Nov 23, 2013

I had a meeting with potential clients for a wedding in the morning in Roebling, which is near Trenton. After rushing I got there just on time. The meeting went well and we talked about a bunch of things besides the wedding so I'm hopeful that they will hire me. I headed over to Wissahickon for a run to kill some time before meeting Jess later. It was quite chilly out, but once I started running the hills I warmed up really fast. I had a good run of about 3 miles, but I kind of turned my ankle twice on rocks. I'm surprised it wasn't worse considering how many rocks I have to sidestep on those trails. There were still enough leaves to make the trail really pretty.

I went over to Sedgley, where they were having their monthly tournament and found Philly's Mayor Nutter learning to putt at the practice basket. It was quite an unusual sight. He made one after a few attempts. The tournament was starting the second round and they weren't utilizing 10-18 so I played those first before getting back to 1. On hole 3 I caught up to two guys, Ben and John, who invited me to play with them. They were beginners and were quite amazed at my slight abilities. We had a good time playing, and somehow I was putting extremely well. I was hitting putts from twenty feet that I would normally miss for sure. 

I met Jess over at the Divine Lorraine and got a chai latte before trying to find our way in. This time we had to enter the adjacent building and go through the basement to get up into the hotel. After that it was familiar and easy. We checked out a few different floors as we climbed the stairs up. Jess was shooting more than I was because I wasn't interested in too much in the open, empty rooms. We got up to the top floor and then decided to take the fire escape access ladder up to the roof.

We had a beautiful view from the roof. The skyline was mostly unobstructed and when the sunset began it just kept getting better. The sky turned into burning magma cascading across the sky and it was just perfect. Right around sunset is when we suddenly looked up to see a guy standing there. It was very unexpected. He was followed by about 7 others. I thought we were going to be alone the whole time so that was a surprise. The people were from all over and met up on Instagram then decided to come here to meet in real life. Everyone was very nice.

After it started getting dark we turned on our flashlights and headed down the stairs, through the basement, up the ladder, and under the fence back to the street. It was quite a successful shoot. I headed home and met Ryan to play some of the Wii U Super Mario Bros. It's pretty great; just like the one for Wii. After some good playing we went out for a walk near the church. The wind was blowing like crazy and it got pretty chilly, but walking quickly helped warm me. The day tired me out so it's bedtime.

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 1, 2013

We started the day playing the heavily wooded and fun Bellamy DGC in New Hampshire. It was a cool course, beginning with a shot over a river/stream. Luckily the stream was dried up mostly, because on hole 2 I threw directly into it and had to climb down onto the rocks to get it. There were some longer fairways, but most of it was somewhat short but technical. The last few were just long narrow shots through tall trees. I really liked this course.

We continued south to Boston and went to Veggie Galaxy for dinner. They had great food and lots of desserts that I didn't get to try. We met Casie and Nathan at Harpoon Brewing for a tour. They updated their facility since last time I had been there so there is a huge dining room/bar where you enter now. The tour was a little different as well, but it was still a good one. You don't get to delve quite as far into the brewery as before, but you still get the free for all at the tap room after the tour. Their Pilot Session Pale Ale was awesome as is the White IPA. We hung out and got some pretzels after the tour with some beer.

We took our stuff over to their apartment and then Nathan took us downtown to the Microsoft offices, which are just amazing. They occupy the top 7 or so floors of one of the tall building downtown and they have a crazy sprawling view of the city. Not only that, they have pool tables, ping pong, and foozball, among many other awesome recreational activities. We spent most of the night there playing all the aforementioned games as well as a card game that was completely ridiculous. It was just a fun night. I was very envious. Am. We went back to the apartment and hung out watching a movie for a little while until we were too tired to stay awake any longer.

Jul 14, 2013

We woke up to far fewer vehicles along the ocean than we fell asleep to. We slowly got up and ready to leave and packed in the tent to head down to the tide pools.

We found a great spot in the rocks with lots of shallow pools. I saw a bunch of little creatures in the pools; crabs, anemones, and other things that don't look alive but probably are. Then I started seeing a couple of starfish clinging to the rocks. Then I saw more clumped together. Then I saw more than I ever thought I would ever see all piled together in once area. They were everywhere.

It was insane how many there were just hanging out in groups on the rocks. They were amazingly beautiful in a way I never really thought of them before. Their texture is rough and they are much bigger than I really thought about.

We climbed out on the rocks, hopping precariously over filled pools, carefully avoiding the numerous tide pool creatures that lined the previously submerged land. It was quite challenging to avoid stepping on shellfish.

We spent a long time out there, soon being joined by several others. After we were done photographing and staring at starfish we headed back to the car and continued the long drive around the park to Olympia, where we went to Le Voyeur Cafe. I really like the feel of Olympia. It seems very Washington Punk Rock, which is what I think of because of Rancid. We got some tasty food at the cafe and walked the main street for a bit then headed on to Seattle.

