Sep 30, 2013

I worked at Lakeside for a math class today. The students all had packets to work on, and luckily most of them just did the work without me having to constantly bug them about staying on task. Toward the end of the day I had to take a class down for an assembly about the school fundraiser and how it's so important for every student to sell stupid shit to their families so they can go on a field trip later in the year. It was a very long and terribly pointless assembly. It also affected my schedule because instead of having my last period off I had to be in the auditorium and then bring the class back to my room for dismissal. Oh well.

I went for a run around the neighborhood that evening in the nice weather. I covered 4 miles and walked a little after that. It was a great night to be out.

Sep 29, 2013

I met Charles, owner of Chessie Photo, in Ocean City this morning for the OC Half Marathon. We talked about details and locations where I'd be shooting and then I was off with my bright yellow vest. I even saw Shakedown's band performing on the boardwalk and got to talk to him for a minute. I started shooting at the 3-mile turnaround point on the bridge.

Shooting a huge group of runners was a much greater challenge than I expected. There was no great backdrop to shoot them, but I wouldn't have been able to frame them up anyway. They were moving too quickly to get great shots of everyone. I started getting a feel for how I should do it, but I still felt like I was less than equipped for the task. My next location was on the boardwalk near mile 12. By this point, the crowd had thinned considerably and slowed a bit. I was able to shoot each person as they passed by with the boardwalk shops in the background. I was happy with that part.

After I dropped my card to Charles, I headed to Passion Vines, which I saw a billboard for while I was shooting. They have a nice selection of beer to fill growlers with. I sampled a couple while I was there and ended up getting the Lagunitas IPA. I'll be coming back here for sure.

Chuck, Kate, and I went to Matt's later to watch the series finale of Breaking Bad. It was such a great episode and it was nice sharing it with other people. After the final scene I think we all sat there in silence for a minute just processing what we saw. It's definitely a series that will be missed, but it's so rewatchable that I'm glad it stayed as good as it did for six seasons.

Sep 28, 2013

I headed to Shamong, NJ in the morning to meet my crew for the Rebel Race mud run. It was on a large horse farm outfitted with obstacles and caution tape. I met the group I was working with, got my staff shirt, and then shot some preliminary photos before heading over to my obstacle. I was going to be on the monkey bars, but when we saw the fire jump it was decided that it would make for better shots. I had to test it out of course.

After I got used to where I should stand I got some great shots of people jumping over. The two volunteers working the obstacle were young and not really doing a great job. To be fair, they weren't given many resources. Only a few firestarter logs and they have to scavenge for wood constantly to keep it going. It was dying down quickly.

It got boring pretty quickly since there weren't a whole lot of participants. It was a slow filter of people through my area and there was not really any communication available between obstacles. Two or three times someone got hurt at the monkey bars obstacle and they had to yell and run toward the finish line to get someone's attention to send the EMT. It was all very poorly thought out. I was done once I walked away from the fire area for a minute and the idiots that were manning it decided to use the fire extinguisher "just to see what would happen," and covering my camera and food bag with powder. I grabbed my stuff, dropped the photos to my laptop, and got on the road.

I got to Starland Ballroom to see Into It. Over It. and they were amazing. I'm glad I got to see him play with a full band, and now I wish I listened to him more often. Geoff Rickly played next and had the crowd excited as always. He played some Thursday covers, an original song, then he covered "The Boy Who Blocked His Own Shot" and talked about how hard it is to be a fan of Brand New with the way they release albums and play shows so infrequently. Geoff invited his friends in Gabriel the Marine up to play one of their songs and then "Understanding in a Car Crash" to close the set and it was the coolest cover of that song. I want them to record it. And I want to listen to Gabriel the Marine.

Saves the Day was up next, kicking off the set and never letting up on the the throttle. They never fail to play a great set full of old and newer songs and keep the crowd into it. Chris seems very enthusiastic and humbled by the diehard fans that are always there. They played quite a few new songs that were fun as well as a set of three songs from Can't Slow Down. A guy got on stage and proposed to his girlfriend in the middle of the set and made Chris cry. It was nice.

After an awesome show I snuck out a minute before the end of "At Your Funeral" so I didn't have to deal with traffic. It was a nice, quiet drive home down the Turnpike listening to podcasts.

