10 Years!

Dann and I were able to get away this weekend to celebrate our 10 year anniversary.  We were just under 2 months late in getting away, but the fall weekends were busy putting the garden to bed for the winter and quite honestly I couldn't have dreamed of a better time to head to the Finger Lakes.

We arrived in Geneva, NY by way of the Finger Lakes Beer Trail.  After so many wine trails to support the Mrs. over the last 10 years I wanted to make sure there was celebration of Dann too!  Fortunately for me they had Root beer on Tap too with bottomless sampling so I was quite content!  We stayed at Belhurst Castle in a turret suite on the 2nd floor looking out over Seneca Lake with a huge, original, fireplace.  It was breath taking to say the least and the complimentary wine spigot was 10 steps outside our door!  Red wine flowing freely!

Our first visit after settling in to our room was to the Wine and Gift shop were we enjoyed samples of the Castle's wines and were able to locate a Christmas gift for the Mrs.  I lost my great grandmother's spoon ring about 15+ years ago and have been looking for just the right one ever since.  Low and behold - the Castle gift shop scours for spoon rings at antique shops and the like and had one that is very similar to my great Grandmother's!  It is now proudly displayed on my right hand!

At dinner Friday night the chef came out to visit us at our table and was curious if I was sporting a new diamond ring - had them all thinking we just got engaged, not bad after 10 years of marriage!!  Must have been the beer trail followed by the wine sampling?

Saturday morning we woke to large snowflakes falling out our window and over Seneca Lake.  What a beautiful scene.  The morning was spent at the on site spa where we both had 2 hours of pure indulgence and relaxation.  Afterwards we toured around Geneva, eating lunch at Red Dove Tavern which sources its food from many local farmers and artisans.  We followed with chocolate for dessert from (whisper) chocolate.  Then it was on to more beer and wine sampling and of course some cheese!!

We headed to 3 Brothers Winery and Estate which includes 3 wineries and 1 brewery on site.  Each winery was very unique and the staff was amazing!  After 3 Brothers we headed to Muranda Cheese Company where owner Tom Murray provided an amazing sampling of their cheeses and even provided a tour of the cheese room where the cheeses are aging.  I was in awe.  It was hard to pick cheeses to buy as I really wanted them all!  Tom was out of several cheeses due to the growth of the artisan market tours in the Finger Lakes - in 2010 he averaged 50 guests a day in the summer, this past summer he averaged 250 a day!  Thank you to all who are there to support our local artisans!  Of course we gave a hearty thanks to the ladies that make it all possible as we admired the Holsteins in the milking room which is located right across the drive from the Cheese Shop!

We did relax during our weekend too with plenty of time spent in front of the large fireplace in our suite.  Here's to the best 10 years of my life and many many more to come!  Cheers!