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Finger Lake Breweries and Cideries (Part X)

Meier’s Creek Brewing Company is a new craft brewery and taproom located in Cazenovia. Their single mission is to create extraordinary beer with food to match. The brewery sits on 22 acres of beautiful farmland with hops out front and miles of trails out back. adventure awaits. Their core values drive them to achieve their goals and inspire others: “work hard, play hard”, “together, we’re better”, “follow true north” and “dream big.”

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Aug. 8-14 Vermont Vacation

“Families are like branches on a tree. We grow in different directions yet our roots remain as one.” –Unknown

Our August stacation…was actually a real vacation. We left the state and enjoyed a week with our family in the mountains of Vermont. We were joined by Bryt’s parents Tom and Cynthia. We had two adults for every child, that’s a great way to take care of kids. There was always someone for the kids to do something with and plenty of time for everyone to relax.

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Aug. 8 – Indian Ladder Trail

“We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures that we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open.” -Jawaharlal Nehru

We’re on our way to Vermont to spend a week with family. Check in time at the house we’ve rented isn’t till 4:00, so we thought we’d check out the beautiful Thacher State Park on our way. The park is situated along the Helderberg Escarpment (The Great Ledge), 15 miles southwest of Albany. It provides a marvelous panorama view of the Hudson-Mohawk Valleys and the Adirondack and Green Mountains. We hiked the Indian Ladder Trail today.

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Aug. 2 – Cascadilla Gorge Trail

“Water is the most perfect traveller because when it travels it becomes the path itself!” ―Mehmet Murat ildan
We hiked the Casadilla Gorge today, or I should say we hiked half of the trail…it was a combination workout. A five mile bike ride to the falls and back and then a .59 mile hike. The prettiest portion of the trail was closed for repairs. We’ve hiked it several times, so I will include a few pictures from other hikes. 

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Chasing Waterfalls in New York

 “A river cuts through a rock, not because of its power but because of its persistence.”  –Jim Watkins

The best thing about having a rainy summer…lots of water at the falls. A lot of the smaller falls around upstate New York can be dry by July and August, but this year they are amazing. We’ve visited 18 waterfalls so far this summer. Eight of those were this past week while we took a short getaway to Cazenovia. All were on our way there and back to Ithaca. There are waterfalls everywhere up here.

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Green Lakes State Park

“Put your feet up, take a break, sit back, relax…you’re at the lake.”  –Anonymous
I’ve seen pictures and read about Green Lakes State Park since we arrived in Ithaca in 2017 and I’ve always wanted to go. This past week we had a chance to experience it for ourselves. What a truly beautiful unique place it is. Most lakes in upstate New York and around the world are dimictic lakes, which means they have a complete mixing of lake water in the fall and spring. Green Lake is a meromictic lake, which means its water layers do not intermix. No turnover in water means you can see all the way down to the bottom of the lake.

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Chasing Waterfalls

“A river cuts through a rock, not because of its power but because of its persistence.”  –Jim Watkins

The best thing about having a rainy summer…lots of water at the falls. A lot of the smaller falls around upstate New York can be dry by July and August, but this year they are amazing. We’ve visited 15 waterfalls so far this summer. Eight of those were this past week while we took a short get away to Cazenovia. All were on our way there and back to Ithaca.
 
Bucktail Falls – I think this was our favorite spot. Located right off the road and only a few locals were there. We were told there was a trail that led to at least five more falls, but we were on our way to Skaneateles for lunch and decided we would have to do the hike this time. This is one of the falls that becomes a trickle when the weather dries up. It was beautiful the day we were there.
Enchanted Hollow Falls – Some falls are spectacular, others are beautiful for where they are. These falls were small, but the hike was fun and it was a little bit of a challenge to find our way. The payoff was worth it. Everything was so green and lush.
Tinker’s Falls – These falls are easy to get to, plenty of parking and a flat gravel trail until you reach the bottom of the falls. Steep, slippery steps lead to the back of the falls and that’s were the challenge begins. These falls are a combination falls the top drops about 50 to a rocky cascade of 30 ft.  
Delphi Falls – These falls are located in a county park and very easy to get too. Swimming at our own risk is allowed and the park would be a great place to spend a day. Grills and picnic tables are available.

July 20-23 – Cazenovia, NY

“We thought the best would be behind us, but the best keeps getting better all the time.” -Allan Jackson 

We spent our anniversary with Kyle and his family last week in Aurora, but we thought we should have a little get away of our own, so to celebrate our 40th anniversary we traveled to the quaint little town of Cazenovia. The town was founded in 1798 and sits on the southeast shore of Cazenovia Lake. It’s a charming, picturesque, Norman Rockwell style village full of cute little shops, restaurants, wineries and breweries, a lake, beautiful homes and lots of waterfalls…a great spot for us to relax and explore. Cazenovia was named one of America’s Coolest Small Towns in 2020.

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Finger Lake Breweries (Part IX)

CBC started as a grassroots effort to create a brewery in Historic Downtown Cortland. When they first opened in 2010 all beers were sold on a to-go basis and samples were available directly out of their brewing facility. In 2012 CBC made the commitment to become a farm brewery and use local ingredients to craft our products. As a farm brewery, they are now allowed to serve draughts and flights as well as kegs, growlers, and cans to go. All beers are brewed on-site.  

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July 8-11 Aurora Family Vacation

“Family: where life begins and love never ends.” –Unknown

Our July family vacation was at a house in Aurora, NY. Aurora is a cute little town on the east side of Cayuga Lake. We didn’t have lake access with this house, but we had plenty of things to do and plenty of places to get into the water. The kids really liked the house since there was a park right behind the house and kids their age next door. Here are a few highlights of our weekend.

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