chasing waterfalls

 New York 1 Year Anniversary Trip = Success!!

We left Thursday night after work and started driving east towards New York wine country. On the way, we saw a deer, and there was cursing and a slight heart attack. And then life continued.......

climbing a building

Anywho, on Friday it was overcast and rainy-ish. Our general plan was to get to Watkins Glen State Park and get our camp on, but that didn't seem like fun in the rain. So we switched gears and ended up in Rochester, NY Friday afternoon. We headed over to the National Museum of Play and naturally, we played.

Xbox

There was literally every toy that you could have ever played with...
Barbies...
Xbox....
Pong....

chatting with Big Bird

dolls.....
Michael Jackson disc player.....
Seasame Street....
Dance Dance revolution....
a comic book heroes section......

and everything else you could possibly think of...






Friday night, we left our riverside hotel room and walked over to Roc Brewing Company for a cold craft beer. I was positive we were walking through the ghetto, and that I was going to be brit-napped.... then the clouds parted and a stream of sunshine shone down upon the brewery and all my worries vanished....

so dramatic.

At the brewery, we each tried a beer. Then we saw some other folks near us who got a sample platter of beers... and within two minutes we also had a sample platter of beer.

taste testing

It was pretty tasty stuff. Then my smarty pants husband had too many sips and figured it would be a great idea to not only taste test each beer individually... but to mix a little of each beer in his glass and taste them all at once.

He thought it was fantastic.

I thought it was not  fantastic.



Saturday, we drove down the Seneca Wine Trail-- right along the lake-- to Watkins Glen, NY. I got all sorts of excited seeing all the vineyards and wineries on our way south.... and I began plotting my wine trail travels.

vineyards and Seneca Lake

Upon our glorious arrival to Watkins Glen, we found Nascar fans in every nook and cranny. Turns out that there was a Nascar race Sunday afternoon.... so the place was jumping. Neither Ben nor I are race fans... don't get me wrong, I love cars that go fast. The important fact, however, is simply that I like to be IN  the car that is going fast, not watching it.

We got lost for a hot second trying to find the state park... which is right in the middle of town. But moving on...

We got to Watkins Glen State Park and set up our camp. Then we got busy hiking in the GORGEOUS gorge......

It was like something right out of a movie...

A heart at the bottom of some falls

 

 Pictures don't do it justice!!





After we got done hiking, we went back to our campsite and started a campfire. We went into the woods to pick up some kindling... or so I thought. I returned to camp with little twigs and sticks.... Ben returned with a fallen tree. Hmm...

 

That night, we sat around the campfire and chilled out. It was great to hang out together and just shoot the breeze. It was a warm night, but the fire felt wonderful.  
Side note: we could hear the Nascar qualifying races early in the night, which was kinda cool.




Sunday was wine trail day. And it was everything I had hoped for and more. An area dedicated to wine and wine tastings-- such a place does exist!

We decided to drive north for a little bit and then turn around and hit up the majority of the wineries on our way back to Watkins Glen.

Fruit Yard Winery: first stop, super friendly. Specialized in fruit wines.We bought 2 bottles.

Ashley Lynn Winery: great lady with a silly laugh that I loved. We only got a tiny shot glass tasting of each wine, but she waved the $2 tasting fee because we bought a bottle and she liked us :)


Shaw Vineyard: specialized in dry wines. We paid $5 each for a glassful of  10+ red and white wines, and got to talk to someone who was near our age. Bought a bottle of white wine

Stopped at R.E.D.S. Hots for a philly cheese steak sandwhich..... tasty and quick and right along the wine trail so we didn't lose any precious wine time

Miles Wine Cellars: weeping willows and a big white mansion on the lake... sleeping dog on the great front porch.... so beautiful!

National Geographic Travel said it was the "most serenely gorgeous setting of any winery in the region." They were right. $3 tasting and wine glasses to keep. We bought a bottle called "Call Me a Cab"

a few items from our new wine collection

Glenora Wine Cellars: overlooking Seneca Lake, gave us cheese (woohoo Wisconsin)  with our wine tasting. Live jazz musicians playing outside on the patio. Bought a bottle of sparkling wine... SO GOOD!!

Magnus Ridge Winery: super pretty building with friendly dogs that greeted us as we drove in. We didn't do a wine tasting here, but we found a funky little hot pad that made me laugh

Pompous Ass Winery: loved it because of its name... and the wine was good, too. We got a bottle of wine, and a coffee mug for my coffee mug addiction

After our wine tastings, I was in the mood for some more hiking. So off we went to the gorge again.....

During our hike, it started to rain... and we went running around like a couple of goonies trying to find shelter. Then it cleared up and we saw a rainbow.

kissing on a bridge... using the 10 second self timer on the camera

walking behind waterfalls

When we were done with our hike, we headed back to camp and started up a bonfire. Ben finished burning the giant tree he had dragged out of the woods on our first afternoon there, and we made s'mores

Monday morning, we broke camp, packed up, and drove over to Ithaca, NY to go hiking and swimming at the base of a waterfall. Because swimming at the base of a waterfall sounds pretty sweet. Monday also happened to be August 13. 2012, aka our first anniversary!

Lucifer Falls

happy hikers

Robert Treman State Park was very pretty, and we spent a good deal of time doing hiking trails that were a bit more difficult than Watkins Glen. By the time we were done hiking and ready for swimming, the 66 degree water felt.......refreshing.  And then straight up shocking.

off-roading...

