We knew from the moment we awoke that today was going to be a hot one.  And the day did not disappoint.  More about that later.  Once again we were in no big rush since we were moving just a bit further south to another Harvest Host location.  Total travel time would be no more than an hour.

In due time, we left our backyard at Climbing Bines and began the journey south.  The trip was not without a bit of adventure inasmuch as yours truly missed a couple of turns that our navigator asked me to make.  Yet, as they say, all is well that ends well and in due time we found our way to our new home for the evening, The Great Western Winery.

When we inquired about the proper place to park they said pick a spot in the parking lot.

So here we are in a nice level spot with a bit of shade on the left hand side.  Remember the heat I alluded to earlier?  By the time we got set up the temperature had climbed to 97 degrees!  Time to start the generator and get the AC on.  Both ran without an issue.  Indeed, between yesterday and today we’ve had the generator and AC on for a total of some 16 hours.  Without them I can only imagine how hot it would have been inside of Graybeard.

Though we are in a parking lot we do have a great view out the kitchen window.

Settled in, it was time to head to the Visitor’s Center for a tour and some taste testing.

This is the view inside the front door.

And this is the all important tasting room which we would get to in a bit.

First, though there was a brief tour of the grounds and a bit of history. Our tour guide was another of God’s beautiful people by the name of Melanie

During our tour we learned, first of all, a bit about the winery itself.  The Pleasant Valley Wine Company, located near the village of Hammondsport, New York, is the oldest winery in the Finger Lakes region.

On March 15, 1860, Charles Davenport Champlin and 12 local businessmen consolidated their holdings under “Articles of Association for the Manufacture of Native Wine” and, with $10,000 capitalization, built the first winery in this region. Pleasant Valley Wine Company was designated as Bonded Winery No. 1 in its State and Federal districts.

The original winery was constructed on land whose price had soared from $10 to $100 an acre in one decade! It was built on a slope owned by Mr. Champlin overlooking Pleasant Valley, two miles south of Hammondsport. All winemaking operations were carried out by Jules and Joseph Masson, noted French-born winemakers of the time, in still-used wooden and stone structures, with adjacent cellars carved deep into the hillside. Eight of these Great Western Winery buildings were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

Business thrived. While the Civil War brought supply and labor shortages, as well as price increases and transportation difficulties, the enterprise was sufficiently successful in 1865 to invest in champagne-producing equipment. Twenty thousand bottles of Sparkling Catawba were made that year. In 1867, this wine was awarded honorable mention at the Exposition Universelle in Paris, the first American Sparkling wine to win an award in Europe. In 1873 in Vienna, the winery’s champagne was awarded first prize and its first European medal; since then the Company’s champagnes have received numerous European gold medals and other awards.

Then came Prohibition. The winery was left with an inventory of 70,000 cases of champagne and substantial quantities of still wine. Yet it survived the 14 years of Prohibition on sales for sacramental and medicinal purposes.

After Repeal in 1933, the Company progressed steadily. Charles D. Champlin II, grandson of the founder and dean of American champagne makers of his time, managed the operation until his death in 1950. The family retained control of the business until 1955 when it was sold to a company run by Marne Obernauer, a businessman from New Jersey, who officially renamed the winery Pleasant Valley Division of Great Western Producers. In 1961, the winery was acquired by The Taylor Wine Company, its next-door neighbor, which was itself acquired first by The Coca-Cola Company in 1977, then Joseph E. Seagram & Sons in 1983, and finally Vintners International Company, Inc., in 1987. Having survived Prohibition and several ownership changes, the winery returned once again to local family control in 1995.  Today the company produces 1.2 million gallons of wine annually.

As an aside we also learned that when the Coca-Cola Company acquired the company there were massive layoffs leaving any number of local people without jobs.  The town of Hammondsport never forgot that and so to this day Coca-Cola products are not sold in the town.

We were taken over to the old historic section where the company began.

 

We were taken through the old cellar where the original casks for the wine are still stored.

What is interesting about these casks is that each has a small removable door on the front through which a worker periodically would enter the cask to clean it.  Because of the fumes inside a rope was usually tied to their ankles just in case they had to be pulled out.

We were shown the one room and the one job that used to be the most dangerous.  This was the original room where the champagne was stacked.  Problem, if one bottle exploded or broke it usually took the whole rack with it.  Glass shards then went flying everywhere and there were reports of several workers in the past being killed by them.

We then walked through the current banquet room.  Note the wooden door in the ceiling, it is used to bring champagne down to the room from the storage room above.

