#9 The Cemetary

After a long hiatus we continue the 18 reasons we love Chateaugay mancation:

#9 The Cemetary

As if being out in the middle of the woods by a lake in an ancient cottage built by some of the worst deathrow inmates in the state wasn't enough to draw comparisons to the setting of a horror fim.  Just a few hundred yards away lies a cemetary that serves as the final resting place to dozens of pople from the Civil War era.  The creepiest being a set of triplets all dying in a 3 year window.

Now, one would think that the fact that you can see the headstones from the dock would be enough of an eerie reminder of the possibility of the paranormal, add to that the stories told by the Ryan family about a certain "visitor".  According to eyewitness accounts, several "Greyface" sightings have been noted peeking in windows late at night at the cottage.

No week in Chateaugay would be complete without a late night trip through the woods, a test of fortitude to be certain.  Men make the long walk at night, real men make the trek with no flashlight and yet only one man has ever done it alone.  One year during a traditional trip to the graveyard, several people claim to have seen a little girl crossing their path into the woods by the grave yard.  The story goes that she walked by, stopped to look at them and then made her way into the forest with no flashlight, wearing pajamas in the middle of the night.  Other times have been marked by tiki-torches, shirtless expeditions, blinding cobwebs, deer, lost wallets and cuddling on the path.

Packed full of tradition and memories, the Cemetary is just another reason we love Chateaugay Lake Mancation.

#10 The Drive

Continuing the series on the 18 reasons we love Chateaugay Mancation:

#10 The Drive

At first glance an 11+ hour drive (almost 14 for Cincinnatians) each way would seem like the bane of any traveler's vacation, but with any true pilgrimage, the journey is has its own place in the adventure.  Yes, just like migratory birds heading north for the summer, we load into various vehicles and travel the same roads, stopping at the same landmarks year after year.  From the first stop in Erie, PA to the bittersweet passage through 2 states only to realize there's still about 8 hours left to go.  Then passing through the western tip of New York you see decieving signs for Chautauqua Lake giving us all an instant of false hope, thinking we had reached our destination.  Next is the required stop at the Angola Service station just outside of Buffalo where the prices are more inflated than a blowfish at the zoo after the six year old banged on his tank for too long.  (Some conversations overheard at the McDonald's at said service station "I'll have a McDouble, fries and a drink off the $5 menu."  "Wow, only $12.50 for a Big Mac value meal?")   After a quick gas stop and a right turn at Buffalo, Rochester passes by and then Syracuse.  As Watertown approaches, the goal is in sight.  One last stop for food at the Ft. Drum McDonalds (whether you're hungry or not) and its on to the last major leg.  Traveling through Gouverneur (where keeping it "all in the family" takes on a whole new meaning), Canton and Pottsdam taking 11b regardless of what Google maps, Mapquest and AAA say is faster you go this way because Steve Ryan says so... and because its tradition.  One last chuckle as the route takes you through the towns of Bangor and West Bangor then its on to Malone (or the last bit of "civilization" you'll see) for the supply stop.  Only the nescessities on this shopping trip, a case of beer, food for the next day and toilet paper, the rest comes tomorrow, but right now its down the home stretch to camp.  The rest of the trip is quite magical, in the daytime there is one moment where the trees and houses open up and you have a crystal clear view of the lake in all its splendor with the tees and mountians in the background.  For me, that's when I know I've arrived.  Then its a few minutes until you make the right turn past those timeless white lightposts, down the unpaved road through the woods to the Ryan-Hyland compound just as you had left it 12 months ago.  Congratulations, you have just entered the timewarp, you have just arrived in God's country.

All seriousness aside, some of the great Mancation memories have come from the drive, whether its overnight, during the day or some combination of both.  John and Brian making the trip from Baltimore... The 6 degrees of Carrie Ewles... Patrick's gobbler, showing up with his Bronson Arroyo hat and Ryan Freel's dirty shirt...Joking about "That Smell" by Lynyrd Skynyrd all week only to have it play on the radio 5 minutes from home...Jered, Ken and me all squeezing into Gary's Caddy and having the seat attack him like a scene out of Star Wars...Ken's all night at the helm... who can forget cracking jokes while eating at the Erie, PA McDonald's, passing through Bangor, or passing by the "Local Honey" shack. Of course just about everyone of us has had some bathroom emergency, from having to spill beans at a Bob Evans to having to urinate like a thouroughbread one hour away from your final destination.  Anything I'm missing?

