Post Thanksgiving holiday 2012

Our thanksgiving holiday this year started on the Sunday after thanksgiving.  We dropped Grandma and Grandpa at the train station on Saturday 24th then spent the rest of the day packing up - getting the car ready etc so that Sunday morning we were ready to go.
 
Day 1 - Sunday 25th

Sunday morning we got up fairly early and were in Bluey and on the road by 9:30am.  Straight up the 495 and out the 90.  By lunch time we were just outside Albany New York so we decided to get past it then find a place to stop.

We jumped off the 90 headed towards Schenectady but found a little place just in Rotterdam called the Redwood Diner.  It was just a basic diner (though they'd gone all out with the christmas decorations) filling and nice - but nothing exciting. 

Back on the road it started sleeting a bit and we drove through flurries for the next couple of hours.  Of course the less than ideal driving conditions meant that the accidents were starting.  There were 4 of them over the next hour we were on the road.  It was quite a nice drive though - along the Erie Canal - very pretty.   It was getting dark by the time we turned off the 90 at Weedsport and headed south to Auburn.  The Holiday Inn that we were planning on staying at was easy to find and was a nice hotel.  We had a room with a balcony overlooking the indoor pool.

Of course with that sort of enticement we had only just got settled in when the kids started asking to go in the pool - so we all got changed and had a fun hour playing in the pool.  A quick shower and we headed out for dinner.  We decided on the Parker's Grille and Tap House.  Right on main street (beside the visitors center) it was nice and easy to find and turned out to be a good choice.  We decided to do a couple of appetisers rather than mains. wings, mozerella sticks, spinach and artichoke  dip and vege plate, plus a sampler of all their beers.  All was good - and the kids were a hit with the wait staff and very well looked after.  It was snowing properly when we finished dinner and we tried to do a bit of a drive around town in the snow but aborted that after ending up going the rwong way down a one way street.  We started up a street and then realised that it was heading out of town in a direction we didn't want to go so we did a U turn to head back - only to be confronted by a tow truck driver who stopped us and yelled at us for going the wrong was down the one way street.  Oops....  managed to find our way out and found a supermarket where Andy picked up some icecreams for dessert back at the hotel.

Day 2 - Monday 26th

Whilst the holiday inn didn't offer a free breakfast it did have a kids eat free  policy and they also gave us a $15 breakfast voucher so we decided to make the most of it and had a big breakfast at the motel. Pancakes for the kids, and eggs benedict for Andy and I.  We then headed out  - tried the whole look around town thing again but really wasn't getting excited - Auburn isn't that nice a place.  So instead we headed out to Skaneateles.  Good call - this was probably my favourite place of the whole trip.  It had the lot.  A cute little town with beautiful buildings, right on the lake - with parks by the lake - and even better it was snowing just lightly and all decked out in christmas decorations.  It looked great.  We hopped out of the car and took a walk - first out the jetty to the big christmas tree then through town. 

 

Unfortunately for all its picturesquessness it was also REALLY REALLY COLD.  so we hopped back in the car and headed for Cayuga lake.

We had to get back through Auburn then across to the next lake Cayuga Lake.  At the top of the lake we found the first winery - Montezumas Winery and Distillery - well of course we had to stop.  Had a good tasting of wine - then they bought out the corn whisky (otherwise know as moonshine) - so Andy had to try that - Urgghhh is all I can say.  My only complaint came at the end when one of the servers decided to tell Lexie and Josh that they should tell their mummy and Daddy to buy them some chocolate - so of course Lexies wasn then asking for chocolate  - no way was I going to buy it though!  We headed down the west side of Cayuga lake - very pretty drive with lake  on one side, vineyards on the other but unfortunately the weather was still all cloudy (but no snow today).  Next stop was Swedish Hill winery.  This was our first encouter with the kids getting a tasting.  They had a local grape juice that they let the kids have a tasting of - which they loved of course.  A few more bottles of wines later and we headed back on the road looking for lunch.  We found the Cayuga Lake Creamery. 

We figured we better have real food first so a couple of chicken burgers later we were allowed to try the icecream.  Both kids chose the Berry Cotton Candy - which turned out of have gummy bears all through it.  I tried the cranberry which I was a bit dissapointed with - not cranberryey enough and Andy tried the salted caramel.  Just down the road from the creamery was our first cidery - Bellweather Hard Cider.  Definitely had to try those.  By the time we finished there it was getting quite late so we stopped wine tasting and headed down to Taughanock Falls.  A number of waterfalls that I had heard about.  We drove to the upper lookout and checked out the main falls.