Melanie pointed out this beautiful chandelier with something very interesting on the top.

If you didn’t catch it in the picture above here is a close up, there is a statue of a monk at the top of the lamp.

Remember the tasting room?  Yes, we made it back there in the end.  Barbara admitted, after all was said and done, she wasn’t really impressed with any of the wines.  I believe that is a first for her.  But it didn’t keep us from buying a few bottles just to do an independent re-taste test later in the day!

So that was our day.  A hot one for sure.  It’s 9 pm and just now it is beginning to cool down a bit.  Heat or no heat, though, we had a great day as always traveling along, hand in hand, side by side, singing our song.

Thanks for sharing our day with us.  We’ll join you again tomorrow once we get settled in at our new home in PA.  For now we leave you with this:

As always,  if you are coming to the end of your day with concerns and worries, let me suggest that you turn them over to God.  After all, He is going to be up all night so why not let him handle them for you.

Time now for our evening prayers and eventually some shut-eye.  Till tomorrow.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s occupants, four paws and two humans.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have not been before

This morning we awoke to a comfortable temperature and clear blue skies.  Since we didn’t need to leave until around 11 am, we were in no big hurry to get up and get moving.   So we just sort of took our time and did what we needed to do at a leisurely pace.

First things first, breakfast which as always was just great.  Chocolate chip pancakes, juice, sausage, real Vermont Maple Syrup, and of course a cup of coffee.  Now with our tummies full we could turn our attention to packing up and moving on.

Our destination was just a hop, skip and a jump away.  Up across the top of Seneca Lake and down to Climbing Bines Brewery.  Remember yesterday our GPS took us on a really weird route to Seneca Lake?  That was the GPS in the car.  Today our GPS in Graybeard which has our length, height, width and weight entered saved our bacon.   It took us around two low bridges, one at 12′ 6″ and the other at 11’9″.  Our height is 13′.  Grateful for that to be sure.

On the road and just about 45 minutes later we were making the turn into the driveway.

So this is our new home for the night.  A large grass field next to a pond.  We were able to

get ourselves level, turn the fridge on, and since the temperature was in the 90’s we got the generator running and then turned on the AC.  It took a few hours to cool Graybeard down but, as of now, we are comfortable and just waiting for the sun to finally go down.

This is our view looking up toward the brewery and the tasting room and the event hall.

Once we got things squared away we then went up to the tasting room at the brewery.

 

Once in the tasting room we spotted what we had come for – a variety of beers to taste.

We also discovered that today was Taco Sunday and the taco truck was outside.  I really like their sign, especially the bottom that says Jesus is Lord.

After tasting several beers, we got a taco the size of a dinner plate and a taco salad, purchased two beers and went outside to the picnic area for lunch.

Outside you had a beautiful view of Seneca Lake and the hop fields for the brewery.

A couple of beers later ,and our tummies full of delicious taco meat, we headed home.  We were laughing as we walked home that at least no one could arrest us for DWI!  All we had to do was stumble down the hill to our home sweet home.

Arriving home I remembered that the NASCAR race was being run at Watkins Glenn – could we get that channel?  Oh yes, we could and we enjoyed the race to the end.  In fact we get a lot of over the air channels.  Go figure.

So this is our home for the evening.  Safe, secure, comfortable, and with a great view.  Tomorrow we’ll move a bit further south, this time to a winery.  But for now we’re happy and content as could be where we are.  Thank you Lord for watching over us again.

Thanks once again for joining us today.  We had an absolutely fantastic day and we hope you did too.  We give thanks every day for the way the good Lord provides for us and the world around us that He created for us to enjoy.  Who could ask for anything more.  In closing something for each of us to ponder:

As always,  if you are coming to the end of your day with concerns and worries, let me suggest that you turn them over to God.  After all, He is going to be up all night so why not let him handle them for you.

Time now for our evening prayers and eventually some shut-eye.  Till tomorrow.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s occupants, four paws and two humans.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have not been before

 

 

What a beautiful morning to wake up to.  The best that it could be.  Not to mention we have our electric back.  Last night around 2 am it went out.  I have no idea what happened.  Thankfully, it was a short outage and just like that it came back on.  Beats me what happened.

Breakfast was absolutely super.  Barbara made me another favorite.  Scrambled egg, cheese and sausage on an English Muffin.  Add to that a glass of juice and a cup of coffee and I was set for the day.  Barbara had eggs and coffee as well.

