February 21, 1998

By 11:20am, car pooling arrangements were made and maps were handed out to the drivers and navigators as the troops headed out to their next destination. Bernstone's Cigar and Tobacco is the oldest tobacconist in the city of Buffalo. Established in 1932, it is located in downtown Buffalo, near the hub of the business and governmental district. In the process of expanding their humidor, Bernstone's accommodated most of the ASC contingent, while some lingered outside to enjoy the sights of downtown Buffalo and each other's company.

Following Bernstone's, the caravan drove past City Hall, a Works Progress Administration building on the way to Jimmy Mac's, a cigar friendly restaurant and bar located on the Elmwood Avenue strip in Buffalo. Having reserved the side room for the B-HITS group, Jimmy Mac's proved to be just the right spot for trading. Tupperware, Pelican cases, Canadian tire cases and various other traveling humidors were brought out and more cigars were toasted. Lunch was ordered and consumed before we knew it, the clock read 2:30pm and it was time to move on.

The Virgil Avenue Tobacconist provided crawlers a chance to experience the largest walk-in humidor in the Buffalo area. Recently completed, the lounge area with a pool table, gave ASCers a chance to relax after the meal and fire up another cigar. The owners of the shop, Barry and Bob, were busy with their cash registers as the crawlers, found much to their liking in the humidor.

Due to the size of the next two shops, the group split into two and went to Mancuso's or Bellezia's. Ray Mancuso and his Shar-pei, Hollywood, welcomed ASCers with a varied selection of cigars and a raffle for a T-shirt. After an abortive first attempt with one ticket falling on the floor, the Lovely Lisa made the selection and Carey Miller made off with the T-shirt. Meanwhile, at Bellezia's, George put out a nice selection of Opus X, Don Carlos', and Ashtons especially for the crawlers. Independently of each other, each group decided to forego switching shops and instead headed for Alternative Brews, the relaxing and regrouping stop.

Once again traveling humidors were brought out and the trading and gifting were picked up again in earnest. Paul Madsen, the owner of Alternative Brews, was amazed at the different styles and sizes of the various humidors. Being an establishment that specializes in micro brews, the stock of Fonseca and Mondavi ports was quickly depleted. The air handling system was given a major workout, and people had another opportunity to establish new friendships.

At 6:30pm, the group gathered the convoy again and made the drive to Lewiston, NY, the home of the Riverdale Inn by the Water. The owner and our genial host, Mark Turgeon, brought the group downstairs to the banquet room where we had the room to ourselves. By this time we were numbered 28, having lost a few crawlers along the way to fatigue and other commitments. Drinks were ordered, cigars were lit, more trading and gifting ensued. The speaker system spewed some unknown New Age muzak that proved to be so maddening to Les Smith, that he actually had to request a change. The change was almost worse than the first choice and eventually, the speakers were turned off. One would have had to been there to really experience the demonstration that our retired Fire Chief, Les Herbert, gave in administering CPR. It's just impossible to describe, mostly because it was that funny.

A lovely dinner followed (eventually), and door prizes were awarded in a raffle conducted by the Crawlmeister, who had to combine some prizes ("...and a T-shirt !") in order to keep the crowd from getting too unruly. Thanks to the generosity of the sponsors, everyone went home with a little momento of the evening. Some of the prizes were a humidor, cigar cases, a framed reproduction of a turn of the century cigar and tobacco advertisement, golf/cigar accessories, a sweatshirt, and a few T-shirts among others.

As Crawlmeister, one only has to set the ball in motion, and, like the ASC, the crawl will run itself. The folks that made the trip to Buffalo from near and far made the event a success. The shops welcomed us with open arms and the eating and drinking establishments gave us great opportunities to get to know each other and enjoy each other's company while breaking bread with each other. Great fun was had by all, and the talk of making B-HITS an annual event has already begun. Onward to the next crawl!