Sharing our enthusiasm and commitment to the region are our Experience! The Finger Lakes team. These are the best in the business. Our tour guides and office staff are highly-trained hospitality professionals – but they’re also enthusiastic locals, our friends and neighbors who have made their homes here. Even when they’re not guiding tours, our employees are the people in town who give the best directions, recommend the best restaurants, and generally know where the fun is happening around Ithaca and the region.
Our Tour Guides
- Chris
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Chris, our veteran E!FLX tour guide, is Mr. Hospitality. With over 5 years of touring and 10 years of fine dining expertise, and holding a WSET2 wine credential, expect him to provide fabulous insights about everything food and wine on all our tours. He is also an fabulous artist. Check out his work at Loomisart.
- Samantha
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Samantha is a perfect match for Experience! The Finger Lakes. She holds a BS in Geology and is also a Sales Associate at Triphammer Wines and Spirits working towards her associates degree in wine marketing. As a result, you will see her guiding both our natural history tours of the gorges and our wine tours.
- Emma
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Emma is our full-time E!FLX tour guide and one of the most recognized faces in the Finger Lakes. She has been in the FLX wine industry for years both as Tasting Room Manager at Hector Wine Company and as a sales associate at the ultra hip Red Feet Wine Market in Ithaca. She also has years of experience in leading tours as a docent for Corning Museum of Glass. Emma has passed her Introductory Sommelier Course and is currently working towards her certification with the Court of Master Sommeliers.
- Angela
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Angela, enters her second year with Experience! The Finger Lakes. Her love of wine, local food and teaching make her a natural tour guide. In addition to our wine tours, Angela also guides our downtown history and culture tours. She is a tenured professor of Political Science at Keuka College a former Transylvania teenage expat, and hip hop fanatic.
- Laura
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As owner and President, Laura doesn’t tour as much as she used to, but you’ll find her stepping in periodically to host a special group or fill in for her awesome staff. Laura is a Certified Sommelier and Professor or Wine at Tompkins Cortland Community College, so get ready to learn a lot when she tours.
- Rachel
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Rachel has been guiding with Experience! The Finger Lakes for over 6 years. Rachel’s experience in hospitality and wine service makes her a natural tour guide. When not touring, Rachel is a yoga instructor in Ithaca, and runs a Yoga programs in Ithaca, Costa Rica, and other fabulous destinations. Learn more about her Yoga at Heart Thread Yoga.
- Steph
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Steph, while relocated to Switzerland, is our tour guide emeritus, and permanent member of the E!FLX family, and can at anytime show up back in the FLX for a pop-up tour or event.
Our Office Team
- Alan
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As owner and CEO, Alan stays mostly behind the scenes taking care of the big stuff, but can be found occasionally doing a pop-up waterfalls and gorge hike, as our company’s original natural history guide.
- Carolyn
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Carolyn is our Tour Office Manager, so when you give us a call, chances are you will get to know her. Carolyn helps you plan your perfect visit, and sets the stage for the level of quality service you will receive from start to finish with E!FLX.
- Maggie
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Maggie is our new Tour Office Assistant, and she is very excited to take on this new position and join the E!FLX family! She is a senior Business Management Major at Ithaca College and loves helping others enjoy the beauty of her FLX hometown, Ithaca.
- Anissa
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Anissa is our business manager, handling the financial side of our biz, but can always be counted on for joining our team tastings for ‘quality assurance’ purposes.
- Aidan, Jackson and Chris
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Aidan, Jackson and Chris make up our team of Tour Prep Assistants. These are the young men who keep our vans spotless and prepare all the extra little details that help make E!FL tours so special.