Memorial Day weekend, we went to NY for Robb's sister Kelsey's graduation from Cornell. It was also wonderful because we stayed with my good friend BriAnne and her husband Kevin. They live about 40 minutes from Cornell, so this worked out perfectly. We don't get to see each other to much since she moved back to NY, so I loved the opportunity to spend some QT with her.
Robb headed out to Cornell to see a speaker, and I got to spend the day with Bri before we met up with Robb and his family for dinner. We started off our day by taking a quick shopping trip to her new Sephora and walk around a bit in the Syracuse Carousel Mall. Back when Bri lived in Cleveland, we'd spend a lot of time shopping in Sephora. For a while now, since she's been back in NY, she didn't have a Sephora until a new one just finally opened up in her mall, and she waited for me to go check it out! We had a ton of fun putting on makeup for our day at the wineries. We really could spend all day in there!
After the mall, we went back to her house, got her husband and drove to the Seneca wine trail. They'd never been on the whole thing before, so it was fun to have this first experience together. Going to the wineries is so much fun, and I always look forward to this when visiting NY. The Fingerlakes Region is known for good wine, and this is very true. Basically, you pay a few bucks, sample some wines, and then go down the street a bit to the next one. This can go on all day!
Unfortunately, I don't remember the name of our first stop, but this winery had an old castle that was transformed into their winery! It was just beautiful!
The winery was right on the side of the lake, and had a gorgeous view.
Me and beautiful Bri
Pretty shot of the castle and then on to the next one
This winery was one of the few that was actually by the grape fields. What a great place for a picnic over there.
They also had a HUGE wisteria vine covering a trellis as you entered the winery.
Of course, I can't remember the name, but this place had won several medals for good wines. The Fingerlakes are more famous for their white wines due to the climate, but this vineyard also produced some award winning reds, which were very tasty.
Interestingly, the reds grow better on the east side of the lakes as they benefit from hotter afternoon evening sun, and vise versa for the white grapes. Actually, their reds were award winning to our taste buds too. We had extra samples here.
Enjoying our samples!
This was the winner for winery name of the day. We thought it was very funny.
What a pretty lady!
Me and my new friend
Rock stream wines was interesting. When we went in they had an old man band playing some bad beach boys, but this was tolerable for their yummy samples. They samples of all kinds of grape products, brandy, grappa, and ports. Also, they had some delicious jalapeno cheese.
I took this picture for Robb since I thought it was funny that there were model planes for sale in the winery, and they had one of his.
Good saying. It said "They say the Meaning of Life can be discovered in a fine bottle of wine. I haven't found that bottle yet, but I'm enjoying the search!"
Map of the Fingerlakes. Last few times we were on the Cayuga lake (big one on the right middle), and this time we were on the Seneca (big one on the left middle)
Wine Christmas tree
Our final stop of our day was at Glenora Winery, which is where we were meeting Robb's family for dinner. We had a little time before they got there, so we did Glenora's tasting which included a winery tour. This is the distillery. It was so very refreshingly cool in here...
All because of these giant vats of wine with ice covering the sides. It was totally refreshing on a hot day.
Kevin and BriAnne, our hosts for the weekend.
Some of the wines were stored in those barrels back there. This tasting was very nice, because they gave you food that accompanied all the different wines. Food with wine totally changes the flavor of the wines, in a good way.
Here's the whole gang who was in town for graduation at dinner. Our dinner here was scrumptious. Everyone really enjoyed their meals, and it was a great way to start celebrating graduation!
After dinner we went out into the grape fields for some pictures. It was beautiful here.
Here's the family. From left to right: Ray (Robb's dad), Garrick (Robb's brother), Kelsey (Robb's sister and grad), Kendra (Robb's sister), Betsy (Kelsey and Garrick's mom), and Robb and me.
Siblings
Me and Robb
Close up!
Robb, Kelsey, and me
Kelsey was lucky to have some good friends come in for her graduation.
Bri and me
We were wondering if by pushing these giant barrels down the hill, if they'd make it all the way into the lake?... We'll never know.
We had a great time on our first day in NY. What a fantastic place to visit.
Close up of some grape leaves and baby grapes.
Grape field. They grow by the lakes because it's their own micro climate perfect for grapes!
Instead of real names, cause it really doesn't matter, Robb was Chevy Chase on the waiting list.
I think their decorations are so funny!
Here's our usual. Kindergarten with cheddar, and the Monte Cristo. In addition to taking Kelsey, there was another reason we had to go to Melt...
The S'MORES sandwich! Yes, I said S'MORES! My favorite food on planet earth, and it was only there for one weekend.
Oh my gosh! IT was incredible! The sandwich had Hershey's chocolate, homemade marshmallows, cinnamon sugar, and a berry sauce for dipping. It was truly a work of art!
Like any good s'more, it was incredibly messy and totally tasty. No wonder Melt is my favorite restaurant!
We have a hole in the fence, so Charley can see what's going on over at the neighbors, and little Raymond liked to sneak through. When he gets over our house, he would get bombarded by Charley. One day we were watching Raymond while our neighbors were out, and brought him over to play with Charley. 
