Our guests are free to email comments or write in our Guest Book. Often they email pictures, and leave specific and detailed recommendations for others on things to do, where to eat, wineries and stores they liked. Here are snippets:
I didn't have a chance to write in your guest book so I wanted to send a quick note to let you know that we had a wonderful time. The cottage was everything we had hoped for. We can see why this is your family's treasure--what a gem! The porch was perfect! Since Brian was not able to do much, he still enjoyed relaxing on the porch with the view of the lake and the constant sound of the lapping water. He also did a little fishing from the dock. We watched the sunset together from the dock as well. It was so incredibly peaceful! I loved not having a TV because it helped promote family bonding.
We played games on the porch and the kids even put together the entire crossword puzzle that was there. I hiked through Watkins Glen gorge with Kyle and Trevor and their girlfriends. We rented a boat two days. and they did some tubing. Our only disappointment was that the falls were but a mere trickle due to the lack of rain this season.
Thank you for sharing your home with us. We will cherish the memories.
Karen, Brian, Kyle, Trevor, Sam and Jamie
We had an AMAZING week at your UNBELIEVABLE cottage!! ...seriously, that was one of the most wonderful weeks we've had and your cottage is REALLY amazing. From the location (so close to the lake and the Falls), to the cleanliness and organization of the cottage itself, to the spectacular porch and hammock and to the "extras" that you thought of (i.e. extra lightbulbs and batteries, games, fans, etc.), it was just perfect :-) Also, my husband was able to navigate around the place perfectly and our 7 month old daughter LOVED exploring every inch of the porch with her newly acquired crawling skills :-). That porch will forever hold a special place in our hearts because we witnessed so much developmental progress from her there in just one week.
Thank you again for sharing your wonderful home with us! Please put us on "the list" for the same week again next year :-)
Monica
Our favorite winery was Hermann J Weimer in Dundee. Excellent tastings, very cool atmosphere. We had a great lunch at Stone Cat -- right up the street and dinner at the Red Newt - both places celebrate local and organic foods. The Gorge Hike was incredible! ~ The Tylers
This was our 3rd year at the lake but our first time here, and we've found our favorite. The lake just steps away from the porch, the homey feel of the cottage, the hammock that was the perfect place for an afternoon siesta, the campfires at night, and when it wasn't too cold at night, leaving the windows open to hear Hector Falls were a few of the fantastic charms of this cottage. We were lucky enough to have some of the best weather of the summer almost the entire week. We rented 2 single kayaks from Regans - so nice to have the drop off/pick up. None of us were pro kayakers before this trip, but I think we found a new hobby. Going south along the shore and seeing the wildlife was beautiful and exploring north and seeing the falls from the shore. We ate at Ginny Lee and then sampled some delicious wines. Of family that stopped by, 2 had little ones that were exploring a lake for the very 1st time and they loved the water. So overall a wonderful, relaxing, rejuvenating week.
~ The Arnolds
As always it was a great stay. Here for work at the track and having a home away from home makes it so much better. We loved your lake house and the lake was warm this time. I pulled in 12 small mouth bass and we had some good swims!
