Labor
Day weekend—summer’s last hurrah (except for that scheduling quirk which, to
many local parents’ dismay, pushes the start of school back a week), and likely
the last shot at the shore, beachfront beers and burgers, and other sun-and-sand
pastimes. Yet with gray skies and rain throughout the weekend, many were more
than happy to spend the weekend locally, with visits to their favorite
Westchester spots.
Such as
Captain Lawrence brewery. “I don’t want to sit in a Labor Day traffic jam with
the sad people—the end of summer rental people,” says Jim Gilroy of Pleasantville.
He and
pal Mark Orwoll, the latter sporting
a Hawaiian shirt adorned with surfboards and wood-paneled station wagons that
did its best to brighten the gloomy weather, are sitting on the patio, admiring
the whiskey barrel Adirondack chairs beneath them, and unwinding after the
laborious task of filling up growlers—a pair of imperial IPAs for Mark, the Limone
Luppolo and Freshchester Pale Ale for Jim.
“This
guy has bought more growlers than anybody in Westchester history,” remarks
Mark, with a proud nod toward his pal.
Speaking
of Labor Day traffic, a gaggle of New York sightseers got a taste of it while
en route to the brewery. Part of a Hudson River Valley Ramble excursion group,
the friends, including Joanne Stanton
and Paula Ryan of Beacon and Beth Akers of New York City, are fresh
off a visit to Kykuit—the stunning Rockefeller estate in Sleepy Hollow. “It was
the most amazing tour,” says Joanne, who obviously paid attention, because she shares
that “Kykuit” is Dutch for “elevated land.” “Absolutely beautiful.”
They
planned to visit the brewery next: “One tour deserves another,” notes their pal
Billy.
Things
got rocky after that. They headed east on 287, blew past their exit, kept going—and
ended up in Stamford, Connecticut, because everyone wants a piece of
traffic-choked I-95 in lower Connecticut during a holiday weekend. Reversing their
course, the luckless travelers landed in New Rochelle. Only then did the GPS
apps come out. “Three smartphones without a clue,” quips Billy as he sips the
Imperial IPA.
Mercifully,
they made it to 444 Saw Mill River Road. “The food is excellent, the beer is
real good,” says Joanne, who prefers Pumpkin Ale. “We’ll be back…and now we
know where to go.”
Elsewhere
on the patio, old friends Elio Pezzulo
of Thornwood, Bill Lalljie of
Ardsley by way of British Guyana, and Jack
Duchshaneck of White Plains are discussing “chicks,” says Jack, and golf,
and beer, while mercilessly teasing each other over samples. They’re ribbing
Bill for turning down an invite from his landlady to go on a cruise this
weekend to hang out with them. They’re teasing Jack for being a “semi-important”
figure in around town. They’re busting on Elio for his taste in football teams.
“I’ll root for the Jets,” he says with a shrug. “I love how bad they are.”
Jack
grows hops in his back yard and brews beer when he’s harvested enough. Elio and
Bill are old friends from the county’s department of consumer protection.
They’re filling up their growlers, and enjoying cold ale on a hot day, along
with some chops-busting taken to an Olympian level. They insist I give a
shout-out to their friend Richard in
Thailand, so there it is.
“It’s
nice and relaxing here,” says Bill.
“He
doesn’t get out much,” says Jack.
Back on
the Adirondack chairs, Mark and Jim are comparing and contrasting Captain
Lawrence’s Pleasantville days with the present. Mark notes the ambience in the
very early days, and salutes affable Aussie Craig behind the taps. “Great guy,
one of my favorite characters,” he says, while lamenting Craig’s recently “committing
matrimony.”
He notes
that Jim does not like the brewery’s newish chips-for-beer system, which Jim takes
pains to clarify. “I don’t hate the chips,” counters Jim. “I hate a lack of
chips.”
They
laugh and sip, and would prefer to be nowhere else for the day. “The gravel
back yard at Captain Lawrence,” says Mark, “is as much vacation as I could ask
for.”
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