3rd Annual Guy's Day Weekend
The Veteran's Day after Isaac was born we invited P-Pa up to spend the extra day with us and he jumped (on a plane) at the chance. There were all kinds of great moments, that first Guy's Day--eating hot dogs, hanging out by the fire, going for a nice hike. Last year on Guy's Day we went to the Harvard Natural History Museum, and saw Isaac FREAK out at all of the cool mounted animals, including a giant Siberian Tiger. This year, we continued the tradition.
It started a little early as I had custom t-shirts made up for the occasion and we gave them out in August as a belated birthday present to P-Pa. Here we are in August:
As the big day approached this year, Dad had a plan. We have to be aware that Isaac, as a 2 1/2 year old, needs some serious action to stay entertained. Fortunately, the plan met Isaac's needs. I threw in a tour for P-Pa, and all of a sudden we have a GREAT day.
The plan was pretty simple. We will travel to the Budweiser plant in Merrimack, NH. Now before you gaffaw at taking a 2 1/2 year old to a brewer, the Budweiser plant isn't just a brewer, it is really a beer campus. There is a huge multi-building facility with its own water processing plant and train stop. There is a massive farm (farm? yes, a farm for the Clydesdales). There are a few living quarters for the folks that take care of the horses. Overall there were lots of things for Isaac to see. Unfortunately it doesn't open until 10 and Isaac has been waking up at around 5:45 AM. Oh man. On the way up to Merrimack there happens to be a huge farm and construction equipment dealer, Chappell Tractor. The two things together covered us until Isaac's nap.
Before sunrise, Isaac woke up and wandered into P-Pa's room. He pushed open the door and made his way in to see his buddy. A few showers later and we were on our way.
Chappell didn't disappoint. The lack of sales tax and the close proximity to Massachusetts means that Chappell's inventory was huge. P-Pa estimated they had about $8-$10 million in inventory and that means plenty of places for a little guy to play on beep beeps. Here is a picture of Isaac and P-Pa in the small tractor Kubota section:
Up the hill from the tractors were ATVs. Here is Dad and Isaac hanging out on a four man ATV:
From there it was off to the Budweiser plant. The place is really quite nice, recommended to me by a friend from work who's son LOVED it. We were the first group of the day and the group was a small one--just the guide and three Sculimbrene Boys. The first stop of the tour was the huge grain silos. They were so big that they were fed by their own rail line--massive grain cars pulled in and dumped hundreds of tons of grain every day. All that went into a HUGE series of stainless steel hoppers. Both the trains and the hoppers amazed Isaac. We wandered through a maze of tanks and tubes until we arrived at the bottling portion of the tour. Unfortunately, that wasn't working so we moved to the outside where Isaac finally got to see the biggest horses of his entire life.
The stables were immaculate (as the whole place was, really). Here is a quick video of the stable:
The Budweiser Clydesdales are pretty massive animals, second only to elephants in strength and well over 6 feet tall at the shoulders. Isaac walked into the stable and instantly fell quiet. He stared and they stared back. The beasts, King and General, were quiet and very gentle, never making so much as a quick tail flicker. They had very little to be agitated about though, as this was the nicest stable I have ever seen. We went outside and saw a few more horses. The entire time our chatty, nonstop talker, was as quiet as a monk.
The morning ended with a quick car ride home and Isaac fell asleep quickly. As is tradition Isaac took a very long nap for his P-Pa. This resulted in a rather impatient P-Pa, as seen here:
Three hours later, Isaac emerged from his Rip Van Winkle style nap and we took him, where else, to Adam's Tool and Nail (Dad needed a piece for a project). Here we are next to the biggest circular saw either Dad or P-Pa has ever seen:
It is apparently used in timber framing and the like and the guy at Adam's Tool and Nail claims they sell three or four a year. All three Sculimbrene boys were truly fascinated by the massive saw.
