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.

What is a Slow Road and why does it matter?

September 15, 2014September 15, 2014 / benjaminwoelk / Leave a comment

I am very excited to announce a new vision and collaboration for Slow Road beginning this Fall of 2014. In tandem we are launching the “Slow Roads & Story of Place blog” to tell you about the stories of the people and places that we discover on the roads less traveled.

There is a tremendous amount to explore in our region and Slow Road will continue to capture the spirit of place as we advocate for sustainable locally rooted tourism.

WATCH our trailer below to learn more:

<p><a href=”http://vimeo.com/104036255″>Slow Road Trailer 2014</a> from <a href=”http://vimeo.com/slowroad”>Slow Road</a> on <a href=”https://vimeo.com”>Vimeo</a>.</p>

Slow Road

March 10, 2013September 15, 2014 / benjaminwoelk / 3 Comments

It has been far too long since I have written but I assure you that has not meant my efforts towards honoring local integrity and working towards community improvement have subsided in the least bit.

The main reason I am making this post today however, is because I want to share with you that I am launching and hosting a brand new project that I am incredibly excited about. I am currently working along side a production company here in Rochester to produce a local travel series that will put a lens on the often overlooked people and places from our region. I can tell you from my own personal experience that there are incredible things happening in and around our community that often don’t see the light of day enough for us to even pay attention.

Today I spent the day filming in and around Medina, NY to take time to explore and discover the many incredible initiatives that are happening there. It is a myth that innovation cannot come from outside of a major metropolitan area and quite the contrary after today’s filming in Medina I would actual assert that the village is demonstrating greater innovation in their urban planning then we are here in Rochester, NY.

Medina’s investement and creativity in adaptive reuse of beautiful (and often dilapidated) infrastructure is something that will be making major news with or without my project’s attention, just remember you heard that here first!

It was an incredible day of exploration and conversation which will not only make you want to visit this amazing small village of Medina but will also challenge your perception of what is happening here in Upstate New York.

We are surrounded by amazing people and places and it is time we start paying attention, my project will do just that and will give the incredible people (and their personalities) an opportunity to be known and heard.

I anticipate that the first screening of this series will begin in early Summer of this year (2013).

Sometimes it takes a slow road for us to take notice of the beauty that is around us, I’m thankful I explored one today and that it is reinvigorating a desire and passion to explore, pursue, and honor the people and places of our greater community.

Stay tuned, this is something you do not want to pass by!

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.