This past weekend the family and I traveled to Skaneateles, New York for a second year to attend the Finger Lakes Lavender Festival at Lockwood Lavender Farm. This is quickly becoming a trip I cannot miss. Aside from the main event, the Lavender Festival, exploring the Finger Lakes region and New York State Parks are quite an adventure as well.
This year we were able to make it to the festival on Saturday, its opening day, arriving in the area about 9:30 am (just 30 minutes after it opened). I am so glad we planned it this way as it was not too busy yet. We started out by wandering the store, which was located in the drying barn this year, and all of the vendors including a sweet little bakery where I snagged a blueberry lavender hand pie for brunch...yum! It was nice to be able to browse and see everything. Last year by time we arrived on Sunday afternoon, many vendors were picked over and sold out already. But this time I was able to walk away with quite an assortment of lavender goodies to take home! My most prized find was the 1 ml sample of their own lavender essential oil that I purchased. I was quite excited to see it, as when I asked last year they told me they were unable to distill enough for public sale. Even though it is a small sample amount, it will make a lovely local addition to my lavender collection!
It was a beautiful morning with the scent of lavender in the air and views of the lake nearby. There was music coming from the patio which added a nice touch to the atmosphere, I don’t recall this last year but there may have been. While there was some rain off and on, it did not put a damper on the event! In fact, it did not take long at all in the morning for it to start getting busier with other lavender loving people enjoying the festivities.
Next, we went to pick our own lavender bouquets. I chose a very fragrant and colorful, long stemmed variety to pick this year. It made a beautiful and quite stunning bouquet! We ended up with three bouquets total which scented our car quite nicely for the remainder of the weekend. After looking around a little more, taking in the sights, and making a few last minute purchases (lavender plants for our flower bed back home) we said good-bye to Lockwood Lavender Farm for another year…leaving very calm and content! I already can’t wait to come back next year…
This year we were able to make it to the festival on Saturday, its opening day, arriving in the area about 9:30 am (just 30 minutes after it opened). I am so glad we planned it this way as it was not too busy yet. We started out by wandering the store, which was located in the drying barn this year, and all of the vendors including a sweet little bakery where I snagged a blueberry lavender hand pie for brunch...yum! It was nice to be able to browse and see everything. Last year by time we arrived on Sunday afternoon, many vendors were picked over and sold out already. But this time I was able to walk away with quite an assortment of lavender goodies to take home! My most prized find was the 1 ml sample of their own lavender essential oil that I purchased. I was quite excited to see it, as when I asked last year they told me they were unable to distill enough for public sale. Even though it is a small sample amount, it will make a lovely local addition to my lavender collection!
It was a beautiful morning with the scent of lavender in the air and views of the lake nearby. There was music coming from the patio which added a nice touch to the atmosphere, I don’t recall this last year but there may have been. While there was some rain off and on, it did not put a damper on the event! In fact, it did not take long at all in the morning for it to start getting busier with other lavender loving people enjoying the festivities.
Next, we went to pick our own lavender bouquets. I chose a very fragrant and colorful, long stemmed variety to pick this year. It made a beautiful and quite stunning bouquet! We ended up with three bouquets total which scented our car quite nicely for the remainder of the weekend. After looking around a little more, taking in the sights, and making a few last minute purchases (lavender plants for our flower bed back home) we said good-bye to Lockwood Lavender Farm for another year…leaving very calm and content! I already can’t wait to come back next year…
Other adventures in the area...
As I mentioned above, we enjoyed exploring a few state parks and attractions while in the area. We had a picnic lunch at the close by Fillmore Glen State Park in Moravia; the kids loved the playground there! Who knew a simple see-saw could provide so much entertainment for a couple teenagers! We also took a walk down the Charlie Major Nature Trail in Skaneateles before heading to our rental in Auburn. We took a ride around Lake Owasco and then spent the majority of our evening relaxing. Before departing Sunday morning we had breakfast by the lake, taking in the views one last time. On our way home we found one more gem to explore, Taughannock Falls State Park near Ithaca, New York. After mere minutes here it became a new favorite spot to visit! The falls and views themselves are breathtaking, and little man (ok and myself) had a blast splashing around in the shallow creek along the path. We will be making this a regular stop on our way to the Lavender Festival I am sure!
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