Before moving any further with our wine diary, attention must be paid to the amazing Bed & Breakfast we stumbled onto in Penn Yan, Los Gatos. When our Geneva B&B didn't work out we scrambled to find another centrally located place to stay. Thumbing through tourist brochures and crazily navigating Trip Advisor and Hotels.com we found Los Gatos, called for a reservation, and breathed a sigh of relief when a friendly woman on the other line said she had a vacancy. We quickly checked out of the Chapman House and drove the 17 or so miles to Penn Yan, home to long-standing, but small communities of Amish, Mennonites, and, ironically, winemakers. The irony? The Amish and Mennonites don't drink, but many of them sure know how to grow grapes for their "English"  winemaking neighbors.

As we pulled into Los Gatos, we breathed a sigh of relief. After a sleepless night with train and truck noise, this lovely B&B. located on a quiet road, was a welcome sight. If you think of B&B's as creaky old homes with Laura Ashley prints, think again. Los Gatos is an up- to-date suburban spread, with stunning landscaping, a relaxing deck, a pool, and comfortable beds. It does have the requisite B&B cats, who were sweet and unobtrusive.

But the true stars of Los Gatos are the owners, Susan and Burney Baron. California refugees who moved to to the Finger Lakes in 2002, the couple have done just about everything right. Friendly but not intrusive. Knowledgeable but not  overbearing. Gracious, fun, and thoughtful. And oh yes, Burney is a phenomenal breakfast cook.  Peach Dutch Baby one morning; blueberry cheesecake pancakes the next. Even English muffins made from scratch.


Susan makes all the jams from local fruit and mixes three local grapes for a killer morning juice.  She even baked a peach pie and left it for us cooling on the counter.

Susan and Burney have been to virtually every winery in the Finger Lakes and could tell us which to visit and which to avoid. And when we came back each night trucking a box overloaded with local wine, they stored it all in their garage away from the 90° summer heat. The only complaints? No full-length mirror; a squeaky bedroom door; and no bedside table on one side. Not much to complain about, yes?

Gary has avoided B&B's during all of our travels; he's not one for chintz bedspreads, ancient plumbing, or breakfast gabbing.  But Los Gatos had him at hello. What started as a happy accident turned into the highlight of our trip (except for all that good wine.)  if you are headed out to the Finger Lakes for the wineries, the hiking, or for a weekend blissfully free of responsibilities, we can't recommend Los Gatos enough.

Okay, back to the wine on our next post.