Dec 18, 2016

We woke up earlier than planned, but it was nice to just lie around for a while in bed and not have anything to do right away. We got up and cooked a tofu scramble and sweet potatoes. It was delicious. We watched another episode of Planet Earth while we ate which just made me want to travel more and learn how to do the ridiculous camera work they do.

We decided to go for a run because it was super warm out. We parked near my house and ran down the trail near the river. We went out and back and I was loving it, but Becca started to feel lightheaded so we stopped about halfway through the planned run. It was still nice to get out there. On our walk back there was a guy on the trail who pointed our attention to two giant bald eagles on a tree across the water. They were beautiful! I went and grabbed my camera and managed to catch a few shots of them despite not having an empty memory card or a tripod easily accessible.

We had to go get ready and go up to Cherry Hill for the Escape Room. Ryan, Shannon, Chuck, Alex, Tracy, Christie, and Becca's friend Jennell met us there. We chose The Illusionist as our theme, so it was a magician's room with tricks and cards all around. It was fun, but it wasn't nearly as interesting as the one we did last year. We didn't manage to escape, but we all agreed it was a little bit bullshit. There was one clue that we understood totally and we kept trying it without it working. They gave us the answer, but it didn't make sense. Anyway, we moved on, but it seemed like we couldn't split up and do things; we had to all work on one thing, which felt like a waste and poorly planned.

We went to Iron Hill Brewery after the game and sat at a long table in the bar. Becca and I got a flight that included a tart sour that was aged for 6 years. It was a surprise, and it was really good. I got a hummus and veggie wrap and stole some of Becca's fries. It was fun to hang out for a while when we weren't searching for clues and also to complain about the couple of things that didn't really make sense at the room.

Becca and I headed off to Whole Foods and Trader Joe's for ingredients for upcoming meals this week as well as some trip snacks for next week. We stopped at REI so Becca could look for new hiking boots and we could both look at day packs. I really do need to get one. My old high school bag isn't cutting it anymore. I'm tempted to just wait and hope I can make it to the REI Garage Sale on New Year's Eve. It was getting late (or it felt late) so we ended the shopping there and went home. After hanging out for a little while I decided to come home and call it a night to attempt getting more than six hours of sleep.

Mar 1, 2014

Kate and I went up to Iron Hill for their Barrel Bourbon and Bugs event. They had brewed small batches of twelve beers. Six wild ales and six bourbon barrel-aged dark beers. We got both samplers and dove in. So many delicious beers were in there. My favorite was the Flemish Red (no big surprise there.) The Saison Wood was great as well in the wild set. The Bourbon Wee Heavy was great, and the Bourbon 2 Logan TJ was just perfect for the style.

Jamie and Matt met us there after we had started and we got food to go with our many beers. I got a glass of the F. Red because I so rarely get to have sour beers. The place was really busy, and I'm not surprised. I hope they have more of these events in the future.

I headed to Williamstown where I was shooting a 70th birthday party for DaVonne's grandmother. I got there on time, which turned out to be really early. So I took some shots of the setup and then just wandered around and talked to people, shooting groups when they came in.

Once the guest of honor arrived they did their surprise and then got down to dinner shortly after. I got to have some of the great food and take a break to eat with DaVonne. After dinner they gave some really touching speeches about how she has affected all of their lives. It was pretty awesome to see such a happy family and hear some of the amazing stories. It was a great event and I had a really good time working it.

Later I went to Ryan's and we had a long walk around the neighborhood and then came back to his house to play some Mario Wii. 

Feb 25, 2014

I had another day of meetings at Vineland Memorial today. This time my schedule was pretty packed. I had a nice lunch break though. After I work I met Kate and we headed up to Cherry Hill to meet a wedding client so I could give her the contract and get the deposit. We went to Iron Hill after that to get a drink before the rock gym. We ended up getting a growler of Luca Brasi.

We met Brenda over at the rock gym and got into it. We were there for about three hours and did a lot of climbing it seemed like. That one extra person really helps out by giving a little more breaks between climbs. We also did some bouldering in between. It was a good night.

