We just completed our yearly trip to Chicago to visit my sister in law. This year, I realized that the person sitting next to me on the trip (my wife) also knows how to drive. So instead of suffering  through the entire 12 hour trip myself, my wife split the drive with me.  I actually arrived chipper with no caffeine induced hangover. Since this is a trip  for the kids to visit with their cousin, there wasn’t much time to engage in drinking, however we did sneak in a few memorable wines.
     If you are a steak lover, then eating at Harry Caray’s Legendary Steak House is a must . There are 3 of them in the Greater Chicago area, we ate at the one in Lombard, IL. They specialize in fantastic dry aged steaks.  Even my wife who boarders on vegetarianism at times thoroughly enjoyed hers. Always looking to try new wines, I picked out J.Lohrs Los Oso Merlot. I was very impressed, smooth and silky with enough grip to handle the rib eye, we both loved the wine. I am now carrying in at the store, great buy for $13.89.
      I always like to bring something form the wine cellar, this year I brought Beringer’s Private Selection 1999 Cabernet Sauvignon. You can say all you want about the great bargins in wine out there, but there is simply no substitute for a fantastic $100 bottle of Beringer California Cabernet. We had this wine with steaks and it simply blew us all away. Incredibly complex but at the same time perfectly balanced it was truly one of the great wines I have tasted, unfortunately very hard to find but totally worth it if you stumble across it.  We also sipped on some Kendall Jackson Chard and Chateau St. Jean Cabernet during the week. These  are workhorse wines for me at the store and  I haven’t had either of these wines in a long time. I enjoyed both,  they represent  great values and over-deliver for the price, good every day drinkers.  
     Finally for some quick must sees in Chi Town, check out the Science Museum and take the U-505 sub tour, simply amazing! Check out the Children’s Museum in Dekalb, kept the kids busy for the entire day, play golf at  White Pines Golf Course in Bensenville, nice 36 hole layout & reasonably priced ($50 with cart) & finally if your traveling into Chicago, take the Metra! Nice, quick clean train ride from virtually any western suburb that the kids will love!

My wife and I had the recent pleasure of taking a beautiful road trip up to Belhurst Castle in Geneva, NY for a friends wedding.  It is has been years since I have been up to the Finger Lakes region and after this trip, I am asking myself why?  For one, it is hard to find a more scenic drive then up route 14 along Seneca lake. We took my recent mid-life crisis 2002 Camaro Convertible and it was a truly pleasurable drive with the top town. There are tons of wineries to stop at. On the way up, we stopped at Fox Run Winery for lunch. Food & wine were  delicious as we sat outback on their beautifully landscaped patio, no crowds around, quite and peaceful.
     Belhurst Castle is a famous Fingerlakes Landmark. We were a little hesitant about staying there due to a good amount of negative reviews on some of the travel sites. However, our room was in the new section of the property. They have recently added a 6 million dollars addition called Vinifera Inn which contains new rooms, spa and catering hall. Our room was very nice, huge hot tub & very comfortable although a little pricey at $300 per night. The wedding ceremony and cocktail hour was outside right along the lake and very nicely done. The dinner & dancing was in their new hall, food was decent and we all had a good time.   All in all, it was a nice  experience at Belhurst and certainly didn’t reflect the negative reviews.
     The next day, we had breakfast at Geneva on the Lake where we got engaged many moons ago. It may have been the most expensive breakfast we have ever had, but the food and scenery out on their Greek revival patio are exquisite. No trip up to Seneca is complete without a stop at Watkins Glen State Park. This 2 mile, relatively easy hike up the gorge is unbelievable. Waterfalls and unparalleled scenery  reinforces just how many beautiful natural features we have in NY. My wife who is an aspiring photographer took so many pictures I though her camera was going to overheat! We finished off the day at Castle Grisch Winery which is located just outside Watkins Glen. This winery sits  on top of the mountain and the views are spectacular. We sat on their outside deck eating excellent home cooking, sipping wine as we watched a storm roll up through the valley below, perfect! Skip the trip to Napa and check out the Finger Lakes for excellent wine, food and scenery right in your own backyard.