No rush this morning but no time to waste either.  We had one last trip to take and it was to Watkins Glen.  Not for the races rather we were going on another cruise, yes, a real cruise.  Barbara had booked a two hour luncheon cruise for us on Seneca Lake with Captain Bill’s.

So in due time we were off.  Mistake number one.  Believe the route the GPS tells you.  OK, it did get us there but what a convoluted route it took us on.  I know coming home I’m going my way.

Before we get into the particulars of the day, here are some quick facts about the Finger Lakes and Seneca Lake in particular:

• The 11 FingerLakes in Upstate New York, from west to east, are Conesus, Hemlock, Canadice, Honeoye, Canandaigua, Keuka, Seneca, Cayuga, Owasco, Skaneateles and Otisco.  Each lake is connected by rivers ultimately leading into Lake Ontario
• Seneca Lake is the largest of the glacial Finger Lakes.  At its widest it is 3 miles.  At its deepest point it is 617 feet deep and has a mean depth of 219 feet..  It is 38 miles long with 75 miles of shoreline.  It holds 4.7 trillion gallons of spring fed water.  At its deepest the average water temperature is 39 degrees but the first 15 to 20 feet during the summer averages 70 to 75 degrees.

So, in due time we were at our destination in Seneca Falls, Captain Bill’s Lake Cruises.

William Simiele, best known as Captain Bill purchased an existing sightseeing boat company in 1963. Captain Bill was not one to sit still and after thirty years he found his business had grown to include son Mark, and daughter, Gina. He would need them for they now found themselves with the sightseeing vessel, a 270 passenger dinner vessel, a gift shop, miniature golf course, ice cream shop, and a marina.

Our ship for our luncheon cruise would be the Seneca Legacy.  The Seneca Legacy was

built and launched in 1963.  For many years it severed as a passenger ferry severing Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket.  She was purchased by Captain Bill in 2006 and underwent an extensive 12 month reconstruction.  She now serves as the dining vessel in Captain Bill’s fleet of boats.

Soon enough we were underway and moving out unto the lake for our cruise.  Breathtaking and beautiful we could not have asked for a better day.

Here they are Thomas and Lucy Carnegie (aka William and Barbara) on-board their private vessel traveling to Cumberland Island (aka Seneca Lake).

 

This was our wonderful server for the day, her name was Marissa.  I kept kidding Barbara that I should have had a small bell to ring for service.  Know how far that got me?

One of the first discovery’s made while on the lake was that of the US Salt Plant.

US Salt has been in operation since 1893.  The refinery sits atop a rich underground supply of salt.  Water needed for the plant’s operations comes from Seneca Lake.

Salt was first discovered in Watkins Glen in 1882.  During that year the Watkins Oil Well Company was organized to drill for petroleum, gas, salt and other minerals.  The company drilled a well on the hillside west of Watkins Glen, on the site of a spring which the Indians knew had medicinal properties.  In September 1882 the Watkins Oil Well Company reported that, at 1,513 feet below the surface, it had reached a sufficient flow of brine to make salt.

By 1890, the first brine-producing well was put into service.  Impurities in the brine made it difficult to dry the salt.  The first real producer of salt in Schuyler County, N.Y., was the Glen Salt Company.  It drilled wells on property at Watkins Glen, now owned by US Salt.

The Glen Salt Company drilled its first well in 1893, struck salt at 1,841 feet, and stopped drilling at 1,902 feet without reaching the bottom of the salt bed.  In 1894 a second well was dug without hitting the bottom of the salt bed.  By 1896 a third well was dug that stopped at 1,927 feet, still in solid salt.

Here are some of the other sights we saw during our luncheon cruise on the lake.  We saw this gentleman just drifting along, obviously he had run out of gas and was taking a break from paddling.

When is a lighthouse not a lighthouse?  When someone builds one for decoration.

There were any number of shore side homes of various sizes with boat houses.

Then there was this house.  Obviously, a bit more upscale than the others we had seen.

Then we discovered a Unicorn.

While some had jet skis and pontoon boats, this guy went one better.

Next we came to these paintings on a rock wall on the east shore of the Lake.

The painted rocks located at the southern end of the lake on the eastern cliff face depict an American flat, Tee-pee, and several Native Americans. The older paintings, located on the bottom of the cliff were said to have been drawn in 1779. However, this is disputed by historian Barbara Bell, who suggests instead that these paintings may have been made much later, for tourists on Seneca Lake boat tours.

