The festival was broken up into 3 hour sessions over 2 days (Friday and Saturday).  Casey had gotten tickets for us to attend the 1-4 pm Saturday session.  We had lunch before the event at a very nice cafe in Elmira, Charlie’s Cafe.  Casey called ahead to Charlie’s and said they were capable of providing gluten-free options for her, which was nice!

When we first arrived at the festival it wasn’t too crowded, but soon enough the rink floor was packed.  We made sure to visit some of our favorite wineries, but we also tried some new wines.  It was nice being able to try new wines from wineries we had never visited during our previous fingerlake trips.

Below are some photos of the event as well as the wines (including a hard cider) we ended up buying at the festival.

The B & B was VanCleef Homestead owned and operated by Carol and Brent Gibbs.  The B & B was very clean, relaxing and inviting.  Carol served up an unbelievable spread of delicious breakfast foods, including several items there were gluten-free.

Before hitting the trail and sampling wines, we ate lunch at the Ginny Lee located next to Wagner Vineyards.  This is a great place to catch a bite to eat, the food is great and the price is right!  Its also a great place to pair a Wagner wine or beer with some food.

Casey wanted us to visit some different wineries on the Cayuga Lake Wine Trail.  We visited the following wineries on this trip:

• Thirsty Owl Wine Company
• Lucas Winery
• Knapp Winery
• Red Newt Cellars
• Hazlitt 1852 Vineyards
• Wagners Vineyards
• Buttonwood Grove Winery
• Cobblestone Winery
• Goose Watch Winery

For dinner on our first night in the NY finger lakes region, we ate at Suzanne’s.  This place is great; beautiful view of the sunset, excellent food, and great service (including staff that knows what gluten-free means).

This was Hailey’s first trip to a ocean beach!  She had the greatest time playing in the sand, waves, and looking for sand crabs that you can dig up when the ocean waves go out.

Casey loved the fact that we go to go out and eat at one of her favorite (and gluten-free) restaurants, P.F. Chang’s.  Hailey was less impressed with their food, even though their chicken nuggets for kiddos were delicious!

Below are a few photos from VA Beach.

Hailey had a great time and wanted to see everything, but Tyler didn’t want to walk, didn’t want to be held, and didn’t want anyone telling him what to do.  He was running into people, telling people to move, and generally not a happy camper.  I guess it is to be expected when you coupe up a 2 1/2 year hold for a 3 hour drive.

Anyhow, once we got away from the crowded areas, Tyler seemed to do better.  He liked seeing the fishies swimming around and around in the huge circular fish tank, and liked the turtles in the rain forest displays.  Below are a few photos from our trip.

Hopefully Casey will invite me along next time she goes.

While we were in Pittsburgh, we decided to check out some of the sites.  First was the Pittsburgh Zoo, it was a very nice zoo, but it was pretty hot that day, so hot that most of the animals were just lounging around. Tyler and Hailey loved the Elephants (there were some baby ones too)!

Secondly, we visited the Pittsburgh Children’s Museum.  This place was awesome!  They had a huge exhibit associated with the Mr. Roger’s show.  They also had several industrial exhibits; which I think were the favorites of the kids.  We spent about  an hour at the museum before heading to Andi’s shower.

We finished our trip to Pittsburgh with dinner at the P.F. Chang’s, yum!

We arrived at downtown Harrisburg around 2pm and found street parking (is free on the weekends).  Walked to the museum, and got our tickets for the play session ($5/person), and didn’t have to wait to long until it was our turn to go in.

As you can see from the photos below, there were many different activities for the kids to play with; farm, factory, school zone, playroom/tunnel, forest, and legos.  It was a good time and I think the kids had fun.

Casey and I both feel that even though the Curiosity Connection was fun for our kids and closer to home, the Lancaster Hands-On House is still worth the drive (bigger, no time frame/session).

After our visit to the Curiosity Connection, we had dinner at Carrabas Italian Grill.  We were definitely blessed, both kids ate there dinner while Casey and I got to finish ours in peace.  Score!

Anyhow, Casey and I have been enjoying the summer.  We went to Alexandria, VA this weekend for a bachelor and bachelorette party.  It was fun.  The party/gathering was at Dave and Busters.  We had never been to a Dave and Busters, but it is basically a Chucky Cheese for adults.  We had a good time.  