Feb 17, 2014

I went to the gym for a long time in the afternoon, running for a while and then doing several circuit sets in the group room. I was surprised I stayed for as long as I did. Chuck and I headed up to Iron Hill in Voorhees later where we met Jamie, Matt, and Kate to celebrate Jamie's birthday. After playing some musical chairs to sit in the bar area where beers were much cheaper we ordered some food and drinks.

The food was awesome and the beer, as always, was great. The Rye'ght on was one of my favorites I've had from them, and the Wee Heavy was on point. We also tried the Titus double IPA, which was tasty, but I was in the mood for something else. I did have a Rising Sun IPA though, because it's one of my favorites.

After we ate, we played a game of mustache mystery where each card has a silhouette of someone famous' mustache. The back has clues to help the players guess who it is. Amy, who didn't think I knew her from high school, showed up with her husband and we played the game. He kept guessing Stalin and was eventually absolutely right! I kept guessing Jamie Hyneman which sadly never showed up. It was a really fun and funny game to play. Happy birthday, Jamie!

Feb 4, 2014

I worked at Vineland Memorial covering Child Study Team meetings for the day. I was done by noon and home for the afternoon. I got some dinner from Wildflower and headed up to REI to meet Brenda and Andrea. We spent quite a while there so Brenda could get her rock climbing shoes. I got a chalk bag and then we headed over to the gym. We spent a long time climbing. Andrea enjoyed it, even though she didn't always follow the colored routes. 

After climbing we were all hungry so we went to Iron Hill for dinner foods. We sampled a few beers and had really good meals. Our waiter took forever to bring us the check, but eventually we paid and got out. 

May 5, 2012

Ryan and I made our way up to the rock climbing gym in the early afternoon and did belay climbing for an hour or so. I like it more than the bouldering walls since I feel more comfortable and there's more to climb.

He dropped me off at Iron Hill Brewery around the corner where I met Sam, Jeff, and Jordan for the Cinco de Mayo Home Brewer's festival. It was ten bucks to buy a glass and then get it filled with as much home brewed beer as you wanted. I started with an Orange IPA and a Plum IPA, both pretty good. Soon after Kate, Chuck, and Erika showed up to join in.

I found Seth and he gave us a taste of his English Breakfast stout that is in the running for Iron Hill's contest and I think it should win. Mostly so I can drink more of it, but it was absolutely the best beer I tried there. Runners up were the Habanero IPA and a Triple Chocolate Stout. I love craft beers for the unique tastes. We had fun hanging out there a few hours and talking until they were starting to shut down.

We hung out at Jeff's for a short time and got some food before crossing the bridge to go to XFinity Live at the sports complex to see the Reel Big Fish for free! We weren't there long before they came on stage. It took the crowd a few songs to warm up to them, but it was a classic, if not slightly shorter, RBF set and we were dancing in the pit in no time.

The show got over early, but we came home after anyway and I spent the rest of the night inside. A slightly disappointing ending to an otherwise really fun day.

Apr 14, 2012

Kate, Chuck, Nathan, and I took a trip to Lancaster to do another little tour of breweries. We started with the big sampler at Lancaster Brewing Company. We got some snacks and spent a while there slowly sipping our sample glasses. We actually got to try the Rumspringa this time as well and it was very good.

We went around to Spring House next, where we got to try their Two Front Teeth Holiday Ale and had more of the Peanut Butter Porter. So good. We stopped by Iron Hill as well, where I abstained from the sampler and just tried the one that wasn't up last time we visited.

We finished off at the Appalachian Brewing Company on the way home. This place is awesome! The restaurant has a bunch of great food and their selections are very hard to choose from since they have so much good sounding beer. We each got a pint and tried each other's, but we should definitely come back for lunch sometime.

Another whirlwind day of beer tasting complete. It was fun being with a group and seeing Nathan again for a while.

Apr 4, 2012

Once again I got no calls for subbing so we decided to go somewhere. First we wanted to go to Dogfish Head, but their tours had sold out for the day already. We decided to head to Lancaster and wing it. So we went to Lancaster Brewing Co. first and got lunch.