 

We noticed that there was a walk right down the valley to the bottom of the falls so decided to check that out.  The kids wern't very excited by the thought of a walk but we insisted.  It was a easy walk, past the lower falls and right down to the main falls which are in a very impressive bowl.

Ended up having to piggy back the kids back to end the incessant whining but was still worth it.  It was just about dark by the time we got back to the car so we headed straight for Ithaca.  Another night at the Holiday Inn - Another pool to occupy the kids - though not as warm as the night before. Then we decided to check out the Indian place just across the road.  Lots of really good food (Well Andy and I though so - the kids wern't too impressed) then rolled back to the hotel.

Day 3 - Tue 27th

We went for a hotel breakfast again this morning - nothing exciting but as always very filling.  We then set out to find Ithaca's gorges.  Ended up driving though the middle of Cornell - the big unversity in Ithaca - but found what we were looking for pretty easily.  The suspension bridge over the Ithaca gorge. 

We crossed the bridge and walked down to view the horseshoe falls below it, but were thwarted in out attempt to see the next fall - they'd closed the next bridge for road works.  So we headed back to the car (amidst much moaning and groaning from Lexie again) and headed for the next lot of falls.  These were much easier to get to and we were able to walk right down to the base of the falls which was very fun - the kids of course loved throwing rocks in the water - will the fun in that never wane?

We hadn't got all coated up at this stop so couldn't stay too long, then got back in the car and headed out and across to the next lake - Seneca lake.  We were planning doing the gorge at Watkins Glen but of course...the age old problem with travelling in winter.  The gorge trail was closed - This was as much as we were able to see. 

We were told that the upper trails at the other end of the gorge were open so headed down to check them out - but here the kids rebelled - there was a playground here - they did not want to do more walking - they wanted to play at the playground.  So stayed with the kids whilst Andy headed down the gorge.  After a good 1/2 hour of playing the kids were done so we decided to head down the trail and catch up with Andy - he'd made it right down to the other end and was on his way back so we tuned around and walked back with him.  As it was well past lunch time now we headed back to the town of Watkins Glen for lunch at the local Subway.  Then came more wine tasting.  We headed up the east side of Seneca Lake.  The sun actaully came out for a bit which gave us some great views.   

 

 

The Finger Lakes Distilling Co. was our first stop.  I was quite impressed - the berry vodka wa great and they also did a corn whisky - this one was MUCH better than the last - I actually liked it. Just next door was Damiani winery this was a great find with lots of good dry wines - even a shiraz which was good.  We tried to stop at the two dogs Brewery but it didn't open till 4pm which Andy was quite dissapointed about.  But we consoled ourselves at the Standing Stone Vineyard and the Sheldrake Vineyard - we even had our first icewine tasting at the sheldrake which was very yummy - especially the $63 / bottle icewine - dind't buy one of those for some reason!  We had decided to finish up at the Eremita Winery and Craft Beer, but of course when we got there it was closed - too bad as it was in an old church and looked really cool.  Since Andy was peeved that he hadn't gotten to any breweries we decided to head back down to Two Dogs - since it was now after 4pm, but by the time we got there both kids had fallen asleep so I sat in the car park with them whilst Andy went in. He came back saying that they didn't actually do tastings so he'd had to have a full pint instead!  Ah its a hard life.  We decided that food was required by this time and headed back into Watkins Glen to the Rooster Fish Brewery and Resteraunt - They had mussels on the menu and we both wanted some.  Andy made the mistake of asking where the mussles came from - thinking that they may have been local from the lake or something - nope - frozen freom Vietnam..... After all the beers that Andy had tried, I took over the wheel to get us back to the hotel (we'd booked the Holiday Inn at Ithaca again on Andy's points)  twas a fun drive through the country in the dark.  At one stage three deer bolted out in front of me - luckily I was able to stop in time to avoid hitting any of them - though the third little one made it hard when he decided to dash back across the road just as I thought it was safe and was going to head off again - silly little thing.