That's why the drive is one of the reasons we love Chateaugay Mancation.

#12 & #11 The Music, The Piano and Sing-Alongs

Continuing the series on the 18 reasons we love Chateaugay Mancation:


#12 & #11 The Music, The Piano and Sing-Alongs


For all who've experienced the joy of Chateaugay in late June, you know that the daily boat-ride through the narrows, past the sandbar to the upper lake would not be complete without one man


Neil


Lovescape is possibly the most listened to album while on the lake. When I hear "If There Were No Dreams", "Mountains of Love", "When You Miss Your Love", "Fortune of the Night" and others I can almost pinpoint an exact location on the lake associated with those songs. Partly sunny skies, breezy, a cigar in one hand, a Bubba-Keg in the other and Neil playing on the radio reflects the laid-back, down to earth, yet sophisticated style of a Chateaugay boat ride.

Of course no true Chateaugay evening would be complete without the sounds of horseshoes crashing into the iron in sync with the opening tune of the 10th Anniversary Recording of Les Miserables. Throughout the week the timbre of Neil Diamond and the Bert Lahr-esque croons of Colm Wilkinson are 2 staples of the wide variety of music that comprises the soundtrack of Chateaugay. Matisyahu to Skid Row, Derek Webb to Jekyll & Hyde set the tone from lunch time on the porch to evenings around the grill.

Another part of the music surrounding Chateaugay comes from the 100+ year-old upright piano that magically stays in tune while experiencing temperature extremes from the single digits to the low 80's. Everyone gets a chance to sing along side the ole' rough and ready, from the whole group singing Uncle Jim's Irish drinking songs to Kenny Ken's extended rockstar fermatas, duets, solos and even a piece of classical piano courtesy of the Maestro. On occasion even JOB has been known to tickle the skins, but if you're really lucky you'll see special guest Pat Ryan on guitar. No matter what, the presence of a Piano and/or a radio provides all the entertainment needed on a week-long vacation without such modern distractions as TVs, cell phones or the internets making the music, the piano and sing-alongs reasons we love Chateaugay Mancation.

#14 The Food and #13 The Grill

Part 5 of the ongoing series on the 18 reasons we love Chateaugay Mancation

#14 The Food and #13 The Grill

Is it the location, the grill, the Price Chopper food or the communal effort that makes the Chateaugay Cuisine so special? Where else does the thought of eating red Glazier's Hot Dogs (in "natural" casings) on New England style split-top buns topped with Easy-Cheese and Nance's Mustard every day for lunch sound like a great idea? No where else but Chateaugay. There must be something special about the yearly Mancation to make Triscuits, easy cheese, wicked sharp cheddar & Genesee Cream Ale "gourmet" snacks. Nothing would make any man's week complete without artery-clogging goodness. From Dolly Parton-sized BBQ Chicken Breasts to 12lbs of Pork Loin complete with the Chef's special Au Jus, each of us consume enough protein to put a Sumo Wrestler's diet to shame. Add that to the massive amount of McCadam Cheese (both brick and curds) consumed and its no wonder a trip to the bathroom can be considered a full-day event.

All of this, of course is made possible by Executive Chef, Jered and the communal efforts of the rest of the crew. Whether the menu consists of the Ryan's famous 2lbs Chateaugay Fatburgers, or Kenny Ken's signature pasta, one factor" continues to be the silent partner in the collaborative miracle that is a Mancation dinner: The Grill.

It has been said that there has never been a bad meal cooked on The Grill (not just any grill but The Grill) and any attempt to replace it has been in vain. Nothing is more manly than various meats on a good ole' fashioned charcoal grill in the summer. Add that to a good cigar, horseshoes, camaraderie, tunes and plenty of cold drinks and you have one sweet recipe. If the porch is where the issues of the world are discussed, around the grill is where the joys of life, nature and man-hood are shared and experienced... at least until it is time to do the dishes...

Epic Amounts of Pork at Chateaugay

Stuff Eric Likes

Have you ever been to StuffChristiansLike.net? It might just change your life... seriously I llol (literally laugh out loud) on a daily basis. From talk about the tankini to the side hug Jon Acuff keeps the hilarity flowing like (insert funny reference here).



We're almost to the tax filing deadline and admittedly I have yet to start my taxes. Speaking of taxes, well, not really but speaking of money, mint.com is a great site to get your stuff in order and if you need to stay out of debt check out Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University, it might just change your life. My wife and I chipped away at out $5,ooo in credit card debt in a little over a year and you can too.