It is known that the more visible and prominent paintings of the Native Americans, American flag, and Tee-pee were added in 1929 during the Sullivan Sesquicentennial. There are two mistakes in these 1929 additions: firstly the Native Americans in the Seneca Region used longhouses and not Tee-pees, and secondly the flag is displayed pointing to the left which is never to be done on a horizontal surface.

Finally we saw Hector Falls.  It is said that the best view of these fall is from the water.

Although most commonly recorded as 165 ft high, Hector Falls, can be considered a lot taller, if you begin counting the series of cascading drops from the top. Over 250 feet of waterfalls cascade down this hill from near the top. The first third is a sequence of small and narrow, foamy cascades, one right after the other. As the falls approaches Rt 414,(the bridge in the picture above) it spreads out over one wide triangular cascade that dips under the highway, and down another wide cascade, and then another, past some cottages.The final stretch is yet another fanning cascade, the widest of all.

Soon enough we were back at the dock and ready to disembark.  It was a wonderful luncheon cruise.  The food was delicious.  The weather perfect.   A trip made even better by the fact that we met three more of God’s beautiful people on board the boat.  We met a couple traveling with their son who were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary today.   Dad was a Vietnam Veteran like myself.  Unlike me, just last year he had the privilege of returning to Vietnam to tour the country and shared what a wonderful experience it had been.

Before I finish for the day, one more thing.  Since this is after all wine country let me share with you some of the delightful wine sayings we discovered in a gift shop today.

I have one more sign, a special for my sister Cindy but I’m not revealing that tonight.  When we see her in a couple of days we’ll present her with it.  It’s a good one for sure.

So that was our day.  A wonderful one in all respects.  I’m so glad Barbara spoiled me with this last minute trip.  I enjoyed each and every minute of our time on the water.  Made as always even better by the fact that we did it together, hand in hand, singing our song.

Well, time now to begin packing since tomorrow is moving day.  We have a really, really, really long trip to look forward to.  Like maybe 60 minutes to the Climbing Bines Craft Ale Company.  It is one of New York State’s first farm breweries.  They specialize in small batch, hand-crafted ales brewed on site with the freshest estate-grown hops and barley harvested just a few miles down the road.   Of course, a tour and taste testing session will be in order!  They have a large field just waiting for Graybeard and the three of us.

Thanks again for joining us for the day.  As I wrap this up let me share this with you:

As always,  if you are coming to the end of your day with concerns and worries, let me suggest that you turn them over to God.  After all, He is going to be up all night so why not let him handle them for you.

Time now for our evening prayers and eventually some shut-eye.  Till tomorrow.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s occupants, four paws and two humans.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have not been before

Another nice morning when we awoke.  No rain, lots of clouds, and the humidity even in the early morning was oppressive.   It is what it is and I’ll take it as it comes.  Since we had no where to go and no where we had to be there was no rush getting up.  My kind of morning.

Breakfast was one of my favorites again, cheese potatoes with ham and juice and fresh brewed coffee.  Barbara had her usual oatmeal.  It’s nice sitting at our new table  and on chairs that no longer torture my back.  We both absolutely love the change and the fresh look.

Today I had just one chore that really needed to be done and that was changing some of the cheap plastic catch latches on the kitchen drawers.  One in particular never stays closed when we travel.  This time, however, I believe I have the answer which I discovered through an internet search.  I found solid brass tension catch latches.

 

Today, we also decided, it should be game day.  So throughout the day we played Mexican Train.  We played off and on during the day and we’ll finish tonight.

Well, its Friday and the seasonal campers are beginning to stream into the park.  If it goes anything like last weekend the park will be packed by tomorrow afternoon.  One plus, if only for a day we’re going to get our view of the pond back tomorrow.  Our neighbors from NJ leave for home in the morning.

That was the sum total of our day.  Relaxing, fun, productive and of course made even better by the fact that we did it together, side by side, singing our song.   Thanks again for sharing our day with us.  We hope your day was a great one as well.  I have to say I really feel sorry for those who just rush through each day.  I know I used to do it and I also know how much of the beauty of each day that I missed.  Now, not tomorrow but now, this moment is the time to enjoy each minute given to you by the good Lord.  In closing, here is a thought for each of us to ponder:

As always,  if you are coming to the end of your day with concerns and worries, let me suggest that you turn them over to God.  After all, He is going to be up all night so why not let him handle them for you.

Time now for our evening prayers and eventually some shut-eye.  Till tomorrow.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s occupants, four paws and two humans.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have not been before