07/07/2026
It has taken me a decent night's sleep to reflect on the past seven days. A week that started with a customer clogging a toilet with paper towels so bad that I needed to call in professional help to clear it. A week where the AC unit in the taproom went down on the hottest day in recent memory. A week where we received two, 2-star reviews because some employees were caught up in a moment of laughter, while others don't know how to read a menu. Fifteen years ago, any one of these issues would have left me frazzled, let alone all happening on the busiest week of the year, but we have dealt with far worse. Many of you know, we repealed prohibition in the throes of legal battles against our own local tyrannical government.
Sometimes it's nice to look back at just how far you have come.
This past weekend was among the most memorable experiences I could have imagined. Less than 2000 calories of food and 12 hours combined sleep over a 3 day period. Two of those days I hit 14,000 steps and barely left the store's 3k square foot footprint. The lake was flat, the air was warm, and it was a Saturday Fourth of July. The last time we had this calendar setup was 2020. Needless to say, the data I had in my daily journal entries from the previous 18 seasons didn't quite provide the guidance they usually do.
It was a weekend that included 120 dozen eggs worth of breakfast sandwiches, 180 pounds of potato salad, and fifteen quarts of Thousand Island dressing, which is predominantly used 2 tablespoons at a time on one specific sandwich.. And of course, 43 dozen sticky buns.
This time of year you see customers from around the country and even the globe, that visit one week a year. You hug each other as if you were at your own annual family reunion. That's the thing about Keuka Lake; it emotionally binds people in a way that when you get it, you get it, no matter how far away you live or how long it's been since your last visit.
To top it all off my long time friend, Shep Rose, decided he was going to visit for the very first time. He held an impromptu book signing and brought every ounce of his "Southern Charm" with him. Looking at the many photos I took during our days in south Florida and hearing the room fill with laughter as he retold stories of some of our wilder antics was icing on the cake.
We had our best single day and 3-day weekend in store history, in spite of the reviews.
Alas, I immediately recall the Samurai proverb, "After victory, tighten your helmet strap." At last night's World Cup watch party, a friend reluctantly informed me that there was a small leak in the ceiling of one of the bathrooms, and you are reminded that this place will never stop giving you challenges, and I will continue to keep battling them for as long as my name is on the door. I am committed to providing one of the best lakeside general stores in the country.
Thank you.
- Seth
