Upstate Update

Last week, we went upstate to check a few to-do's off the list.  We got a new land survey so we could determine where to place the house on the lot.  (I don't know if I've mentioned on here that we plan to build a house!  It is a long-term project, but hopefully, in about a year we'll have something close to completion.)  Anyway, we have a VERY funky shaped lot, but we have more space than we thought!  :)  From the far back corner of the lot you can't even see the cabin.

We plan to have a big side porch.  I think this is what the view will be when we're sitting outside.  Not too shabby...

All the snow has melted, but it's still cold and cloudy.  Not a creature stirring (oh, wait, we did see mice!  Eek!).  The water looked like glass.

This is my favorite view driving down the mountain.  I can't wait for Spring and all of the brown to turn to green.

On our way home, we took a small detour to The Catskill Distilling Company in Bethel, NY.  Trivia for the day:  Did you know Bethel, NY was the host of Woodstock?  Not, in fact, Woodstock, NY?  My husband had read about the distillery in a magazine article, so we picked up a bottle of Peace vodka and looked around for a couple of minutes.  Look at the awesome copper pots!

I hope in the summertime, the place gets a good crowd because it was a really neat spot.  I'd love to come back and sit on their patio and listen to some live music.

Labor Day continued

It. rained. every. single. day. all. day. long.  We didn't get much time on the lake, so it's a good thing the bar was stocked.

We were able to fit in one quick trip on the boat in between showers.  I caught 4 perch and 3 blue gill, my father-in-law caught 10,000 minnows, my mother-in-law was drowning worms, and my husband was busy baiting my hook.

Other than that we were stuck inside watching the frozen concoction maker do its thing.  Good thing, it's pretty entertaining.

And after making a few concoctions we were entertaining ourselves...

The grill master (my mother-in-law) was able to get the charcoal grill going despite the rain, and we managed to cook up some burgers, hot dogs, and chicken that didn't taste so bad.  I might share the favorite recipe later on.

We also ate many a meal at the Roscoe Diner.  Their hot chocolate is as good as I remember it.  Mmmm... it could be dessert.

Roscoe has had way too much rain...

On our way home, we tried our luck at the Monticello Casino and Raceway.  They don't have any table games, but you can play roulette or craps digitally.  It was fun to watch, but I wouldn't recommend it if you don't want to lose all of your money.  We went upstairs and watched a few of the harness races.  We won a trifecta but somehow still lost money on the bet. 

Afterwards, we made the drive back home for our last night of vacation.  We had the most amazing last supper that it deserves it's own post. 

Surviving

Sorry for the lack of posts lately.  No power sort of has that affect.  Last week we survived a 5.8 earthquake and Hurricane Irene.  Luckily, neither one was nearly the disaster it could have been.  New York City escaped the storm, but unfortunately we listened to the experts and traveled upstate where there was tons of damage.  (Apparently others had the same idea.  We saw people in NYC taxi cabs and limos hours outside of the city.)

It started out as a beautiful Saturday finally christening the beer pong table and mixing up festive hurricanes.

That quickly changed.  The wind and rain were constant for over 24 hours.  Power lines were no match for 70 mph wind gusts and sheets of rain.  We have some great neighbors who came over to check on us and invite us over for chili - that's something that never happens in the city.  But after blackjack, Cowboyopoly, listening to satellite radio, and songs on itunes like Bob Dylan's Hurricane and Dexy's Midnight Runners' Come on Eileen got old, we decided to venture out into the storm and head back to the city.  We couldn't take the usual route down the mountain because of downed trees and dangling power lines.  But we flagged down an old mountain man and asked if he knew a different route to the highway.  The scruffy veteran looked like a villain from Scooby Doo cartoons, but he showed us a winding dirt road that would get us out of town.  The ride was straight out of a scary movie, complete with freaky trailer homes and a swollen river that looked like it was about to jump the bank and sweep us away at any minute.   But in the end, we reached the highway and headed home.

But we didn't get far.  The highway was closed due to flooding well outside of the city.  We were forced to exit the highway and get a random hotel room in a small rural town.  The only vacant hotel still hadn't been cleaned from the previous guests, so we changed our own sheets.  (Now that's surviving!)  We were a bit alarmed when a siren starting blaring in the middle of the night - where I'm from that means a tornado - but the clerk at the front desk said not to worry it was just the fire department.  Note to small town fire departments - change the sound of your siren!  Are those noises not universal?!  

The drive home the next day was uneventful even thought the mountain sides looked like waterfalls, there were pools of water everywhere and evidence of rock slides and erosion.  We got back to the city safe and in time to still hear about how the storm pretty much missed the city and everyone just partied at bars and sat in the air conditioning.  Next time, we might just have our hurricane party in the city, not the sticks.

(Sorry, I didn't take any storm pictures, I was too worried about finding a dry route home).

Roscoe date night

Last weekend my husband and I went on an impromptu date in Roscoe.  I didn't even know we could do that up there!  I needed a snack before we called it a night and we didn't stock up on food for the weekend, so I twisted my husband's arm and we decided to try Lake's End at Tennanah.  It is a casual establishment made up of the Boathouse Cafe (food) and Stadium Club (bar).  We grabbed a drink from the Stadium Club bar, which is decked out in quite an eclectic assortment of sports paraphernalia (my husband pointed out some autographed jerseys of some people I don't know).  We headed outside and sat on the deck overlooking the lake at the Boathouse Cafe.  It's hard to beat the view.  And the location is perfect for us.  It saves us a trip down the mountain into town and we could stumble home if needed.

I don't think I would get a glass of wine again - my pinot grigio was warm, so I switched to beer.  I ordered a summery Shock Top beer and was pleasantly surprised when the waitress showed up with a Shock Top Raspberry Wheat.  Right up my alley!  I can also attest that their deep frier works well.  Mozzarella sticks and french fries were piping hot and did the trick of filling my tummy for a late night snack.

The weather was perfect, but we have to remember to bring bug spray next time.  And the place was hoppin' because the Hilfiger Brothers band (a portion of the X-Brothers) was performing.  Andy Hilfiger is a neighbor and sometimes rocks out with his fam at the lake.  I'm not sure how many Hilfiger brothers were actually there, but their family and friends filled up most of the outdoor deck.  Although I wouldn't pay to see a show, the live music made for a really fun atmosphere.

I'm always so sad to drive back to the reality of work the next morning, but this time it was a little more enjoyable... we lathered up with sunscreen and took part of the top off the Jeep.

My view looking up:

I'm sorry to say this because I feel awful for my family and friends trying to survive this summer's heat wave in Oklahoma, but the weather was pretty awesome.  When we left Roscoe Sunday afternoon it was a perfect 79 degrees.  :)  When we pulled into the city it was 92 degrees.  I suppose nothing to complain about though.  Don't worry, I'll get my payback this winter!

The Sticks are getting famous

If you watched HBO's Hard Knocks last year, you might have caught a glimpse of Roscoe, NY.  The Roscoe Diner was the venue for contract negotiations between the NY Jets and agents for cornerback Darerelle Revis.

Roscoe was recently named the "Ultimate Fishing Town" in the USA by the World Fishing Network.  Pretty impressive for the one stoplight town of about 600 residents, but now the secret's out about our great hideout.  It's such a big deal, that CBS did a feature about it on the Early Show.  Check out the video here!

And this fall, be on the lookout for a new movie that features our lake, Tennanah Lake.  Martha Marcy May Marlene will be showing in limited release this October.  The movie won several awards at the Cannes Film Festival and is getting mentioned for Oscar consideration.  In the trailer, you can get a good glimpse of the lake when the girls are sitting in the Adirondack chairs on the deck.