Man Dates: Work-Trip Style

Sometimes traveling for work can be a pretty fun experience, while other times not so much. The jury is still out on my current forray - two weeks in Rochester, NY. It's never a good start when you miss your progress milestones three days in a row, even though you're working hard and putting in long days. And it's more than a little depressing when you're too spent each evening to do anything other than grab some dinner and hole up in your hotel room. But the icing on the cake? Week-long sleep deprivation due to an overpowering, pathetic addiction to late-nite television. 'Lord of the Rings - Extended Edition starting at 9pm? Yes, please!'

Needless to say, I was looking forward to Sunday morning's opportunity to sleep in and - more importantly - not work. After a heavenly seven hours of sleep, I poorly chose to log in quick and take care of a few emails from back home. Five hours later, I gave up on the remaining unread messages... Everyone has limits, right?? Besides, Jeff and I had our work-trip tradition to uphold - The Unofficial AFM Traveling Man Date of Randomness (TUATMDR).

We had scoured the papers all week, and it turns out the pickings are rather slim for a wintery Sunday afternoon in upstate New York. So we settled on an ad announcing a winery open house in the heart of the Finger Lakes region. It was a two-hour drive one way, but we had time to kill and an itch to get away. We knew we had succeeded in getting away when we started passing the Amish horse-and-carriages traveling on the side of the road...

Finger Lakes - Lake Seneca

Fifteen minutes before our destination, we suddenly found ourselves surrounded by nothing but vineyards on both sides, continuing for miles. A few looked rather tempting with their impressive signs (and full parking lots), but we had made a commitment to no one in particular so we applied our tunnel vision and trudged onwards. When we finally arrived, we were met in the driveway by a couple of guys with some rather unsettling news -

'The winery is closed today - there's a private fundraising event going on. No wine tastings or tours, but for a $10 cover each, you're welcome to join us...'

Jeff turned to me in surprise. My jaw dropped open. 'Sure...' I stammered, and asked him if I could bum ten bucks. We found ourselves in a crowd of fifty or so people in a small shed, listening to a three-man band playing their hearts out. Jeff and I disagreed over whether Rockin' Robin was playing or ScratCat Willie - I had bet it was Willy, but the world may never know... Regardless, from that point on we were referred to only as the guys with the Massachusetts license plates - I thought about explaining the fact that the car was a rental, but MA seemed like a cooler place to hail from than Rochester (sorry, Kodak!) and opening up about our home state of Minnesota would have blown the two-mysterious-outsiders look we were going for!

I also learned that private doesn't mean you have to have an invite to get in. Instead it's more like finding yourself at a family (but not your own, of course) Christmas party, even including the awkward 'Do I know you?' looks and feelings of 'I didn't know I was supposed to bring a gift!'

Having used the last of Jeff's cash to get in the door, we were granted special permission to open a tab on a credit card to order a glass of wine for each of us. We found our way to the food (at least this part of the advertisement was true!), which had a bit of a potluck feel - crackers and cheese, chocolate pretzels with M&Ms on top, and an awesome baked shell pasta! There was even an overflowing bowl of Hershey kisses, so I didn't feel too bad about slipping a few in my pocket for later.

Aside from the overwhelming sense of disbelief at the situation and the numerous NRA baseball caps being touted, the band was by far the best part of the event. Never in my life have I heard such an inspirational White Cherry cover done using nothing but an acoustic guitar and snare drum! And I think it's safe to say this was one of the most true-to-the-lyrical-intent venues for the song as well - Play that funky music, white boy! blared through the speakers as a lone, t-shirt-clad male broke out the worm and was later accompanied by an all-female line of supporting dancers for his debut of Roy Orbison's Pretty Woman.

Willy (or Robin, but I think Willy)

J.R. Dill Winery

All kidding (and false advertising) aside, it really was a pretty fun time. The wine was good, the band's excitement was contagious, and everyone was dancing and laughing. On the way out I even managed to pick up a brochure to see just who I had chosen to support with Jeff's $20. Turns out the Spirit of Schuyler is an organization located in Schuyler County that focuses on meeting the needs of their neighbors through financial aid in times of need, organizing food drives, provided college scholarships, etc. It was cool to see these people coming together in a small, local way to share what they've been given. This wannabe city boy may not be ready to trade in his busy lifestyle, but he definitely has a thing or two to learn about generosity! And so with that I'll close this post with a toast in honor of the Spirit of Schuyler:

Thank you for opening your doors to a couple of strangers, and may you always find that it is truly more blessed to give than receive!