Back in January I decided on a whim to enter a writing contest (with the topic of ‘Why Beer Matters’) for the possible prize of a trip to the Budvar Brewery via Pete Brown’s Beer Blog.  Since the winner was recently announced and it was not me, I see no need to keep the piece hidden away on my computer any longer.

Hoping for a nice Spring vacation (via http://petebrown.blogspot.com/)

Since I like to keep my writing a bit light and humorous when possible, I basically wrote this as an extended version of one of my random thoughts and was pretty pleased with how it turned out.  In fact, this post will be the start of a new page above where I might add a new piece of writing on the subject now and again.

If any of you out there have thoughts on the topic of this essay to pass along, I encourage you to do so and I will post them along with my ramblings.

Without further delay . . .

Immediately my goal in trying to justify my opinion of ‘Why Beer Matters’ was to summarize my thoughts with a simple statement.  I mean, if someone asked me that as a question as we were drinking beer at a pub, I am sure that a short, succinct response would be desired.  However, no matter which way I looked to approach the subject, it seemed that I could not capture the importance of beer in that aforementioned, much-attempted simple statement.

Let me start by going through some of the arguments I could have gone with, but did not.

Like so many others have written, I considered:

• Talking about how beer is as old (or older) than the civilized world and how it just might be responsible for it too.
• Going with the argument that beer was the (nutrient rich) drinking water for the masses at a time when potable water was a luxury at best and it helped countless numbers of people survive throughout those years.
• Building my argument around the fact that even today it is a beverage that is brewed and enjoyed in almost every country in the world.

In my opinion, none of those arguments on its own was enough to show proper respect to beer.

This whole piece easily could have centered around how beer provides a common ground for people.  It is a beverage that can be made in a back yard by a few good friends or in a dedicated facility by dozens of trained professionals.  Beer can be brewed in batches of five gallons or thousands of gallons at a time.  Regardless of who makes the beer, it is always something that brings a smile to the recipient and is often a good way to make a friend.  It is a conversation starter if nothing else.

Perhaps this article should have been one to depict giving a beer to someone as a universal gesture of friendship.

I could have made an argument that even with the long and significant history that beer has had, it is bigger today than ever before.  There are so many styles out there and ingredients being used to make beer that there is a choice for every palate and every occasion.  Ancient and/or extinct styles of beer are even finding their ways back into the glasses of today’s beer drinkers.

It also occurred to me to talk about the growth of beer in recent history and how it isn’t just something for backyard BBQs anymore.  It is present in good times and bad; from birthdays to weddings to a hole-in-one on the golf course and when people are mourning a loss by their favorite team or have been dumped by the girls of their dreams.  Sure, champagne may be the accepted libation for joyous occasions, but I have yet to meet a person who drowns his or her sorrows with bubbly.  Beer is the universal beverage.

Beer is used for vitamin-rich, skin-soothing baths in exclusive spas around the world.  Almost every kitchen now has beer stashed somewhere; it is an ingredient used in everything from chili to cake and is often used for marinating — both the meat and the cook.

Gardeners even use beer in their work to help get rid of slugs.  We cannot blame the little things for loving beer, but they prove that it is probably not a good idea to swim in it.

Even the byproducts of the beer brewing process are affecting the lives of beer drinkers and non-beer drinkers alike.  Scientists are looking at spent grains from brewing as a possible source for energy generation.  There are farms where spent grains not only feed livestock, but add nutrients to the substrate used to grow organic mushrooms.  Even man’s best friend can benefit from beer, as the grains can be used for delicious dog biscuits.

I hope my dogs do not realize that I have been tossing out the spent grains from my batches of home brew.

So maybe it just took this task for me to realize that I cannot summarize exactly why beer matters or how important it has been — and is — to society by using only one stand-alone example.  I am, however, certain that if it were to not exist, a good number of us would not either, and that may be a good enough explanation.

Beer has filled a role in society that no other food or beverage could have done.  Since in the end it appears that I cannot find a way to state the significance of beer any better, I will defer to and close with someone who already put it perfectly.

In the everlasting words of Homer Simpson, who wraps up my entire train of thought: “Beer: The cause of, and solution to, all of life’s problems.”

My visit will just have to wait for another day. (via http://petebrown.blogspot.com/)

Saving the most important detail for last, I would like to let everyone know that not only is today St. Patrick’s Day, it is also The Wife’s birthday.  Be sure to take a moment to stop by her site to pass along your well wishes to the best, most supportive, and beautiful wife a beer loving dope like me could ever hope for!

