Slow Road Episode 2 – Returning to our Roots

November 30, 2014November 30, 2014 / benjaminwoelk / Leave a comment

It has been a tremendous Fall and already the snow has began to coat the ground and trees as we head toward the Holiday Season. We couldn’t think of a better time to release our latest episode while families are gathered this holiday weekend, and as we may already be thinking about our relationships to each other and towards our favorite places during this special time of year. I was recently struck by the thought of so many using the “slow roads” to connect with the people and places that matter most to them – driving to mom and dad’s house for Thanksgiving Dinner, visiting other friends and relatives to gather, and meeting up with people in our favorite local places in our hometowns.

Route 21S on the way to Naples, NY in our Mini.

Episode 2 is a look and study of what it means to be “slow” and why it is important to our lives. The word slow takes on many meanings and has even been used to describe pro-local movements that include terms like “slow fashion” and “slow money.” We felt strongly that our first episode branded the idea of the roads themselves as we took a summer day drive to a nostalgic and retro drive-in. You may watch that Episode here if you have not already.

Roots Cafe – Naples, NY (Photo by Steve Carter)

Episode 2 is about learning why it matters to slow down and absorb that which is around you, and perhaps even more so than our first episode, discusses why it matters to connect with the people and places that matter the most, places that feel like our own sort of “home.” Our Episode features a beautiful drive via Route 31 East leaving the hustle and bustle of the City of Rochester on Monroe Ave to visit historic parks and main streets, and then finally a southern journey through the meandering hills and valleys along Route 21 South to Naples, NY.

We ended our day at the appropriately named “Roots Cafe” located on Main Street in Naples – a converted Victorian farm homestead it serves as a perfect representation of all things slow and homely. Roots Cafe features a farm to table menu that is rooted in its own local community’s agriculture and located in a former home itself.

Roots Cafe – Farm-to-table Menu

We invite you along our journey and hope you enjoy our latest episode, please do share this with your family and friends if you do and we hope you will explore the places we may have introduced you to!

WATCH EPISODE 2:

To visit the Palmyra/Macedon Aqueduct Park continue along Route 31 just outside of the Village of Palmyra, NY – https://goo.gl/maps/Qd6nm
To visit the 4 corner churches https://goo.gl/maps/1nsXx
To visit the wonderful Roots Cafe travel to 197 Main Street (Route 21) in the Village of Naples, NY – https://plus.google.com/110147722809563958602/about?gl=us&hl=en

We encourage your continued support to help us continue to capture the spirt of place and people in an unprecedented way through Slow Road! To support our journey visit slowroadtravel.com/donate.

The Accessibility of Escape

January 18, 2012January 18, 2012 / benjaminwoelk / 5 Comments

As we enter into the New Year one of the themes I want to communicate and live towards involves the concept that the feeling of escape can be accomplished much more easily then we realize.

Often we are under the impression that a break from the stress of our daily lives or escape from monotony needs to come from an elaborate, expensive, or long duration vacation and so we travel far and wide to embody the concepts of freedom and to explore the unknown, in an effort to find a place that feels “less than familiar.” Do we ever stop to consider how accessible these feelings and experiences are?

As I write this I am sitting in one of many places where I have found the same feelings of freedom “mental transportation” that I have encountered on trips far and wide. Perhaps those feelings are not as intense as the mountain top experiences in the Swiss Alps, perhaps these feelings don’t feel as intense as the “unknown” when I was recently driving through the desert to Santa Fe, New Mexico, but they exist with me here and now. It is even possible that because this place represents somewhere largely unknown to me (and is a place where I am largely unknown) that a sense of freedom exists that is reminiscent to other experiences that I have had. The ability of this place to inspire such feelings creates a sense of belonging for me, and I find myself feeling favorable towards my surroundings.

Today this place is the quaint charming (and somewhat forgotten) historic village of Scottsville in the town of Wheatland, NY located only 15 miles from where I live in the City of Rochester. Often we ignore what is directly around us and I truly believe that we suffer because of it, we miss the ability to make our “escapes” accessible and so instead we feel frustrated that our desired freedoms feel so far and difficult to accomplish. Forgotten places suffer as well, because we fail to realize that our interest and engagement of them has dramatic effects. Will anyone remember me in Santa Fe? I highly doubt that, but I find myself believing in a place like this that I will be remembered.