We went to Mighty O Donuts and got quite a few amazing little donuts. They were so moist and delicious. What a wonderfully bad idea it was to stop here. I put Elysian Brewing in my GPS only to find out it was a block away. So we got out of the car and walked there. I had a tasty flight there; my favorite being the Superfuzz Blood Orange pale ale. So uniquely citrusy and still a great hop flavor.

We went down to Fremont, where there is a troll under a bridge that is a fun local oddity. There isn't much to it, but it looks cool from the bottom of the steep hill. Also at the bottom of that hill and around the corner is Fremont Brewing. They have a beautiful open door tasting room with a lot of outdoor seating. I sampled all of their beers at the tap, talking with the brewers whilst I sipped. He even let me try a beer that wasn't on tap yet, and of course is was the most amazing bourbon barrel-aged beer. So damn good. I was told not to tell anyone about it, so shhhh. We hung out in the outdoor area where I drank a beer I didn't totally want, but felt compelled to buy because I sampled for free. It was good, but hoppy and strong.

We went to Kerry Park, which was suggested as the best view of the Seattle skyline, and we were not disappointed in any way. It was a gorgeous view of downtown, the Space Needle, and Mount Rainier in the background. We had a perfectly clear evening and there were a whole bunch of people there as well, including an engagement photo shoot. The sunset was beautiful on the city and it felt surreal (sorry, Dr. Hottle) standing there.

After the sun was down, instead of waiting for the night to properly fall, we went down to Schooner Exact Brewing, where we got in just as they were closing. The bartender was nice enough to have us in and give me a flight. I really enjoyed their beers, especially the Hopvine IPA, and it so happened that they had a half growler corked for sale so I got that without hesitation.

After having a good tasting we headed back to Kerry Park to see the amazing view of the skyline at night. I love it. I wanted to stay there. After that we went to the apartment of  Amol, our couch surfing host for the night. Another surfer, Matt, was there and let us in. He is a traveling musician from Scotland who is touring the US and couch surfing along the way. He is super friendly and easy to talk to. Amol came home a bit later and, obviously, he is amazingly personable as well. We didn't talk too long before we all got to bed, but I really liked both of these guys. Glad we get to couch surf and meet people like this.

Feb 4, 2012

I drove up the Turnpike in the morning to the Meadowlands Convention in Secaucus and entered the giant building to a bunch of people hanging beer signs and getting their booths ready for the International Great Beer Expo. Despite the name it looked like it was going to be pretty awesome.

I found our people and we set up our table with New Jersey Craft Beer merch and info and just waited for people to come in. They opened the gates and people flooded in and I started making the rounds sampling beers and taking tons of photos.

There was so much to try I couldn't even try everything. I got some great shots and tried some really good beers. Otter Creek had an amazing coffee porter and Innis & Gunn's new Oak Barrel Aged Scottish Stout is fantastic.

I was drinking too fast and I had to go to my car and take a short nap to recover and slow down. I came back in for session number two and paced myself better. I was definitely in and out of drunkenness throughout the day. Two sessions is a really long time. One of my favorite beers of the day was a French beer called Gavinroche. It's a red ale. After the long day, we packed up the table and carried everything out to the cars and said farewell.

I had to wait for Alex to get home from a function so I went to the river walk in Hoboken and enjoyed the fresh air and the view of the city for a while until she called me.

I went back to her place and we talked for a while before I was ready to get to sleep. It was a great day. The people I met were really fun and I got to sample plenty of beer that I haven't had before.

Jan 15, 2012

We woke up in the cold parking lot not wanting to emerge from the blankets. There was frost on the windows and we eventually got up the courage to get changed and drive away.

I drove to a bridge with a nice view of downtown and went out into the frigid morning to take photos. I couldn't find my gloves so my fingers were going numb as I shot these. I was really loving the light on the city though so I dealt with the pain. We went downtown and saw some more nice sights then had breakfast at an awkward Dunkin' Donuts full of homeless and/or recently released inmates.

We headed north and made our way into Boston and looked into getting a room in the city. It was very expensive even to park so we looked into other options. We decided to go over to Harpoon Brewery and do the tour first.

They gave us samples and our small glasses straight away as they introduced us to the brewery. We started with the IPA.

The tour was great and our tour guide was really funny. He let us sample some IPA that was still in the tank and we could notice that it tasted a little flat. It still had a week or two to sit before it was ready. That was a cool experience. The brewery is really big and they do some great charity work in the area between Boston and Vermont, where their other brewery is.

After the great tour we came out into the tasting room and got our sample on. We managed to try everything that was on tap! There were so many good beers there. We ended up leaving with two growlers. One of them was the Chocolate Stout mixed with the Raspberry UFO which made a wonderful flavor. This is probably my favorite brewery tour/experience.

We headed south and stopped after a while at Tullycross Tavern in Connecticut for some samples and a break from the road. They had some good stuff including a couple of IPAs and a winter stout.

The rest of the drive home seemed long and we hit some traffic, but we eventually made it back. That was a whirlwind trip up and back. We did quite a bit in a short time. It was too cold to enjoy just walking around unfortunately.