Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Day Dreaming...

One of the most interesting things about starting the Aqualand Ale House is seeing the differences in who we thought we would be and who we are becoming.
We thought that we would draw a craft beer enthusiast that may want to have some supper while they enjoy a brew.  Thanks to Chef John and his kitchen staff, we have instead become a destination for a great fresh ingredients meal also.  We are finding that our customer enjoys a great atmosphere, thanks to the architecture of the original building and the tweaking of the interior that my training and experience in my other work has given me the ability to pull together. I think artisan craft and microbrew all come to mind when describing us, but we have become so much more than that. 

I think this is a double edged sword.  While we love the reputation that we are quickly gaining with foodies, we don't want to lose sight of the core message that the best of the craft beers can be sampled on a daily basis- on temperature and fresh.  We want to make the art of craft and the message of the little guy central to an experiential sampling of great flavors.

As we complete our first year at high season, we are already day dreaming about what comes next.  We know for sure there will be a beer garden by the time we open in the spring-  exactly what that means is in process, but we have plans....We designed our model around a specialty oven, but ran out of time to expedite the project of building it in.  This too will be a focus during the quieter season of fall.

Beyond that, we are playing the, "Where do we see ourselves in 5 years" game.  We have always set goals as a couple, as a family and now as small business owners, it only makes sense to evaluate our goals in the same way.  The rules to this process are, 1. Express your deepest day dreams-  nothing is off the table; 2. Throw out lots of ideas, the notion here is that you are looking for possibilities, not limiting anything- including expectations. 3. Listen well to each other regardless of how ridiculous the other's ideas may sound at first blush- I cannot tell you how often my husband's hair-brained ideas have been exactly where we have found our path leading. 4. Close your eyes and imagine a day in that life then decide how that feels vs. how another five year away life feels. 5. Write everything down and say a prayer. Step away for a while and then come back and discuss any new thoughts that have come to you in to exercise of processing all the ideas just thrown around. 
6. Re-visit and break the same process down in a 3 year span, then a 1 year span.
7. Write one year actions that move in the directions of the 3 and 5 year goals, recognizing that you cannot move up the clock, but you can move firmly in a specific direction.

We love finding our written lists from the past years.  It gives us a chance to look back and see where we thought we were going vs. where we actually went.

The Aqualand Ale House is a baby, but we are day dreaming already about where we will be going next. 

Keep watching and stay tuned.  One thing we don't do is settle. Another thing we do not know is how to stop moving forward. Step one has been so great, so many people have offered helpful suggestions and ideas on things we can add to enhance the experience further.  We know this is because everyone wants us to succeed. It has been a great first season and we look forward to a great next step in the adventure.

Thanks All! 

