Life in the Slow Lane (The Pearl): June 2017

June 29 - Six Mile Creek, Ithaca, NY

Allan H. Treman State Marine Park

“To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.” ― Oscar Wilde

We finally made it to a winery...Six Mile Creek Vineyards seemed like a good winery to start with since it's only a few miles from Ithaca and shares the name of the creek we live close to in Texas. Six Miles Creek Vineyard began with the first plantings of grapes in 1982.

The winery opened its doors to the public in 1987 in a rebuilt Dutch Colonial Barn. The first year they produced 250 gallons of wine, today they produce over 10,000 gallons. What started as a hobby quickly grew into a highly respected winery in the Finger Lakes and soon became known as "Ithaca's Own Winery."

Views of the vineyard from their deck

The vineyard is on the south side of Ithaca and doesn't benefit from the warming effects provided by the deep waters of Cayuga Lake. This means they only cultivate white grapes which require a shorter growing season than most red varieties. Chardonnay, Riesling, Cayuga White, Seyval Blanc, Vidal Blanc, and Vignoles thrive at Six Mile Creek Vineyard. Each year the grapes are harvested by hand from mid-September through early October. Recently the winery has added an exclusive line of wine based distilled specialties including Vodka, Gin, Limoncella, Orangecello, Amore and Grappa.

A few of their wines and distilled spirits

After our tasting we had lunch at Agava and then hiked along Six Mile Creek. Six Mile Creek is one of six streams that converge at the southern shores of Cayuga Lake. The other streams are Fall, Cascadilla, Buttermilk, and Enfield creeks, along with the Cayuga Lake Inlet. In the 19th century, sawmills, gristmills, a cider mill, and various factories churned along the banks of the creek.

Six Mile Creek watershed supplies Ithaca with drinking water. There are several dams along the creek creating two reservoir lakes. The lower reservoir is a popular swimming hole for young people. We hiked along the creek from Mulholland Wildflower Preserve to the lower dam and then had to climb up to the rim trail to get above the dam where kids were jumping off the cliff...something I might have thought was fun thirty years ago. Now it just looked dangerous and something I hoped my kids wouldn't do.

Six Mile Creek hike

View from below the dam

View from above the dam

Can you spot the kids on the cliff getting ready to jump?

These kids were just relaxing on the edge of the dam

Trail Map

June 28 – Salmon Creek, Lansing, NY

Allan H. Treman State Marine Park

“Fly fishing is not about catching the fish. It is about enjoying the water, the breeze, the fish swimming all around. If you catch one, good. If you don't...that’s even better. That means you come out and get to try all over again.” ―Clare Vanderpool, Navigating Early

We spent the day exploring around Lansing, which is ten miles north of Ithaca on the east side of Cayuga Lake. Our first stop was Myers Park to check out the Myers Point Light. This lighthouse is probably the newest lighthouse we've ever seen...it was built in 1998. The park is a beautiful town park right on the lake. Our next stop was at Salt Point, across Salmon Creek from Myers Park. We actually stumbled onto this great little natural treasure simply by accident and I'll save pictures and info on this area for another post.

Our actual destination for the day was Ludlowville Falls and Salmon Creek. The creek is a popular fishing destination because it typically has a good run of rainbow trout (mostly in the spring) and we've been told it's a great place to fish for salmon in the fall. It made a wonderful place to have a picnic lunch and spend the afternoon…relaxing and taking pictures for me and fly fishing for Stan.

Salmon Creek cascades 36’ down a hard limestone cap to form the beautiful Ludlowville Falls. The soft shale underneath has eroded away, creating an overhang cave and deep plunge pool. This fall powered the early settlement of Ludlowville, named for the pioneer family that built a gristmill here in 1795. This area was once the center of the silent movie industry. Many small film companies were headquartered near Ithaca and several of the movie stars made their homes in this historic small village. Scenes from the movie " The Perils of Pauline" were filmed near falls and in the gorge area.

Myers Point Light

Salmon Creek near Myers Park

Ludlowville Falls

Typical house in Ludlowville

The Federal House Bed & Breakfast in Ludlowville built in 1815

Our little lunch spot on Salmon Creek

Our view with lunch

Fishing Salmon Creek near Ludlowville

Fishing on Salmon Creek near Myers Park

Stan caught a couple of fish here...one small perch and a little bigger bass. No keepers but we both had a lot of fun on the creek today.

A map of where we went today

Family Fun

Allan H. Treman State Marine Park

“When we love, we always strive to become better than we are. When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too.” —Paulo Coelho

We had some special visitors on The Pearl this past week. Kyle came up from Pennsylvania on Friday with Graham and Cora. It was fun having them onboard. We spent Friday afternoon at the Ithaca Sciencenter since the weather was a little threatening. It was a fun place that Graham truly enjoyed.

Saturday we visited the Ithaca Farmers Market and did a short (3/4 of a mile) hike up to Taughannock Falls. It was a very easy trail but a little more of a workout with two kids in tow. It's fun to watch, and listen, to Graham...he really takes in everything around him. Seeing things through the eyes of a child is amazing. After lunch Kyle and Cora went home and we got to have Graham for a few more days.

Graham loves the boat...he's very inquisitive and wanted to know how everything worked. We truly enjoyed every minute of his visit and look forward to having him onboard again.

Fun at the Sciencenter