New York State Festival of Balloons-Labor Day Weekend

Posted on September 7, 2007 by cnymike

Click on any thumbnail for a larger version

Wow, what an event! This was the second year in a row that my wife and I were able to attend the Festival of Balloons in Dansville, NY. Last year we did not go onto the grounds but parked in a side lot and viewed the balloon launch from quite a distance away. Although that was nice, this year we went right into the festival and were literally a few feet away from the balloons as they were launching. It was spectacular.

The night we were there was the last launch of the weekend and I believe that there were over 40 balloons in the air at one point. Once the balloon launching started, one, two or three balloons were going up almost at the same time and this continued for quite a while. At first, the balloons are laying on the ground and the crew starts blowing air into them with large fans to partially fill them. Once that has been done, they begin to carefully turn on the propane flame and they begin filling the balloon with hot air which then begins to make the balloon buoyant enough to start rising until it has been fully inflated.

At that point, the crew is holding onto ropes, keeping the balloon tethered until it is time to release it… or until they begin to be lifted off the ground, whichever comes first apparently.

There was a gentle breeze to the North East so as soon as the balloons were air-born, they began drifting towards the ridge just opposite the Dansville Airport. It was kind of scary to watch because as some of the balloons approached the ridge, they appeared to be caught in a downdraft and it looked from our vantage point that they were in danger of scraping the treetops. I’m really not sure whether it was an optical illusion or whether they actually were that close to the trees.

I was strongly considering taking a balloon ride this year but when I checked out the price ($200 per person) I decided against it. Not that I think that is too much money…it just wasn’t in the wallet that’s all. When you think about it, $200 for an hour or so ride is probably a good deal. Seeing as it costs me $15 just to fill up my dinky propane tank for my grill, I’m sure the cost of propane alone for a flight is pretty significant. Maybe next year!

The weather this year could not have been better. There was not a cloud in the sky. It was just a perfect blue and with a gentle breeze. What a great event. I highly recommend you try and attend the Balloon Festival one of these years. It’s always held on Labor Day Weekend and this year marked the 26th Anniversary of the event.

Here are a few more photos of the balloons…

Luke’s party on Skaneateles Lake

Posted on August 2, 2007 by cnymike

Luke Walker, a great photographer and friend, invited a group of fellow photographers and other wedding professionals to his cottage at the southern tip of Skaneateles Lake this past Tuesday. It was a great time and the weather was fantastic. It has been a beautiful summer from my point of view, and we’ve escaped the really HOT weather… at least until today. But Tuesday was just perfect, not too hot, not too cold.

Marybeth Longo provided some heat on the grill, as is becoming a tradition. She grilled some awesome chicken and her now famous “Corn on the Cob Flambe.” What is the secret recipe to corn flambe? Well as best I can gather, you first soak the corn without removing the husks, in water for a while. Then you turn the grill on until it reaches super-nova stage. Once the proper temperature has been reached you put the corn on the grill and close the cover. Then you walk away and talk to your friends for a really long time. Once you realize the corn is in flames, it’s done! I love it!

Luke and his sweetheart, Alisha Clark, another awesome photographer, struck a pose for the camera. By the way, I was the only person with a camera at the party. I’m a DJ, not a professional photographer. Let’s see, we had Brady Dillsworth (a professional photographer), Sarah and Matt Antonino (both professional photographers) and Marybeth Longo (who is a videographer, but that’s close enough to a photographer for me)… and I’m the only person with a camera??? What’s wrong with this picture? (no pun intended)

Thanks Luke for a great day. Wish I could have stayed a bit longer. Enjoy the rest of your week there.

Michael Erb on Bridge Street with Rick and Julie

Posted on July 2, 2007 by cnymike

This morning was my second appearance on the program “Bridge Street with Rick and Julie” which is broadcast on 9-WSYR, Syracuse.

My first appearance was back in February 2007, when I talked about unique places to get married in Central New York. This morning I had the pleasure to talk about some “out of the ordinary” places to go for family fun. It was so much fun being able to speak on television about a few of the wonderful opportunities there are in Central New York for entertaining activities.

Here is the list of the unique activities that I discussed on the show…
1. Malabar X, a beautiful schooner that sails on Seneca Lake from Seneca Day Sails in Watkins Glen.
2. Esperanza Rose, is a 65′ wooden cruising vessel that offers sightseeing tours on Keuka Lake.
3. Adirondack Scenic Railway, offers nostalgic train excursions into the Adirondack Park.
4. Harris Hill Soaring Center, offers glider rides and has a Soaring Museum in Elmira, NY.
5. Hoopes Park, has a Tuesday evening, Music and Movie night on the lawn in Auburn, NY

Here is a link to the actual video of the live broadcast.

I’ll be on Bridge Street with Rick and Julie again on July 25, 2007. See you then!