~ Chad
We had a great time. We tried a campfire but couldn't start it one night because everything was wet, the third night we started it was fun. We also went to Farm Sanctuary if you have kids that is a great place to go. We didn't catch any fish but that's ok we swam a lot. We had so much to do we didn't even have time for tv. Thanks. ~ The Woodring family
This was our 5th year here and as always, it was fantastic. Gorgeous weather all week - hot! Lots of swimming and kayaking. We enjoyed two families of ducks that visited daily. Can't wait for next year! ~ Gunning/Paradisin/Scanlon Families
We had the most amazing time! It is so homey here. We'll love to come here every year! Spectacular show, the ducklings even hatched! :-) Megan
I can't begin to tell you what a wonderful week we had at your cottage. We kept hoping for those ducklings to hatch, but the kids had to settle for feeding momma oyster crackers from their hands. What a thrill for them! Saturday night there were fireworks in Watkins Glen for the Italian Festival and we had a perfect view from the screen porch. As my mom sat in the recliner enjoying the show, she commented that nobody had ever enjoyed fireworks from a more perfect setting. On three nights, our baby, 8-month old Melanie fell asleep in my lap as we sat on the end of the dock listening to the waves lap at the rocky cliffs. She slept better at the cottage than she does at home; in fact we all slept like the dead... getting out of there by 10:00 turned out to be a bit of a challenge. I think we drove away ... reluctantly ... at 9:58. Warmest regards, Pete
We've had a wonderful time. The lake was cold but we braved it and really enjoyed looking through goggles at the clear bottom. Each morning we drank tea and coffee on the dock and admired the scenerty and the ducks. The cottage is charming and the kitchen well stocked. We had a blast in 2-man rafts since the water is very calm in this cove. Walmart has them and the paddles. Well worth it. We also visited the Glen in Watkins. AWESOME. Thanks for everything, Janet & KittyWho would think doing the dishes could be so valuable!!!! ;-)
Thanks again,
Lisa
We felt very blessed to have the chance to spend a week here. We felt so relaxed and could feel the warmth of your family and its memories. We would like to stay here Lord willing longer next year. (Sorry about the scribbling -- our 2 year old granddaughter stopped to see us and put her two cents in!) ~ Jim and Linda
Thank you so much for sharing your beautiful cabin with our family. We had an absolutely thrilling time. The view every night was truly stunning. We hope very much for the opportunity to stay here again next year. Your home is truly relaxing. I hope we took the same care you would have. Thanks again,
Steve, Christy and Christofer
This worked out even better than we had hoped. After a big day at Cornell's graduation, we had a great place to come "home" to. We were so glad we rented for the whole week. ~ Bill and Sheila I just wanted to tell you that my family and I had a wonderful time this past
weekend and absolutely loved your family's cottage. It's such a beautiful
little spot on the lake....so tranquil and so peaceful. And I had no idea it
was so close to the waterfall!
Really, it was an amazing weekend and I'm very happy that it was available for
us to stay. Thanks again for everything. You may hear from us again next year
if it's available!
Heather S.
The cottage was VERY clean when we arrived. Hope we were good renters. You have the best location on the Lake and people told us so. Our daughter also had her first triple skipper!!!
Great Stuff,
Our young boys had a GREAT time swimming, fishing, feeding the ducks, skipping rocks and especially the campfires! We also had 2 teenage girls who enjoyed sunbathing on the dock and loved being up in the loft room! What a beautiful setting for a cottage. The calm of the cove, watching the sunsets across the lake and being so close to the falls. The screen patio is a great place to talk and relax.
Thanks for your hospitality! ~ Tom and Tracy
We can tell the house is lovingly cared for and we adore the charm. In fact on the way home we talked about the old charm and how it would not be the same experience in a modern house. The cottage is truly the "quintessential lake cottage". My son did the dishes with John's mom, "grandma", one night after dinner and really spent a good amount of time with her doing this job. We were shocked because it never happens at home, but he wanted to help grandma and later mentioned how nice it was cleaning up with her. Never thought of this task as a relationship builder, but it really is.............no one would understand unless you have vacationed in this way! Just wanted to write a quick thank you, we had a wonderful time at Hector Falls! We really packed the schedule full of activities and the weather was pretty close to perfect, so we really got our money's worth. We will definitely recommend you if we get the opportunity, in fact we already have. Thanks again for a very professional and enjoyable experience. ~ Chris
We had a wonderful time, it was great. The kids made up a song on the way there - we are getting closer to the bunk beds.... they started this in Geneva and got more and more excited as we got closer. We played almost every day in the water and went to the gorge a few times. We just chilled out and relaxed. We swam almost every day. The water was cool, but worth every second of it. The extra floats in the upper bedroom were a nice extra. For me it was a godsend to have the linens all there ready for us. Well worth the money. It was nice to just leave them and know they would be taken care of. We cooked every day- simple hot dogs to grilled chicken. My husband loves to cook and he was pleased with the supplies in the kitchen. The storage containers were very handy. The beds were very comfortable. We slept upstairs and all we needed were the fans on for a while to cool things off and then we slept without them. We thought it was raining every night until we realized we were hearing the waterfall. ~ Karen
I have to compliment your cleaning lady, which I did when we were leaving on Sunday to her directly. The place was immaculate when we got there. Great job.
