“The impulse to travel is one of the hopeful symptoms of life.” ― Agnes Repplier
We arrived in Bermuda around 8:30. After docking at the Royal Naval Dockyard we walked over to Oleander Cycle center to rent a scooter for the next two day. It’ll gives us the freedom to explore on our own and at our own pace. We spent the day in and around Hamilton. We did a little shopping and a little sight seeing.
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July 10 – Day Four: Hamilton, Bermuda
July 9 – Day Three: The Island
“We travel for romance, we travel for architecture, and we travel to be lost.” – Ray Bradbury
It’s another sea day…relaxing, eating, listening to music, eating, relaxing and eating are the things that are keeping us busy. We’ll be in Bermuda tomorrow morning, so today I thought I’d share a little info on the island. Bermuda offers visitors a large range of things to do from natural places to explore, like beaches and caves, golf corses, museums, art galleries, nightly entertainment, snorkeling, diving, fishing trips and sunset cruises just to name a few, but the one thing Bermuda offers that other places we’ve vacationed in lately is shopping. Bermuda prides itself in offering a great selection of beautiful items from around the world (jewelry, crystal, china, perfume, clothing). The best thing about shopping in Bermuda besides the wonderful selection…no sales tax. I’ll definitely be spending some of my time shopping.
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July 8 – Day Two: The Ship
“The sea fires our imagination and rekindles our spirit.” —Wyland
Today was our first full day on the ship. We enjoyed a nice breakfast sitting outside in the Sunset Lounge, which is located on the stern of the ship. We arrived before the crowd and it was very enjoyable. For lunch we decide to eat in the main dining room where it was quiet and relaxing. The food has been very good and we can order as many dishes as we want. Most servings are small, so it is easy to try many things.
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July 7 – Day One: The Adventure Begins
“Freedom is something that dies unless it’s used.” ―Hunter S. Thompson
Our ship, Celebrity Summit, is sailing out of Cape Liberty. The cruise port is located in Bayonne, NJ and is part of the New York Harbor with views of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, the Statue of Liberty and all of lower Manhattan. We’ve cruised in and out of New York Harbor on The Pearl seven times, but this time Stan can actually relax and take in the view. No matter how many times we come through this harbor it’s still exciting and feels surreal. There are so many things to see and so much to take in.
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Bermuda Adventure
“Why do we love the sea? It is because it has some potent power to make us think things we like to think.” —Robert Henri
We’re going on a cruise, but not on The Pearl. This time we’re cruising out of NYC to Bermuda on Celebrity’s Summit, with 2,156 of our closest friends. 😂 Well…you know that’s not exactly true, but maybe a few will be friends by the end of the cruise. We’re going to be one of the masses on this trip.
June Updates
Allan H. Treman State Marine Park
“In every conceivable manner, the family is a link to our past and a bridge to our future.” – Alex Haley
Wow hard to believe June is over and July is here. Summer has finally arrived in upstate New York…warmer temperatures and more sunshine, so the summer is in full swing. Hopefully this trend will stick around for awhile.
As I’ve posted before blogging is a little difficult when you stay in one place…one day blends into the next and it just doesn’t seem like we’re doing anything blog worthy. We’ve enjoyed the company of family and friends this season and we’ve had a great time showing all of them the sights. We’ve had our grandson, Graham, onboard twice in June. Once on his own and another time while his whole family was here. Even our little Cora got to spend three nights on the boat with us…she did great. We all had a lot of fun.
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June 7 – Ricketts Glen State Park
“Everything we do is infused with the energy in which we do it. If we’re frantic, life will be frantic. If we are peaceful, life will be peaceful.” – Marianne Williamson
We’ve wanted to hike Ricketts Glen for the past three years, but the weather or time always seemed to get in our way…until Friday. What a wonderful day to spend hiking this amazing park, the sun was out and the temperature was in the lower 70s. Ricketts Glen State Park is one of the most scenic areas in Pennsylvania and is comprised of 13,050 acres, which crosses into three counties. We hiked a little over four miles on the Ganoga Glen, Glen Leigh and Highland Trails. The loop took us by 18 of the 21 named waterfalls in the park, although we saw many other falls that weren’t considered special enough to be named. Each waterfall cascades through rock strewn clefts of this ancient hillside and the hike was incredible. The waterfalls ranged in height from Cayuage Falls at 11′ to Ganoga Falls which is 94’…they were all spectacular.