There are not many things that I would choose to do over watching a Syracuse Orange men’s basketball game, but the opportunity to go to the Florida Brewers Guild Beerfest in Tampa is apparently one of those things.  It was probably a good decision, now knowing that we (yes I use we in this case) lost and I likely would have spent the afternoon miserable at home otherwise.  The festival at least gave me an environment that I could not possibly be miserable in. So you might ask what do you do in preparation for such an event?  The answer, of course, would be to have your comrades over to the house for a bacon cake and coffee breakfast before piling into the car for the 90-minute drive.  There is nothing like a nice healthy breakfast of bacon and eggs (in cake form) to start the day off right.  There were certainly no complaints from Gregg, Wayne, and Joe.

Of course there are pecans and apples in there as well to round things out!

We arrived well in advance of the start of the event via an earlier than necessary departure time and the driving skills of Chauffeur Joe.  There was more than enough time to walk around the Ybor City area of Tampa a bit and also enough time that we would have considered (what I think was called) the urban race that was going on in the vicinity.  Now we still don’t know what the race exactly entailed, but it seemed to be a lot to do with a costume party mixed with a scavenger hunt.  It looked like a good time, so maybe next year.

The trolley was on purpose, the finger was not.

This area was less than busy.

There was also plenty of time to grab a bite for lunch before getting to the beer sampling, so we headed to Tampa Bay Brewing Company for some food and, well, a beer.

Just the type of decor I appreciate.

The event started at two and though it was only a few minutes after that when we exited our lunch location, the plazas were already packed and the line at the check-in was down the street of people yet to enter the fray.  I am not going to say that we cut to the front of the line, but since we had a limited window for beer sampling lets just say we didn’t wait very long in it!

Just one half of the action early on.

What is a beer festival without this?

A few familiar faces were found among the crowds as I ran into Tom the Beer Guy multiple times during the day.  I have to thank him very much for suggesting the event (as I would not have known about it otherwise) and for having some Toasted Coconut Porter on hand to sample again.  Though I had no real expectations going in, it turned out to be bigger and better than I thought it would be.  It will be going on the calendar for next year for sure.

At the end of the day for us I was also able to meet up with (now award winning home brewer) Mike Melton and a few of his friends at Tampa Bay Brewing Company.  It was nice to get to catch up with a really nice (beer) guy. It was a fast and furious afternoon and part of an evening.  We definitely all had a great day and I thank the boys for joining me for the fun.  I have some interesting video to share as a way to experience the crowds without having gone to the festival so this will simply be the first of two parts of recapping the event.

A little empty outside after teardown.

As a teaser to that second post and a close to this one I will list a few of the beer highlights for me:

• Hunahpus Mayan Chocolate Imperial Stout from Cigar City – Very glad to sample this one since I will not be able to make the release party at the brewery this Friday.
• Tampa Bay Brewing Company – Since I had never tried any of their beers previously and generally enjoyed them all.
• Cream Ales in general – A style that enjoy but cont drink very often.  Offhand I remember TBBC and Bold City Brewery having nice ones.
• Iniquity Imperial Black Ale from Southern Tier Brewing – A unique style for me and probably my favorite beer of the day.  I immediately went back for a second sample.

Stay tuned!

Yes, the title did indicate that there would be Florida alligators in this post and they will get their time in the spotlight shortly, but this is a beer site first and that means I get my moment in the spotlight first.  If only for a day or two I get to be famous in the beer blogging world because The Beer Wench was nice enough to give me some face time on her site.  You can check it out here and I will also be adding a link to the “About” page above since it does answer many questions about me.  Thank you to The Beer Wench!

Check me out!

Now then, back to the gators and other creatures we encountered over the weekend.

There were a few that I wanted to take home.

And some that I backed away slowly from.

If you were wondering where “The alligator capital of the world” is and what “Orlando’s best half day attraction” is, the answer to both would be Gatorland.  It was another place in Central Florida that The Wife and I had never been to despite the many years we have now lived here.  The incentive of the last few days for a Florida resident discount was enough of an excuse for us to finally go, even on what turned out to be a very rainy (and somewhat cold) day.

Not sure what the gloves were for.

Keep hands and feet inside the vehicle at all times.

There is, as expected, an incredible number of deadly reptiles at this place.  I will just say there was no time where I thought maybe it would be a good idea to disobey the warning signs to get a closer look.  There was no way that I was going to wander into the restricted areas along the swamp path or reach over the railing for a better photo, though a brief dream of gator wrestling did enter my mind.

Fortunately behind glass.

Not up to feeding alligators quite yet.

On top of seeing some pretty interesting and in some cases rare animals, the visit also had the added bonus of extended laughter for me as well.  Check out a little of the video that I took of The Wife conquering her fear of birds.  The facial expressions are just priceless (and yes we were both wearing Syracuse gear)!

White alligators were a first for me.

Despite the weather, we did have a good time and though we can cross it off the list now, it is a good place to see if you have an opportunity, especially for those visiting from out of state.  It is similar to our visit to see the manatees (though more expensive) in that you can’t see these creatures in that kind of environment just anywhere.

Did I mention that I can fly?

Back to beer tomorrow!

Not that I had put much thought into it, but I did not think I would ever turn down easily accessible BBQ for tacos that were a drive away.  I guess looking back on how I am drawn to fresh, authentic tacos at previously unknown locations I should not be that surprised.  It certainly helped that Jackie and Jim not only vouched for the goodness of the food, but drove us there as well.

I should back up a bit to the BBQ option before moving on.

A view early on (from above)

Since the weather was just awesome on Saturday we (The Wife, Jackie, Jim, & little Elizabeth) decided to go downtown for the 4^th Annual City of Orlando Blues B-Q.  Surely you can guess that good music and meat products were plentiful.  The smell in the air was just awesome.

A view from the ground

After seeing a few of the Cleveland Cavaliers grabbing some food (they were in town for a game and their hotel was across the street) we decided to pass up the BBQ on hand for the opportunity to have what we were told were can’t miss tacos.  Maybe I was the only one who decided that, but regardless we left the festival and headed further south.

Passed on one of our favorites

This is another situation where pictures will tell the story best, but I will say that The Wife and I ordered one taco for each of the meat options on this board:

Always wanted to order one of everything.

That seems like a lot, but we could not decide on what to leave out, they are relatively small, and it was our first time there so we wanted to take in as much in as possible.  Had I known at the time that our chauffeurs that day would be picking up the tab I may have shown more restraint.  A huge thank you to Jim and Jackie for bringing us along and treating us to some great food!

Very good orange soda.

Though The Wife did not enjoy a few of them because of the texture, the lengua was a solid favorite for both of us and the chicharron and tripa were a nice surprise for me.  The bar of taco toppings and hot sauces was the perfect accompaniment to the meal.  Since we enjoyed so many of them I am not sure if we narrowed the list down much for our next visit.

One of the plates of goodness.

Choose your toppings.

And yes, there will be a next visit!

Since we did a fair bit of running around last week with Cousin Adam and Melissa here, I have quite a few pictures from (most of) the places that we visited and a few from after they flew back home.  With that, I think more of a pictorial recap is the way to go today rather than many paragraphs of text to go through on a FAT Monday.  So, lets see if I can remember where all of these pictures were taken . . .

Heavenly truffle popcorn with parmesan

Sweetbreads with gnocchi

Beef shortrib ravioli

A short stop by Orlando Brewing to try the goods.

A bit of window shopping in Daytona.

This one was a bit different.

Available in all sizes.

Stopping by the speedway before the crowds arrive.

Soon to be filled.

Soon to be littered with trash.

Taking in some nature.

Another visit to see our manatee friends.

The rains kept us inside at Redlight Redlight

Passing the time with a Brooklyn Cookie Jar Porter and board games before friends arrive.

Enjoying a Saturday afternoon with a good friend.

Surely there are a few stops along the way that didn’t make it into today’s post, but we do occasionally give the camera a rest during our travels.  Looking back, there are a few pictures that I wish were taken, but that only means that a return visit is in order!

The official first post for “Great Divide Brewing Co. Month” will start with your regularly scheduled beer review tomorrow.  Discussing some of the product seems to be an appropriate way to start such an event.  So for today, I have for you another entry for “Food And Travel Monday,” which in the past has been respectfully referred to as “FAT Monday.”

As a first for The Wife and me, we awoke quite early on Saturday morning to head down to Tampa for a weightlifting competition.  We had a very good reason, as Cousin Adam was to compete in the bench press at the Raw Unity Powerlifting Championships that morning.  Certainly check out the site (and results) to satisfy your curiosity, but this is an occasion where I can let some pictures tell most of the story for me.

Waiting on deck.

You could sit one of me on either side of the bar.