Monday, July 15, 2013

Free-Range Husband

Recently, one of my best pals from high school stopped by the ale house.  We had re-connected on facebook and had caught up on lots of family history via this social media opportunity.  But of all the things I had posted, Mac remembered me referring to my husband as a “free-range” husband as my stand-out comment.  He shook my husband’s hand and told us he wants to be a free-range husband too.
Just last weekend, my husband explained to a group of our friends that he finds playing it safe to be a false goal.  Risk and reward go hand in hand.   His philosophy and faith challenge him to stretch us and always be ready to be challenged.  Opening the Aqualand Ale House in northern Wisconsin is an extreme risk.
I wonder sometimes if he had known then what he knows now, if he would change anything.  This endeavor has certainly been the most challenging thing we have ever done, to include two years of separation while he risked all in a war zone thousands of miles away.  I have hinted in previous blogs that there are many stories we could tell.  Let me just say as I give you a glimpse- we are now VERY stretchy!
What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger right?  Well, we are also particularly strong now.  The power has gone out four times, always when we were open and serving- the issues everything from a lighting strike to stressing the capacity during hot humid and peak service times.  The septic had to be upgraded immediately rather than staging our upgrades the way we had discussed with the state. Several key pieces of kitchen equipment have leaked, broken down or been non-functioning.   Thank goodness the power was already out the night the big brown bat found his way in an open doorway….Mr. Military is not so good with bats, so I grabbed the broom and our bartender’s dad and I helped him find his way back outside.  Our credit cards are run via internet.  Well, every time the power goes out, the server has to be re-set, not an easy task and the first two times we didn’t recognize the issue until it was time to help someone pay their bill.  It was one of the many moments we were crying for the help of our techno-sons. 
Having never scheduled staff, we did not initially realize that this would truly be the most challenging weekly task.  Many weeks I would be left feeling that in trying to make everyone ok, no one was ok.  Everyone’s needs and life schedules are a puzzle, and since most of our staff work part time, they all have other job or jobs to work around as well.  I will say this- I am very impressed with the enterprising attitude of our college and high school workers.  No one can accuse our young adults of being lazy that’s for sure!
I entitled this post Free- Range husband.  And this is what I want to close with.  My husband comes from  a modest, hardworking ,faith-based south western Wisconsin agricultural family.  He has always shared the story of his very first visit to Boulder Jct as a journey into a fantasy kingdom.  The icing on his cake during that first visit was the newborn fawn in my parent’s kitchen as was so often the case in our zoo family home.
He never knew my paternal grandfather, who passed away when I was a teenager, but he has admired the courage and tenacity and slight craziness of my family’s story.  For him, to be able to celebrate and pay homage to Aqualand’s history as part of our new venture means absolutely everything.  His respect for my family and their courage is evident in everything he hopes to emulate.  I love my husband so and love him more than ever for loving Boulder Jct as much as I do. 
In a piece I once wrote about my husband’s office guy career prior to his deployments overseas, I referred to his office/officer life as “death by cubicle”.  The chaotic, messy and challenging life of a small business owner suits his free ranging nature so much better.
We are risking everything, trusting God and flinging our arms wide.  No matter what happens, we will never be accused of being safe or boring.  People ask if we will ever brew our own beer.  I have to tell you, I see that crazy, rogue-elemental glint in my husband’s eye as he says, “not yet”, and know that we are not done stretching yet…and as I shiver a little in fear I find myself also wondering if Mac wants to become a brewmaster?!

Saturday, July 6, 2013

Hair on Fire!

We are screaming along now!  Busy, busy busy and thankful to be so!  There are so many folks who want to know whatever posessed us, two people with no food service industry to speak of, opening a business in a scary, risky part of the country-Northern, Wisconsin.  Frankly speaking, there are days when we want to know what possessed us too.

I could regale you with the stories of all of the adventures and mis-adventures to date, but I am guessing you can only imagine. 

There real story though, lies with people.  Our staff-  tenatious, determined and loyal.  We are humbled by their willingness to lay it all out there to help us succeed.  there is no way on earth we could do this without them.  It is our goal to relieve the extra stress and burden they have each shouldered so that they can enjoy every minute of the day with us.  Everyone gets along so well here.  That is virtually unheard of when working with different people from different places in a high stress environment.  When we get to flying through a busy night, we can still find time to tease and laugh a bit.  The chef and his staff in particular find a way to enjoy the hot, tiny kitchen and produce fabulous food that has built a name for us in just a few short weeks.

Our bartenders enjoy people, their stories and sharing the experience of really, really good beer.  Nothing thrills us all more than to create a new beer snob! 

The wait staff are superheros.  Two people handling a crowd like ours is never easy, but they manage to do it with style and grace.  I am amazed that there have not been any missteps- well, unless the novices like me are trying to lend a hand, but even then people are gracious and forgiving when I forget to re-fill a glass or forget to bring the ticket, for some reason my two biggest airhead moves.

But my husband has amazed me the most of all.  His move from career military man to long-haired host is a tranformation that has to be seen to be believed.  He loves to share his knowledge of craft beer with each and every guest and also loves to hear everyone's story.  "Where are you from?  How was your beer/meal?".  He wants to know.   I don't think anyone sneaks in and out without his thoughtful conversation.  There are times when he is very hard on himself for little things, times when he forgets the detail in the fast pace of the moment.  But to me, his gift of hospitality is anchored in his love for people and love for craft beer.

We need more help-  a few more partners in our journey.  We would love to have live music or other entertainment....so many ideas yet to be developed.  But today, I am feeling blessed.  People come more than once-  which tells us we are doing okay. 

Though we race through many days with our hair on fire, we are happy.  The future is bright and we hope to see you soon!