To celebrate my birthday this year, my wonderful husband planned a weekend getaway to the Finger Lakes! We spent Friday (my actual birthday) and Saturday checking out the area with a night at romantic Belhurst Castle in between. Stick with me the rest of this week as I take you along our adventures to the vineyards and wineries on Seneca Lake...
We started our Finger Lakes journey with lunch at my all-time favorite chain restaurant - Cracker Barrel!! This birthday girl couldn't pass up the half pound hamburger steak with carrots and a sweet potato (don't you dare forget the cornbread!) and a caramel mug sundae!! And yes, I do in fact order the exact same meal each and every time I dine at this fave of mine.
Our first winery stop was Penguin Bay. It was only fitting that we began there since penguins are my thing. We did a brief tasting before all the super cute penguin stuff became overwhelmingly distracting for me. I loved this place! Chris even indulged me in a fun photo, too! He's a keeper! :)
Next, we ventured to nearby Hazlitt Vineyards. We liked their cider back in March at the first ever Good Cider event we attended in NYC so we figured their wine would be a win, too. We were right! They had popcorn to snack on and the tasting was free if you bought a bottle at the end. I even selected one wine during my tasting they suggest pairing with chocolate and they gave me some to try along with it. We really enjoyed our time at Hazlitt.
Our final stop of the day was at Standing Stone Vineyards. We caught them just before they closed up shop for the day. I was SO glad because this place was gorgeous! The inside was beautiful and the view of the lake outside was perfect! As it turned out, there was a graduate student conducting a study the day we were there so we participated and received a free tasting in return. Hopefully we didn't skew her data since we aren't regular wine connoisseurs, but we had fun with it.
Before we made our way to the Castle for the evening, Chris was gracious enough to partake in a selfie photo shoot with me! So far, my birthday was a hit and we hadn't even arrived at the biggest treat of them all yet...
Andrea :)
What fun! Winery hopping in the Finger Lakes region is on my travel bucket list. Can't wait to see the rest!
ReplyDeleteThat is too funny about Cracker Barrel - I always order the same meal every time I go, too. My hubby always jokes with me about trying something new. NOPE. :)
ReplyDeleteI want to visit the wineries in the finger lakes someday, it's on my bucket list! What a fun birthday!
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