Sunday, September 25, 2005
Mostly an Adventure, but Almost a Fiasco
So last month I gave Paul a bus ticket for his birthday. (No, I didn't send him packing...quick thinking though.) Since it was homemade, it didn't count, but I also reserved 2 spots on the Brew Bus Portland Brewery tour for Septembeer 24th. Finally we could check off a few more breweries from our enormous list!
Yesterday was the big day, so we went downtown to the Lloyd Center Mall Doubletree Hotel & waited for the acclaimed tour guy & local historian, Jim Long. That morning on the phone he told us the tour was going to be a little bit different than normal, but that he though we would really like it. Boy were we in for a surprise - the little difference was that the Brew Bus tour wasn't going to involve a BUS! Instead, his plan was to use public transportation (but not the busses). It was kind of neat, and even a little bit exciting when he neglected to buy us tickets for our Max ride, which faces a $200 fine.
We double-Max'ed over to our first spot, the biggest brewery in the state, Widmer Brothers. We were a little bit disappointed to hear that it's partially owned by Anheuser Busch, but since Widmer was never our fave... It was a really neat modern brewery though. We saw where they fill & label the bottles, make the beer, store the hops, and serve their beer. We both agreed that our tasting samples were just okay.
After that we went to one of the many McMenamin Brothers pubs, the White Eagle. Their beer was pretty good. Jim, the tour guide bought a few pints and split them 5 ways for us to taste, enough to add up to a full pint by the time we left by Taxi for the next place, Amnesia Brewery in the Mississippi District. There we did more of the same, tasting each beer from the lightest to the darkest. It was pretty good too, but I was starting to feel a bit tipsy. Thankfully, as appetizers were promised as part of the tour package, Jim purchased an italian sausage from the grill for us to split 6 ways. Mmmmm, was I full!
Then we took off to the last spot, Tuck's Brewery. We grabbed another cab to the west side & landed in the coolest spot we'd seen all day. Max, the brewmaster, had created a super-giant homebrew set-up (Paul's homebrew gear on steroids). Max only taps his 7-10 brews on Saturdays, and mans the bar himself. We learned a lot from him and he also gave us a spare tapper for free! Tuck's offered some amazing (some would say over-the-top) beers. One tasted like liquid smoke, and another tasted like creamy vanilla-raspberries, which this chick liked a lot (of course). I wish we had started the tour there, because I literally couldn't drink any more beer (ahem, maybe a couple more appetizers would have helped). Anyway, after that stop, our A.R. tour guide hailed another cab back to the starting line. What did we do then? Paul & I took off toward the Pearl district for some food. I wanted to try the most likely of places, Henry's Tavern, known for serving over 100 different beers on tap. Needless to say, I went there for the onion rings.
-Anne
Yesterday was the big day, so we went downtown to the Lloyd Center Mall Doubletree Hotel & waited for the acclaimed tour guy & local historian, Jim Long. That morning on the phone he told us the tour was going to be a little bit different than normal, but that he though we would really like it. Boy were we in for a surprise - the little difference was that the Brew Bus tour wasn't going to involve a BUS! Instead, his plan was to use public transportation (but not the busses). It was kind of neat, and even a little bit exciting when he neglected to buy us tickets for our Max ride, which faces a $200 fine.
We double-Max'ed over to our first spot, the biggest brewery in the state, Widmer Brothers. We were a little bit disappointed to hear that it's partially owned by Anheuser Busch, but since Widmer was never our fave... It was a really neat modern brewery though. We saw where they fill & label the bottles, make the beer, store the hops, and serve their beer. We both agreed that our tasting samples were just okay.
After that we went to one of the many McMenamin Brothers pubs, the White Eagle. Their beer was pretty good. Jim, the tour guide bought a few pints and split them 5 ways for us to taste, enough to add up to a full pint by the time we left by Taxi for the next place, Amnesia Brewery in the Mississippi District. There we did more of the same, tasting each beer from the lightest to the darkest. It was pretty good too, but I was starting to feel a bit tipsy. Thankfully, as appetizers were promised as part of the tour package, Jim purchased an italian sausage from the grill for us to split 6 ways. Mmmmm, was I full!
