Been wanting to take a trip up to the Tuthilltown Spirits Distillery for awhile now, so I finally made the trip up to Gardiner, NY with my family and my cuz. I wanted to take the tour and check out how they make and distill their Hudson Whiskey and other alcohols. The tour starts with you checking in at the beautiful store where they sell their merchandise…from whiskey to coasters. The store has a very rustic feel and is decorated nicely with the perfect ambiance for the distillery. After checking in, you go outside on the deck with your group and tour guide (our guide was Lyon) where he gives you the history of the company, starting out with how the owner’s idea went from “Bunks in the Gunks” to the first distillery in NY since the prohibition. To kick off the tour of the grounds you start in a barn at these massive metal canisters where the mash ferments. You then move on to the room that houses the big copper distills. It’s pretty cool that they’re still using the very first distill that the founder, Ralph Erenzo, started his business using. We continued the tour into the bottling room where there is a little assembly line for filling, corking and labeling. We were lucky enough to be one of the last tours to be shown this original room, but due to their growth, they’re soon moving to a larger building to up production. We finished the tour with the best part – the tasting. Unfortunately, by law, you can only try 3 different alcohols out of their selection, which included different whiskeys, a vodka, a gin, and a few other selections. I tried the Corn Whiskey, Baby Bourbon, and the Maple Rye Whiskey. I ended up bringing home a bottle of Baby Bourbon and Corn Whiskey to enjoy at home! I would’ve cleaned house and probably bought damn near a bottle of everything if I didn’t have the wifey with me. *Side note to all the men out there…I love doing things with my wife but on trips like this maybe keep them at home so you can actually clean house lol (just kidding, you need a designated driver lol) I didn’t even know they made anything else besides whiskey, but I am def glad I know now. Besides loving their bourbons I am now a huge fan of their gins and vodka! Though I have never actually used them myself I also like their bitters and plan on adding them to my next purchase. I have only recently discovered my love for whiskey, so I have not ventured on to making drinks – been just drinking them straight up to get a nose and taste for them. If you take the trip up here, I highly recommend you stop by their restaurant, The Gristmill, after your tour. I truly cannot wait to go back…as a matter of fact, I already have a date with my cousin to do so. Their menu ranges from chicken wings and burgers to steaks, ducks, lasagna, and rack of lamb. They all have their own little twist to make them different from the norm. The bartender, totally drawing a blank on his name, was very personable and one of the best cocktail craftsmen (which he called himself lol) I have come across. He definitely earned the title! He made the best tasting cocktails by far and also some of the wildest. I told him I wanted to try a couple of different types of drinks. He started me off with a drink that had garlic in it, which was surprisingly good! After that I tried a drink with tequila and cilantro…which might be the best drink I’ve ever tried. He was doing everything from putting actual smoke in drinks for flavor and had a ton of his own bitters on the bar to use. When we visited, we sat at the bar with a good friend of mine, Gable, who works at the distillery as a distiller and brand ambassador and is also the son of one of the owners, Ralph Erenzo. He walked us around the restaurant, which has an amazing history and a lot of cool, vintage features. He took us downstairs and showed us some of the original parts of the mill. He also brought us out back and showed us the working dam that’s also part of the restaurant. Nathan enjoyed asking him a bunch of questions lol Now I could’ve went on about more of the history and tastes but I don’t want to give everything away and want to make sure you get the same great experience I did on my first visit!
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We’re always looking for fun, new things to do with my boy. He’s your typical boy who likes climbing, jumping and just being a maniac. Did some Googling and came across this place we’ve never heard of in CT. Compared it to a few others in the area and this one seemed to have the most activities, so we headed to The Children’s Movement Center in New Milford, CT. It was one of the bigger gyms we had taken him to. Inside it had 2 sections: one for little kids and one for older kids. We didn’t explore the older section but it had really cool activities like a climbing wall, large trampoline, zip-line and a surf machine. The younger kids section had a ball pit, bouncy house, trampoline, some creative swings and a McDonalds styles obstacle course. Nathan was so excited he didn’t even know where to start. The large obstacle course had a little bit of everything – ramps, steps, rope bridges, large yoga bouncy balls and 2 large slides. His favorite thing, though the least active, was the ball pit. This ball pit had a ball cleaning machine that they used at night, 3 days a week to clean and sanitize all of the balls. When playing in the pit, the kids are able to put the balls in this hole that shot the balls back out and then dropped back in the pit. This seemed to be Nate’s favorite thing to do…the process of cleaning the balls lol. Nathan gets so excited every time he sees a bouncy house – we both got our bounce on. He makes jumping and landing on his butt look so easy and painless – not so much for me anymore! We’ll definitely be going back to The Children’s Movement Center. We all had a blast – and it was only $10 for just Nate – even though mommy and daddy got to play too. Maybe next time he’ll give the swings another shot and spend some more time on the trampoline. Since it was a gym day I kept it casual. Got these new jogger sweats from Urban Outfitters – joggers are really the only sweats I like wearing at the moment. Layered my new UO Zanerobe short-sleeve hoodie over an extra long H&M long-sleeve tee for that casual streetstyle look. Thought these retro looking Adidas sneakers fit with this casual street style well. Topped the look off with a Carhartt beanie. Love these – my son’s got the same one!
