Let Our VACATION Begin…

Not as if this all doesn’t feel all like a vacation already, we get a week off in between Toledo, Ohio and heading to Newark, Delaware where we plan to do much more sight-seeing.

For now, let us share with you the past week…

We were hoping to spend some down time on Lake Erie and the plan was to first visit, Huron, Ohio. A very small town located on the channel where ships go in and out of but that did not happen. We made our reservation to hang out at the Comfort Inn River’s Edge for two nights but when we arrived on Monday afternoon we seen that the place was locked up tight. They are closed for the season during the week but our reservation went through…since we were only 25 miles from our next location right on Lake Erie we were able to change up our reservation to Monday and Tuesday instead of Wednesday and Thursday, thank goodness. The strange thing is that when I attempted to cancel the original one where they were closed we were within the 24 cancellation policy and they were charging us…so I got all the information and sent it to our main office and letting them handle it. How crazy is that?

Instead we stayed at the Quality Inn in Port Clinton right on Lake Erie for two nights and had some great needed R&R. The water is our sanctuary and puts us into our happy places so it was great. 

They even gave us a room with a Jacuzzi, but it had a strange setup…no privacy and even after over 20 years of marriage, there are a few things we just do not do in front of one another so it was a bit uncomfortable.

The early morning as we were leaving Port Clinton, as I went to check the trailer lights lo and behold they were not working so we tried troubleshooting them ourselves checking connections, fuses and wires but found nothing so we checked around and there are only a few shops in this area and the first few we called were not taking any more business until early next week…ugh! We did not want to drive without our trailer lights since first it was raining and then to complicate the matter our trailer plates are expired, they are current but the tag was not put on the plate and we are waiting for it to be shipped to us by the main office. We finally found a place that would take us now but it definitely cost us but they were able to find the issue in just over an hour and we were once again on our way.

We stopped at the Hollywood Casino in Toledo and hit all sorts of jackpots, one major one so we are doing well. 

Life is grand and things are falling into place for us and all we hope is it continues so we can make our next phase in our lives a smooth one, whatever that next transition turns out to be...we still have no clue.

We had a GREAT event in Toledo, not only surpassing our goal but by bunches…KACHING!

Left Toledo and made it to Geneva on the Lake in Ohio for a few days of rest and adventures. We had such a marvelous time, hanging out on our patio meditating on Lake Erie, taking a Wine Tour and had a blast, we will write a separate blog on the wineries and our stay at the Lodge.

Things were going so well and we were really enjoying ourselves, all awhile we were keeping an eye on Matthew who if predictions were correct was going to be in our path for our upcoming adventures. Unfortunately, we listened to the initial predictions and began to change and even cancel some of our plans and that is when all hell began breaking loose for us. It always seems to happen to us that when we make decisions out of fear the Universe kicks us around, so it’s time to get back into the flow of our lives and get back on the happy train!

Lodge at Geneva Lake & Our Wine Tour

Lodge at Geneva on the Lake

4800 North Broadway

Geneva-on-the-Lake, OH 44041

440-466-7100

10/3-10/6/16

Our original plan was to just stay and relax for 2 days but added an extra night while we readjusted our plans to head to the east coast since the uncertainty of Matthew still existed. Could not have picked a better place to stay. A bit costly but thank goodness the company picked up more than half of our costs or it would have been about $200 per night which is definitely out of our budget range.

Our view was spectacular and we were up on the 3^rd floor so we slept with our sliding glass door open all night so we could hear the sounds of the water, the wind and the geese…it was glorious.

We ate a few meals at Horizon’s which is located in the hotel…

Since we were not driving we chose to have some wine, one Sangria and a nice, sweet, fresh Riesling from the local wineries...

We started with Popcorn Walleye...How we missed good Walleye...

For dinner Jerry had the Beer Battered Fish & Chips…

And I ate the Asparagus Ravioli…

Both were good but neither were spectacular, but the Popcorn Walleye was fabulous.

We also had the Breakfast Buffet one morning that had some good choices, especially the Potato Pancakes and the French Toast…

We took the Wine Tour which Frank, our shuttle driver and guide picked us up at the hotel and we went to several wineries, Jerry was patiently waiting to load the shuttle...

Our first stop was at Kosicek Vineyards, where we tasted the best Slushy Wines, one was a Riesling and the other was Dam Red, both had the uniqueness of being frozen but they both had a sweet and yummy frozen delight to them. 

We also tasted several others, including a Vidal Blanc, Niagara, 534, Blush, and El Nino’ Concord Iced Wine. Most were good but we didn’t purchase any bottles but would have if the slushies could be bottled.

Our next stop was at Ferrante Winery, since coming into the area we had already purchased a few bottles of their brand at local stores. They have Flights which gives you several tastes for a reasonable price…our Flight included Riesling American, Riesling Finger Lakes Signature Series, Vidal Blanc, Bianco, Rosato, Jester’s Blush, Rosso, White and Pink Catawba’s. We enjoyed many of the tastes but since we had already bought the Catawba’s before we bought the Vidal Blanc to take home. I also purchased a grape necklace that I fell in love with.

By this time the shuttle bus had become a singing, laughing ride while Frank took us through some of the great scenic roads, including over a few of the covered bridges in the area.

When we arrived at Debonne Vineyards we were all ready for more shopping and tastings which we did…this time our Flight included, Vidal Blanc and Iced Wine, White and Pink Catawba’s, Moscato-Riesling, Classic Rose and 3 very fruity, very sweet wines…Peach Tree Grigio, Strawberry Rose, Blueberry Noir. They all were good, some better than others but the one that stood out and was worthy of a bottle purchase was the Moscato-Riesling and I also purchased earrings and a ring to go with the necklace we purchased at the last stop.

Our final stop was at church, the South River Vineyard where they were working on the steeple. This was the most unique place of all, it had been years since I have sat in a pew and the years of Catholic school returned to me immediately when I sat on that most uncomfortable pew ever. At the same time, we loved the place and its uniqueness…our Flight included Creation, Temptation, Riesling Reserve and the Blush Ice Wine. They were good blends but nothing stood out for us so we finished our flight and walked the grounds which were so inviting and comforting.

The drive back was much calmer than the other drives, we all seemed to have had enough tastes and we all had bottles to take back with us.

Our stay here was FANTASTIC and we would highly recommend it to everyone and if we ever have the opportunity again, we would definitely stay here and do another wine tour.