Travel

Naples Grape Festival 2008

November 1, 2008 by Michael

I’m a little late in posting this but better late than never.

My Mother-in-law entered the Grape Pie Festival in 2007 and did not win any of the awards. Well that just wasn’t a satisfactory conclusion for the family so we prompted her to enter again this year. Well wouldn’t ya know, she won First Prize! That high honor is called “The World’s Greatest Grape Pie” and she got a trophy and everything. How about that. And the best part was we all got to eat the pie afterwards because the festival organizers sell off all the slices when the judging has ended. Talk about getting your cake (or pie) and eating it too!

Congratulations Shirley (and my wife Linda who helped)

One day in New York City…

July 9, 2008 by Michael

I had a fun day yesterday. A friend of mine is hosting a Rotary Exchange Student from Spain and the young man had a desire to visit New York City. So we hopped in the car and 4.5 hours later were in Mid-town Manhattan. It was hot and humid in the big apple, but that did not deter us from visiting some of the sights… NBA Store, Times Square, Trump Tower, Battery Park, St Patrick’s Cathedral, Hard Rock Cafe, Stage Deli, Apple Store and of course the beautiful George Washington Bridge.

One unexpected surprise was the viewing of the art project. I had read about this and seen other photos of the project, but had “forgotten” about it until we were at Battery Park and noticed one of the waterfalls. What a thrill to see these. There are actually 4 of these waterfalls and we were lucky enough to see 3 out of the 4. Here are the photos of the waterfalls…
New York City Waterfalls Brooklyn Bridge Waterfall Brooklyn Piers Waterfall Pier 35 Waterfall

Back to my old stomping grounds

May 7, 2008 by Michael

I had some work to do today for a client of mine in Ithaca. The weather was pretty nice so Linda and I decided to spend the day together in Ithaca. She walked the commons and picked up some goodies for an impromptu picnic for later in the afternoon while I was working. I finished a bit earlier than I had anticipated which enabled us to do a few extra things.

One of our first stops was at a really cool B&B called “City Lights B&B” on Mecklenberg Road. It’s a really unique place with some beautiful gardens and incredible views of Cornell University and Ithaca College. If you’re traveling to Ithaca and need a B&B for your stay, check out City Lights.

After our visit to City Lights, we headed off to Taughannock Falls. This is a great time of the year to view the falls since there is a good amount of water flowing in the Spring. The sky wasn’t very colorful but the falls were just gorgeous and I got there at a good time of day for lighting on the falls.

The day was topped off by a visit to the Cayuga Lake Creamery for the best ice-cream ever. I’m going to have to ride a lot of miles on my bike tomorrow to burn off all the calories I consumed today… but it was so totally worth it. Burp!

Here are some photos I snapped of the day…

The Grape Festival, Naples, NY

October 5, 2007 by Michael

Last weekend, Sept 28-30, was the weekend of the Grape Festival in Naples, NY. This is a really fun event to attend and it is well attended, believe me. Someone told me that the crowd on Saturday was estimated to be 80,000. That’s pretty remarkable especially when you consider that the New York State Fair, on a good day, will get about the same number of attendees.

My in-laws live nearby in Wayland, NY and so my wife and I hopped in the car to visit them and attend the Grape Festival. As those of you who saw me on Bridge Street a couple months ago know, my Mother-in-law makes an awesome Grape Pie. A Grape Pie is largely unheard of outside of grape growing regions such as the Finger Lakes, so for many people, it’s a very unique taste sensation. It was a lot of work but we finally convinced my Mother-in-law to enter one of her pies in the Grape Pie contest. Here is her entry form and pie.

Here are some photos of the whole clan and the judging of the pies.

I need to point out that the dog, Owen, had nothing to do with the judging or eating of the Grape Pie. He was there for entertainment purposes only. Owen is what is called a “designer dog.” I believe a cross between a poodle and a schnauzer. Maybe a “schnoodle”? Are you chuckling right now? Weren’t mixed breeds called “mutts” or something before this “designer dog” business started? Whatever…

Owen is one of the cutest dogs around no matter what he is. We love Owen! How can you not just adore this cute face?

An exciting thing that happened while the family was at the festival. A television crew from a Rochester New York Public television station was there. They followed my Mother-in-law through the process of entering her pie, to her reactions throughout the judging process. It was really fun and will be part of special series to be aired on public television in the Early Spring of 2008.

There are a lot of other things going on at the Grape Festival… a great variety of arts and crafts, grape stomping, food vendors, live music at a number of stages throughout Naples and lots and lots of fun. The weather this year could not have been better.