The important part (as I am concerned) is that Cousin Adam set a meet record and won the lightweight division by lifting 363 pounds while weighing in at the 132-pound weight class.  Try to wrap your head around that for a moment.  Obviously a big congrats goes out to him and I know all of the family and friends there supporting him were more than proud.  By the smile on his face after, I would say he was pretty pleased as well!

Collecting some hardware.

Lightweight and Heavyweight champs

After leaving there late Saturday morning, our day continued to be excellent as I was able to visit Cigar City Brewing on our way back to Orlando.

The welcome sign.

Fortunately, since we were there at about 11:01, they open their tasting room at 11 on Saturdays and since they had to unlock the door for us, maybe we arrived 59 seconds earlier than I thought.  One of the good things about being the first and only people there initially was that, as The Wife later put it, I could get “my beer geek on.”  For what turned out to be 90 minutes or so, we were able to talk all things beer with Mike Melton, about Cigar City and beyond.

A brewery is a happy place for me.

As we worked our way through sampler paddles including Jai Alai IPA, Maduro Oatmeal Brown Ale, Blueberry Maduro, Winter Warmer, Oatmeal Raisin Cookie, and Berliner Weiss (guest tap) I was able to gain a lot of good information.  Visiting a brewery, hearing more of the back-story, and getting to meet some of the people almost always makes me appreciate the product even more and this was no exception.

A few of the participants.

It is certainly tough chose favorites among a lineup of beers where none of them are bad, but I will say that if I had to choose only two to have again they would be the Jai Alai IPA and the Winter Warmer.  The Wife also really enjoyed the Winter Warmer (I believe referring to it as a “glass of awesome”), but her surprise co-winner was the Berliner Weiss.  Even though the Oatmeal Raisin Cookie really grew on me, I went with a growler of the Jai Alai to take home for future enjoyment.

Some of the where the magic happens.

Maybe there is a prize for drinking the contents of this bottle?

You can always take some home with you.

I have gone on a bit longer than usual, but that should be evidence enough of how much I really enjoyed the entire day (also check out the recap from The Wife).  A big thank you to Mike for allowing me to bombard you with questions for a while and for giving me some excellent tips to help me with my home brewing experiments as well as providing additional inspiration to keep chasing my beer dreams.

Say hello to Mike when you stop by on Saturdays

The things happening at Cigar City Brewing in the near future (and beyond) are very exciting, especially for me in Central Florida where we may soon see bottles on the shelves.  I would expect to see more awards and medals on their wall as the months and years pass.  The visit this weekend will not be my only one and if any of you have the opportunity, do yourself a favor and stop by to drink some good beer with some good beer people.

Though I am not sure exactly why, yesterday I found myself thinking of our stay near the University of Washington on our trip to Seattle.  Maybe our time there came to mind (again) after watching college basketball over the weekend?  I remembered that when walking the campus during our trip I said that there was no way I would have gone anywhere else had I visited the university prior to making my choice.  Sure I am glad that I went to Syracuse (it was really the only place I wanted to go from a young age), but I think that the University of Washington would have been worth going 3000 miles away from home for.  At the very least we will definitely take a stroll in the area again the next time we are in Seattle.

Here are a few images from our time there . . .

Many excellent outdoor spaces

Like I said

And some more

I can only imagine it full of people

Brick buildings galore

And some that are not

We almost had the place to ourselves!

It certainly helped that it was a perfect day.

OK, so the fountain was not working that day.

We were on vacation . . . no time for the gym.

I guess the windows caught my eye.

Beautiful stadium that opens up to the water.

Our hotel very close by.

The love affair with pho was rekindled just off campus.

Fortunately (and unfortunately) my college days are over!

Looking ahead to some possible travel destinations for 2010 felt like the correct way to approach the first “Food and Travel Monday” of the year.  Maybe as the year goes on I will use Monday for another purpose, but for now there is no reason to change things up.

Time to hit the road!

A few of these places are very likely in our travel plans for the year and a few of them may not happen at all.  In both cases I started to think of what breweries I could stop by while in each of these cities.  Without putting too much thought into it on the first pass, here is what I came up with for my brewery wish list based on these locations.  If there are others that are nearby that I forgot to include, be sure to suggest them. It is unlikely that I will get to them all, though I will do my best if given the opportunity!

Baltimore – A place that we have yet to go but is almost a certainty for this year:

• Clipper City Brewing Co.