Day 4 - Wed 28

Decided to skip a big breakfast this morning and headed to Dunkin Donuts for breakfast instead - maybe not much better but at least there wasn't as much to eat - I'm feeling perpetually stuffed on the trip - even after ordering just a salad lst night.  We then headed out past buttermilk falls (didn't stop since it was a mile walk to the falls and we didn't feel like lugging the kids that far and back.) back around past Watkins Glen and up the east side of Seneca Lake - again we had a nice sunny morning which made it particularly nice. First stop this morning was Shtayburne Farm for a cheese tasting.  Lexie was very excited to actually get to tast this morning - but Josh refused to get out of the car so he missed out.  They had some really good cheeses on offer so we bought a couple of blocks - The Blueberry sheese was particularly good.  We then stopped into Rock Stream Vineyards, Distillery and Brew.  Got to taste both wines and beers here.  Our last stop was going to be the Fruit Yard winery but again - Closed, so we gave up on Seneca Lake ad headed out through Dundee to Keuka Lake.  Had a very nice drive up Keuka Lake to Penn Yan, but I was a bit dissapointed by Penn Yan.  It was no where near as nice as Skaneateles.  We did a quick turn around town the headed north west to Canadaigua.  This was a very nice drive through lots of dairy farming country.  There were even some barns that were NOT falling down.  I was starting to wonder if there were any barns in this country not in dire need of some TLC (or a wrecking ball)  glad to find out that there are.
Canadaigua was alot bigger than I expected but nicer than Penn Yan.

 We managed to find a nice little drive down by the lake.  They had these cute little boat sheds out on the dock - all set up like little roads - very cute. 

Stopped into the Dennys for lunch then back on the road towards Batavia.  We decided to skip the 90 and continued along the route 5 which was a great idea.  Some of the little towns along this drive were really cute. 

It was overall a very nice drive.  Ended the day in Batavia.  Decided to have a night in and just bought some salads and sandwiches at the local Walmart to eat in our room after checking out the pool of course - freezing tonight - not at all nice!

Day 5 - Thur 29th

Breakfast at the hotel included so just had some yoghurt and cereal etc. before getting on the road.  Straight down the 90 this morning before skirting Buffalo and picking up the Seaway Trail just south of Niagara and following it up the river to the falls.  Parked on the US side and walked down for my first look at Niagara falls from the America side. 

It was quite impressive but I'm seriously dissapointed that the cave of the winds is closed.  I would love to do that one day.  We wandered around the american falls - checked out the observation platform then headed across to Goat Island to see the Bridal Veil Falls and The HorseShoe Falls.  Unfortunately they had clsed off the path to the top of the Horseshoe falls due to ice on the paths, and with all the mist that the falls were putting out we couldn't barely see anything of the horseshoes falls but oh well  - there's always tomorrow.  Headed slowly back to the car (Josh was tantruming the whole way about not wanting to walk and Lexie not far behind).  When we got back to the car we decided to do lunch before getting back in the car so headed across the road to TGIF - or so we thought - three blocks later and we still hadn't made it there - but we found it in the end.  More tantrums on the way back to the car, but thankfully he fell asleep soon after we got going.  Handed over the passports (Andy's first use of his American Passport) and headed into.....Texas.....or so Josh kept telling us.  We told him we were going to another country and his first thought was Texas - not sure where that comes from but hey it really was cute.  OK so we headed into Canada and took a drive alongside the falls to see them from this side.  The Red Bull Crashed Ice competition is in town this weekend so they had closed off the road to our Hotel - but since Josh was still asleep we decided to leave the rest of the falls till the next day and head upriver to Niagara on the Lake instead.  After a beautiful drive up the lake we reached the little town of Niagara on the Lake.  It's even cuter than I remembered.  We stopped at SunnyBrook Farms.  A little place we found on our honeymon that does great fruit wines.  I had a bit of sticker shock however when I say the prices - $32 for a bottle of wine - ouch.  We then tried a couple of other wineries that we hadn't been to before.  Hinterbrook Estate - which had the most fantastic Cabernet Franc, and Konzelmann Estate.  These guys were great, Lexie and Josh agreed when they again gave them their own tasting - this time complete with glass wine glass.  They were so excited. 

We then headed back towards Niagara Falls to book into the hotel. Another Holiday Inn - another pool.  This one was the coldest yet - but luckily they also had a spa - so we spent most of our time in there.  For dinner we found a little Korean BBQ place.  We were really excited - until we found out that we wern't getting the proper cook at your table BBQ after all.  Andy was seriously disspointed about that.  The kids had some sushi whilst Andy and I had a couple of Korean Dishes that were OK but nothing outstanding - a bit dissapointing unfortunately.

Day 6 - Fri 30th

A freezing cold day today. feels like -8degC oustide.  After another hotel breakfast we headed down to the falls.  It was decidely unpleasant outside even with the coat and gloves and beanie - on - but I wasn't going to miss out on seeing the falls.  We walked down the street then along the the Table Rock welcome center.

 By the time we got down  there and stood in the freezing spray from the falls for a few minutes we were frozen ourselves so we went in and warmed up with a Timmy's hot chocolate.  We then headed back up to Clifton Hill.  The kids were both adamant that they wanted to ride the big ferris wheel - but by the time we got there everyone was miserable - Lexies hands were like icicles and she was crying.  Thanksfully the ride cheered everyone up (not to mention warmed us us) plus it gave us a fantastic view so we were all happy.

