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Finger Lakes Wineries & Breweries (Part XIII)

By on October 28, 2025 in The Pearl
“Pour kindness like rum, forgive like waves, and let your heart be the island that welcomes everyone home.” –Jimmy Buffett 

We didn’t make it to any new wineries in 2024, but we’ve done a little more exploring this year. It’s hard to get to new places when you enjoy the favorites so much. The title of this blog is a bit misleading since several of the new places we visited were in Pennsylvania.

Keuka Spring Vineyards sits on the east side of Keuka Lake just outside of Penn Yan. It has beautiful views of the lake and was established in 1985.

CONTINUE READING HERE…»

Finger Lakes Wineries & Breweries (Part XIII)

By on October 28, 2025 in The Pearl
“Pour kindness like rum, forgive like waves, and let your heart be the island that welcomes everyone home.” –Jimmy Buffett 

We didn’t make it to any new wineries in 2024, but we’ve done a little more exploring this year. It’s hard to get to new places when you enjoy the favorites so much. The title of this blog is a bit misleading since several of the new places we visited were in Pennsylvania.

Keuka Spring Vineyards sits on the east side of Keuka Lake just outside of Penn Yan. It has beautiful views of the lake and was established in 1985.

CONTINUE READING HERE…»

Our Home Town

By on October 19, 2025 in The Pearl

“Home isn’t where you’re from, it’s where your soul finally breathes.” -Unknown 


Not everyone has the chance to hand pick their home town. We lived most of our lives in the town we were raised in and it was a nice place while we were raising our children, but families move away and other places become more desirable. We actually picked two amazing little towns that we absolutely love. The town that we spend most of our time in now is called Lewisburg. It’s a historic community located on the banks of the scenic Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania. It’s only a short drive through the beautiful rolling hills to where our son and his family live. 

CONTINUE READING HERE…»

Our Home Town

By on October 19, 2025 in The Pearl

“Home isn’t where you’re from, it’s where your soul finally breathes.” -Unknown Not everyone has the chance to hand pick their home town. We lived most of our lives in the town we were raised in and it was a nice place while we were raising our ch…

Adirondack Fall Colors

By on October 2, 2025 in The Pearl
“A fallen leaf is nothing more than a Summer’s wave goodbye.” – Unknown
The colors are just beginning to change on the lake in New York and at our home in Lewisburg….but the colors were fantastic in the Adirondacks. Every day we could see how much they were changing. It was absolutely gorgeous. What a wonderful time to be in the mountains.

“When everything looks like a magical oil painting, you know you are in Autumn!” – Mehmet Murat Ildan

Adirondack Fall Colors

By on October 2, 2025 in The Pearl
“A fallen leaf is nothing more than a Summer’s wave goodbye.” – Unknown
The colors are just beginning to change on the lake in New York and at our home in Lewisburg….but the colors were fantastic in the Adirondacks. Every day we could see how much they were changing. It was absolutely gorgeous. What a wonderful time to be in the mountains.

“When everything looks like a magical oil painting, you know you are in Autumn!” – Mehmet Murat Ildan

Sept. 21-27 Adirondacks Vacation Part II

By on October 1, 2025 in The Pearl

“And into the forest I go to lose my mind and find my soul.” – John Muir

We spent a wonderful week in the Adirondacks. We had a great mixture of sunny days and rain. Just a few days of rain gave us a chance to take it easy and enjoy the house. Sunny days gave us time to hike and explore. There is never enough time in the Adirondack to do everything. So many great places to hike, towns to visit, views to see and out of the way places to explore. 

CONTINUE READING HERE…»

Sept. 21-27 Adirondacks Vacation Part II

By on September 30, 2025 in The Pearl

“And into the forest I go to lose my mind and find my soul.” – John Muir

We spent a wonderful week in the Adirondacks. We had a great mixture of sunny days and rain. Just a few days of rain gave us a chance to take it easy and enjoy the house. Sunny days gave us time to hike and explore. There is never enough time in the Adirondack to do everything. So many great places to hike, towns to visit, views to see and out of the way places to explore. 

The house

The living area

The kitchen

The bedrooms

The basement and second floor study

This is the same view just a few days apart. We were here at the perfect time to watch the foliage change color.

Just a few photos of some of the fun we had at the house.

We enjoyed eating outside about half the time…rain kept us in the other days.

On those rainy days we played games, worked on puzzles, watched movies and painted.

The view of the house from the fire pit.

Having fun with the clean up app on my phone…one touch removed the bike. So fun.

Fun around the campfire.

Fun in the house.

One morning we had family photos taken at the Jay Covered Bridge. While we were waiting for the photographer we took a few of our own photos.

Just a few of the amazing photos the photographer took.

One afternoon we went to the Experience Outdoors. Kyle, Bryt and Graham had a blast on the zipline. Here they are getting fitted for their safety gear. 

I went along to take pictures. The views and colors were spectacular. 

The girls had fun playing on the adventure center’s rope course and small zipline.

On another pretty day we hiked along the Ausable River to the Wilmington Flume Falls.

That same afternoon we played in the water near the Jay Covered Bridge. I think this was our favorite place.

Graham and Hattie didn’t mind the cold water.

Everyone had fun climbing over the rocks.


And playing in the water.

After getting wet the kids rode their bike around the park and played in the leaves.

On our way home Stan and I stopped at Split Rock Falls. What an incredible place. Just one more place in the Adirondack that you could spend the day exploring.