We took videos of each of us jumping off the diving board into the lake: Ben did a stunning cannonball that made the kids gasp and cheer. I did a rendition of a flailing noodle arm bird about to drown.

Monday afternoon, we finished up our trip to the Finger Lakes area and were trying to figure out what to do: #1) start driving back to Milwaukee and stop somewhere along the way or #2) head up to Niagara Falls

Option #2 won, and by Monday afternoon we found ourselves standing at the biggest waterfall we had seen on our trip.

1 Year: Niagara Falls, NY

We (eerr... Britani) thought it would be pretty cute if we took a picture each year on our anniversary of the two of us-- wherever we happen to be-- holding a sign with what year we are at. And all those pictures are going into a little scrapbook.

Year 1's sign was a bit bootleg.... a random piece of copy paper that was in the car and a ballpoint pen to write with.....but that actually ended up being perfect

We got a hotel on the river a couple miles from the Falls, showered up, and then headed back to the Falls to eat dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe and check out Niagara Falls light up at night.

 

Tuesday morning, we slept in and then went back to Niagara Falls for some more exploring. We checked out Three Sisters Island, which is just upstream from the American Falls.


Then we got in the car and drove back to Milwaukee.... with multiple stops at Starbucks, fast food restaurants, and gas stations.

We got home around 10:30pm and dropped into bed..... where 2 very fluffly kitties tried to get our attention all night.



Home again, home again :)

xoxo, b

confessions of a newlywed

We are about a week away from being married for a year.

No matter how long you've dated, getting hitched brings a few things to light. Aaaaand cut to written montage of things learned in the first year as a wife:

++ He's good with numbers and grocery shopping. You become good with creating storage space for the masses of oatmeal, canned soup, K-cup coffee, Dr. Pepper cans, kitty treats, Tombstone pizzas, and Gatorade that he triumphantly gathers and presents to you in cave man style.


++ When you decide to alternate days of cooking dinner... you will start out spending a great deal of time creating homemade culinary masterpieces for your mister. It will be delicious, and something new each night. When it's his turn for making dinner, you will sample a broad array of nearby restaurants and food delivery services.


++ You take care of his personal hygiene, and making sure he has what you believe to be necessary essentials such as soap, deodorant, man-sprays, and haircuts. He reminds you that even though you're a self-proclaimed "scrappy" individual, you'll probably hurt yourself or a cat with your solo mission to rearrange the living room... again.

Ben's downfall... the tricky laundry hamper.

++ Even though he's a smart and sassy individual, he cannot conquer his arch nemesis..... the laundry hamper. You've given him numerous one-on-one training sessions on how to dispose of his dirty boxers and gym shorts inside this hamper contraption by simply lifting the lid, but he can't quite get the hang of it. Obviously frustrated, he leaves his dirty clothing on top.





++ You both would rather being doing something  rather than nothing. This leads to opportunities and adventures that are generally spur of the moment, and always memorable-- good (Monday night Packer game tickets)  or bad (total a rental car in southern IL).

Good = Lambeau Field

Bad = wreck a rental

++ He enables your candy addiction, to a point. You support his odd collections of playing cards, sports jerseys, and bouncy balls, for the most part.


++ He likes new scented candles. You cleverly figure out that your day of shopping can be easily overlooked when you present him with a new pyro-friendly candle gift.


++ You're not too old to make a blanket fort in the middle of the living room and watch movies all night. Add some pizza and beer, and it seems like a pretty good way to spend a low-key Friday night.

three bed ninjas in action

++ You are a bed ninja. Your two little black kitties are also bed ninjas. You kick, you flip, you fight crime in your unconscious slumber.  He is a controlled on-his-side-of-the-bed sleeper. Every morning you marvel at the fact that he still kisses you goodbye before he leaves.



++ From the outside looking in, the both of you look like spazz-cakes. The oh-so-bad dancing, the standing on furniture for no reason other than to get a response out of the other, the lame jokes and the hysterical snort laughing.... yes, from the outside looking in, you both should be living in a white room with padded walls.

++ This whole marriage thing takes a bit of getting used to: splitting holiday time between two families, having two families, being your own weird little family.




++ There's always a kiss goodnight, always.


xoxo, b

1 Year Road Trip

In 2 weeks, we will be celebrating our 1 year anniversary. "boy, that went fast".......... yes, yes it did Captain Cliche. 

Traditional gifts for the first anniversary are paper: Look at me now, I'm getting paper.

that's us a year ago -ish, dressed up all fancy and such

Both Ben and I have an extended weekend off, and with our anniversary falling on a Monday... long story short = road trip.

Originally we were planning on going up to little Winter, WI where we spent our mini-moon following the wedding.  However, we wanted a bit more of an adventure. An adventure that comes from the unknown. And so yesterday morning we decided we will head for the Finger Lakes region in NY next week. Why? Because it seems like it would be fantastic.... and it's a mere 12.5 hour drive to get there.

I am VERY EXCITED to: 1) road trip with Ben   2) see all the amazing waterfalls  3)  get my camp on  4) explore a new place  5) be married to such a goofball 

 ------------

Today, Brianna and I are going to hang out and have a sista fun day. whoot whoot! Except I woke up with a sore throat, runny nose, and Ben said my head is burning. seriously, it's the middle of summer. Whatevs, it's sista fun day.  

Side note: The Olympics are going on.... and let me tell you.... the men's swim team has it going on..... mmm mmm mmm

xoxo, b