Sep 27, 2013

I worked at Memorial for an art class today. The classes are usually pretty good so I had a decent day with them. Once I give them their assignment I'm pretty much done except to offer them suggestions for visual puns. After work I met Ryan and Erika at the gym for a set of circuit workouts, then we went to the course for a round of disc golf. Erika didn't play much, just walked around with us and the dog mostly. We decided to go get Chili's for dinner after we had a chance to go to our homes, shower, and change.

Later, Chuck and I went to Kate's and had some beers, sat around and talked, and the usual. I don't recall what we tried.

Sep 26, 2013

I had to be at Welsh Valley Middle School outside Philly at 6:30am to set up for the portrait shoot. Luckily it was quick setup and a good schedule to get us done early. I feel like I've gotten the hang of the setup and getting the students to do what I need them to for a good photo. The day went pretty quickly since we stayed busy and I was able to accept a job at Alternative School for the evening.

I was in for a computer teacher, but they just did worksheets reviewing what they had already learned. The classes were small and I only had to cover two full classes with an hour break to eat. Not a bad night. I was tired by the time I got home after getting up before 5 this morning so I retired early.

Sep 25, 2013

It was a long day of work at Chestnutwold Elementary School and we kept having technical issues. On my side of the room there was a missing shade on the window that kept letting the morning sun in on the backdrop and annoying me because I had to keep rigging up a gray card on a folded lunch table to block it out. The worst part is that I wouldn't notice right away when it crept back in and I ended up with a few photos with the sun spot in them.

After the long day I drove home through some traffic and got some food before taking a nap. I met Dave and Chelsea to discuss the photos they wanted printed and edits to be done. After our meeting I met Chuck and the others for Quizzo. Once again, we didn't win, but we still did pretty well.

Sep 24, 2013

I worked at Bacon School for the same Spanish Teacher as yesterday. She had a pretty easy schedule and I had her "office" in the library for a quiet, private place to hang out on my off periods. I showed the students Selena, which worked pretty well, except some classes could not shut up long enough for me to tell them we were watching a movie and other classes had problems with the DVD player of course. In one class I had to take the students to the library because their teachers were being such idiots and more disruptive than they were.

After work I went to the gym with Ryan and then I headed over to the park for a run. I did two laps and then walked a bit. I stopped by Shop Rite for a much needed restocking of the cabinets. I was out of hummus. The rest of the night was pretty uneventful. Shower, New Girl, and early bed.

Sep 23, 2013

I worked at Wood School for a Spanish teacher today, showing Happy Feet 2 to all of the classes in English. It was fairly pleasant since the movie was actually good to watch repeatedly. And it was nice having Ryan's office to hide in between classes since I didn't have my own room.

Chuck and I went up to Rogues Gallery in Philly to meet Stephanie and her friend for a couple of beers before we went over to the First Unitarian Church Chapel to see Jonah. I had a Burning River Pale Ale by Great Lakes that was amazing. I need to get that again. At the church, the room was actually quite a bit more empty than I'm used to it being, but that was okay. He played his usual amazing set of audience requests and whatever felt right to him in the moment including my request of "Hostage." I love seeing him play that song live. He puts so much emotion into. Just like everything he does. We got some photos after the show like we do.

Sep 22, 2013

The big plan for the day was to go up to Tyler. It had been quite a while since I had been so it seemed like a good choice. The weather was good and there weren't too many cars at the parking lot so I wasn't worried about having to wait behind people. They had made some more adjustments to the layout of the course as well. A few holes had been changed or removed and the flow had changed in the beginning for some reason. Either way, it is still the same basic fun. A lot of the holes have steep drops and I think I hit every one of them and had to go searching. After leapfrogging this couple because of lost discs, we decided to all play together and have extra eyes for searching for each others' discs. We had a good time playing together and decided to stop after 18 because it already seemed long.

I looked up breweries in the area to check out and ended up deciding on Vault Brewing. The place is nice but quite overpriced. The beer was pretty much standard too. The sweet potato ale was interesting though. After that was a stop at River Horse, where it turned out they were a little premature to advertise the tours being open on their website since they aren't open at all. That was annoying, but going to Triumph in Princeton made up for it. That place is awesome. The Bengal Gold IPA is great as is the Ginger Ale for Grown-Ups. The Black Squirrel: Fucking amazing. It's an English Brown ale made with hazelnuts and it is soooooo sweet and delicious. Of course you can't get a growler of it. But I could get a glass of it. And I did. After a short walk around the downtown Princeton area it was time to head home and stay in for the rest of the night.