Oh and by the way, the judging did not go as well as we had hoped… my Mother-in-laws pie did not win the contest. Obviously the judges were off their game and being distracted by the crowd because there was absolutely no question whatsoever, as far as the family was concerned, that my Mother-in-laws pie was absolutely the best pie in the competition. Seriously. I would not lie or exaggerate about something as serious as a grape pie. She does make the best grape pie I have ever tasted. I hope she makes me another pie soon. Please mother-in-law, please make me another grape pie? MMMMMMMmmmmmmmm.

Canoe trip to Algonquin Park: Ontario, Canada

September 8, 2007 by Michael

Dave Olson, my old high school buddy and long-time friend, and I trekked to Algonquin Park for an incredible late-summer vacation. Algonquin Provincial Park is located in Ontario, Canada and the southern edge of the park is about 4 hours north of Toronto.
Dave and I have traveled to Algonquin many times over the years. This was trip number 12 or 13 as best I can recall at my advanced age. On August 15, 2007, we loaded our gear and supplies, put the Canoe on top of Dave’s Ford Explorer and decided we’d take a rest then leave around midnight. Well, after an “alarm malfunction” which was actually operator error on my part, we awoke at 1:30am which put us a bit behind schedule. Grabbing a couple cups of coffee, we headed off to the North country at 2:00AM.

Usually we drive through Buffalo, across the Peace Bridge and then around through Toronto up to the park. This year we drove through the Thousand Islands of New York and found the trip much more pleasant. There was far less traffic on the Thousand Islands route and the trip through Customs and across the bridge to Canada was far less congested as well. We left at 2:00AM to further minimize the traffic hassle and also to enable us to get on the water at a reasonably early time. About three hours into our trip after crossing the border, we were greeted with a magnificent sunrise. Ahhh, what a great way to start a vacation!

We had decided to enter the park on the North side at the Brent entrance. We got to the Park office around 8:30AM, obtained our park pass and continued on to Brent. It’s about a 40km drive down a rough logging road to reach Cedar Lake and although the road has improved greatly over the years, it’s still a dirt road with lots of washboard which makes for a bumpy ride.

Once arriving at “downtown Brent” we walked around a bit just to ease back into the memories. Not much has changed over the years… the train station and tracks were removed 6 or 7 years ago, but beyond that, it was Brent, just as we had remembered it. The small, rustic store was still there and it was basically unchanged. We put the canoe in the water and loaded it with our gear as quickly as possible. We were eager to get underway and make camp. We’ve been on this lake numerous times and were familiar with many of the campsites on it. Our favorite campsite, that we were hoping to stay on, is located on an island at the far end of the lake. It is near the inflowing Petawawa river and we were making a beeline to it. It was a 2 hour paddle and as we approached the island, all the great memories of past trips came flooding back to us. Ah, it was great to be “back home.”

Once we arrived at our island destination, we had a couple hours to make camp and relax. However, it soon became apparent by the thickening clouds, that rain was heading our way. We scrambled and got the tent up just in the knick of time before a fairly strong, but brief, storm passed by. Dave’s tent has seen better days and as the rivulets of water started forming on the tent floor, all we could hope for was that the rain would stop soon. Fortnuately it did and the day ended with an incredible double rainbow appearing simultaneously with an equally incredible sunset.

Our days were filled with day trips to various portages on Cedar lake. One of the best was the trip to the Petawawa river. It’s just beautiful to hike the portage. Soon you hear a roar that is the rapids of the Petawawa river. A short jaunt down a side trail drops you off at the edge of the rapids where you’re greeted by a 35 foot waterfall.

Now let’s talk about food. Dave and I decided long ago that this trip was not going to be a traveling trip. In other words, we could bring a lot of “stuff” with us since we weren’t going to be doing any portages with our “stuff”. So when I say we brought stuff, I mean we brought comfy folding nylon chairs, nylon hammocks, coolers filled with food and generally more food. We had marinated grilled chicken, porterhouse steak, chili, spaghetti with meat sauce, corn on the cob, polish sausage and last but not least, SPAMÂ®. There is nothing like Spam on a stick cooked over an open fire. Ummm Ummm good. And we washed it all down with some wine. Hey, we weren’t messing around, this was serious business.

The weather cooperated with us quite nicely. Rain the first day, then nothing but beautiful weather for the rest of our time there. The lake water temperature was just fine for swimming and swim we did. Night skies were filled with stars and the moon rose late, so it really helped with the star gazing. We paddled to land nearby our island and stockpiled plenty of wood for our morning and evening fires and spent some excellent time reminiscing by the fires at night.

During the days, we either took day trips or spent quality time in our most excellent hammocks. These things are the best camping equipment money can buy, in my opinion. Nothing like spending a few hours in the ‘ol hammock on a nice summer day in paradise.

Ahhh, so relaxing and such a good time. Here are a few more photos of the trip…

New York State Festival of Balloons-Labor Day Weekend

September 7, 2007 by Michael

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…