Finger Lakes - Farm and Golf

Sunday of our Finger Lakes Birthday Bash Weekend was for lots of activities.

The ladies wanted to go to a spa for their own special treatments while Matt and David played golf, but, unfortunately, the spas were scheduled up and they couldn't do that.  "Okay," they said, "that's all right, we can find something fun to do with William."  And so it was that the ladies and William visited a local farm sanctuary while Matt and David took a good walk spoiled.

Matt found a local golf club and reserved a tee time.  It was a brisk morning, but luckily not too frosty, and the golf pro was flexible, so Matt and David were able to start golfing as soon as they arrived.  The early holes were still played much in the shade, though, so the boys wore fleeces and hats.  David even wore some glove liners.

Here, Matt tees off on one of the early holes:

Another tee shot showing Matt's picture-book follow-through:

Even his fairway shots demonstrated practiced technique:

The notable thing about this course was that some of its holes wove their way through vineyards. The guys even found a bunch of grapes someone (or some thing) had left near one of the tees, and they had a chance to taste how sweet and rich the grapes were!  Here's a view of Matt teeing off with the vineyards behind him:

David hadn't had much practice recently, so he elected to play "Matt Ball," a version of "Best Ball" where David moves his ball to where Matt's shot landed (Matt's shots are always longer and straighter than David's) and then makes his next shot from Matt's location.  This let the guys spend more time swapping tall golf stories.  Matt had some great pointers that he suited to David's unique "senior" style of golfing, and, after experimenting with the ideas, David came up with some really good shots. There were even two shots where David argued strenuously that the boys should have played "David Ball" and hit their next strokes from the location where David's ball landed.  But these instances where David kept up with Matt were mainly aspirational on David's part.  For the most part, David studied Matt's style carefully and took notes for the future.

Both agreed that this was a very enjoyable round of golf, and they plan to make this at least an annual event, to take place in some location of spectacular scenery.

Not to be outdone with scenery, the ladies found the Farm Sanctuary in Watkins Glen. Here is the description from the website:

Nestled in the beautiful Finger Lakes Region of Upstate New York, the rolling green pastures of Farm Sanctuary’s 175-acre New York shelter are home to more than 500 rescued farm animals. Spend the day with us and take an hour-long guided tour, browse our unique gift shop, learn more about farm animals in our Education Center, or enjoy a snack on our scenic deck. We are located next door to Sugar Hill State Forest, just west of Watkins Glen.

From this description, the ladies thought this would be a great outing for William. He loves farm animals. They decided to go ahead and take the tour.

While they waited for the tour to get started, they each took turns coloring various farm animals. We looked around the gift shop and noticed a lot of vegan shirts, cookbooks and other vegan products. We have no problem with the vegan or vegetarian lifestyle. But when they started the tour with a video of various corporate farms and how they mistreat animals, showing piles of dead sheep, it was time to remove William from the room.

After the video, we did join back up with the tour to meet some of the residents of the farm. These cows were rescued from a local dairy operation.

Here, Weina and William say hello - from a distance - to another happy cow.



William felt the goats were more his size.

This goat took one look at Katie and it was love at first sight.

The goat wouldn't leave Katie's side.

Here William takes a turn petting Katie's goat.

Who ever thought turkeys could be so much fun?  These birds are a hoot.  Once you walked into their pen, they followed you around. They loved to be petted. Their feathers are very soft and downy.

You could pull up bunches of grass and the turkeys and chickens would eat it right out of your hand. Even William gave it a try. Every time the tour guide began telling stories, like the one where all the male chicks get thrown in a dumpster to die, we walked William away. We can understand wanting to educate the public on the horrors of corporate farming, but just not in front of small children.

Just as we were getting ready to visit the pigs, Little William ran out of gas. We've been playing so hard this weekend that he just needed a nap. No sooner did we put him back in the car seat than he was fast asleep. Time to head back to the house and get ready for the official Birthday Party!