Sep 21, 2013

I went over to Landis Park this afternoon to play a round with Scott. We got about halfway through the course before Bill and another of his friends showed up. We played two different layouts of the course, and I know how it feels to be the runt of the litter as I struggled to keep up with the long drives these guys were shooting. I did have some really awesome putts though. And they weren't discouraging in anyway so that was nice. Or not. I'm not sure. Ryan and I always laugh at each other's bad shots because we have both had the same things happen. Either way, I always have fun regardless of my ability. I just like being out with other people.

Later I played tennis with my dad. I wish we had done that a little more when it was nice. It was really warm and humid tonight so I was sweaty into the first game. After we shook off the cobwebs I felt like we played pretty well. The rest of the night was staying inside and being lazy.

Sep 20, 2013

I worked at Memorial for an English class today. The classes were okay and at the end of the day the entire school went outside for a pep rally, so I decided to stay inside and watch Elementary instead of listening to people yell about things I don't care about at all. It was a good choice if I do say so myself.

Later I played a round of disc golf at South Vineland. I need to play some different courses soon. I'd love to go on another disc golf camping trip with my friends, but I feel like that will never happen again. Later we went to Kate's to have some of the beers I brought back from tripping. The Shipyard Export is awesome. So is the Blueberry Ale. Sea Dog's IPA is also great. We had a good time. It's weird how I can enjoy drinking so much when I'm with other people, but can rarely enjoy more than one by myself.

Sep 19, 2013

I went up to Wagonhouse Winery in the afternoon to sample their wines and look for something to possibly get my mom for her birthday. I felt like I was getting strange looks/attitude from the woman behind the bar because I was trying all of the wine and eating the little crackers. Oh well. Good thing I don't care. After that I had my meeting with Deanna and her family to talk about wedding packages. They decided to sign with me so I was happy about that. Two months to get ready for it. I spent the night at home updating my phone to iOS 7 and playing with it. It's really different, but I'm sure I'll get used to it.

Sep 18, 2013

I had to be at Coopertown Elementary in the morning. At least it was a little bit later than the first job. I was a little apprehensive about working with the young kids because I thought they would be tougher to get positioned and smiling, but it turned out it was quite the opposite. Little kids are generally so happy that they were already smiling like idiots when they sat down. I just had to move their heads around sometimes and that was the awkward part. They didn't understand the movement directions as much. That said, I have the same problems with adult teachers sometimes. Either way, it was better than I had expected.

I got some food and went over to Victory Brewing during happy hour to hang out and kill some time. I spent that time drinking several Headwaters Pale Ales. That is an exquisite beer. I didn't wanna drink much before my game, so I headed out to Applebee's and realized I was there a bit early so I went back out to the car and killed some time watching shows on my laptop until it was time to go.

I was covering Jeff's Quizzo game for the night at the Thorndale Applebee's. I had to come up with sound clips from movies for one of the rounds so I came up with the most ridiculous ones I could think of. I got set up and started the game as awkwardly as you'd expect. I actually think I did alright, channeling Shakedown and Steve-O. I got through the regular questions and then did the sound clips, beginning with Mrs. Doubtfire saying "Hellloooooo!" and the speakers were turned up way too loud, scaring the people at the bar. It was pretty amusing. I was happy that most teams got a lot of my clips right. I had a good time getting to know some of the teams and I think it would be fun to do weekly except for the long drive. It was a long and dark drive home after the game and I was ready for bed.

Sep 17, 2013

I worked at Lakeside and Silver Run for a music teacher today. I had been in for him before so I knew the drill. He never leaves enough information in the middle school classes to make it easy. We had to work through the technical difficulties. At the elementary school none of the lessons showed up which was fine with me because I just got to hang out and watch shows. I showed the classes Peter and the Wolf. I don't know if I haven't seen it all or if I just forgot that part of it was live-action. It wasn't a bad day overall.

I met my mom at Moe's for dinner. I got a bowl full of good stuff and we talked about my trip and things I am planning for the next couple of months. It's always nice catching up with her in person once in a while. We had a good talk. I feel like it centers me or grounds me or something like that even if we don't talk about my actual current issues. After dinner I met Kate for a quick game of disc golf at the park before going home and trying to catch up on sleep.

