glass and wine

Dale Chihuly's Fern Green Tower

On Thursday we awoke to Day 2 in the Finger Lakes. This was our grandiose plan....Drive down to Corning at the bottom of the lake (even a way beyond the lake......Corning is not on the lake). In Corning we had plans to visit The Corning Museum of Glass and the Western Art Museum in the historic district. I was excited. I knew my friends would like this. I've been there before some years back. Then we were going to slowly make our way back up the west side of the lake stopping first in Watkins Glen at the tip of Seneca Lake to hike the gorge. The gorge is two miles long, 300 feet deep featuring many waterfalls and stone steps. After we hiked we were going to drive back to Geneva stopping at wineries along the way to taste and buy.

We arrived at the museum at about 10:00 am. We took a guided tour first and learned all about how Corning Glass Works made the 200 inch, 40,000 lb disc to be used as a lens in the Hale telescope at the Palomar Observatory in Pasadena, CA. How it took years to complete with operations halted for World War II, how it took a year to cool, 16 days to transport by train to Pasadena CA and became a major news event. It is still being used today. The first attempt cracked and is displayed in the museum. Then we walked through the museum. I love this place. I am going to give you a tour of what I saw right here on my blog next post.

After the museum tour it was about 1 pm. We were hungry so we took the trolley to the historic downtown Gaffer's Row district, decided to nix the art museum and had a tasty lunch. We ate at a cute bar and grille. Our booth was old, wooden and completely enclosed like a private room. I had a barbecued chicken salad and an ice cold Margarita for lunch. I have to pause here a second. You can carry on while I fondly remember. UMMM!!!

Okay, it was 100 degrees, none of us had brought appropriate footwear out of the seven pairs each of sandals and flip flops we had packed for vacation. If we hiked, the wineries would close before we got to them. Nix the hike. I drove slowly past the gorge so we could peer into it and imagine what a lovely time we would have had on the hike.

First we stopped at Cascata Winery. We almost didn't stop here because it was a pink slightly rundown-looking farmhouse. In retrospect we are happy we did stop because it turned out to have some of the best wine. A baby German Shepard greeted us at the door. So happy to see us with his baby face and big awkward paws. So we tasted and purchased and moved on to Fox Run. Here we only purchased. We already knew this wine was good. Glenora was our next winery. It looked out over the lake. All the wines were great here as well. I especially enjoyed the Sparkling White.

We stopped at Belhurst Castle to make a dinner reservation. Belhurst really is a castle. Besides the original rooms in the castle they have built a new more modern addition with another restaurant, a spa and a store with a tasting room. Next stop was Geneva on the Lake. This hotel is geared towards romance and couples. We plopped down in Adirondack chairs on the edge of a cliff and rested awhile.


gardens leading to the Roman pool at Geneva on the Lake


looking back to the hotel


the pool....isn't it romantic?


our view from the Adirondack chairs


outdoor chapel


Carla and Donna relaxing in the shade on this 100 degree day


my view looking straight out


my view looking straight down

After dinner in the castle...salmon this time....off the $24.95 fixed price menu. It included Caesar salad, cup of mushroom soup, bread, veggie and chocolate mousse.

Back in our rooms we shared a bottle of wine and watched Limitless thus ending Day 2 of our little Finger Lakes trip.