Keuka Lake (Finger Lakes NY)

 This past weekend it was time for our annual pilgrimage to the Finger Lakes region of New York State. The ride out around the Ashokan Reservoir on the back roads was as always pleasant and scenic. We didn't see any bald eagles or turkeys but there were plenty of deer hanging around the shoulders of the roadway. Once on Rte 17 the ride was much more monotonous but better in the Saturn than the M3 (sold last fall). The expansion joints are still there in spite of the construction to remove them.

Anyway, we arrived at the Keuka Overlook B&B http://www.keukaoverlook.com/ and we were warmly greeted by Bob. He was in the middle of a tasting for some folks that stopped by to sample yet he took time to graciously extend himself to greet us. Terry was out of town for a bit but thankfully that did not last long. She showed up Saturday afternoon after we returned from sampling the regional wines.

The area was quite busy this weekend with many limos and buses full of people stopping in at the wineries to sample the efforts of the local vintners.

The Riesling and Chardonnay that Bob has put together are quite good and compare with higher priced wines from California and Europe (FTF).

 

This past weekend we had great weather that lined up perfectly with the Ravena Coeymans Yacht Club chicken bake. As usual the folks at this working yacht club put up a great time that included 2 dinners, two breakfasts, lunch and plenty of beer.

There was a horse shoe contest, a fishing contest for the kids, and DJ's both nights. Everyone left with smiles.

On the way up aboard the Ray Jean Too, while leaving the creek we ran into the Dutch Flotila working its way up to Albany. They were fine examples of wooden boats brought over for the occassion.

http://http//onhudson.typepad.com/onhudsoncom/2009/04/floating-docks-to-receive-flotilla-of-dutch-wooden-boats-port-of-albany-september-26-as-part-of-huds.html

Since they travel quite slowly we also had the opportunity to review them on the river as they had made their way up beyond Saugerties by Sunday morning.

No room at the RYB for this transient

Well it seems the RYB has finally met its match. They had to turn away this tug.

Actually it was up at Feeney's having some work done. The interesting aspect of this tug's passing was that they had a man up on the crow's nest when they went under the 9W bypass bridge. We actually happened to be on the bridge going to the mall when it was getting ready to pass under it going up stream. On that day out of the corner of my eye I see this worried mate up on the 'nest and I know it's going to be close. But since we were on the bridge we could not stop and snap a photo or shake hands as he passed under.

Haverstraw by car

This was not exactly the way we wanted to travel but it worked.

After about an hour and a half we were at Haverstraw Marina sitting at a table over looking the Hudson. It was a great view in a good environment and if the food had any quality at all the stop at the marina would have been worth while.

From there we drove back north stopping along the way at West Point only to be refused entrance with the car. It used to be that one could freely (remember that pursuit?) drive around West Point but 9/11 changed all of that. So we bypassed West Point and continued up Storm King Highway where we took a couple of more photos. Looking North you will see Bannerman Island which has an anchorage just south of it on the eastern shore.

Hooley On the Hudson etc.

Last Sunday Hooley on the Hudson was held down town at the water front. There was a great turn out on a wonderful day providing plenty of good times to be had. The Irish put on a great show with an all (young) lady band playing folks songs and singing early in the day. As you can see there was quite a crowd enjoying the music and Guiness which was ice cold.

Several vendors provided snacks and various wares representative if the Irish. A great stop if you can get a slip at the town dock for this event.