Sep 16, 2013

We began our long drive home from the rest stop parking lot after washing up and eating. It was mostly a straight drive from this point on, stopping at a few random rest stops and a Sheetz, until we got to Penn State where we went to the hotel that Joanna's future travel-mates were staying at. I met Sidney, who seemed really nice, and got a much-needed shower in their room. It felt so good to wash off the dried sweat and mud from yesterday. After a long goodbye I was on my way to Thorndale, PA to meet Jeff.

I got to the Applebee's before Jeff somehow and helped him carry his Quizzo stuff inside. He showed me how to set up the PA and laptop and then ran through the motions of starting the quiz and handing out answer sheets so I'd know what to do when I fill in for him Wednesday. It was all pretty simple, but I'm glad he gave me the rundown. He ran through his fast and easy sports Quizzo game and then we were breaking down before I knew it.


We headed over to Victory Brewing for last call even though we were a little early for it. We each had a couple of beers and had a good time talking since we rarely get to catch up or chat anymore. We talked about the weekend at Riot Fest for me and having a child, wife, and two jobs for him. The lives we have chosen. We did have a really good time and I wish we got to spend more time together these days. I really don't know how he does that drive all the time though.

Sep 15, 2013

After a breakfast at Chicago Diner we drove to Humboldt Park and found a parking spot a block away for free all day. Funny how we've been getting closer each day with the car. It was raining and chilly out so I wasn't looking forward to a day in shorts and a t-shirt, but I also didn't want to bring a hoodie that would just get heavy and wet, so I went with the possibly uncomfortably cold choice. 

When we got to the gate we witnessed a girl casually walk past the ticket-takers, one of whom called to her and started to go up behind her. She noticed and she began to run (very slowly. very. slowly.) prompting a "security guard" to run after her for all of about 10 seconds. At that point they threw up their hands and said "I guess she got away." I was tempted to chase her myself as it wouldn't have taken much effort. The rest of walked on saying, "Oh that was all we had to do to get in for free? Shit. I wasted a hundred bucks!"

We got to the Rock Stage shortly before Hostage Calm came on. There were very few people there, partially because it was early and probably because of the rain. A handful of people knew their songs and were getting into. I was just standing in between people to stay warm. I would repeat this technique for the rest of the day.

We stayed at the Rock Stage near the front for the half hour between bands so we would be close for The Wonder Years. They came out and played an awesome, energetic set including new songs. I hadn't heard them play anything off the new album yet and the songs work very well live in their set. I love that album. Soupy ran off the stage and climbed a tree as we sang along and then did a front flip into the crowd and they surfed him back up front. I really love this band more every time I see them.

Next we had to run the straight line to the Rise Stage way at the other end of the street through crowded, muddy grass and dirt. We got there before Bayside started somehow and caught their whole set. Of course they were awesome. I was right up front, which was better than being along the curb last night at this stage. I felt very packed in at that point and had a hard time enjoying it at times when people around me weren't getting into it much. After that we went back to the other stage to watch Bad Books, which is Kevin Devine and Andy Hull's project. I don't know their music really, but seeing them was great. I think I'll be listening soon.

We went back to the Rise Stage yet again to see Best Coast. I don't know their music at all, but I figured I'd give them a shot. I squeezed up front to steal warmth from people, but no one was moving or really showing any recognition or interest in the band at all, so I decided it was time to go to my apartment. Yes, I did spent about a half hour alone in a porta-potty. No, I do not feel bad about this. It was warm-ish, not windy, and I could still hear the music. All wins for me.

I begrudgingly exited my warm little personal space and went back to the Rock Stage for Saves the Day. I was happy to see that the crowd was very into them. They played a fast and fan-pleasing set as they always do. I never leave a Saves the Day show thinking, "I wish they played this song," because they always play all of those songs. The new songs were fun and sound really good live as well.

I headed over to the mud pit formerly known as the Roots Stage and squirmed my way forward waiting for Brand New. There was this really perfect line of people that were standing on the edge of the grass, staying out of the muddy gravel area of the baseball diamond so when I got to this point I broke through like an event horizon and popped out on the other side mildly confused. Once my shoes were muddy it really didn't matter anymore so I trudged on. Brand New played songs. They played "Tommy Gun" of course but also "Quiet Things," which I would never expect. It was an okay set but much too Daisy-heavy for my taste. Not to mention the huge sea of people between myself and the stage really took away from some of the fun and energy I enjoy. I did have fun shooting photos of hundreds of cell phones taking video of the video monitor though. Ah, proof that they saw Jesse on a big TV in a park in Chicago. They will be the talk of their respective towns.

