Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Catch-up

I didn't post about this earlier, since it came up rather quickly and per my usual, I got caught up on something else and forgot that I forgot about posting about it.  Then we went on vacation, which was bliss (pictures below), and now I am just getting back into the swing of things again.

So I am posting it now.

Aaron and I had the chance to present at our Township board meeting last month!  As I mentioned in a previous post on our winery progress, getting over this hump is a big one for us.

All it took was one email to the Township saying we wanted to start discussions on our winery plans, and boom, we were on the agenda for their next meeting.

We went in prepared, confident in our story and our plan, but cautiously optimistic.  We didn't want to be too hopeful the outcome would be totally in our favor.

I have to hand it to Aaron because after we introduced ourselves and gave some background, Aaron gave a presentation that covered all of their concerns.  He was able to proactively address any issues that might have come back to us.  He explained exactly how we plan to mitigate any potential issues.  These include, traffic, parking, water and sewer, etc. And, it's hard not to be captivated and inspired when listening to Aaron talk so passionately about his vineyard and winery plans and dreams. By the time he was done, there wasn't much to argue with.  The board members were practically raising a glass of Marquette and toasting to the idea!

Okay, maybe not.  But by the end he had cracked a few smiles on their previously stoic faces and got them asking questions (purely out of their own curiosity) about Minnesota wine.  We considered that a win.

And so, while we still have a long road ahead of us and still have to circle back with the Township on the  issue of traffic and dust control, we were given the go ahead to proceed with the county in applying for our Conditional Use Permit.  That is our next task to tackle.

The wheels are in motions!

With regards to our vacation, it was wonderful!
We had a little vacation getaway to Cabo San Lucas earlier this month.   4 adults and one toddler was a pretty good vacation ratio.  Axel was such a trooper the whole week!  We hardly heard a whine out of him from the time our plane took off.  He knew we were in paradise and spent the week exploring all the new sights and sounds and made lots of friends with other vacationers along the way.  Here is just a sampling of pictures from our week: