Mom and a Brewery, Let the Good Times Roll

I've been looking forward to doing this post for awhile, mainly because mom and alcohol is not a common occurrence, so when I get the opportunity? Oh yeah!

The original Scale House Brewery and Pub is in Ithaca NY, but some time in the past year they decided to open another about ten miles west of Watkins Glen along the Fingerlakes Wine Trail. I had yet to try it out, so I thought it would be the perfect place to take mom on this beautiful day.

Well mostly beautiful. We've been having the strangest weather, Southern weather actually, as it will go from blue sunny skies then suddenly the dark clouds will move in and we'll either get a downpour that lasts about fifteen minutes to a half an hour, or a thunderstorm. Then it will move along as if it had never been.

Anyway, as I was saying- the perfect place. Because, and I'm not sure if this is exclusive to me or if people all over the world feel the same, but there is generally nothing more fun (and funnier) then witnessing my mom catching a buzz.

"Oh look at this menu Spaghetti (That's me, Linnetti Spaghetti, or Spaghetti, or sometimes just Spaghett, for as long as I can remember) so many choices...wait I don't have my glasses, does that say Boozentoot?"

_{Giggle, snort} "It's Boozie Tooth mom, which is suddenly a boring name."

"Which do you think are lightah?

- did I mention my mom was born and raised just south of NYC on Long Island by a Brooklyn father? R's do not exist after vowels. Think The Nanny, only not nasally and irritating-

"You know I nevah did appreciate those dahkah beeah's."

"I do know mom, don't worry there are plenty of light beers. Why don't we get a flight so you can try some different ones."

"Now yaw just being silly, you know I can't leave yaw fathah alone faw maw then a day. Plus I'm shaw the'ah plenty of light beeah's he'ah."

_{Giggle snort} "A flight is what they call a sampler of different beers mom."

"Oh! Well that sounds wondahful!"

I should have taken the picture a second sooner. I'm not sure if the beers had actually made it to the table before she was reaching for one, but she saw the camera and pulled her hand back as if she had nearly been caught with it in the cookie jar...but they remain in position....

We settled on a round of Summer Jam, Ivy League (also known as Cream ale and their best seller we were informed by the very chipper waitress) Oatmeal Stout and Chocolate Stout.

Isn't she beautiful? Love my mama.

Isn't she beautiful? Love my beer. (beeah)

We ordered some food and shortly after mom 'broke the seal' - she can hold her alcohol, her bladder is a different matter- and I used the opportunity to take some pics.

I should have taken some pictures on the way in but I was distracted by gabbing, the sky had been completely blue just twenty minutes earlier.

Three cheese and buffalo sauce quesadillas for me....

...three cheese minus the buffalo sauce panini for mom.

Delicious, and after we'd finished we learned that what they were actually known for was their wood-fired pizza. Which just gives us an excuse to come back.

All of the beers were excellent, but just as I was debating on a pint or taking home a Growler, mom recalled that we had not stopped in the brewery portion of Wagner's winery and brewery on our last outing having run short on time. She also knows that I have a particular weakness for their Doppelbock---and as it turns out she had an ulterior motive.

This is where it gets fun

Not only did mom remember that we didn't have time to stop in here on our previous outing, she also remembered that on Friday nights, all summer long, they have 'Music on the deck'. Well it was not night time, nor a Friday, which I pointed out with a suppressed grin thinking perhaps I should have stopped her before that last one.

"I know it isn't Friday," she told me brightly, "I'm thinking about yaw brothah."

Oh boy. I knew what that meant.

And what did that mean you ask? Well, it meant that my mom was about to go crusading to find a manager in order to give him a CD. Annnddd tell him all about her son the amazing musician (which he is, but let's face it, this is a mom's word on the matter)

And she found who she was looking for, a very cool guy who treated her kindly with a bit of an amused sparkle in his eye.

He told her that the season had been booked, but they would certainly consider him for next season, and then...

a girl who worked there overheard the name Ed Iseley. As it turns out, she went to school with my brother and loves him to pieces. Has also heard some of his songs and couldn't say enough great things about him.

And that would probably make a fine end to the story, but there's more.

And this is where it goes from funny (yes, watching my mom chase down a manager with her particular brand of exuberance, that only an Italian woman from Long Island, with the sweetest spirit you will ever meet possesses) to emotional.

As it turned out, the young woman friend of my brother's had attended a youth group hosted by my parents called The Hug Zone. This group was formed after the sudden death of my sister in a car accident just before her final year of high school.

As you can imagine, this was no easy time. My sister, four years my junior, was an incredible girl. Filled with joy and love for others. My best friend, and my brother's too. And the group was meant to help the kids who had known her heal, as well as continue the healing process my parent's were undergoing. Their love and faith in God being a huge part of that process.

Well, this girl told my mom that she had been going through a particularly rough time in her life at that age, and that youth group? Had saved her life.

Needless to say, by the end of this exchange the manager was eager to listen to the CD and hopefully have my brother play on the deck next year.

If I just made everyone sad, I apologize! The loss of my sister occurred many, many years ago, and while I will always miss her, death is a part of life. We are born and we die, it's all very natural. What I want you to take from this is two things:

My mom is a devout Christian, who got through the loss of a daughter with her faith, but she can still boogie down with some beers. So if you are one of those Christians who think drinking is a sin? Go back to the section of the Bible where Jesus turned water into a wine at a wedding celebration that had been going on for three days. Sorry folks, but if these people weren't drunk by this point, then they have the constitution of a bear!

And the second thing? You never know how you touch people. And if Love is involved, it's a sure bet that you will.

An original song by my amazing musician brother-- Meant To Be Real

Generously created for me by @son-of-satire