After the run to get project parts we came back and P-Pa let Isaac ride his back, like he did when I was Isaac's age. We used to call him Billy the Bull and here Isaac is trying to tame Billy (who, incidentally is a calmer ride than he was a few decades ago):
It was, as it has been, the last three years, a great time for all of us. Isaac, Dad, and P-Pa are all looking forward to the 4th Annual Guy's Day, though this one will be tough to top.
It started a little early as I had custom t-shirts made up for the occasion and we gave them out in August as a belated birthday present to P-Pa. Here we are in August:
As the big day approached this year, Dad had a plan. We have to be aware that Isaac, as a 2 1/2 year old, needs some serious action to stay entertained. Fortunately, the plan met Isaac's needs. I threw in a tour for P-Pa, and all of a sudden we have a GREAT day.
The plan was pretty simple. We will travel to the Budweiser plant in Merrimack, NH. Now before you gaffaw at taking a 2 1/2 year old to a brewer, the Budweiser plant isn't just a brewer, it is really a beer campus. There is a huge multi-building facility with its own water processing plant and train stop. There is a massive farm (farm? yes, a farm for the Clydesdales). There are a few living quarters for the folks that take care of the horses. Overall there were lots of things for Isaac to see. Unfortunately it doesn't open until 10 and Isaac has been waking up at around 5:45 AM. Oh man. On the way up to Merrimack there happens to be a huge farm and construction equipment dealer, Chappell Tractor. The two things together covered us until Isaac's nap.
Before sunrise, Isaac woke up and wandered into P-Pa's room. He pushed open the door and made his way in to see his buddy. A few showers later and we were on our way.
Chappell didn't disappoint. The lack of sales tax and the close proximity to Massachusetts means that Chappell's inventory was huge. P-Pa estimated they had about $8-$10 million in inventory and that means plenty of places for a little guy to play on beep beeps. Here is a picture of Isaac and P-Pa in the small tractor Kubota section:
Up the hill from the tractors were ATVs. Here is Dad and Isaac hanging out on a four man ATV:
From there it was off to the Budweiser plant. The place is really quite nice, recommended to me by a friend from work who's son LOVED it. We were the first group of the day and the group was a small one--just the guide and three Sculimbrene Boys. The first stop of the tour was the huge grain silos. They were so big that they were fed by their own rail line--massive grain cars pulled in and dumped hundreds of tons of grain every day. All that went into a HUGE series of stainless steel hoppers. Both the trains and the hoppers amazed Isaac. We wandered through a maze of tanks and tubes until we arrived at the bottling portion of the tour. Unfortunately, that wasn't working so we moved to the outside where Isaac finally got to see the biggest horses of his entire life.
The stables were immaculate (as the whole place was, really). Here is a quick video of the stable:
The Budweiser Clydesdales are pretty massive animals, second only to elephants in strength and well over 6 feet tall at the shoulders. Isaac walked into the stable and instantly fell quiet. He stared and they stared back. The beasts, King and General, were quiet and very gentle, never making so much as a quick tail flicker. They had very little to be agitated about though, as this was the nicest stable I have ever seen. We went outside and saw a few more horses. The entire time our chatty, nonstop talker, was as quiet as a monk.
The morning ended with a quick car ride home and Isaac fell asleep quickly. As is tradition Isaac took a very long nap for his P-Pa. This resulted in a rather impatient P-Pa, as seen here:
Three hours later, Isaac emerged from his Rip Van Winkle style nap and we took him, where else, to Adam's Tool and Nail (Dad needed a piece for a project). Here we are next to the biggest circular saw either Dad or P-Pa has ever seen:
After the run to get project parts we came back and P-Pa let Isaac ride his back, like he did when I was Isaac's age. We used to call him Billy the Bull and here Isaac is trying to tame Billy (who, incidentally is a calmer ride than he was a few decades ago):
It was, as it has been, the last three years, a great time for all of us. Isaac, Dad, and P-Pa are all looking forward to the 4th Annual Guy's Day, though this one will be tough to top.