It's been waaaaayyy too long since we were back in NY so Pete and I decided to take our kids on a "Heritage Tour," showing them some of our favorite parts of our homeland. We also hoped it would be a good opportunity for stressed-out Pete to finally unplug for a week and relax.
After some searching for a place to stay, we decided on a rather unusual airbnb.... an old Catholic seminary called St. Michael's Mission in Conesus. We were hoping it would be a spacious place that would feel "away from it all."
And it was! It was definitely odd.... It felt like an old dorm (which it was), but we had plenty of space -- a whole wing to ourselves. The whole place seems to have some interesting stories... Even now there is some sort of "intentional community" living there, although we didn't see any of them. We definitely felt like it was a good retreat space (if one isn't too concerned about hot showers and using old furniture and dishes, etc).
Each evening we walked across the street through some woods and down a half-mile trail that descended a 150-foot gorge to get to Lake Hemlock. It was a little steep and Rayna got a little frustrated that we made her do it each time, saying things like, "WHO would bring me out here??" but we made it. Even Jinna did a great job, with just a little help from the menfolk in her life. (It was actually quite heartwarming to watch her brothers rush to help her on the steep parts.)
Hemlock Lake was always empty and always beautiful. We thought we had discovered a real gem as a private swimming beach... until the last night we were there a fisherman informed us that the fine for swimming in that lake was $250! Oops.... Turns out it provides a lot of the drinking water for Rochester and they actually *don't" want dirty kids swimming in it....
On our way back in at night Miles would inevitably say something like, "Sister Martha, we must hurry back to the Abbey before the bell rings!" And that's exactly how it felt.
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