I ran away during the last song of Brand New to get to the Riot Stage in time to hear the opening guitar riff to "The Leaving Song pt. 2" which got me excited for AFI's set. I rushed up to the front of the crowd the best I could as they screamed through songs from Sing the Sorrow, my favorite album. They played some older songs that seemed to please the pit crowd and some newer songs that I almost didn't remember that I knew so well. They were, above all else, entertaining and fun. I was happy at this point that I bought tickets to see them in New Jersey next month.

After the awesome finish of AFI we walked the one block back to our car and then went back to, you guessed it, Chicago Diner. This was after a quick change out of wet, gross clothes in the car. I mean we really couldn't leave without one more visit. I decided to go for the Rodenbach flemish ale. It was quite tasty but not exactly what I'd wanted it to be. I got a reuben of course because I knew I would never regret that decision. I was right. I mean, just look at it. I thought about another milkshake, but I decided against that one as I might regret that.

With full bellies we hit the road heading back east into Indiana. We drove for a while until we were getting tired and then pulled over and set up camp for the night.

Sep 14, 2013

Chicago Diner again?? Yes. This time we parked right down the street from the diner since we saw so much parking yesterday. Found an all-day free spot within a mile of the park. I got the country fried steak and potatoes. Need a hearty meal if you're going to be watching music all day. It was amazing but huge. I took half of it with me.

I couldn't leave without getting the peanut butter cookie dough milkshake. It's one of those things that makes you make sounds as soon as you taste it. It is probably the best thing I have ever had. Really. If I wouldn't get sick and fat I would have like 30 of them. We went next door to Revolution Brewing so I could get a few beers and download things with their WiFi. We spent some time hanging out there until Joanna was ready to go down to the show. There were no bands I wanted to see for another 4-5 hours so I stayed behind and hung out in the car catching up on shows, trying not to fall asleep, and taking walks around the neighborhood.

Time really moved slowly while I waited, but I'm sure I could have found more interesting and useful things to do with my time that would have helped that. Eventually it was time to head down to the park so I got a slice of pizza to go from the bar we parked across from and walked swiftly down the street. I got into the gates just as Rancid was starting to play their first song. Those guys kick some ass. They played sooooo much from And Out Come the Wolves. I was quite happy. They seemed to have the crowds full attention as well, so that was nice. Great way to kick off the night.

I ran over to the Rise Stage to see Taking Back Sunday. They are consistently one of my favorite bands to see live. They are so much fun and they play a great selection of songs since they got the original lineup back.

There is a giant riser/VIP area about 100 feet from the stage directly in the middle of everything, which blocks the view of anyone behind it from almost all directions. This leads people to flood the sides of the stage, one of which is situated on a hill with a large curb on the edge. This is not a good thing to be underfoot in a crowd of thousands. One person trip and goes down the hill, taking a bunch of other people with them. It kept happening so I got away from it as best I could. I ended up on the side, down the hill, and right up front. It was still a decent view, but there was a very drunk girl that kept trying to get me to push forward and I kept telling her to go bother someone else.

During the last song we ran away to the Riot Stage to see Blink come on. They played basically the same set from the Starland show, but it was a good set so I can't complain. I was right up front for a bit, but I never tend to like that so I dropped back to where the pit was and had fun with all of my peoples. In usual Blink fashion, they sprayed the crowd with confetti at the end of the set and Mark stayed on stage awkwardly long trying to be funny (read: being funny) and the power went out right before his single-bass-note punchline.

I waited for a long while in the dark for Joanna at the merch area, but she finally appeared and we took our long-ish walk back to the car. It was nice to get out of there faster this time. We headed back to our spot at the hotel and made our car bed for the night.

Sep 13, 2013

We picked up where we left off in Ohio and finished the long drive to Chicago into the afternoon. Once we found the train station we wanted to park at and figured out which tickets to buy we got on the train and headed into the city. Our first stop was Chicago Diner for some delicious vegan food. I had to go with the reuben to start. It had been too long. It was wonderful. After we were stuffed we walked the mile to Humboldt Park, passing empty parking spaces all along the way. I guess we should have driven in.