Headed back to Brooklyn this weekend for a kids birthday party that Nate was invited to. It was good to be back in Brooklyn – been a while since I’ve been there. Unfortunately we didn’t have as much time as we hoped for since Nate wasn’t feeling good in the morning. But, even the ride down passing the flea markets and food trucks was nostalgic for me and made me want to come back and enjoy those things again. The party was in Prospect Park…felt like we were in a mini Central Park. It was a beautiful day and I was able to run around with my son, climb trees, and race, all while drinking boxed wine and eating cheese. Lately it seems like every time I leave the house I’m wearing my Eastland boots. Looking forward to pulling the trigger on a pair of Red Wings in the next few weeks to change it up. Wore my Levi jeans and cuffed them up to show more of these dope boots. The green army style jacket is another piece I’ve had and havent worn in a while. My wife used to hate this jacket and she’s actually the one who suggested it. I paired it with my H&M short sleeve denim button down, which seems to look good with everything. I love mixing together the different denims. After the park we did have some time to walk around the neighborhood. We didn’t find the boutiques & vintage shops we were hoping for but still got to do some shopping.
Went out to one of my favorite spots this weekend, the Eleven-11 Bar & Grille, with a couple of my faves for some good food and drinks. I decided to wear my new green Goorin Good Boy Fedora from Urban Outfitters. Lately I’ve been really digging these style hats. The green color is very rich and the silhouette is much different than my rust hat. Rather than wearing a basic tee, I wore my French Connection short-sleeve Henley, to dress up my casual look a bit. I’ve probably owned this shirt for almost 6 years. For some reason this always used to be my vacation shirt and I used to consider this being dressed up lol. Once again I’m wearing a pair of my Eastland’s, specifically the Sherman 1955 Boots. I love that these boots are a classic suede and have a thick, rugged sole. They are also super comfortable – they kind of feel like a hard-soled slipper. Lately I’ve been on a bold sock kick. Since I’m all about the basics lately, rocking these patterned socks underneath makes you feel like you’ve got a little something unique going on – these are from Happy Socks. Threw on my timeless Timex watch. This watch, though inexpensive, still seems to look good with any outfit. It doesn’t have any bells and whistles like a more expensive watch, but it’s simple, clean and classic. Had a great dinner, got to drink some of my Dogfish Punkin Ale (with the cinnamon and sugar rim) and listened to some live music. Ended off the night at a bar next door with some more beers and some ping pong…where my wife kicked my ass lol
We’re in the middle of fall and Halloween is coming up soon. October is a great month for activities with your kid. Seems like every weekend you can find something to do. This Saturday we took Nathan to 2 different trick or treating events. The first one was kind of blah but there was a hot dog truck called Pippy’s Hotdog Truck that had amazing, creative hot dogs. I had the Monster Mash Dog which had spicy catsup, jalapeño mustard & crushed salt and vinegar chips. We did have a lot of fun jumping on and off of rocks though lol. He recently learned how to jump and now want’s to jump off of everything! We then moved on to another Halloween/car show event at his cousin’s school. Here Nathan got to play in a bouncy house – which he’s addicted to – and we got to see some really cool cars. We also got to trick or treat from car to car (he’s on a kick of saying ‘trick or treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat’ lately). As always, when going to any fall event, you gotta get some apple cider donuts and apple cider. Nathan wore Johns Hopkins scrubs and a stethoscope with a pair of Air Jordan 11’s taxi, that every doctor should own. High hopes for the future! I wore another pair of GAP ripped skinny jeans (on a GAP jeans kick lately). I rarely wear all black, but with Halloween coming up I thought it fit. I wore a black long sleeve shirt, by On the Byas, which is very comfortable. It almost has a jersey knit feel. The jacket also happens to be by On the Byas. I really like the quilted part of this jacket and the no-collar look. I’m a big fan of quilted patterns. The Eastland Made in Maine Wildwood boots are very well constructed. It has horween leather, genuine rawhide laces and a Vibram rubber sole. As always with Eastland, I love the look and quality. The rugged silhouette mixed with the wood grain strip above the sole is the perfect mix of classic and tough. Every week I look forward to finally getting to the weekend so I can look for more activities to do with my boy. As he’s getting older, we’re finding more and more things we can do together – love seeing him smile!
