New York in the Fall

The hubby and I recently took a trip up to Binghamton, NY to celebrate his friend's parents 50th wedding anniversary. That's why Tom went, I went because it's New York and it's the area that Tom grew up in and that I am interested in moving to. So I wanted to wander around the area and get my bearings, see what's going on. I can't say for certain, but I may have went there at the very best time of year, the fall. The trees had just begun to change, so it wasn't too colorful yet. The area was pretty beaten up from hurricane Irene. Driving through the neighborhoods it was just heartbreaking to see all the empty gutted houses and belongings piled up on the side of the road. We had damage from Irene down here too, but nothing like what happened up north.

While we were up in NY we had lots of fun, and lots of food. I swear the first day there Tom took me to every one of his favorite food places, all in one day. Spiedie's sub, Nirchi's pizza, wings at the Terrace, the Cider Mill. Is it any wonder that by the end of the night I was hurling (no, it wasn't the chain smoking outside the Terrace)? The Cider Mill was the highlight of my weekend. They make cider fresh and you can watch the entire process- which is really pretty cool. They also make the cake donuts there (which you can also watch them make), cinnamon, plain, and powdered sugar, holy hell they were amazing. When we got them (Friday and Saturday) they were still warm, with a slight crunch on the outside. A week later and I am sitting here longing for one (or four) of them.

 

Jackson's Farm was a fun place, lots of pumpkins and they had a hayride and bouncy things for kids to play in. They made really fun critters out of bales of hay and pumpkins made into fun little things-- all of which were fun to play in/on/with. It was really a great place, very very cute. If you have children it would be a great place to take them to a fun day.

The reason for our trip, the 50th wedding anniversary, was an adventure. They are a large family, Tom's friend is one of seven siblings (seven IDENTICAL siblings may I add). All the seven have children. So this isn't a Fisher family gathering, it's a town hall meeting. I do not do well in large groups of people where I do not know anyone, but after a while it really wasn't hard to blend into the background and just take in all the festivities. The party was really well done. There was a wine tasting using only wine that is made there in New York, and I have found a new favorite- Niagara- next time I go up there I am hunting down a few bottles to bring home with me. They also had a Cake Boss challenge, where they gave you two round cakes of different sizes, frosting, fondant, and food coloring and told you to make a cake to represent the couple. Well I don't know the couple at all, but I think the cake that Tom and I made was pretty good.

Here's some of the other random pics from the trip:

Tom and his friends: Chris and Eric. It was Eric's parents that had the anniversary party.