Anniversary weekend

Our annniversary was this weekend, and we spent a quiet one at home this year. In part because we haven't found a reliable babysitter, in part because J wanted to spend time with his family after a long week at work, and in part because the rest of October is slammed, so it was an opportunity to be homebound.

I bought a cake:


Pretty, no? And yummy.

J bought me flowers.




And chocolate



We drank wine. This is a rarity in our house, despite a dining room full of wine.



We drank more wine.



We posed for our annual anniversary picture. BTW, this was before the wine ;)

Happy anniversary, J! I can't believe it's been 5 years already.

Would you like some cheese with that wine?

We recently celebrated 4 years of wedded bliss, and I decided that we weren't busy enough on the weekends, so we should take a little anniversary vacation. The Finger Lakes sounded nice, so I randomly picked a town to book a B&B and we headed up north.



This was our home away from home for the weekend, The Inn on the Main in Canandaigua, NY. Perfect location on Main St a few blocks from the main roads to wine country, a huge house with lots of room to roam, and lovely hosts.



This is an evening view, giving you some idea of how BIG the house was.


And this was our room. We also had a big bathroom and jacuzzi tub, as well as a sofa for snuggling and watching DVDs. Not like we had nearly enough time to do it all, but it was oh-so comfy.

The first night we were there, we had dinner at a great pub called McGregor's. Home of the 74 beers on tap. We had a blast. We drank some beer. We chatted with the bartenders and some of the patrons. And the food was great!

Of course, we can't be in the Finger Lakes wine region without visiting some wineries. We generally stuck with the Canandaigua Wine Trail, but did go off the beaten path here and there.





We posed for a picture at Widmer Winery, makers of Manischewitz. We passed on the tasting ;)


We decided on one fancy dinner, at the Belhurst Castle. Plus they had wine tastings. It was a beautiful setting, and we had a nice time. And the merlot wasn't bad, either ;)


My friend Chris recommended the Lamoreaux Winery, but sadly, they were closed when we went to visit. But the grounds helped us decide that we might need to make another trip to check things out. Well, that and Chris's recommendation that they make a mean riesling.

Before we knew it, it was time to head home. But we didn't want to take the highway back. We had all day, and the colors are just starting to turn.


We saw this beautiful waterfall at the south end of Seneca Lake.

And just to confirm that PA has some scenery to offer, this was a shot just over the border from NY.

So now we're home with 2 boxes full of wine, a few other souvenirs from our trip, and some great memories of a fun weekend. I couldn't ask for much more.

Happy Anniversary Weekend!

Oh, the food we had.

We decided to save our money this year, and just treat ourselves to a nice dinner Saturday night, along with a champagne brunch Sunday morning. Both delivered beyond expectations.

We visited the Cherry Valley Bistro for dinner Saturday. Our appetizers were awesome--crab cakes for the husband and roasted beets with field greens and bleu cheese for me. We each had steak and for the first time ever, I finished my dinner before my husband did. It was so tender I didn't even need the knife. We shared some of the smoothest merlot I've ever tasted, as well as chocolate cake and a berries n cream martini for the husband. I got tea in the cutest tea pot ever. I've already found it online and it will be mine soon.

Brunch was at the Stroudsmoor Inn, and exceeded expectations. Everything was included--a giant buffet, plus extras if you ordered from the kitchen (I had eggs Benedict), mimosas, champagne, and/or bloody Marys, and dessert. I forgot how good German chocolate cake can be. All for $20 pp. Once again, we will definitely return.

I'm debating ever cooking for myself again. Just kidding ;)