The turkey dagwood was amazing, and their beer was fantastic. All of the styles were really good. My favorites are definitely the Amish Four Grain Ale, Fest Beer, and Billy's Bock. The Strawberry Wheat was much better than I remembered as well, and of course the Milk Stout and Double Chocolate Milk Stout were great. They even mixed the Milk with the Wheat and called it a Chocolate Covered Strawberry.

We went a few blocks down to the Tap House, where Spring House Brewing Company resides and puts on quite a show. Another solid brewery, their Peanut Butter Stout was fantastic. The Pineapple Pale was really interesting and good, and the 7 Gates is a great year-round beer.

Next up was the Iron Hill of Lancaster, where we sampled their 7 seasonals. The Pugilist was by far my favorite. English style beers have become my favorite recently. They also had an Oompa Loompa that was sweet and very tasty.

We headed out to Bird-In-Hand to Rumspringa Brewery next where we did a little wine tasting. They even had some mead! Some really good wines and we ended up going home with a bottle of Knight's Reserve (which they reserved the last bottle of for us..) We went upstairs to their brewery after that and sampled their five brews. The kolsch was my favorite of them and the stout was a close second.

Our final stop was Stoudts in Adamstown. I was underwhelmed with this place's selection. We sampled four beers, of which I only enjoyed two. The barleywine was probably the best. I was about ready to get going after that.

The drive home wasn't too bad, and after a stop to talk to Dave at Sidelines I came home and was about ready to get to sleep. Good times.

Mar 27, 2012

I subbed for the vocal music teacher at the Senior High, watching That Thing You Do, The Producers, and Mamma Mia. I spent most of my time reading as the students watched. After work Kate and I went up to Iron Hill Brewery in Marlton. I wanted to get a pint of their Luca Brasi coffee stout before it was all gone. I also got a Rising Sun IPA that was fantastic. The food was pretty great as well. Why can't we have one of these in Millville??

After dinner we came back to Kate's and spent two or three hours playing the Big Bang Theory drinking game. We need to amend the rules a bit I think, but it was fun anyway.

Mar 17, 2012

To celebrate St. Patrick's Day, Kate, Chuck, and I took a day to visit a bunch of local breweries. We started with the Iron Hill in Phoenixville. We actually had to wait for them to open but not too long. We got samplers of all of their styles and some food. They had a Roggenbier that was fantastic and a chardonnay barrel-aged tripel that was phenomenal. I would like more of that, please.

Next up was Sly Fox. We went in with high hopes, but we did a couple of flights and weren't overly impressed with anything on their lineup. We went over to McKenzie Brew House next, which is a big restaurant and bar that seemed like it wouldn't have a great selection. They ended up having a bunch of great beers and even better bartenders. They talked to us the whole time; I talked to them about SLR cameras and at the end of our visit we asked for the check and they said, "oh, we can't find it. I guess it's free!" with a smirk. Slightly confused but very gracious, we left a big tip and thanked them.

We headed back to the city next to go to Yards. We hopped on their first tour, where we were given samples of the Pale Ale and shown around the whole facility. It was a little long but interesting. We went out to the bar after the tour for a couple of flights of their offerings, including variations on the Love Stout. So good.

We headed over to Nodding Head, where they were already packed for St. Patrick's Day celebrations, so we just got a beer each instead of trying to get a sampler in that mess. They have some really good beer. We finished out the day by going to the Abbaye for at least one more beer and a great dinner. Always a great way to end the day.

Aug 13, 2011

Jeff picked me up in the morning and inquired about which disc golf course we'd be playing at. I said we should go to one in Delaware since I haven't been in a while. It was a beautiful day.. until we go to to the course. We played about four holes before it started thundering very loudly and drizzling. We got back to the car just in time for it to start pouring.

We went to the Iron Hill Brewery for lunch to wait out the storm. I got a really good house made veggie burger and tried some of their beer. Good stuff. We were there for a while and then headed out where it had cleared up again. We started off toward the other course nearby and no sooner did I say something about the weather did it start pouring once again. Like serious downpour, can't-see-in-front-of-you stuff. We had no luck. So we headed back home.

There wasn't much to do with the weather so I stayed in until later at night, when I went for a walk around town just to get out and listen to some music. The rain cooled things off a lot.