Family

I’m a little late in posting this but better late than never.

My Mother-in-law entered the Grape Pie Festival in 2007 and did not win any of the awards. Well that just wasn’t a satisfactory conclusion for the family so we prompted her to enter again this year. Well wouldn’t ya know, she won First Prize! That high honor is called “The World’s Greatest Grape Pie” and she got a trophy and everything. How about that. And the best part was we all got to eat the pie afterwards because the festival organizers sell off all the slices when the judging has ended. Talk about getting your cake (or pie) and eating it too!

Congratulations Shirley (and my wife Linda who helped)

Last weekend, Sept 28-30, was the weekend of the Grape Festival in Naples, NY. This is a really fun event to attend and it is well attended, believe me. Someone told me that the crowd on Saturday was estimated to be 80,000. That’s pretty remarkable especially when you consider that the New York State Fair, on a good day, will get about the same number of attendees.

My in-laws live nearby in Wayland, NY and so my wife and I hopped in the car to visit them and attend the Grape Festival. As those of you who saw me on Bridge Street a couple months ago know, my Mother-in-law makes an awesome Grape Pie. A Grape Pie is largely unheard of outside of grape growing regions such as the Finger Lakes, so for many people, it’s a very unique taste sensation. It was a lot of work but we finally convinced my Mother-in-law to enter one of her pies in the Grape Pie contest. Here is her entry form and pie.

Here are some photos of the whole clan and the judging of the pies.

I need to point out that the dog, Owen, had nothing to do with the judging or eating of the Grape Pie. He was there for entertainment purposes only. Owen is what is called a “designer dog.” I believe a cross between a poodle and a schnauzer. Maybe a “schnoodle”? Are you chuckling right now? Weren’t mixed breeds called “mutts” or something before this “designer dog” business started? Whatever…

Owen is one of the cutest dogs around no matter what he is. We love Owen! How can you not just adore this cute face?

An exciting thing that happened while the family was at the festival. A television crew from a Rochester New York Public television station was there. They followed my Mother-in-law through the process of entering her pie, to her reactions throughout the judging process. It was really fun and will be part of special series to be aired on public television in the Early Spring of 2008.

There are a lot of other things going on at the Grape Festival… a great variety of arts and crafts, grape stomping, food vendors, live music at a number of stages throughout Naples and lots and lots of fun. The weather this year could not have been better.

Oh and by the way, the judging did not go as well as we had hoped… my Mother-in-laws pie did not win the contest. Obviously the judges were off their game and being distracted by the crowd because there was absolutely no question whatsoever, as far as the family was concerned, that my Mother-in-laws pie was absolutely the best pie in the competition. Seriously. I would not lie or exaggerate about something as serious as a grape pie. She does make the best grape pie I have ever tasted. I hope she makes me another pie soon. Please mother-in-law, please make me another grape pie? MMMMMMMmmmmmmmm.

Click on any thumbnail for a larger version

Wow, what an event! This was the second year in a row that my wife and I were able to attend the Festival of Balloons in Dansville, NY. Last year we did not go onto the grounds but parked in a side lot and viewed the balloon launch from quite a distance away. Although that was nice, this year we went right into the festival and were literally a few feet away from the balloons as they were launching. It was spectacular.

The night we were there was the last launch of the weekend and I believe that there were over 40 balloons in the air at one point. Once the balloon launching started, one, two or three balloons were going up almost at the same time and this continued for quite a while. At first, the balloons are laying on the ground and the crew starts blowing air into them with large fans to partially fill them. Once that has been done, they begin to carefully turn on the propane flame and they begin filling the balloon with hot air which then begins to make the balloon buoyant enough to start rising until it has been fully inflated.

At that point, the crew is holding onto ropes, keeping the balloon tethered until it is time to release it… or until they begin to be lifted off the ground, whichever comes first apparently.

There was a gentle breeze to the North East so as soon as the balloons were air-born, they began drifting towards the ridge just opposite the Dansville Airport. It was kind of scary to watch because as some of the balloons approached the ridge, they appeared to be caught in a downdraft and it looked from our vantage point that they were in danger of scraping the treetops. I’m really not sure whether it was an optical illusion or whether they actually were that close to the trees.

I was strongly considering taking a balloon ride this year but when I checked out the price ($200 per person) I decided against it. Not that I think that is too much money…it just wasn’t in the wallet that’s all. When you think about it, $200 for an hour or so ride is probably a good deal. Seeing as it costs me $15 just to fill up my dinky propane tank for my grill, I’m sure the cost of propane alone for a flight is pretty significant. Maybe next year!

The weather this year could not have been better. There was not a cloud in the sky. It was just a perfect blue and with a gentle breeze. What a great event. I highly recommend you try and attend the Balloon Festival one of these years. It’s always held on Labor Day Weekend and this year marked the 26th Anniversary of the event.

Here are a few more photos of the balloons…

My Labor Day weekend was spent with my wife and in-laws. Part of our time was spent in Dansville, NY for the New York State Festival of Balloons.

Our plan was to watch the balloon launch Monday night at 6:00pm. We arrived right on time and there were quite a few balloons being inflated, but due to the inclement weather only one balloon actually lifted off untethered. We decided to try our luck again the next morning.

The alarm went off at 5:00am and we hopped in the car and drove back up to the Dansville airport. When we arrived, it looked like the weather was going to prevent the launching again. We stood around for about 30 minutes waiting to see some activity where the balloonists usually prepare to lift-off. But seeing no activity we decided to call it quits and drive back home. Just as we had gotten back on the highway, we had second thoughts and figured since this was the last day of the festival, that maybe we should stick around for a little while longer. We turned around and we headed to McDonalds to have breakfast and wait a while longer. As we were discussing whether we should just drive back home if the weather didn’t improve, we overheard a few people saying that the balloons were launching. We went outside and were greeted with the magnificent sight of 8 Hot Air Balloons lifting off. Here is a photo of us (minus me. There is a reason I take the photos you know!) looking pretty at 6am in the morning.

And the liftoff of the balloons…

I counted 22 balloons in the air and there may have been as many as 25. It was really interesting to see how the wind currents took some of them in one direction while others headed off in another direction. Apparently the wind in Dansville can swirl because of the surrounding hills making things a little unpredictable.

After all the balloons had become airborne, we decided to leave. We soon noticed a ReMax balloon headed in the same direction we were going on our way back to Wayland, so we decided to track the balloon and took off on backroads trying to watch its eventual landing. Here is a series of photos which shows our adventure.







Traditionally, when a Hot Air Balloon lands on your property, the crew gives the land-owners a bottle of champagne as a gesture of thanks for allowing them to land. As it turns out, the balloon landed within about 100 feet of my father-in-laws property. Darn! So close, yet so far to a bottle of champagne. It sure was fun watching the balloons and something you should consider doing in the future. the Balloon Festival is Labor Day weekend every year in Dansville, NY.