Check out my friend Jered's blog good stuff on beer, culture and some real gritty issues, glad to have him back in the saddle. Also a new comer to the blog-o-sphere check out a guy getting his feet wet.

Of course no list of mine could be complete without mentioning two of my weekly hangouts. Postsecret.com excellent social commentary, humanity at its most raw and Zero Punctuation, if you're a gamer you'll love it (unless you're a fanboy). Check them out.

What sites do you like?

#15 The Porch

Part 4 of the ongoing series on the 18 reasons we love Chateaugay Mancation


#15 The Porch


If you stop to consider what makes Chateaugay Chateaugay (in all its glory, wonder and awe), the porch has to be a dark horse in the running. At first glance the outsider would say, "what's so special about a screened in porch?" but this is is no ordinary house-extension. This porch is the ultimate time-warp, it seems from year to year everything seems to stay the same, none of the furniture matches (in style and decade), there are fishing poles that span the evolution range of the sport and of course the dreaded hanging glass windows of death (in all fairness one side was recently replaced with lighter, safer plexiglass, but I digress).


Many of the best Chateaugay moments were spent on that porch. From mid-day naps on the comfiest couch in the world, to a cigars, Maxims & novels afternoon on a rainy day the porch is the staple, the Grand Central Station if you will, of camp. All activities start from the porch. It is the place where Steve's morning coffee and smoke in "his chair" (or so I am told, since no of us are ever up early enough to witness it), lunch, cheese, evening cigars, conversations and other events (like the TOB) take place.


Who can forget Pat's leftovers-turned-gourmet-midnight snacks, "mellow" moments, smoking the Ming, the TOB ('06-'08 editions), trying to hammer out Pat's best man speech, introducing Uncle Jim to a wider variety of cigars, yelling at Pat to hurry up either into or from the porch, hearing him respond with something followed by "right quick", searching every nook and cranny to see where the bugs were getting in only to realize that a whole window was out.


The porch is where some of the essential Chateaugay bonds are formed whether the topic is girls, cigars or God, quite reflection or deep discussion, life happens on the porch. From the time we wake up and groggily stumble down for lunch to the evening conversations before we head to bed, the porch is the steady constant just waiting for us to return- to reconnect- to rejuvenate in the timeless treasure that is the Chateaugay Mancation.

#16 Horse Shoes (and other competitive activities)

Part 3 of the ongoing series on the 18 reasons we love Chateaugay Mancation


#16 Horse Shoes (and other competitive activities)


Ah yes, what night at camp would be complete without the sound of horseshoes on the iron? As much of a staple on a Chateaugay Mancation as impounded colons and clogged arteries, the nightly games if horseshoes have been the source of innumerable moments that make or break you as a man. That pit has seen its share of ups and downs when it comes to shoes. JOB's aerial tree-branch cutters and ground-scorching rolling-end-over-enders have shared the same sand as Pat Ryan's perfect one-backwards-turn iron seeking missiles. From the very first "night game" cooking dinner and tossing shoes has been a not-oft-missed ritual, forging and strengthening friendships while the visiting team of Pat and Chad pulling up in the Garbage Barge and cleaning Camp Tekakwitha's clock is sure to plant the seeds of bitterness. Never the less, the competition and camaraderie of a spirited shoes match with a cold beverage in a bubba-keg, Chateaugay cheese and a cigar is second to none.

Competition itself is at the core of an all-guys vacation. Whether it is going all in on a pair of aces or paregoric in head-to-head no limit poker for the bracelet, eating 7 Michigans just to break Brandon's record, running the 1 and 2 coded offense during a "friendly" football game and debating whether or not you were touched with both hands, sacrificing intestinal integrity to record the longest Keg-stand time, vying for the title of "second-best athlete here", trying to win the wiffle-ball home run derby in the sandlot while being attacked by malaria-infested mosquitoes or chasing down the "pike that got away", competition and camp go hand and hand.

Just remember, we're all out here to have a good time regardless of how long its been since you've swung the wrenches around and at the end of the day it doesn't matter if we've been in the boat freezing our nipples off waiting for "just one more drift" (even though there hasn't been a single bite all day) or we're watching you whiff on the first tee (after joking about it the whole way to the golf course) at the end of the day there will always be a game of shoes, a beverage in a bubba-keg, Chateaugay cheese and a cigar waiting for you.

Horse Shoes (and other competitive activities) are just another reason why we love the Chateaugay Mancation.