Pollywogs!

Greetings from Seneca Lake!

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Been a while since I blogged, huh? Not that I don’t have a lot to say, mostly that I am too pussy to say it. The act of putting thought to word takes balls, and I feel like I’ve been short of ball recently…

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So Kelley has been pressing me hard for some time off lately. You know, how married folks “get along”. Lots of bruising and whatnot. So, I finally gave in.

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March 26th, 2008
Here I am, in a Budget Inn in Watkins Glen. We took the scenic route up, 287 to the NY border, a nice drive. After driving through town a couple times, we decided to stay at the Budget Inn, as all of the places looked identical. Generic but unoffensive.

We had dinner at a micro-brew that Kell had researched called the Wildflower Cafe. The beer is by Rooster Fish Brewery. The food and the beer were excellent. I had a delicious burger, charbroiled and seasoned with Cajun spices and sautéed onion and pepper. I had a dunklewiesen by Rooster Fish Brewery, and then then a Avery White Devil and finished the bar experience off with an INCREDIBLE Ithaca Apricot Wheat. The Apricot beer was so fucking good I can’t…I can’t…I can’t do it justice. It was sweeter than beer ought to be, I’m not sure what to call it!

So now I’m laying on this jizz and disease covered comforter, pleasantly buzzed by the locally crafted beer, typing on my laptop. A Flying Dog InHeat Wheat open before me, and the words suddenly catch up to my “in the moment”. How awkward, meeting you here all of a sudden. I feel so naked like this! Where do I go from here, with you staring at me like that? How about: Constant Reader, until we meet again tomorrow night?

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March 27th, 2008

Mmm… ate a gigantic breakfast at a local diner, at the recommendation of the person manning the visitor center in Watkins Glen. Grabbed some documentation and hit the pike!

First stop was Lakewood Winery, very nice first stop. As with the rest of the wineries today, we had the place to ourselves. Very nice interior, lots of delicious wine and a very nice hostess. I mentioned “I hope the rest of the wineries are this nice!” because they had set a very high bar!

Next up was Fulkerson. New and fancy looking facility, nice hostess. A decent selection of wines. Forgot to take a picture of this place…

Torrey Ridge next, probably my least favorite. I didn’t care for the aroma of these wines, even though the taste was decent. One cool thing here were the hand-painted wine and beer glasses,which we didn’t purchase :(

Wine Update: The ‘Torrey Ridge Red’ which we brought home was a 5/10 wine, just average.  It was a little harsh the first day, much smoother and more mild mannered after sitting half-empty for 24 hours on the counter.  I’m not sure I’d get it again, but there was nothing really wrong with it.

Fox Run Winery was next, loved this place. The facility was beautiful, the view was beautiful, the wines were dry but decent, and the hostess was right up our alley, really cool older lady. They also had a cafe on-site. Lots of nice pictures of this place because it is a very nice location!

White Springs Winery was the next destination. The exterior wasn’t much to look at, but the interior was fucking pimp, very classy (like how i use fucking pimp and classy in the same sentence?). The wine was just OK, but not bad either.

Finally we ended up at the Three Brothers Estates, basically four different wineries on the same premise. Stony Lonesome seemed a bit stuffy for us, and Nagy was closed for the season, so we went to Passion Feet and were unimpressed. Rogue’s Hollow, however wasn’t bad. If you like Red Cat, imagine that in about 10 different variations and, well, that’s that! We had fun trying these wines…

We decided to fucking pimp ourselves out (versus the Budget Inn of last night) and stayed at this old fucking castle, The Belhurst. Walked by a coat of arms on the way up the stairs. A fucking 120 year old fireplace in the room, pretty damn neat. And a wine spigot outside our door!!! Free wine laughing out loud, oh my god, what the fuck…barbecue!!!!!!

So, make sure to check the pictures (first link on this page (oh hell here you go again)) because I’m feeling buzzed and beat from a hard day of drinking and driving, and a picture will say the other thousands of words my fingers are failing to type…although I may update with some dinner report if I feel froggy later…

Post Dinner: We went to Ports Cafe, just down the road from Belhurst. A small restaurant with an amazing kitchen. The menu was concise but the list of specials the waitress read off was amazing. I started out with a mixed greens salad which had a house ranch, flavored with a bit of lemon (an excellent combination, oddly enough!). I decided on the duck special: they also had lamb and sashimi-grade Yellowfin tuna, it was a very hard decision! The duck reminded me of Filet Mignon, but richer. It was interesting, worth trying once. I finished off the decadence with amazing vanilla cheesecake for dessert, the experience was almost literally like having an orgasm in my mouth. My diet lies about me in shambles, a wreckage that I’m peering out from, but it is nice to go on vacation from yourself occasionally…

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March 28th, 2008

I write this from home, with a very marked lack of motivation…

Snow in the morning. And, breakfast at Belhurst.

First up, Wagner Vineyards. Very nice wine, and a microbrewery too. Very nice place, excellent first stop. Tuned before noon…

Rasta Ranch was the next stop, felt comfortable and lived in. Familiar. Doubly-tuned at this point.

At this point I realize I have a video camera in the car, and begin taking movie clips. They really impart a feel for the trip that these words simply cannot convey, so I highly suggest you watch this:

(turn down your volume first, I’m a loud, obnoxious and vulgar motherfucker)

Tickle Hill was closed (and we almost broke into someone’s house heh), so we swung by Hazlitt Vineyards. Everyone at the place was from Pennsylvania. The couple next to us was from Williamsport. Small world, nice drinks.

Atwater was our final destination, interesting place. Small, but nice.

Drunk driving back to Watkins Glen, and lunch at Wildflower Cafe again. Oh my…amazing fucking pizza: Rooster Pie. Seriously, I consider myself somewhat of a connoisseur, and this shit is for real.

Drunk driving back to home, on the way I have the good idea to call up John. “Yo, what you doin?” We had a good time hanging out there. Poor Kelley, those 9.5% micro-brews caught up to her fast. And, I have no game (as you previously saw)…

Then, home and a shower. A half-hearted attempt at unpacking. Relaxing. This half-hearted attempt at writing a blog post of the days happenings…

Perhaps you’ll read this at a later point in time and it won’t be a bunch of short declarations, it will be a full description of the days events. Or maybe not.