Winter vacation in St Thomas (USVI)

Posted on January 28, 2007 by cnymike

I look out my window today and see snow. Lots of snow. Not only that but it’s cold. Very cold. Did I mention windy? So let’s see… Windy, Cold and Snowy. Hmmmm. A week ago however, I was in St Thomas with my wife and some friends. It was sunny, warm and breezy. Now don’t get me wrong, I love the snow, I love to XC Ski and I love upstate New York because of the seasons we get… but I’ve decided that I also love St Thomas in late January. And I can’t believe it’s over. Just not fair.

Our group rented a beautiful villa called The Caribbean Countess. It was located on the North Side of the island overlooking Magen’s Bay in Peterborg. Renting a villa is really the best if you’re going with a few people. You get privacy and the total cost per person is not really much different than if you were staying at a resort Hotel. In fact you may end up saving money by renting a villa.

We had a really fun time exploring the island. One of the beaches we ended up at more than once was Coki Beach. It had great snorkeling and some excellent “beach food” served by very friendly locals. For more serious eating, we discovered some wonderful restaurants. For lunch, our favorite was Glady’s Cafe in Charlotte Amalie. Only open for breakfast and lunch, Glady’s had a nice atmosphere, excellent food and very reasonable prices. I’d recommend it highly.

For dinner, we found a couple excellent restaurants. In Red Hook, the East End Cafe was one of our better finds. Excellent service, a very nice wine list and great food made this Italian & Seafood restaurant a winner!. We loved the delicious homemade desserts made by Judy.

But the Gold Medal has to go to Mafolie Restaurant in Charlotte Amalie. Perched high on the side of a hill, it overlooks the port and provides a breathtaking view at sunset. A wonderful relaxed atmosphere with excellent service and food that is superb made this our favorite restaurant in St Thomas.

For a great milkshake with a kick (Amaretto, Baileys, Kahlua, etc), go to Udder Delite Dairy Bar. $3.50 will get you one of the best milkshakes you’ve ever had. Virgin milkshakes are also available. It’s right on the way to Magen’s Bay.

A great day trip is to take the ferry to St John. You can either take the vehicle ferry if you’ve rented a car and want to drive around St John or you can take the people ferry. They run every hour during the day. St John is much less developed than St Thomas and has pristine and largely empty beaches, great snorkeling and a much more relaxed pace since the island is 2/3 U.S. National Park.

Something to see on St John are the Annaberg Ruins, an abandoned sugar plantation from the 18th century.

Here are a few images from the trip. Some were taken on St John, a short ferry ride from St Thomas. The Anaberg Ruins were very interesting. The Sunsets and Sunrises were spectacular and the villa that we stayed in, The Caribbean Countess, was incredible.

New York State Festival of Balloons

Posted on September 4, 2006 by cnymike

My Labor Day weekend was spent with my wife and in-laws. Part of our time was spent in Dansville, NY for the New York State Festival of Balloons.

Our plan was to watch the balloon launch Monday night at 6:00pm. We arrived right on time and there were quite a few balloons being inflated, but due to the inclement weather only one balloon actually lifted off untethered. We decided to try our luck again the next morning.

The alarm went off at 5:00am and we hopped in the car and drove back up to the Dansville airport. When we arrived, it looked like the weather was going to prevent the launching again. We stood around for about 30 minutes waiting to see some activity where the balloonists usually prepare to lift-off. But seeing no activity we decided to call it quits and drive back home. Just as we had gotten back on the highway, we had second thoughts and figured since this was the last day of the festival, that maybe we should stick around for a little while longer. We turned around and we headed to McDonalds to have breakfast and wait a while longer. As we were discussing whether we should just drive back home if the weather didn’t improve, we overheard a few people saying that the balloons were launching. We went outside and were greeted with the magnificent sight of 8 Hot Air Balloons lifting off. Here is a photo of us (minus me. There is a reason I take the photos you know!) looking pretty at 6am in the morning.
Linda and my in-laws

And the liftoff of the balloons…
Hot Air Balloons Lifting Off

I counted 22 balloons in the air and there may have been as many as 25. It was really interesting to see how the wind currents took some of them in one direction while others headed off in another direction. Apparently the wind in Dansville can swirl because of the surrounding hills making things a little unpredictable.

After all the balloons had become airborne, we decided to leave. We soon noticed a ReMax balloon headed in the same direction we were going on our way back to Wayland, so we decided to track the balloon and took off on backroads trying to watch its eventual landing. Here is a series of photos which shows our adventure.
ReMax at altitude
ReMax in flight
Tracking ReMax in flight
ReMax coming down

ReMax on ground
ReMax deflating
Traditionally, when a Hot Air Balloon lands on your property, the crew gives the land-owners a bottle of champagne as a gesture of thanks for allowing them to land. As it turns out, the balloon landed within about 100 feet of my father-in-laws property. Darn! So close, yet so far to a bottle of champagne. It sure was fun watching the balloons and something you should consider doing in the future. the Balloon Festival is Labor Day weekend every year in Dansville, NY.