Travels with Edna and Papi: New Jersey Family, Keuka Lake, Watkins Glen hiking, racing, the family connection and FLX Wienery!

Pt. Pleasant Beach, N.J. and Family!

Growing up, my siblings and I loved when Uncle John (Dad's youngest brother), came to visit us in California. As a thirteen year old my parents let me visit our cousins in New Jersey and all of us kept in touch over the years. Three thousand miles is quite a distance, but there were always vacations, marriages and sometimes family losses that kept the family connection going along with annual Christmas cards. My Uncle is now 86 years old and it was important to me to spend time in New Jersey to see family.

We stayed at a Navy Base about twenty-five minutes from my Aunt and Uncle's house and as we drove towards their neighborhood, I thought about childhood memories of going to the beach/ boardwalk with our cousins and the fun we all had.

My dear Aunt and Uncle took us to lunch along the beautiful Pt. Pleasant Beach harbor with much to catch up on. After lunch, Aunt Mary Anne pulled out old photo albums and shared pictures of my parents in their twenties (including a few wedding pictures), then brought out a stack of letters my Dad had written to Uncle John and their Dad while in the Navy. The letters are a real treasure and I am so grateful to have them.

There were other family "get togethers" sharing more good times with cousins I haven't seen in years, along with their children and grandchildren. My Aunt and Uncle have lived here for decades and also owned a home on the boardwalk where a family barbecue took place. Perry and I walked the mile and a half trip from their home in town to the boardwalk along the Atlantic ocean. We were amazed by the devastation that hurricane Sandy caused in 2012! Homes in this area are now required to be raised up in certain zones but thankfully, neither one of my Aunt and Uncles' homes had serious damage.

So happy to have had this special time with our east coast family and now it's time to head to a town outside Penn Yann, New York where we'll spend a few days at the Finger Lakes and Watkins Glen.

Lunch on the N.J. Harbor

A pic of my beautiful parents!

Cousins and Aunt

My delightful Aunt and Uncle

One of several houses being raised near the Jersey Shore

The heavy rains accompanied us through the scenic Pocono mountains which thankfully let up at our once again rural destination of Country Charm RV Park. Country…it definitely was…..as well as charming! We pulled the fifth-wheel in between two large trees, an area overlooking a large pond. This was plenty of space to let the dogs roam off their leashes and we were the only ones there. Once again, we were in Amish and Mennonite territory but not as populated as the town in Pennsylvania. Beautiful countryside and rolling hills took us to the quaint old town of Penn-Yan. We found a friendly place to enjoy a bite of dinner after a long day of travel and to plan the next couple of days.

THE FINGER LAKES, NEW YORK

Our first day took us to one of the 11 Finger lakes, Keuka Lake. The drive along the lake was scenic with its' tall trees and summer homes. We stopped at wineries (wine region of New York) enjoying a little wine tasting meeting many nice people including a fun bridal party. Our last winery was at Dr. Konstantin Frank. I thought this was an interesting name for a winery (the founders name) with their wines being one of our favorites. He introduced European grape vines along Keuka Lake. Our Finger Lakes travels also brought us to a flea market and a Mennonite Farm and store. The store was run by a friendly and helpful Mennonite woman who talked about her religion (she said she "had been in a house with a television once") and explained some differences between Mennonites and Amish. Mennonites are allowed to drive cars if given permission by the area church leader while others are permitted only to travel by horse and buggy. In the Amish culture, they are not permitted to drive or use any source of electricity. We bought homemade spaghetti sauce and pasta before thanking her for her warm welcome! The next day was Watkins Glen, N.Y.

A winery in front of Keuka Lake

Some of the better N.Y. wines

Amish quilts displayed in the store

Off the beaten path Amish store where we were the only ones there

Perry, wine and Keuka Lake

Another view of a beautiful Finger Lake

WATKINS GLEN

When I was a young girl, our family took a cross-country trip to visit east coast relatives. In New York, Dad wanted to visit his Uncle Ben (a descendant from Poland) who lived on acres of rolling hills in Watkins Glen where he raised his family. This forgotten memory had resurfaced as we toured the area. We took a day with the dogs to hike Watkins Glen State Park a couple miles towards the falls. It was a perfect day to make the uphill hike passing an old cemetery along the way. Of course being in the area, I was thinking of my Dad and our genealogy efforts, wondering if my ancestors could be buried there. As we hiked we heard a "whirring" sound but I continued to research my ancestors on my phone. I learned they were buried in a Catholic cemetery in Watkins Glen while a passerby told us the "whirring" sound was coming from the neighboring Watkins Glen racetrack. We had to check it out!

The Watkins Glen International Raceway was a short distance from the falls and we were fortunate that the security guard allowed us to visit the raceway to take pictures. The "whirring" we heard earlier was a practice day (a Sunday with no official race) for Porsche GT racing series. We took pictures from the empty stands watching 6 Porsche GT exceed 150mph, a stop worthwhile seeing. It was late afternoon and we were hungry. Driving back we decided to stop at the highly recommended "Wienery" for lunch which was well known in the area for their homemade hot dogs, sausages and "wienery" antics. Their food was amazing and lived up to their well deserved reputation. Continuing our drive back ( I was driving), I noticed a Catholic cemetery and flipped a u-turn on the not so busy highway. Perry and I split up to search for my great-uncle Ben Ziarno and within a few minutes there it was! We found his gravestone alongside his wife's and daughters. This gave me comfort knowing my Dad would have been pleased to have one more think to add to our genealogy find.