We stayed over night in MD so that we could hit up some fall festivals and take my son Nate pumpkin picking. We went to Fifer Orchards and had a blast. He was able to go on a train pulled by a tractor, played in a corn-box (a giant sandbox filled with corn), go through a corn maze, and then we moved on to my son’s favorite, the slide – which I also joined him in! He must’ve went up and down at least 20 times, I must’ve went up and down about 10. Thinking about building one of these slides at my house! I had an amazing pork taco with all fresh ingredients but unfortunately I ate it before I could take a picture…had some amazing apple cider donuts and also got to swing down a zip line – which was pretty cool. This was one of the better farms we’ve been to – the food was awesome…lots of activities and the donuts were the best ever. For the day I wore a plain grey tee with a pair of GAP ripped denim jeans, a POLO denim button down, black Adidas shell-tops, my burnt orange Felt Porkpie hat from Urban Outfitters and a necklace my wife bought me. I know a lot of people don’t think GAP is a good brand, but I always seem to find things that fit well, look good and at a good price. Bought these jeans for $15 – love the way they look and fit. I say buy what you like, and what looks good – don’t just buy a brand. This is one of the nicest denim button-downs I’ve come cross. The ivory buttons add a sick detail. I have about 4 Adidas pro model high tops and I’ll probably be adding more in the future – love the way these shoes look…straight hip hop. So this is one of my first hats in years – I have a small peanut head and most hats don’t fit my head good lol For most hats to fit me, I’d have to tuck in my ears – not a good look – so when I came across this hat that fit my tiny head it was a score! I’m hoping to add more style hats to the wardrobe in the future – and already have 2 on order. Besides my wedding band and a few watches, I don’t have any accessories – never was really into it. Lately I’ve been trying to expand my style and add some new pieces. I used to think the only accessories for guys were watches and gold. Unfortunately it’s hard for me to afford the watches I like or heavy pieces in real gold. I’m starting to realize that you don’t have to feel cheesy wearing fake gold as long as your not trying to pass it off as real – but if you’re comfortable with it – own it! My wife helped me out with this sick Lovebullets Arkansas Crystal Necklace from Urban Outfitters (it’s a bullet with quartz coming out of the shell). As we were leaving Fifer Orchards there was a John Deere vendor set up. Nathan got to check out some of the tractors – told daddy to buy a new tractor and cut the grass lol He also noticed a little tractor for himself and fell in love. We’re in the midst of potty training and told him if he went on the potty we would get him the tractor. A couple days later, poop in toilet, tractor delivered! #Imabigboynow. Tractor review coming soon…
Headed down to Infamous Tattoo in Delaware this weekend to get some more ink added to my sleeve in progress. I went down there not really knowing what I 100% wanted, but knew I wanted something to represent NY. I had saved a bunch of tattoos I liked…one of them was an Indian taking a mask off. I was looking through some NY pictures and thought about trying to incorporate some Brooklyn into it. I didn’t want to get a normal statue of liberty and I wanted something with a twist to make it a little different. I thought it’d be cool to incorporate the Luna Park Coney Island mask into the tat, so Steve mocked it up with lady liberty taking off the mask. I was sold. Because I had to drive so many hours away we had to leave at 4:30 in the morning. The tattoo took about 7 hours – while my wife and boy explored the area. Out of all the tattoos I got so far this is the most painful one because of the bicep and elbow area. I’m real happy with the way it came out. I was nervous about the hand (because I’ve seen a bunch of other tattoos with hands that just don’t look in proportion to the rest of the tat)…I thought he did a good job executing it. It’s still unfinished, but I’m looking forward to adding a few more things to rep Brooklyn and Coney Island and to bring it all together. Day 2 of our Delaware weekend coming soon!