This small ignored town has become very meaningful to me and because of that I desire to tell others that this is an experience worth having and a place worth visiting.

Travel to somewhere forgotten and you may just realize that you can find part of yourself in that process.

It’s never as far as you think or as difficult.

When you go:

Visit the Artisan Coffeehouse to feel the pulse of the community and to see if you too can find that sense of belonging.

Visit the Free Library to be inspired by the past while you can sit and write about your future.

Links:

Artisan Coffeehouse
http://www.artisancoffeehouse.com/

Scottsville Free Library
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottsville_Free_Library

The Village of Scottsville

http://www.scottsvilleny.org/

The Village of Scottsville on Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Village-of-Scottsville-NY/337398322352

The Influence of the Arts in our Markets Lessons from Burlington, VT

August 5, 2010August 5, 2010 / benjaminwoelk / 1 Comment

Hello everyone! Pardon my delay in getting up any recent posts as I have been well immersed into a summer session graduate class at the Rochester Institute of Technology. I am excited to continue to study the relationship of our farmers’ markets and community and will begin filming and documenting interviews with our local market vendors and attendees. Stay updated by subscribing to my blog and as always your feedback is extremely welcome and appreciated!

I have decided to focus this blog entry on the relationship of the Arts and our local Farmers’ Markets. I am a tremendous believer in the power of artistic expression and its ability to foster and grow community and I have pursued electives in the Arts including an Art Gallery Managment class here at RIT in an effort to understand the role that Art can play in community. My undergraduate degree is in Music Industry from SUNY College at Oneonta in Oneonta, NY and my desire is to continue to create places of community and vibrancy around the Arts and music.

On a recent trip to across New England, I happened to visit in Burlington, Vermont on the way back to New York. To my surprise and delight it turned out that the Burlington Farmers’ Market happened to be in full swing the morning of my arrival. The market was a tremendous explosion of people, fresh produce, beautiful fresh cut flowers, music, maple syrup (of course!) and prepared foods and most surprisingly, the Arts!

The market featured a beautiful selection of artistic goods including pottery, blown glass, wood and ironwork, hand-spun clothing, jewelry, framed prints and even natural soaps. The market tremendously highlighted the local craftsmen and woman from the area and brought an incredible dynamic to an already fresh and vibrant market.

Hand thrown pottery from Roof Top Pottery in Burlington, VT

This Burlington Farmers’ Market held in the City Hall Park brought a new focus to the Arts that I have not seen with any other market I have experienced since Pike’s Place Market in Seattle, WA. The fact that this was a purely outdoor market (versus Pike’s Place) made this even more impressive. It honestly dawned on me for the first time that the Arts ability to create community, and my belief in our farmers markets to become centers of community and “third places” could be paired together in the same vision!

People enjoying food and music at Burlington's Farmers' Market

The Vermont farmers market has been running for over 30 Years since its inception in 1980 and by all appearnces this market was every bit of the expression of Burlington that I could experience. There is something purely human about expresses oneself in your dedicated craft or trade and I genuinely felt that both the farmers’ and the artists represented this with passion and a commitment to excellence.

Beautiful produce at the Burlington Farmers' Market

It is my genuine hope that we will translate this influence of the Arts to our local markets here in Rochester, NY. We have a tremendous wealth here in the Arts and our city is built around the creation and history of photography with George Eastman. Our local colleges in the area including RIT continue to educate in the arts and now we even have community based arts programs including “First Fridays” that highlight our local galleries and talents every first friday of the month. If we can place emphasis on bringing the Arts into our Farmers’ Markets here I can only assume the quality of our local markets will be even greater and the possibility for community

How do you feel about the the Arts and music in our markets? Do you agree that the expression of these adds to the value and community that is being cultivated? Have you experienced a market where the Arts or Music are highlighted? Your feedback is welcome! Thank You!

On the web:

The Burlington, VT Farmer’s Market

Burlington, VT Farmers Market Facebook

First Friday-Citywide Gallery Night in Rochester, NY

George Eastman House-Rochester, NY

Gallery R-Rochester Institute of Technology

Rochester Institute of Technology