Your cottage is beautiful, but more importantly it was comfortable. We really liked it. It actually was unanimous on the cottage itself as being the best of all 12 years... Overall, we had a great vacation.... Oh yeah, the fishing was the best this year. Tony caught two really nice lake trout and Bryan caught one. (Yummy!) Bryan also caught a nice pickerel right off the dock, but released it after many pictures. Britney and I just caught a couple rock bass that are still swimming and getting bigger.
Again, thank you for allowing us to spend such a great time there. We may be contacting you again next year!
Debbie
(much more relaxed and tanner!)
Our family had a wonderful time and we enjoyed perfect weather, too! Our kids learned how to skip rocks and no one even missed TV --for us that's a huge victory.
~ Michael S.
This is our family's 4th year here and as always we enjoyed every minute! The swimming was ideal -- not sure Seneca has been as warm during our stay. (written mid-Aug.) We enjoyed campfires, beautiful sunsets, and are looking forward to renting kayaks next year. Already looking forward to our stay next year.
Vicki
We enjoyed our week here, weather was great no rain, fishing could have been better. Maybe we don't know all about lake trout yet - maybe next year. Cabin (house) very well furnished and clean, wine tour was great. Hope to see you next year. ~ Francine You have a real gem of a place here. I enjoyed sitting ouside every evening with a glass of wine to watch the sunset. I love the porch. The wineries are great and especially the gorges and waterfalls -- worth the hike. Hope to be back. ~ Eric
I would like to thank you for the opportunity to rent your cottage this spring on Seneca Lake . It was a great experience for my family and we plan on doing it again next year. The cottage had great accommodations and the scenery was great (we are used to the cold at night living in Buffalo ). I will definitely recommend your cottage to family and friends if they are looking for similar experiences.
Steve
My daughter thought it would be nice if we all went to the Watkins Glen area to celebrate my 75th birthday. I am a 1951 graduate of Watkins Glen Central School. The cottage was more than I would have expected; perfect location, beautiful views, well provisioned, in short a beautiful cottage. Thank you for sharing such a nice cottage with us. We are back in Texas now with many fond memories. ~ Jack
Our sons had a great time fishing, skipping stones, and wading in the water (still too chilly!) We drove one day to the Strong Museum of Play in Rochester, and they also had a ball. No luck with the fish but we did see some big ones at the end of the dock. Thanks for letting us stay in your wonderful cottage and for all the great memories! ~ Katie (May 2008)
Stayed 2 weeks with co-workers for a little work at "The Glen." I looked forward every day to the snorkeling swim to the submerged tree. Lots of fish! Cool and refreshing! Accomodations were good. We had everything we needed but TV. We'll try to stay on next trips. Thanks! ~ Chad
Thanks for another wonderful year here. The waterfalls were especially great this time around. ~ Chris
We had a great relaxing vacation. Great view of the fireworks on the 4th. We enjoyed (specific wineries and attractions listed here) The cottage was lovely and we spent much time here with the kids. The lake however was frigid! (last week of June, beginning of July) Thanks for letting us stay...~ Nicki
The moon is shining so brightly on the lake right now, it is gorgeous. Just finished kayaking for the last time this vacation :-( Totally relaxing, comfortable and charming. My husband is from this area an we appreciate the beauty of this area even more now that he has moved away. ~ Lisa
This is our family's third year at your cottage and as always it was wonderful! Despite some cool weather in the beginning of the week, we did some great fishing & relaxing. Our family looks forward to our cottage visit all year long and it is the highlight of our summer. ~ Victoria
What a beautiful spot on the lake! Plenty of book reading by my sweetheart, our kayaks saw some windy seas. Fished, a great hike at the Glen, then a scenic mountain bike ride through miles of wildflowers at Hector National Park. What a special vacation. ~ Jim
Had a fabulous time and were so comfortable in your beautiful lake home. ~ Debbie
Had a great time again. Too many wineries. Finally got to visit the Windmill market.
Eric