Before heading to the bar for football, me and the fam went apple picking. I’m not really a jersey guy, but still wanted to rep my team so I went with the NFL Team Apparel short sleeve polo. Being today was a little chilly and it felt like fall, I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to short-sleeves so I layered it with my wool insulated plaid GAP vest. Lately I’ve been having a harder time finding a decent pair of jeans. My wife is a big fan of American Eagle, and she kept suggesting I try there. I was totally against it because I felt like if I shopped at American Eagle it would be nothing but clothing for a teen. After being reluctant to shop there I finally gave in and tried on a pair. These have a decent fit and give off that distressed look. They have a slim cut leg and fall on the boot nicely. This is my first pair of GRAVIS Shoes. These are the trekker boots. GRAVIS is a Japan based extreme sports brand. I was a little reluctant buying a boot from a sneaker company but turned out I really like these a lot. I like the rugged look and they have the comfort of a sneaker. These don’t have the premium materials you might find in a high-end boot but they are waterproof, which will hopefully help them last. Wifey picked me up these neon camo Under Armour socks to keep up my sock game. This is a Victorinox Swiss Army CHRONO Classic Men’s Watch Model 241123. It has a swiss quartz movement (battery operated). The dial is blue with gold subdials, and the case is stainless steel and Gold-PVD. I really like how the gold and silver look with the navy blue. This is my first Swiss Army watch. It came with a silver and gold stainless steel band and I switched it for today with a Crown and Buckle NATO strap.
I really like the drawstring on these Rake Shorts by Cotton-On…so much so, I bought 4 pairs in different colors right at the start of summer. I like the fit and the fact that they’re cut right above the knee. The style of them is a little preppy with a frayed cut giving them a little bit of edge. They’re super comfortable (almost feels like a pair of sweat shorts) but look clean. This graphic tee by OBEY is thin with a super soft cotton. I love the gym-style cut of the sleeves and neck with the distressed graphic on the front. Love this Casio x In4mation G-Shock GLX-5600XA. I have quite a few G-Shocks, but the hawaiian inspired color sold me on this one. The G-Shock iteself will never go out of style and are built to last forever. To be honest, I don’t really use any of the functions that these watches have but I love the fact that it’s solar powered and I never need a battery – and that it’s water proof…great for the beach, gym or poolside. These are the Ronnie Fieg x PUMA Disc Blaze “Coat of Arms” sneakers. I’m a big fan of the PUMA disc silhouette and like most of Ronnie Fieg’s collabs. With the nubuck coral toe box accented with the black leather sides and 3m paint splatters on the sole, the materials are premium. These were a limited release – happy I was able to get a pair.
I am huge tattoo fan and constantly looking at tattoo artists and their artwork. Unfortunately, like many others, I regret my first tattoo (tribal, which I will not show!). Once I started getting that tattoo itch again, I searched for years for a tattoo artist and a tattoo that was worth putting on my body. At this point I felt that every tattoo needed to have a meaning after the first one had no meaning and now will eventually be removed. Now that I’ve learned, I would never just go to any tattoo parlor and throw anything on my body. It also kills me when people tell me the reason they chose a certain tattoo studio is because they’ve gotten a good deal on it! Being from NY its hard to find (in my eyes) a good tattoo artist for less than $300 – $500/hr. Once I finally figured out what I wanted as my next tattoo, the search to find a tattoo artist that I liked and what I could afford was the next hardest task. I started looking for tattoo artists outside of NY and while searching a very well known tattoo artists’ site (Shane O’Neil), I came across Steve Wimmer’s profile. After looking at his art I knew this was definitely someone I’d like to get tattooed by. Seeing that his art was so good I was skeptical the price was going to be outrageous. In my eyes it wasn’t and it ended up being a good fit. Some people think driving 4 hrs for a tattoo is nuts. This tattoo is going to be on your body for the rest of your life. For me driving 4 hrs is worth it (I drive 4 hours just to go skiing for the day). I wasn’t sure what photo I was gonna get until the night before and then I remember looking over and seeing this picture of my son making a funny growling face. It just reminds me a little of myself – I can see me taking that same photo. I also know that every time I look down at this tattoo it will make me smile. The tattoo came out amazing. I am constantly getting stopped in public to look at it and compliments and will be going back in October to get my 3rd tattoo from him (in the direction of completing my sleeve). More tattoos to come…