We got to the entrance to Riot Fest at the park and there was no line to get in, so that was nice. We wandered around inside for a bit, getting a feel for the layout. It had been quite a while since I was at a festival. We watched a video at the FARM truck and they gave us a fresh dollar bill and talked to us about vegan living for a while. We watched a little of the Smoking Popes before we went to the Riot Stage to see Yellowcard. I never know how the first band at a fest will be, especially in the daytime with a cold crowd that just showed up. Yellowcard killed it and really kicked the weekend off right. They played an awesome set; so much better than the last time I saw them. Everyone was super enthusiastic and Sean even did two backflips! Fantastic.

Bad Religion was up next on the Roots Stage and that was quite a change in atmosphere. Older crowd, big mohawks, kilts, and a real mosh pit like they used to have back in the day. It was pretty sweet being in that crowd. I felt slightly more at home even if I'm not as into the faster punk music anymore. Regardless of my general leaning, I do love Bad Religion, and they played a kick-ass set. They blaze through songs like a chainsaw through butter. They must have played about 30 songs in their hour slot, including "Atomic Garden," "21st Century (Digital Boy)," and "I Wanna Conquer the World" back to back. It was pretty insane. They still know how to rock a crowd.

After Bad Religion I wandered for a while, watching GWAR for about a minute before I realized I didn't want to watch them. I met Joanna in the intersection and we went over to see Masked Intruder play the small stage. They were actually really fun and entertaining. Definitely a band I'd like to see live, but can't imagine getting into otherwise. The park looked pretty cool lit up at night. We didn't take advantage of any of the rides, but I guess we probably should have.

The crowd was huge already for Fall Out Boy. No surprise, but I squeezed up about halfway as they started the set. It was a very similar set to the show they played in Philly, but it was mostly enjoyable. A lot of songs from the new album again, so I felt like that slowed things down a little, but I was into while I was there. Once the last screams of "Saturday" were finished we filtered slowly out and I went to our meeting place by the merch booths which turned out to be a lot of other people's meeting place as well.

It seemed like a very long walk to the car, and once we found the Metro station, it seemed like a long train ride back to the car. Being tired didn't help. We got to the car and had a bit of drive ahead of us to the hotel where Joanna stayed when she was on tour in Chicago. This time she had to sleep in the back of the car with me though instead of having a nice bed. At least we had a safe, free parking spot.

Sep 12, 2013

I had to be outside of Philly very early in the morning for my first school portrait shoot with Legacy. I met Dave at the school once I found the right parking lot and helped carry in the gear. We set up on a stage, and I felt very pressured to be able to do everything even though I only practiced once at the office. I did pretty well, but I still need work. Once we got set up it was a short wait before teachers started coming in to get their photos taken. After that it was a steady stream of students for the rest of the day. I barely had time to stop and eat the lunch that I brought.

Overall I think it went very well and I got comfortable with it quickly. After the last students we broke down and I had to head back to the office for a quick review of the shots I took. I was given several critiques about framing and sizing, but the comments were mostly favorable so that's a good sign. Once that was done, I headed north out of Philly to pick up Joanna at her house and then we headed west toward Chicago.

We didn't have any plans on how far we would go, but we ended up deciding to stop in Ohio around 1am at a rest stop. I was getting tired, and we figured it was about halfway so we could finish the drive tomorrow.

Sep 11, 2013

No jobs today. Still waiting for the teachers to remember they don't want to go to work. So I went out for a game of disc golf with Kate and, by some great luck and a small amount of skill, I aced hole 8. This is one I'd never even dream of acing. I'm thrilled when I park it anywhere within putting distance for a birdie, but the disc took a strange route outside to the right and hooked back in. It was great watching it and the tension started building when I realized it might happen and then I heard the chains and went nuts. It's a great feeling! Sadly, I have no chance at replicating that. Otherwise, my game was average.

That night we went up to The Abbaye for the Long Trail U Buy the Glass night. They had some great beers on tap. I started with the Lemon Pepper Kolsch, which is as awesome as it sounds. So light and tasty. The Maple Maibock was pretty great as well. The Double White was much better than I'd expected and I really enjoyed the one goblet I was allowed. The same goes for the Imperial Pumpkin. It was awesome! And I'm not usually too into the pumpkin beer. Paired with the always-delicious seitan cheesesteak, this was one of the best events I can recall. The IPA is always great too, so we had one of those. We hung out for a while after it was over to milk our last beers and get a little extra. It was a great night.