Then we took off to the last spot, Tuck's Brewery. We grabbed another cab to the west side & landed in the coolest spot we'd seen all day. Max, the brewmaster, had created a super-giant homebrew set-up (Paul's homebrew gear on steroids). Max only taps his 7-10 brews on Saturdays, and mans the bar himself. We learned a lot from him and he also gave us a spare tapper for free! Tuck's offered some amazing (some would say over-the-top) beers. One tasted like liquid smoke, and another tasted like creamy vanilla-raspberries, which this chick liked a lot (of course). I wish we had started the tour there, because I literally couldn't drink any more beer (ahem, maybe a couple more appetizers would have helped). Anyway, after that stop, our A.R. tour guide hailed another cab back to the starting line. What did we do then? Paul & I took off toward the Pearl district for some food. I wanted to try the most likely of places, Henry's Tavern, known for serving over 100 different beers on tap. Needless to say, I went there for the onion rings.
-Anne
Sew-O-Rama
Our new comfy sofa in the basement is now complimented by our new(er) quilt, comfy pillows, & matching window dressings! Not too fancy, but they'll do the trick. The quilt was made from 7-8 pieces of flannel leftover from my lounge pants stitch.
Take note: if you look closely, you can see our next H.I. project lurking behind the curtains. Now for the other 5 rooms...
Monday, September 05, 2005
Little House
We're relieved to report that we've heard from a few more folks from MS/LA since this time last week. There are plenty of friends that we haven't made contact with, but also haven't seen on the Katrina Survivor Connection list. We suppose that either means that they're okay & we're just out of the loop, or they're missing & people who know this don't have access to the internet. We're trying to be patient...
Our last post displayed Aereal photos from NOAA of Bay St. Louis, Long Beach, and Ocean Springs (in that order). Seeing an overhead view of the BSL house, most-likely intact, has triggered my mind-a-churning over what did happen to the Little House (or Lil' house, if you're below the M-D Line). Is the shed still there? I'd loved to have seen it years ago when there was a little outdoor sink attached to it. We know those old Live Oaks next door & across the street must have fallen. Are all the old drippy windows intact? I can't believe that old tin roof stayed put, not to mention the whole house! When we were boarding up for Ivan last year, our landlord told us he bought the house for $25,000 in 1995-ish. Boy how times have changed! Whew, in our 3 years there, we must have brewed 50 gallons of beer, swept up more than 10# of floating cat fur, watched our Dr. Seuss plant grow 2 feet, and turned out a whole crop of yummy mushrooms between the bathroom walls. It was a good pick, & the rent was right!
Anne
Our last post displayed Aereal photos from NOAA of Bay St. Louis, Long Beach, and Ocean Springs (in that order). Seeing an overhead view of the BSL house, most-likely intact, has triggered my mind-a-churning over what did happen to the Little House (or Lil' house, if you're below the M-D Line). Is the shed still there? I'd loved to have seen it years ago when there was a little outdoor sink attached to it. We know those old Live Oaks next door & across the street must have fallen. Are all the old drippy windows intact? I can't believe that old tin roof stayed put, not to mention the whole house! When we were boarding up for Ivan last year, our landlord told us he bought the house for $25,000 in 1995-ish. Boy how times have changed! Whew, in our 3 years there, we must have brewed 50 gallons of beer, swept up more than 10# of floating cat fur, watched our Dr. Seuss plant grow 2 feet, and turned out a whole crop of yummy mushrooms between the bathroom walls. It was a good pick, & the rent was right!
Anne
Friday, September 02, 2005
Wow
Well, we've joined everyone & their brother in deciding that we're tired of squinting at NOAA's aerial photos. We grabbed a few of their maps & marked a few things noted in e-mails from friends. If you ever visited us at Arbor Station in Long Beach or downtown BSL, you might recognize a few things. The image with the "Shadowlawn" label is in Ocean Springs where we got married.
Take a look at our new link on the sidebar, containing full-sized/zoomed out images of these + a few more. You can also look on the NOAA web site to explore the entire Gulf Coast here
We'll leave the rumors up to (other) Blogs & mass media. Let us know if you want any other landmarks noted.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)