• Flying Dog Brewery (about 1 hour or so away in Frederick, MD)

• Dogfish Head Craft Brewery (about 2.5 hours or so away in Milton, DE)

• Troegs Brewing Co. (about 1.5 hours or so away in Harrisburg, PA)

Seattle – A city we are excited to have a chance to return to.  It may also turn into some time in Vancouver, BC or Washington wine country or Portland, Oregon and its surrounding area.  Unfortunately Newport, OR (Rogue) and Bend, OR (Deschutes) may be a bit too far away to make it to each of them.

• Elysian Brewing Co. or Pyramid or maybe Redhook Ale Brewery (Seattle area)

• Hopworks Urban Brewery or Deschutes Public House or Hair of the Dog Brewing Company or Full Sail Brewery or Rogue Distillery & Public House (Portland area)

Don't forget to gas up!

New Orleans – High on the list for The Wife and how can I argue that?

• Abita Brewing Company (Abita Springs, LA)

Central and Northern New York State – Familiar stomping grounds for both of us.

• Middle Ages Brewing Company (Syracuse, NY)

• Matt Brewing Company (Utica, NY)

• Sackets Harbor Brewing Company (Sackets Harbor, NY)

Florida – Our backyard that we have only started to explore.

• Dunedin Brewery (Dunedin, FL)

• Tampa Bay Brewing Company (Tampa, FL)

• Cigar City Brewing (Tampa, FL)

It will be a good year if I can get to even a handful of these and from what I know right now there is a fair shot at it happening.  Just another reason that it will be a great year!

There will never be a time where I complain that it gets cold in Florida because, well, it doesn’t ever get that cold.  I have friends and relatives that would get on a plane to come down here only to slap me if they knew I was complaining about the weather at all during the winter months.  However, the slight chill in the air that we have had made me think of places we have visited that were a bit brisk for us warm weather dwellers.  It did not take too long for Chicago to become the basis for today’s travel post.  I certainly cannot cover our entire time there without writing a small book, so a little piece (as done previously) will have to do.

The Wife and I tend to cover a lot of ground on foot no matter where we travel and Chicago was no exception.  Also, for whatever reasons, zoos tend to find a way into our plans (especially mine) wherever we choose to go.  So when we were out exploring the streets on the north side of Chicago and happened by the Lincoln Park Zoo with its free admission, our schedule for the day became a bit more clear.

Breakfast awaits!

Initially though, we walked past the west entrances of the zoo to continue on our path to the Green City Market that was our intended destination for a bit to eat that morning.  From there we walked down to the east entrance of the zoo with Lake Michigan in full view the entire time.  I can let the pictures do the talking form here, but I highly recommend both stops if you are in Chicago and find markets and zoos as enjoyable as we do.

Good cheese.

Good bread.

Blueberry bread pudding it is!

Approaching the entrance

He can certainly handle the weather.

Lost in a moment of deep thought.

Just slightly intimidating

A little snack.

That rock is moving!

Watch out for the spit as you leave!

It is time to pick up where I left off on Monday.

On the way home we decided to take somewhat of a scenic route and drive through Sanford just because we were on no real schedule.  Well, that and because we had a sudden desire to stop in for lunch at a place that we have been meaning to go to for some time.  It seemed to fit in perfectly with the theme of our day.

First though, we walked by the lunch spot to take a look at the market going on not too far down the street.  Again, we simply cannot help ourselves.  We didn’t spend too much time there (probably because we were really hungry), but The Wife did have enough time to make a few friends.

A few small(ish) horses.

Our boys will be jealous!

As previewed on Monday, the draw for lunch was the promise of meat and beer.  If there is one thing that I have a weakness for other than good beer it is probably cased meat products, so our stop at Hollerbach’s Willow Tree Café was an absolutely perfect choice.

Maybe we will sit outside next time.

Of course before deciding on the food we had to make our beer choices, as we were both more than ready for one after our early (and long) morning.  After asking what the seasonal selections were I decided on a Bischoff Doppelbock and, after imparting my two cents, The Wife went with a Köstritzer Schwarzbier.  As the menu said, schwarzbiers are a great idea for people who don’t think they like darker beers.  Both beers really hit the spot and I did what I had to do to make sure they were both finished when we left.

Just what I was looking for.

Just trying to decide which I prefer.

Being our first time there we wanted to sample as much as we could, so we settled for the “Schlachthaus Platte Für Zwei” or “Butchershop Platter for Two” which is described as . . .

This meal is meant for two or one very hungry person! It includes one each Bratwurst, Weisswurst, and Knockwurst, LeberKäse, (a finely ground seasoned baked pork loaf) and Kassler (boneless smoked pork loin) served with warm German potato salad, sauerkraut, sweet red cabbage and German bread.

