A Spirited Trip Through The Finger Lakes Upstate New York

No matter where you hail from, you're apt to have ties to the Finger Lakes Region. That's the well-supported message of a new book, A Spirited Trip Through the Finger Lakes & Upstate New York, in which the author ties the Upstate to places all over the world. A Spirited Trip Through the Finger Lakes & Upstate New York borrows the persona of early pioneers to personalize the rich history of the region and answer the question: How did things got to be the way they are? Why should someone from Massachusetts feel right at home when visiting upstate New York? Why do the ancestors of Winston Churchill reside in the cemeteries of Palmyra and Macedon? How did an English lord wind up owning millions of acres of Upstate property after his country lost it in the Revolutionary War? Why did a Canandaigua family become a major benefactor of the New York Metropolitan Museum?

Craft distilling has exploded in the United States in recent years, and this in-depth look at the intrepid characters at the forefront of the liquid revolution will have you rethinking whats in your liquor cabinet—and possibly your career choice. James Rodewald, a veteran journalist who spent more than a decade at Gourmet magazine, most of that time as Drinks Editor, traveled the country talking to the men and women at the heart of this remarkable industry about the challenges they face, the rewards of their hard work, and the delicious spirits they make. Along the way, myths are shattered, phonies are unmasked, and drinks-as well as a few tears-are spilled.

Written by a parent, for parents, this opinionated, personal, and easy-to-use guide has hundreds of ideas to keep the kids entertained for an hour, a day, or a weekend! Fun with the Family Upstate New York leads the way to amusement parks, historical attractions, children’s museums, wildlife habitats, festivals, parks, and many other exciting places to go. The whole family will enjoy . . . Flume zooming at the Catskills’ largest water park, fly-fishing on the Willowemoc, or hiking to Huckleberry Point Immersing themselves in the wonderful world of America’s pastime at the National Baseball Hall of Fame & Museum in Cooperstown Exploring Ithaca’s nationally acclaimed Sciencenter, or traveling through a huge heart and brain at the Rubenstein Museum in Syracuse Standing in awe before Taughannock Falls or Niagara Falls

The 1,000 Places to See books are pleasurable, inspiring, wondrous, a best-selling phenomenon and, yes, practical: Announcing the updated edition of 1,000 Places to See in the USA & Canada Before You Die, The New York Times No. 1 bestseller. Because USA & Canada is not only a wish book but also a guide, this information, including phone numbers, Web addresses, and more, is now completely revised and updated. For travel season, for long summer weekends, for whenever the mood strikes to pack up the car and set out to discover a new piece of America (and Canada!), 1,000 Places to See in the USA & Canada is a map to all the unique and wonderful places just around the corner: Sail the Maine Windjammers out of Camden. Explore the gold-mining trails in Alaska’s Denali wilderness. Collect exotic shells on the beaches of Captiva. Play tennis the way it was meant to be—on grass—at the lavish Victorian Newport Casino. Take a barbecue tour of Kansas City—Arthur Bryant’s to Gates to Snead’s. There’s the ice hotel in Quebec, the stalacpipe organ in Virginia, out-of-the-way Civil War battlefields, dude ranches and cowboy poetry readings, and what to do in Louisville after the Derby’s over. More than 150 places are highlighted as family-friendly, and indices in the back organize the book by subject—wilderness, dining, beaches, world-class museums, sports, festivals, and more.

From the Hudson Valley to the Niagara River, Upstate New York has a long and grand history of spirits and cocktails. Early colonists distilled rum, and pioneering settlers made whiskey. In the 1800s, a fanciful story of a tavern keeper and a "cock's tail" took root along the Niagara River, and the earliest definition of the "cocktail" appeared in a Hudson Valley paper. The area is home to its share of spirited times and liquid legends, and the recent surge in modern distilleries and cocktail bars only bolsters that tradition. Author Don Cazentre serves up these tales of Upstate New York along with more than fifty historic and modern cocktail recipes.

Covering the U.S.A. and Canada like never before, and for the first time with full-color photographs, here are 1,000 compelling, essential, offbeat, utterly unforgettable places. Pristine beaches and national parks, world-class museums and the Just for Laughs festival, mountain resorts, salmon-rich rivers, scenic byways, the Oyster Bar and the country’s best taco, lush gardens and coastal treks at Point Reyes, rafting the Upper Gauley (if you dare). Plus resorts, vineyards, hot springs, classic ballparks, the Talladega Speedway, and more. Includes new attractions, like Miami’s Pérez Art Museum and Manhattan’s High Line, plus more than 150 places of special interest to families. And, for every entry, what you need to know about how and when to visit. “Patricia Schultz unearths the hidden gems in our North American backyard. Don’t even think about packing your bag and sightseeing without it.” —New York Daily News

The Spirit of Rye is a celebration of rye’s dynamic qualities and the spirit’s exciting revival. Celebrate the many flavor profiles of rye whiskey, its distinguished history, and its contemporary revival with The Spirit of Rye. The resurgence in rye whiskey is unmistakable, as is evidenced in the number of distillers producing remarkably varied expressions, from the Whiskey Trail to Pennsylvania, Texas, and California. With tasting notes for over 300 expressions and interviews with master distillers, readers both familiar and new to the rich world of rye will find The Spirit of Rye to be a revelation.