Left the house at 4am to catch an early flight to Cleveland, and then luckily our three hour layover was erased when we got bumped to an earlier flight. So we got to Rochester a few hours earlier than planned which was nice. My step-aunt(?) Bobette picked us up in grandpa's swanky crown vic and we checked into the wrong hotel (we discovered later when the budget inn down the road called to ask where we were). But this one was actually closer to grandpa's house so it worked out.
After we settled in, we picked up grandpa and headed to Olive Garden. At 93, he was still sharp as a whip cracking jokes, and could get around with just a cane. After dinner, he whipped up a round of manhattans for us and we watched old comedy videos.
Grandpa's usual routine includes watching classic movies until 2am and then getting up around noon. So tuesday morning me & my dad took in the sites around the city. We started off at the Kodak House/Museum. They were in between exhibits but still had some of the civil war stuff that had not yet been taken down, and of course all the old cameras.
We also toured the Eastman house and watched an interesting movie about how he created his photo empire.
We had worked up quite the appetite, so we headed over to the Seabreeze area to get some good ol' fashioned white hots and onion rings.
After lunch we stopped at Abbot's Custard and took a quick look at lake Superior. We took a tour through Greece and saw all the old houses my dad lived in before heading back to the downtown area. We took a look at the new Red Wings stadium (a farm league for the Twins), when we spotted the Genessee brewery in the distance!
We walked across the High Falls Bridge.
And the brewery was on the other side a ways off. So we decided to go back, grab the car, and try to find some sort of tap room and get a tour.
We eventually found the main office, with a single security guard and this nifty display case. The guard was super friendly and gave us a rundown of how they almost went out of business when Boston Beer company stopped using them as a bottling facility when they bought Old Latrobe. Luckily they got some investment capital and took over operations for Labatt's, Dundee, and Pyramid along with some other small regional NY breweries. He also told us there were no brewery tours at the moment but they were planning on building a new taphouse restaurant, gift shop and the works in the coming year.
Then he hooked us up with some sales rep who took us out to his van in the parking lot and gave us a ton of stuff - coozies, hats, and a bunch of t-shirts. (
Edit to add - the security guard sent me another box of t-shirts in the mail a couple weeks later!)
After our adventures we headed back to gramp's and went to a local italian joint for dinner where he was on a first name basis with the owner - Micelli's. After dinner we headed back to his pad and we had some local beers and stayed up late again talking about old stories and family history.
Wednesday morning we went to checkout downtown Fairport and the Erie canal. We had hoped the draw bridge would eventually raise but no luck.
We got some great subs for lunch at Dibellas, then worked on packing and shipping some of grandpa's electronics, cameras & a telescope. That evening we ordered pizza and watched the Bruins win the Stanley Cup!
