttonwood Grove Winery
Cayuga Ridge Estate Winery
Thirsty Owl Wine Company
Hosmer Winery
Sheldrake Point Vineyard & Simply Red Lakeside Bistro
Lucas Vineyards
Bellwether Hard Cider
Americana Vineyards

Seneca Lake Wine Trail
Lamoreauex Landing Wine Cellars
Caywood Vineyards
Wagner Vineyards
Shalestone Vineyards
Penguin Bay Winery
Red Newt Cellars
Damiani Wine Cellars