They had me at “Butchershop Platter!”

Just as promised.

The Wife's personal sampler.

It was exactly what I was looking for and really did go well with the beers that we were drinking.  I even had enough left over to enjoy it again later that evening.  I am fairly certain that I enjoyed the food more than The Wife did (not as big a German food fan as me), but we both have every intention of making a return visit to sample even more of the food and beer.  It is a very fun environment and I can only imagine what it is like when the accordions are fired up in the evenings.  Hopefully I can talk Cousin Adam and Melissa into drinking a boot with me when they are visiting next month!

I will be back!

Since it was on the way home, we decided to make one last stop to yet another never before seen local attraction.  Soon we were standing in front of the largest Bald Cypress tree in the United States.  Yes we went to see an enormous tree, but it was free and worth every penny!  It really was massive and we were glad to cross it off the list.  Check out this link if you are if you are interested in the history and details of The Senator.

It would make a few toothpicks.

I am frozen with fascination.

Thus comes to an end the recap of our excellent Saturday morning and early afternoon adventure!

Some days just turn out better than originally planned.  After driving by the sign for Blue Spring State Park countless times in the years since we have moved to Florida, we finally made it there Saturday in hopes of seeing a manatee or two.  The only part of the driving directions I knew was what exit to get off at and I knew that parking would be 6 dollars.  That was the extent of my planning efforts for this trip.  I didn’t set my expectations low, but I figured we would be there for a short while, then drive back home and move on with our weekend.

We almost had the place to ourselves early on.

The closest I have been to a manatee was at SeaWorld a few years back when Jim, Sarah, and Jeff were visiting.  Though that was great (mostly because of the company), seeing them in the wild was spectacular.  We were amazed at how close we were able to get to them even with the barriers put up to prevent people from getting in the water during this time of year.

Came right up to to say hello!

Of all shapes and sizes.

We saw one almost immediately and then a few more shortly after that.  It was so quiet there (minus the thousands of people at SeaWorld) that we would often hear them before realizing where they were.  Going in I assumed that it would be great to see a few, but there were times where we could see over twenty just from where we were standing.

Though we forgot our video camera, The Wife was smart enough to take some video using our digital (still) camera.  Here is a sample of our time at the park.

When leaving the park we decided to meander home rather than taking a more direct route back.  Not too long after that we drove past what we thought was a farmer’s market and we couldn’t resist turning around to check out the goods.  Almost immediately it was apparent that it was probably 75 percent flea market and 25 percent farmer’s market, but there was food there to be had, so I was pretty excited.

All of this could be yours . . .

Looks like brunch to me!

If you are interested in my not-so-breakfast-like mid morning snack (and review of that meal) check out the first 3 minutes or so of this video (or the last five for additional footage).

Leaving there we passed through DeLand, which I had never been to before so we stopped and walked around for a while to do some window-shopping.  I must say that it was quite a good time and fortunately my tacos held me over to our eventual lunch that came on our drive home.  In an effort to keep this post a reasonable length (both for me and you), the remainder of our day will be recapped another time in the near future.  I will say that there was beer and it was good!

Downtown DeLand was bustling.

Until part 2 . . .

It likely has something to do with the diet that The Wife and I have lined up this week (check out her site for details), but for whatever reason I found myself reminiscing about a food item that I have craved on occasion over the last few months.  It must have been (and was) really good to leave that lasting fond memory.

I have no intentions of starting a New York versus Chicago pizza argument since I haven’t spent enough time in the two cities to make a proper case for either.  Generally my feelings are that a slice of pizza is something that you should be able to pick up in one hand and eat.  Sure you may be able to pull that off with the deep-dish variety, but you know what I mean.

With that said, I will take the pizza (or whatever you would like to call it) that I had at Lou Malnati’s in Chicago at least nine times out of ten if given the choice.  Maybe that strong feeling was influenced by the whole day leading up to that meal, but the food definitely took it over the top.

A close up from Oak Park

We spent the most of the day out in Oak Park walking around among the many Frank Lloyd Wright designed houses and the rest of the afternoon exploring the side streets in the area near our hotel.  Being completely exhausted from walking all day we decided to go out for pizza, choosing the River North location of Lou Malnati’s since it was only a short walk from our hotel.

