That’s a Wrap – Summer 2022 Gig
This week we said goodbye to Rob, Kim, Max and all our friends at the Sick N Twisted Brewery and Naughti Winery. Our summer gig is over.
As we prepare to depart the place that brought us laughs, new skills, friends, and memories, we are grateful.
It’s hard not to have a good time when you are serving beer, wine, and good food to people on vacation from all over the world!
We were blessed to have such a great opportunity to meet fellow travelers, both as coworkers and customers, and create friendships that can be rekindled down the road.
Before we hit the road again, we wanted to share a few of our favorite moments from the experience.
Andrea on her last shift, holding one of her favorite wines with a name that led to many laughs.
Our Favorites from Sick N Twisted Brewing and Naughti Winery
Favorite Beers - All the beers are brewed right on site. While I did not learn to brew, I became an expert at cleaning kegs, and stocking them in all the coolers. With 18 beers on tap, there were many choices for all the beer lovers out there. My favorites were easily, Island Maid a strawberry coconut blonde ale and Rico Suave a Mexican style lager.
Favorite Wines – This was what originally caught Andrea’s attention way back when we were in Florida. A chance to taste wines while getting paid for it! 😊 I cannot even begin to guess at how many wines we stocked, but Andrea’s two favorites of the summer were: Cougar, a semi sparkling white wine chilled for sipping on a hot day and Climax a dry red blend, which is traditionally what she prefers. The wines had very entertaining names that opened the door for many a conversation!
Favorite Food - For a brewery/winery in South Dakota, the reputation they had for their amazing pizza was well deserved. Customers who had not vacationed here for years, would walk in the door wanting to make sure we had not changed anything about the pizza before spending a few hours sharing stories with us.
Favorite Part of the Job - Meeting people from all over the world and hearing their stories was hands down our favorite part of this job, but we each picked up something new as well. Andrea loved learning about wines and getting to share that information with her newest friends. For me, it had to be learning to drive the forklift! I only got to do it a few times, but I sure loved it!
Lots of fun was had working in the brewery and yard over the summer. Learning to operate the fork lift was a favorite!
Over the summer we received many questions about seasonal work camping gigs and thought we would share a few lessons learned.
Tips for future work campers:
1. Inquire about the number of returning employees from previous season. We have seen this for ourselves and through some of our other work camping friends. No returning workers can mean a few things, but it would definitely be a flag to investigate the position more before committing.
2. Check out the camping area. Although we only have had the one work camping experience, it was definitely our least favorite camping situation and the closest we’ve been to neighbors in a looonnnggg time! While having full hooks for the summer with no worries about power and water was a huge relief, it was a tradeoff for our views, and the feeling of living in a neighborhood again. Look into whether the working camping spots are in the campground or off site, and how far from the job your spot is.
3. Be very specific in the terms of employment before you start. Pay, camping fees, duties, schedule, number of weekly hours and the beginning and ending employment dates.
Will we do it again next year?
The final question we get asked is “Will you do it again next year?”. While nothing is ever 100% guaranteed, our initial answer is probably not. Not because of any complaints but because we really enjoy gaining new experiences and there are so many more opportunities out there waiting for us to explore!