Weekend special, comin’ atcha!
Do you know how maple sugaring works? ARE YOU SURE??? For two weekends every March, you can head out to the wooded hinterlands of South Bristol, New York, and learn!
It’s a bit of a drive (a little over 50 minutes from Rochester), but for some, it’s an annual tradition, a source of wonder and joy, and, most importantly, a source of pancakes and syrup.
Finally, you pull into the dirt parking lot and are directed into a parking “spot” by a guy in an official-looking neck beard. A little footpath leads to the visitor center: an indoor rotunda featuring viewing windows and educational materials (stuffed birds, binoculars for amateur ornithologists, and a theatre in which was playing a 1980s VHS movie of the operations of the nature center, complete with synthesized music by a local composer). There are also maple sugar canisters and maple sugar candies for sale. Are you a member of the Rochester Museum and Science Center? The pancakes are cheaper if you’re a member.
We headed downstairs and self-sat at a spot on a long pic-a-nic table. The room was full of merry breakfast-eaters. Along one wall was a veritable who’s-who of breakfast drink: cider, whole milk (from Pittsford Farms Dairy we think!), coffee, creamer. I think that’s it. Maybe orange juice. I don’t know, I didn’t make it past the coffee. And we all know that in New York State, all cideries operating over a certain volume need to pasteurize their cider, due to the sickness outbreak of Peru, New York, back in aught-4. So the cider was tasty, but gone are the days of tartness that would cause a smirk in even the grizzliest of mountain-men.
The sausage was sort of compressed. It was edible, and you need your protein, so eat up. But let’s face it, you’re not here for the sausage anyway. A stack of 5 pancakes awaited each adult in the party (3; kids). The REAL maple syrup came in GIGANTIC jugs. Pour to your heart’s content!
Almost as soon as the pancakes arrived, they were gone. The pancakes were just regular pancakes. The butter was regular butter. But you’re in a cozy, bright room, fireplace adjacent, with friends. So what you’re really devouring is happiness and good company. And maple syrup.
But the outing doesn’t stop there! You have to go on the nature walk and learn stuff. So off you go to hear about yellow-bellied sapsuckers, to drill your very first tap and spile, to learn about the history of the Native Americans’ use of syrup (they skimmed the water off the top of the frozen sap & the first few weeks of spring were essentially a non-stop sugar high for the whole village), and, finally, the grand finale, the sugar shack.
You can’t take actual shots of the stuff they’re boiling anymore, thank you very much, State Supreme Court. But there are shots of syrup in little paper cups that you can throw back, just like the three-to-seven shots of whiskey you’ve already thrown back from the flask you’ve hidden in your pocket, because you have a problem.
It’s a fine experience for all. Do this once in your life. Then do it every year and make it a tradition! Then go snow-shoeing every year as a tradition to the tradition.
With 10 as a must-eat, this dining experience rates a 9.
Don’t Miss: The all-you-can-eat local syrup. All. You. Can. Eat.
Pro Tip: The Welcome Center has educational experiences for the kiddos. If you ask nicely, you might get a story about the mink farm in Bloomfield that released all their minks into the wild!
Why is everything rated a 9? Is this a gag? Are you communists?
‘xplain yourselves or I’m afraid this blog’s credibility will be shot and rendered into the dustbin of #fakenews that litters the interwebs.
Hey there! Most places are 9s – this is partly a gag, and partly just a result of only choosing outstanding breakfast venues. There is a bad review in here somewhere though; see if you can find which one!