Casey and I did dinner at P.F. Changs which was right around the corner from Dave and Busters.  Casey loves P.F. Changs because it is the only Chinese food that Casey can eat that is gluten free (normal soy sauce is bad news).  We shared a bottle of riesling wine, some chicken lettuce wraps, and both of us had Ginger Chicken Broccoli entrees.  

After Dave and Busters, the group decided it was time to venture into the city for some fun.  We all headed to a little bar called the Madhatter.  It was a small bar, but a favorite of the bachelor and bachelorette.  Casey and I left the bar at around 1:30am and caught a ride on the Metro back to our hotel.  The Metro ride was interesting since neither of us had ever ridden the Metro by ourselves.  We managed to figure the ticket machine, hopped on the train, and made one switch to a different line, and finally got back to our hotel. woohoo.

I will try to post more frequently, or maybe not since it is summertime.

Casey and I have stayed at different places in the past; hotels and B&Bs.  This time we did something different, thanks to one of Casey’s co-workers for letting us know about a wonderful place.  We stayed at Finger Lakes Cabins at Mill Creek near Valois, NY (East Side of Seneca Lake).  This place had two cabins that were fully loaded with everything we could possibly need (soap, shampoo, stove, fridge, microwave, tv, games, coffee, creamer, charcoal for the grill, wood for the fire pit… you get the idea).  

So we left very early Friday and manged to get up to Watkins Glen around 11am.  We stopped at Wegmans in Corning, NY to get some food to cook on the grill later that evening.  We made our first wine sampling stop at Atwater Estate Vineyards and sampled some of their highly rated Riesling wines as well as others (we bought a few bottles here).  We then headed to our Cabin.  The hosts were very nice and showed us around our cabin and the property (which included several nature trails and a enclosed jacuzzi).

After unpacking the car, we decided it was time to get something for lunch. We went to Wagner Vineyards and Brewery to eat at the Ginny Lee.  When we got there I had to snap a photo of a Porsche GT3 parked in the lot, sweet.   The staff at the Ginny Lee have always been able to accommodate  Casey’s gluten-free needs and their food is so fresh.   Casey and I also enjoyed drinks with our lunches that were made on-site.  Casey had a Riesling and I had the Summer Sail Hefeweizen beer from the brewery.

Our second winery for tasting was Wagner Vineyards since we were already there.  We got served by the same gentleman that serves us everytime we go there; Ken.  Ken is a hoot and very knowledgeable about the wines they make. We bought 2 bottles at Wagner Vineyards before heading off.

Our third winery for tasting was an old favorite and probably the place where Casey and I first started enjoying wine, Hazlitt Vineyards.  This place is great, super friendly staff, great wines, and sometimes people get a little crazy.  Since it was a week day it wasn’t too crazy.  We bought a few bottles here before leaving.

Our fourth winery we stopped at was another favorite of ours, Red Newt Cellars.  They produce some great wines and Casey and I enjoyed our tasting here.  When we arrived there was a bus full of college students enjoying the area (a little too much).  They were very loud and at one point a dozen girls came up to Casey and I telling us that we looked just like John and Kate plus 8.  LOL.  They left and we got back to enjoying the rest of our tasting.  We bought a few bottles here also.

We then decided it was time to head around to the West side of the lake.  Casey wanted to see the Belhurst Castle on the north west shore of the lake.   On the way we stopped at Fulkerson Winery for some tasting.  I didn’t realize it but Fulkerson is also a huge producer of grape juice that can be purchased to make you own wine, pretty cool!  We bought two bottles of their Riesling before heading off to the castle.

We finally make it to the Belhurst Castle, it was very impressive and there was even a wedding happening on the grounds.  We also did some tasting on site, although we didn’t buy any of their wines.  It was almost five o’clock, so we decided to head back to our Cabin to cook dinner and relax.

We cooked garlic/lime shrimp, salmon, and steak on the grill and made a baked potato in the oven, all while enjoying one of the new wines we purchased.  After dinner we hopped in the jacuzzi, wow that sure was relaxing.

The next morning we got up early and the hosts prepared and delivered to our front porch breakfast in a basket.  It included a gluten free egg dish for Casey and home made blueberry muffins for me, juices, and fresh cut strawberries.  After breakfast we realized we had better get going and head home.  We ended up getting home around 1 in the afternoon.

We had a great time thanks to Casey’s co-worker’s recommendation and Casey’s mom for watching the kids.