Taking the opportunity for a quicker meal we decided to sit at the bar, which made me happy since we would be able to watch college basketball on the TVs nearby.  Deep-dish pizza takes some time to cook, so we ordered some Calamari Fritta (which was very good), a Goose Island 312 (for me), and a soda (for her) to pass the time and take the edge off our hunger.  While The Wife stuck with veggies for her pizza (spinach, mushrooms, and tomatoes), I could not pass up the chance at a continuous layer of sausage with fresh spinach enhanced with garlic, basil, and onion.

Calamari Fritta (before diving in)

Just one of many great people there bring out our pizzas

It was so incredibly good.  I could not think of anything that would have been better at that time, especially with really good beer and college basketball added to the mix.  After eating my entire pizza and polishing off a few more beers, The Wife boxed up what was left of her pizza and we wandered the short distance back to our hotel.  The day’s events ending in a deep-dish pizza (and beer) induced coma that caught us up on some much-needed sleep.  Just another fantastic day in Chicago!

It seems to me that it would be pretty inefficient to rewrite something that was already written about a year ago.  So, when I thought of doing a travel post today about my time in Colorado it made sense to go back to find the entry I wrote on Growing Bolder last year and present it as it was originally posted (hopefully my facts are still valid).  The Wife was not with me on that trip, but I again would like to thank Jeff and Maureen for a really fun time.  I hope to get back out there again soon.

Without further delay . . .

I am going to put it right out there up front . . .  I do not write.  Many of the people who know me well would make the argument that I don’t even read.  I do, however, have a vast collection of relatively useless information floating around in the hat rack I carry on my shoulders.  My friends will not argue otherwise.

For example, where in the United States would you guess the largest collection of reticulated giraffes is?  San Diego Zoo?  I mean it has to be somewhere warm, right?  Disney or Busch Gardens perhaps?  What about San Antonio?  Not even close.  I learned first hand earlier this year that this claim to fame belongs to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs, Colorado.  As a side note (you will see my brain has many of these . . . a few of which I will share with you in parentheses), the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo is also one of only two zoos in the United States that is built on a mountain.

I find it awesome to have the opportunity to be near large creatures (I also have an inner conflict about zoos that I wont get into here).  In line with that, I am a sucker for feeding wild animals.  That all adds up to me leaving my cushy accommodations at the Broadmoor Hotel (highly recommend it if you are ever in the neighborhood) as soon as I heard that there was a chance to feed giraffes only a short jaunt up the hill from the front door.

So as not to bore anyone with the blow by blow of my giraffe feeding adventures, I have a few pictures to speak for me.  Oddly, looking at the giraffes as they swept the crackers from my hands with their long tongues, it reminded my of my dogs back in Orlando (I can get away with thinking of my dogs while away from home in this circumstance since my wife wouldn’t be pleased to hear that something at the zoo reminded me of her).  I will just say that I had a blast despite feeding the beasts and wandering the mountainside zoo on my own.  I will even throw in a few very cool meerkats for good measure.

Everyone likes cookies

Just a little guy

Getting up close

What are you looking at?

There are a few other things I would offer for consideration when in Colorado . . . especially if you are there for the first time as I was.

One involves driving from Colorado Springs to Denver.  When you notice on your car’s thermometer that the temperature has dropped 15 degrees in the last 20 miles and it has started to snow (in April), make sure you pull aside at the rest stop to get all of that information straight in your head before continuing on.  Trying to comprehend how those circumstances are possible while driving will only take your attention from the road and endanger you and those around you.

When going to the zoo (I told you I enjoy wild creatures) or anywhere outdoors in Denver, always wear the heaviest jacket you have with you.  I understand there is a strong likelihood that the sun will be shining and it will be pleasant when you get out of your car.  I also know that when you fast-forward two hours later, as you approach the big cat exhibits, the skies will go dark, the temperature will drop a dozen degrees, the wind will pick up, and frozen precipitation will fall from the sky.  Most certainly this will coincide with your camera batteries fading to dead as they even refuse to work under those conditions.

Another thing those who know me will not dispute is my love for beer . . . in every form it comes in, as I do not discriminate.  I will offer another bit of advice as you (hopefully) take advantage of the many breweries available in Colorado.  Don’t expect that the person passing out the free samples will let you know that you just chose a beer in excess of 15 percent alcohol as your first drink of the day to carry with you through the tour.  I have absolutely nothing against beers of that potency (see statement above), but it does take you by surprise if you are not prepared.  It can also can taint your palette for the beers to follow and you just cant have that when on a professional beer tasting mission.

