Today’s Wedding Wednesday is a special post to reflect back on the amazing weekend that was my bachelorette party! With all the stress of planning for the wedding and busy schedules, I’d been looking forward to a weekend away with some of my favorite ladies. Not everyone could attend the trip, but I still had a great time and enjoyed the company.

The bachelorette party took place in Watkins Glen, New York. This place holds a special spot in my heart as we used to do family vacations here when I was younger, and it is nearby Corning, where I ran my marathon last year. So I was extremely excited to go back to a place that held such great memories.

We drove up Friday and enjoyed a fun night in; eating, drink and playing typically bachelorette party games. It was a good evening to relax and unwind after the long week. The girls even set up a theme as Chelsea’s Race to the Date, including a course map and race bibs to wear during the weekend!

When we arrived, I was asked to leave while everything was set up, so my sister and I headed into town. We went down to the dock on Seneca Lake and spent some time soaking in the sun and fresh air. We also were able to take a picture to replicate our trip from 2002.

Saturday was our only full day in the area, so we had a lot on the schedule. We started the morning with a hike around Watkins Glen State Park. The parking lot was still very empty when we arrived so we had most of the park to ourselves. We hiked for about 3 miles and it was absolutely beautiful. I’ll let these pictures speak for themselves.

After our hike, we cleaned up and started on the next adventure, a six hour wine tour! We had a bit of delay, but we still managed to keep right on schedule and even added in an additional winery. Each winery was unique and as always, a great way to try all kinds of wines. The wines near the Finger Lakes can sometimes be a bit sweeter than I like, so for once I tried a few red wines and may have enjoyed one or two.

If you’re interested, here are the wineries we visited. I had visited Red Newt and Chateau Lafayette Reneau before, but that was back when all I could drink was sparkling grape juice. The trip this time around was much more fun!

• Hazlitt 1852 Vineyards
• Hector Wine Company
• Red Newt Cellars
• Chateau Lafayette Reneau
• JR Dill Winery
• Atwater Estate Vineyards

After our wine tour, we came back to the house, vegged out and enjoyed our final night before heading back to Ohio. Sunday morning, I managed a short three mile run before the trip back and it was the perfect way to end the trip.

Even though the drive was long and tiring, I had such a wonderful time in the Finger Lakes. This trip was absolutely perfect and more than I could have asked for. I’m so lucky to have such amazing friends who gave me the perfect bachelorette party!