Flights are my fancy....

I write a lot on this blog about how I try to rent a bike whenever I can on my travels, or pop into a Botanic Garden, but there's another destination I seek out on many of my trips. Brew Pubs. Sometimes it's the brewpub connected with a known nationally distributed brand, others of a smaller regional player, and sometimes those that only sell their beers at their Brew Pubs. I love trying different brewers beers. Plus it gives me a chance to try new styles (hopefully, we don't end up in a world where everyone only makes IPAs, how boring would that be). My very favorite thing to do on a first visit is do a flight of beers.

Many brewpubs offer the groupings of samples known as flights. Some define them, grouping  3oz samples of 4 -6 of their beers together. Others allow you to select from the beers currently on tap. While most brewpubs will give you tiny little pours as free samples, I prefer the flights. That bit more liquid allows a good AATMF of the beer. I try to give every new beer a true appearance, aroma, taste, mouthfeel, finish tasting. Both helps me appreciate the beer and continue to develop my palate.

Here's some of the brewpubs and flights I've had in the last year or so. All pictures should be able to be viewed bigger if you click on them. Unfortunately, I've not been good (understatement) at keeping a log of exactly what I tasted. But I at least know where I was....

While in Colorado, we made it by several places, Mountain Sun Brewery in Boulder, Tommyknockers in Idaho Springs, Backcountry Brewery in Frisco. Was even able to do a flight on on tap beers at Cheeky Monk at Winter Park when we visited Trestle Bike Park.

Was able to enjoy a flight at Breckenridge Brewery. Visited both the BrewPub in Breckenridge and at the main brewery in Denver, CO.

On a trip to Washington, DC and Ocean City Maryland stopped first at Ramshead Shore House in Stevensville, MD. As a bonus there, my brother in laws band was performing, Kiddo's beautiful sister stopped by along with my niece and her fiance.

Tho no visit by a beer fan to the Ocean City area would be complete without a detour to Rehobeth Beach, DE and a visit to Dogfish Head Brewery.

I make frequent trips to Grand Rapids, MI which has a thriving and ever growing beer culture. The first brewpub I discovered was Founders Brewing. That initial flight of samples is long forgotten, and the pictures buried deep in folders of files. Still I make a point of stopping by for a pint on most trips to the city. I love trying their limited releases or experimental brews on tap.

Newer to the scene are Grand Rapids Brewing and Brewery Vivant. Both offer samples, and have interesting food selections (you must have the Kale chips at Grand Rapids Brewing and the Truffle fries at Brewery Vivant!)  I fell instantly in love with Brewery Vivant with its Belgian theme. Located in an old church the atmosphere is incredible, and the beers equally so. I especially love how the flight is in small snifters which enhance these traditional Belgian style beers. It will become a staple of my Grand Rapids visits.

Bikes, beers, and Botanic gardens...my typical Yelp or google searches when visiting or researching a new city. These are a few of my favorite things.....

Washington DC...Biking Family Style

One of the joys of family travel is rediscovering the world through the eyes of your child. With Kiddo in 6th grade beginning to understand and show interest in politics and government, a spring break trip to Washington, DC seemed a perfect idea. Planned a trip that included all the typical touristy highlights, along with side trips to reconnect with family (Kiddos sister & hubby's brother live outside Baltimore).

Of course, many of the sites were visited by bike. Others by foot. Or via the use of public transit. Or a combination of all three. We're a get up and go kinda family with a firm belief that exploring by foot or bike allows a much deeper experience no matter where you are. WARNING: FAILED AT LIMITING PICTURES AND WORDS BELOW. Hang with me. In a complete aside for biking people: All three days I was rented a mixie (being a *girl* and all). And I don't think I ever stepped through it. Always threw leg over saddle. Old habits.

Our first rental was from the Union Station location of Bike and Roll. We'd taken the subway from our hotel, choosing this vendor both due to location, and we've rented from these folks before in San Francisco (read about it). This location only had "comfort" bikes - whose wide, padded saddles are the opposite of comfort when riding all day, just saying. Once we got suited up with the proper sized bike and helmet, off we went.

First stop was the Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum. Spent a couple hours wandering around looking at the exhibits. In our case it was just enough time. We were ready to move on.

Started heading up the Mall, with a couple of photo opportunity stops. First by FEMA then by the Washington Monument.

In fact most of the rest of the day was stops for quick exploring of monuments, reading plaques and taking pictures. The World War Two Memorial, Vietnam War Memorial, Lincoln Memorial.

A spin around the reflecting pool brought us to the Martin Luther King, FDR, and Thomas Jefferson Memorials. Sadly we were a couple of weeks too late to enjoy the cherry blossoms.

The day was getting long, so it was time to head back to return the bikes. But first a swing past the White House.

A great day of sightseeing. Much, much more seen, much more enjoyable, cheaper, healthier and fun than a bus tour.

On another day, we rented bikes from Bike and Roll's Alexandria location, opting for their Combo bike rental, Mount Vernon tour and ferry package. In this you bike 11-12 miles on a bikeway along the Potomac to Mount Vernon, receive tickets to the site, lock your bikes up on the grounds and take a ferry back to Alexandria. 

It was a nice easy ride, great for families. Mount Vernon is such an interesting place to visit. The gardens, the plantation house, the glimpse of how for Washington and others of his day their lifestyle only existed due to slaves.

 

The ferry ride home was also quite enjoyable (even if I would have liked to bike a bit more).

Equally enjoyable were the oysters and beers when we got back to Old Town Alexandria.

Other trip highlights were visits to the International Spy Museum, and using their GPS enabled "Spy in the City" handheld to go on a walking spy adventure around the city.

Plus visits to the Ford Theater (make reservations!), the US Capitol, The Library of Congress, Baltimore's Inner Harbor, Fort McHenry (oh say can you see....), seeing friends and family, catching Uncle Mike's band perform, meeting cousin Wrenn's fiance and hanging out with big sis, a Food Network inspired trip to DC-3, a visit to Dogfish Head Brewery, and another bit of biking this time along Ocean City, MD boardwalk.

Yes a busy week...that's how we roll...and how we like our vacations!



Read all the way to here, and wondering why I wrote a recap of a 2012 spring break trip in spring of 2013? It has occurred to me that maybe if I either deleted or finished all the partially written drafts I have hidden behind the scenes of this blog that I might feel like writing more. Take away some of the pressure created by evidence of procrastination. Or some such. I have a tendency to start a post, give it a title, throw in a picture, and then get stuck - usually because I can't figure out how to limit the # of pictures or words. Looking at the list in the draft folder, a few were easily deleted. Others I would like to finish.

This recap of our spring break 2012 trip to Washington DC fit under the need to finish category.