July 7 – Buttermilk Falls State Park

By on July 9, 2017 in The Pearl

Allan H. Treman State Marine Park

“Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you.” —Frank Lloyd Wright

We made it to Buttermilk Falls today. The state park is literally in Ithaca. The original 164 acres of the park were presented as a gift to New York State by Robert and Laura Treman in 1924. It grew to its current 811-acre through various state acquisitions in the years that followed. We hiked the gorge trail which follows Buttermilk Creek as it cascades down through the gorge about 600 feet, passing deep pools, sculpted rocks and countless waterfalls. First we hiked up…then we hiked back down the same trail.
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[Kensblog]Starting the season in style – Dent Island Lodge

By on July 8, 2017 in Sans Souci


Greetings all! Roberta and I have now moved aboard the boat for the summer. But, before I get to that, I thought I’d show this picture I snapped when we were home in Seattle for July 4th. July 4 in Seattle It’s a little hard to make out what you are seeing, but it is Lake Union, an inland lake adjacent to the Space Needle in downtown Seattle. Every July 4th a massive fireworks display is launched from a floating barge on the lake. The best place to see the fireworks is from aboard a boat…

[Kensblog]Starting the season in style – Dent Island Lodge

By on July 8, 2017 in Sans Souci

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Aurora, NY

By on July 7, 2017 in The Pearl
Allan H. Treman State Marine Park

The little village of Aurora is nestled on the banks of Cayuga Lake in upstate New York, it looks like it could have been ripped from the pages of a storybook. About a decade ago, Pleasant Rowland, the creator of American Girl Dolls, led a massive, village-wide restoration project to restore the historic grand estates and cozy cottages into charming accommodations, shops, and restaurants. 

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July 5 – Ithaca, NY

By on July 6, 2017 in The Pearl
Allan H. Treman State Marine Park

“Adventure is calling and I must go….” -Author Unknown

We woke to another beautiful day and even though we have work we could do around the boat we decided to enjoy the day exploring a new area around Ithaca. We packed a picnic lunch, loaded the car with fishing gear and headed southeast of town to the Owego River.
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July 4 – Independence Day Celebrations

By on July 5, 2017 in The Pearl
Allan H. Treman State Marine Park

“Discovery comes only to a mind immersed in its pursuit.” —Michael Polanyi

July 4th celebrations started on Saturday and ran for four days. For the most part the weather was amazing…with a little rain tossed in to make things fun.

There were so many options on Saturday…we settled on a vineyard on the western shore of the lake. Americana Vineyard was celebrating with bands, food trucks, BBQ, beer and wine all day long with a firework show at 10:00. We headed over to the festivities around lunch…figured it wouldn’t be too crowded if we went early. We got a nice place under one of the tents, an especially nice place to be since the weather was still a little threatening. We had a great time listening to the music, dancing, tasting their beer and wine, and visiting with the people around us.
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Baltimore, Ireland

By on July 4, 2017 in M/V Dirona

The 55-foot Baltimore Beacon, known locally as “Lot’s Wife”, marks the entrance to Baltimore Harbour atop a 300-ft cliff. James knew from the moment we arrived that Jennifer, who suffers from the extreme inability to resist a good view, would find a way to reach the Beacon. So he wasn’t at all surprised when she…

Strathacona Provencial Park

By on July 3, 2017 in Idyll Time

Before heading out on the water, we take a three day road trip in the RV to visit Strathcona Provincial Park. Designated in 1911, Strathcona was the first provincial park in British Columbia. The highest point on Vancouver Island is known as the Golden Hinde (2200 m) and is located at the center of the […]

Two Sides of the Atlantic

By on July 2, 2017 in M/V Dirona

In February of 2016, we completed our longest passage ever: 3,700nm across the South Atlantic from St. Helena to Barbados. And in May of this year, we completed our worst passage ever: 2,800nm across the North Atlantic through three gales from Newport, RI to Kinsale, Ireland. In between, we’ve cruised the West Atlantic between Florida…

Salt Point Nature Preserve

By on July 1, 2017 in The Pearl

Allan H. Treman State Marine Park

We stumbled across this little preserve by chance this week while we were looking for a good place to fly fish. It’s a beautiful spot to spend a little time relaxing…taking in the sights and sounds of nature. 

Salt Point was named because the International Salt Company produced table and other salt products on this site from 1891 through 1962. The company was the heart and soul of the small community. Syrian workers built houses and the company erected the tiny St. George Syrian Orthodox Church, which still holds services today. Erie Canal boats would come down the lake to pick up salt for distribution. 
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