Finger Lake Wineries (Part V)
“The best wines are the ones we drink with friends.”
Frontenac Point Vineyard began producing wines in 1982, it became the 44th New York farm-winery., there are now over 400 wineries in the state of New York. The property is on the west side of Cayuga Lake and has a panoramic view of the lake. They work hard to maintain the winery’s small size and hands-on approach, currently producing just 2000 to 3000 cases a year. All the grapes used to make their wines are grown in the winery’s own 18-acre vineyard. Their focus is on dry wines. We tried their 2015 Riesling one of the best we’ve had on the lake.
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May 22 – Keuka Lake Outlet Trail
“It is never too late to be what you might have been.” ―George Eliot
There are so many places to explore around this area and it seems like we’re finding new places all the time. Today we drove over to Pen Yan and walked part of the Keuka Lake Outlet Trail. The trail follows an old rail bed; previously a canal towpath (Crooked Lake Canal), that even earlier, was a pioneer dirt trail. The canal is now mostly dismantled or buried, but it can be traced by swampy ditches and crumbling locks. Along the trail you can see old factories and mill foundations. It was fun trying to envision what the area looked like hundreds of years ago.
The Keuka Lake Outlet is a natural waterway that drains the waters of Keuka Lake into Seneca Lake crossing over 8 miles and dropping 280 feet along the way. The first saw and grits mill on the outlet was built in 1790 and over the years there have been 40 mills in operation on the outlet. Now the outlet caters to recreation with a multi-use trail that offers access to the outlet waters.
Birkett Mills is the only mill that remains on the Keuka Lake Outlet. It’s has been in continual operation since 1797 and today is the world’s largest producer of buckwheat products.
Seneca Mill Falls is the most popular stop along the trail. The falls are a three-tiered cascade that starts as a small dam spillway and then crashes down two large limestone drops into a deep pool. The remains of the paper mill can be seen at the foot of the falls and above the falls you can see the rusty old mechanics that once harnessed the power of the outlet, and was a component of the electrical plant that took over the site after the paper mill left.
This is a picture of the falls and the Seneca Paper Mill built in 1884
Cascade Mill Falls is about half the size of Seneca Mill Falls, and definitely not the prettiest site, but the complex is made up of old mills, factories and oddities that are in an advanced state of decay. Most notable is the Baker Chemical Company’s carbon bisulfide plant, which resides right next to the falls, and the Kelly Tire building which reconditioned tires and relied on carbon bisulfide for rayon.
After hiking the Outlet Trail we stopped at the Spotted Duck Creamery for a little reward. This creamery makes their custard using organic local ingredients…much of it comes from their farm. They use duck eggs, enhance the name Spotted Duck. Why ducks…according to the own’s, they “make a far superior custard than chicken eggs; the increased yolk size makes a much richer flavor while the firmer whites are a better suspender, giving our frozen custard it’s signature creamy texture.” The farm was beautiful, the service from Dane was exceptional, the ice cream was very good and the flavors were fun.
We shared the Hollywood, which was a flight of four flavors….we choice: Raspberry Truffle, Maple Nutt, Emu Tracks and Real Cookies n Cream.
May 13-20 Lots of Visitors
“Family and friendships are two of the greatest facilitators of happiness.” – John C. Maxwell
We had a busy week…weather is starting to improve, here and there, so we can finally get out of the boat. The theme for this week was visitors. Our first visitors arrived on Wednesday. Barbara and David from Miss My Money are back in the area getting their boat ready for the season. We had a great visit and enjoyed lunch at a local place overlooking the lake. We’ve known them for a long time and it’s always nice to reconnect.
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