So many place to swim and relax.

Sept. 21-27 Adirondacks Vacation Part I

By on September 30, 2025 in The Pearl
“Life is too short to worry about what others say about you. Have fun, be yourself and give them something to talk about.” -Aunty Acid
This was our fourth trip to the Adirondacks and our longest stay. We spent the week with our family in a pretty house in the woods not far from Jay, NY. I usually only do one blog post on our trips together, but this time I’m going to break it up a bit. The Adirondacks deserve more attention than one post can give. 

The Adirondack Park was established by the state of New York in 1892 to protect the region’s vast forests and vital watersheds from rampant logging. It was also established for “the free use of all the people for their health and pleasure”. At 6.1 million acres, it’s the largest park in the contiguous United States. Unlike a national park, the Adirondack Park is a patchwork of public and private lands, governed by special state provisions to balance conservation with the needs of the communities. 

The park contains 46 High Peaks, 2,800 lakes and ponds, 30,000 miles of rivers and streams, an estimated 200,000 acres of old-growth forests and is home to 105 towns and villages. The park makes up approximately one-fifth of the entire area of the state of New York. The Adirondacks also have the largest system of hiking trails in the country. With more than 2000 miles of trails wind through this amazing wilderness. There’s something for everyone in this unbelievably beautiful park. 

On our way from Montreal we stopped in Rouses Point for lunch. This was our entry point back to the US in 2012. We checked out the marina we stayed at and then moved south to the Ausable Chasm. The chasm is a scenic gorge carved by the Ausable River near Keeseville, New York, sometimes referred to as “the Grand Canyon of the Adirondacks”. It’s one of the oldest natural attractions in North America, opening to the public in 1870. We wanted to visit this amazing spot on our trip to Lake Placid last summer but the area was a bit flooded at that time. Just seeing it from the bridge is all we were able to do on this trip too. It’s beautiful and one day I hope we can explore it a bit more.
Our final stop before checking into our house was the Jay Covered Bridge. The bridge spans the east branch of the Ausable River. The original bridge was built in 1857. We spent two days playing in this beautiful spot.
We could literally watch the foliage changing colors before our eyes while we were here. The top photo was taken at the covered bridge on Sunday…the bottom photo was taken on Wednesday.
The first day of our vacation we hiked through High Falls Gorge. It’s a 22 acre privately owned nature park along the Ausable River. This park was opened in 1890’s offering a safe trail to view the narrow granite walls of the gorge with four spectacular waterfalls. We hiked the gorge trail and then returned to the entrance by way of the nature trail. After our workout we drove into Lake Placid for lunch.
Lake Placid is beginning to see some beautiful colors.
Whiteface Mountain is the high peak on the right.

Sept. 21-27 Adirondacks Vacation Part I

By on September 30, 2025 in The Pearl
“Life is too short to worry about what others say about you. Have fun, be yourself and give them something to talk about.” -Aunty Acid
This was our fourth trip to the Adirondacks and our longest stay. We spent the week with our family in a pretty house in the woods not far from Jay, NY. I usually only do one blog post on our trips together, but this time I’m going to break it up a bit. The Adirondacks deserve more attention than one post can give. 

The Adirondack Park was established by the state of New York in 1892 to protect the region’s vast forests and vital watersheds from rampant logging. It was also established for “the free use of all the people for their health and pleasure”. At 6.1 million acres, it’s the largest park in the contiguous United States. Unlike a national park, the Adirondack Park is a patchwork of public and private lands, governed by special state provisions to balance conservation with the needs of the communities. 

The park contains 46 High Peaks, 2,800 lakes and ponds, 30,000 miles of rivers and streams, an estimated 200,000 acres of old-growth forests and is home to 105 towns and villages. The park makes up approximately one-fifth of the entire area of the state of New York. The Adirondacks also have the largest system of hiking trails in the country. With more than 2000 miles of trails wind through this amazing wilderness. There’s something for everyone in this unbelievably beautiful park. 

On our way from Montreal we stopped in Rouses Point for lunch. This was our entry point back to the US in 2012. We checked out the marina we stayed at and then moved south to the Ausable Chasm. The chasm is a scenic gorge carved by the Ausable River near Keeseville, New York, sometimes referred to as “the Grand Canyon of the Adirondacks”. It’s one of the oldest natural attractions in North America, opening to the public in 1870. We wanted to visit this amazing spot on our trip to Lake Placid last summer but the area was a bit flooded at that time. Just seeing it from the bridge is all we were able to do on this trip too. It’s beautiful and one day I hope we can explore it a bit more.
Our final stop before checking into our house was the Jay Covered Bridge. The bridge spans the east branch of the Ausable River. The original bridge was built in 1857. We spent two days playing in this beautiful spot.
We could literally watch the foliage changing colors before our eyes while we were here. The top photo was taken at the covered bridge on Sunday…the bottom photo was taken on Wednesday.
The first day of our vacation we hiked through High Falls Gorge. It’s a 22 acre privately owned nature park along the Ausable River. This park was opened in 1890’s offering a safe trail to view the narrow granite walls of the gorge with four spectacular waterfalls. We hiked the gorge trail and then returned to the entrance by way of the nature trail. After our workout we drove into Lake Placid for lunch.
Lake Placid is beginning to see some beautiful colors.
Whiteface Mountain is the high peak on the right.