Diary of an Innkeeper

This past weekend we closed the inn and decided to go away for our 20th anniversary. Not wanting to go too far, we decided on Skaneateles, NY, a beautiful town in the Fingerlakes area. We had never been to the Fingerlakes before and decided it was perfect since it was only 2 hours away from home. We stayed at a beautiful B&B called The Hummingbird's Home located on Route 20. Now in case you aren't aware of it, our inn is located on Route 20. So we headed west about 2 hours and stayed on the same street our inn is on. Well at least we couldn't get lost. It's funny when we go away. We spend way too much time comparing everything to what we would or wouldn't do. This particular B&B lived up to our high standards. It seemed weird in the morning to be the ones sitting at the table talking to the other guests and being served by someone else. We've decided we need to get away more. This winter for sure.

The first morning we woke up we decided to go on some wine tours. This area has over a hundred wineries. We headed out to wine country after breakfast. To get to wine country you need to pass a small mall with a Bass Pro Shop. George had heard about this store and said he wanted to stop in - just for 10 minutes. Well, 2 hours and $200 later we were on the road again. This time to be detoured by a very cool farm/pottery production studio called MacKenzie-Childs. Beautiful, but expensive, I walked away with dozens of photos for creative ideas. Back on the road we were hungry and decided to stop at one of the best restaurants I have ever eaten at Pumpkin Hill Bistro. Every single thing we ordered was amazing. Feeling full, we still had to order dessert. Well, in case you haven't been keeping track of how much time we may have just used up in our day, it was now about 4:45 pm when we finally finished our lunch. Yep, we were off to wine country! Only wine country closes at 5 pm. WTF! What happened!! Where did our day go?? We were supposed to tour wine country all day! Well, we noticed a winery down the road and decided to try and see if we could still get in. We arrive at 5 pm and there were still plenty of people there drinking. Tours ended at 4:30, but they will gladly give us a tasting. It seems as if all the workers are walking around drinking wine too. Not a bad job. We taste 6 wines. We hate 6 wines. What?? Wait! We actually question whether maybe we just don't like wine anymore. Well, we leave and decide that that was the lamest wine trip anyone has ever gone on. On the way back to Skaneateles, we pass a small storefront that says "Wine Tastings" and stop. Here we taste 6 wines and like 6 wines. We didn't realize just how different wines could really be. We definitely have to come back to this area when our inn is closed and try the whole wine tour thing again.

The next morning we head back home, going east on Route 20, stopping to see several of the towns along the way. By the time we get back to our inn, we decide that the most beautiful landscape we have seen on Route 20 is in our own town and the most beautiful lake that we have seen in upstate so far is our own lake, Otsego. We are happy we chose this area to settle down in. For us, there is definitely no place like home!