Emily Levingston, Laurel, and the woodwork
I mentioned that Dave Levingston stopped by. Dave is a lifelong photographer (you might remember his "Turkey Man"), a longtime pro who had concurrent jobs in media relations, most notably as a civilian civil servant working for the Air Force. Now that he's retired he photographs as much as ever, now specializing in "nudes on rocks."
The best time of the year here in the Finger Lakes is off to a wonderful start—like clockwork, September 1 brought a glorious high-pressure weather system, with cool temperatures, clean air, and vivid sunlight. If you're passing through or vacationing here, you're welcome to stop by TOP Rural HQ and we can go to lunch or dinner.
If you're staying overnight, you can get a generous discount on a night's stay (or several) at my friends Laurel and Llewellyn's La Belle Vie Bed and Breakfast in Penn Yan. Their old Italianate Victorian mansion on Main Street is wonderful—I tried to show a little of the elaborate woodwork in the picture above. Hopefully Dave will chime in with his and Emily's impressions, but two things to note—first, they'll give you a tidy, worthwhile discount if you identify yourself as a friend of TOP when you make your reservation, and second, they might invite me to have breakfast with you the next morning! If you like.
You definitely shouldn't discount the "breakfast" part of "bed and breakfast." Laurel is an expert cook and La Belle Vie's breakfasts are a treat—the home-made scones were astonishingly good and what you is see is what comes after scones and coffee and the fruit-and-exotic-yogurt courses. Yummy. Even the bacon (which Laurel describes as "its own food group") is cooked to perfection.
Llewellyn is a longtime photographer himself and Laurel has an IQ of about 240, so the conversation is always animated and interesting. Especially yesterday, since Dave has so many great stories of his life in photography. (Some of them really made me laugh.) "Breakfast" lasted till after lunch, which is part of the reason I got no work done yesterday. But it was a lot of fun.
Although you are likely to see Amish horse-drawn buggies or buckboards pass by on the street out front, Laurel and Llewellyn are an official Tesla charging station, if you happen to be in your Tesla.
It was fun to meet Dave and Emily. Another face to go with a familiar name from the Comments Section, always nice.
Mike
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Well, there's a great road trip idea for October. I just looked it up, maybe 3.5 hour road trip for us if you don't factor in the border, and we have Nexus cards, which helps a lot.
Posted by: Yvonne | Friday, 02 September 2016 at 06:32 PM
A very tempting proposition. Next time in the US I'll have it in mind.
Spent a few days vacation in NYC last week and took up a suggestion by one of your readers recently to view the sunset from atop the Rockefeller Centre. A lovely idea, but, oh dear, my $30 admission, plus same for each of three daughters, had us herded around like cattle because of the hundreds of folk with the same idea.Composing a picture hampered by the myriad smart phones being waved around on outstretched arms...apart from that the five days were most enjoyable.
Posted by: David Lonsdale | Saturday, 03 September 2016 at 04:26 PM
I stayed with Laurel and Llewelyn. I can affirm that it's a good experience.
Posted by: Ben Rosengart | Sunday, 04 September 2016 at 06:20 PM
In case he was too modest to tell you, Dave L actually invented the genre of "nudes on rocks." ;-)
Posted by: Dave Rudin | Monday, 05 September 2016 at 08:44 PM
"A night's stay", Mike? I checked the site, very impressive place, but not for "a night's stay" -- the rooms are minimum of two nights. Which is fine, just saying. :)
Cheers, Geoff
Posted by: Geoffrey Heard | Tuesday, 06 September 2016 at 07:10 AM
Please pay no attention to my good friend, Dave Rudin. He seems to never tire of making that statement. Everyone knows that Anne Brigman is the inventor of "nudes on rocks" (and "nudes in trees"). She is one of my many inspirations.
And, Geoff, we stayed at the B&B for just one night. It wasn't a problem.
Posted by: Dave Levingston | Tuesday, 06 September 2016 at 11:25 AM