One last thing I will pass along that may come in handy if you are ever hiking way up on a mountain without what I would call “the proper attire.”   I suggest you have a walking stick or pole or perhaps a small tree to take along with you to gauge the depth of the snow during your trek.  Once you are a few miles along the trail and you notice that only the top of the stop sign is sticking out of the snow, your brain will tend to freak out a bit trying to figure out how you just walked all that way without falling in up to your chin.  Then once your mind knows how high above the ground you are walking, you will inevitably start to sink in despite having no problems to that point (please reference Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade regarding issues of mind and footing).

Getting a little deep up here

Getting high

That concludes my mind wandering for this evening. I hope you find this information of some use in your travels. Good luck and happy animal feeding!

When in Ithaca, NY you must drink what the Ithacans do.  I didn’t spend enough time there to do a formal poll of the residents, but if I lived there the beverage(s) of choice would definitely be beer from the Ithaca Beer Company.

Before moving on with that, I must share a few things about travel and food that I experienced on the way to Ithaca.

• During the accelerated walk to catch my connection at JFK, I noticed how beautiful the JetBlue terminal appeared to be.  I guess it has been a while since last flying through JFK, so it was my first time in the new digs.  I think a longer layover will be in my future to really get a better feel for the place.
• Picking up a (reserved) rental car should be a much quicker process than it always turns out to be.
• Driving into Syracuse and seeing familiar places again made me feel pretty comfortable even though I was there for only a short time.
• It is pretty much impossible for me to put into words how much I love Dinosaur BBQ.  I can say that there are very few things in life that I am willing to wait in line for and I would wait in line for hours at that place barefoot standing in broken glass just to get a spot inside so that my clothes could absorb the smell.  Fortunately a few friends and I did not have to wait that long to get a table when I met up with them in Syracuse for lunch.  For their sake I did not take their pictures while eating to save them from being seen with sauce all over their faces.  Thank you to Ann Marie and Rob for helping me get my fix!  If only the pictures were scratch-n-sniff . . .

Be sure to look both ways . . .

Slide into a seat . . .

Grab a bunch of napkins . . .

Do work!

Back to Ithaca and just a few beers (I was there for a wedding after all).

• Before getting into the Ithaca brews, I started with a Great Lakes Brewing Co. Edmund Fitz Porter.  I had to give a try after hearing good things about the brewery from a few friends.  It did not disappoint and only left me really wanting to try some of their other beers.

Edmund Fitz Porter

• From my somewhat limited experience, the Ithaca Beer Company really makes some excellent beer.  The Nut Brown and the Pale Ale were quite good, leaving me bummed that I did not have enough time to get to the brewery for some additional samples.  Lucky for me The Wife stopped in and gifted me some photos and glasses as souvenirs.  An even bigger surprise was Cousin Daniel’s gift of some or their more unique brews as a parting gift.  Pretty awesome family I have!  The next time I am town I think we will all make the trip to the brewery together.

Ithaca Pale Ale

Inside the brewery

• Pre wedding I enjoyed some Magic Hat Odd Notion.  Post ceremony I enjoyed (among others) a few Saranac brews and some Magic Hat #9.  Not a bad day for beer!
• We happened to be there during an apple festival downtown so I had to try some pumpkin whoopie pies, grab a few fresh off the tree apples, some apple cider doughnuts, and just take in the aromas of it all.  Not a bad time to be in town.

It's best to have a few to share.

Syracuse and Ithaca were an awesome start to a fantastic trip north.  If you are interested in a bit more of the goings on in Ithaca aside from my beer/food adventures (such as the wedding and some cool dogs) The Wife took care of that some days ago.

Sharing details from my trip last week (plus) just has to be pushed to another day so that I may pass along news that didn’t help my transition back to work this morning.

Unfortunately my return to the lovely land of Oregon will have to wait a bit longer as I was not fortunate enough to win the brewing internship contest.  I am not one that expects to win a contest like this, but I put all of the good mojo out there that I could in hopes that it would happen.  It would have been so much fun and (perhaps) a once in a lifetime experience, but I am now forced to wait for another opportunity to come my way.

A big congratulations to Kevin for taking home the big prize!  No doubt you will enjoy it.

If you are interested in checking out the winners for the other six “cuisinternships” you can check them out here.

Many, many thanks to all of you who viewed my entry, voted for it, said nice things about it, etc!  It was a good experience (and a lot of fun) to throw together a video on a whim and it will certainly come in handy for future content for this site.  Perhaps I can polish my skills a bit for future contest entries?

One day of being bummed, then I will be on to conquer bigger things!