Next on the list was the tower with the "egg" elevators.  Even since we arrived in town Josh had been obsessed by the tower.  Everytime an elevator went up or down we were told about it very enthusistically.  So of course we had to go on it.  But getting there was going to be a problem.  After the last walk in the cold the kids really wern't excited about yet another one.  Thankfully there was a souvenier store nearby (I know who would have though - a souvenier store - in Niagara Falls!)  so we ducked in there and bought a new pair of gloves for each of the kids (and a new beanie for Andy) which was exciting enough to get us through another walk.  The only problem was that once we got inside the tower- the kids couldn't figure out the connection between the "egg" that they had seen going up it and the elevator that we went up in - so they kept asking us - when can we see the "egg" - "We're inside it"....Oh well.  By this time it was lunch time so we headed back to the hotel and picked up the car and headed out of Niagara Falls.  Unforuately - after their exertions of the morning the kids were tuckered out and both fell straight to sleep - so we decided to head back up to Niagara on the Lake and have lunch up there.  After a bit of touring around to let the kids sleep we ended up at the Little Rooster for lunch.  Really good food here - a good choice, then one final wine tasting - The Ice House.  They only do ice wines - and the best of all was an Ice Wine slushy.  Oh my gosh that stuff was good.  Will have to figure out how to make one at home.  Back to the hotel for another swim then Pizza from the restaurant downstairs in our room for dinner.

Day 7 - Sat 1st

Headed back out of Canada into the US this morning - easier said than done.  Coming in had been so easy that I wasn't expecting getting back across the border to be so hard.  We saw that the rainbow bridge in Niagara was backed up right across the bridge so decided to head up to the Leswiston Queentsown bridge instead.  On the way there we say a sign for an all you can eat breakfast buffet for only $6.99.  we decided we had to give it a go.  thankfully we wern't expecting much cause it wasn't that great.  Though the greek rice custard dish was really good almost worth it just for that  And the kids had fun with the whole buffet concept.

Took a quik turn past the falls one last time.  This morning the entire area had been frozen over and looked very fairy tale like.

Unfortunately when we got to the second bridge it was just as bad if not worse than the Niagara bridge.  It took us till 11:30am to get across.  We then headed up to Lake Ontario and along the lake.  We followed the lake shore the entire day.  The drive was Ok, not spectacular but pretty.  Of couse if we'd had some sun it would have been better.  We'd just about had enough of wineries for the time being but when we saw the cidery we had to stop in.  And I'm glad we did.  They had the best scrumpy cider. Yum! After the big breakfast we skipped lunch and just stopped at a little diner in a littel place called Pultneyville for a bathroom break and some chips.

Our only other stop for the day was at the Chimney Bluff State Park.  We parked down at the beach and walked around to see the bluffs.  Sort of like the Hoodoos at Banff, rock formations worn down into pinnacles.  Pretty but not as impressive as I was lead to believe.  The kids had a ball throwing all the rocks in the water again though....

Overnight for tonight was the port town of Oswego.  A nice little town -- with the best Mexican Restaurant.

Day 8 - Sun 2nd.

Breafast provided by the hotel again then on the road heading around the lake again to Watertown - which was a surprisingly nice town in the center of town. 

We then headed west into the Adirondacks.   Stopped at a little town called Harrisville for lunch.  Tried the bakery first but they were only serving breakfast, the supermarket was selling sandwiches but since it was raining outside there was nowhere to eat one so we ended up at this little restaurant.  I think it was brand new - I don't even know if it had a name .But it was a very nice little place with good food and a great view of the river so overall a good lunch stop.

 The afternoon was a really pretty drive through the adirondacks past all the lakes etc

Into Saranac Lakes 

And finally Lake Placid.

Booked into the Marriot and had a great swim in their pool.  A very nice one with two spas and two waterfalls.  Josh finally got brave enough to use his ring for the first time.  Dinner was at the local Brew pub (again).  Best meal of the holiday.  Fish in a buffalo sauce with a beer and blue cheese dressing.  Yum!

Day 9 - Mon 3rd

Skipped breakfast this morning - unfortunatly I also missed something else - the two blocks of cheese that I had put into the fridge got left in there this morning.  Bugger bugger bugger. Unfortunately I didn't remember it till we were over an hour away.

After a quick tour around Lake Placid we headed down the 89 this morning - another very nice drive.

 Took a detour through Lake George just for giggles. Stopped into Dunkin Donuts for morning tea then on the road for the long drive home.  Back in Millis by 2:30pm.