Apr 7, 2012

Kate wasn't feeling well when we packed up to leave at midnight so we put off leaving until the morning. We took 95 South the whole way. The drive was pretty enjoyable overall. It's been quite some time since I've been south of D.C. on 95. Kate slept in the back most of the time trying to feel better.

We made one stop at The Mash House in North Carolina for lunch and to sample their beers. I love the presentation and there was no shortage of delicious beers on this flight. The red and brown were my favorites and the peach blonde ale was amazing.

Once we finally reached Charleston we met Kate's dad at the hotel and put our stuff down before heading out to Red Lobster. It was only somewhat uncomfortable with the hungry family that had been waiting for us to arrive and then Kate dropped her phone in water. After dinner, Jocelyn, who I hadn't seen since high school, picked us up and took us out to Charleston Beer Works downtown. We had a fun time as I sampled beers and we caught up.

After a couple of hours out we had to head back to the hotel. It was a good day and nice catching up with an old friend.

Apr 6, 2012

I got up at 2:30am and grabbed my pack to head out. I met Ashley in Philly and we made the drive up the PA Turnpike to the trail head for Mt. Minsi. The hike up was nice in the dim pre-dawn light. We didn't need our flashlights or headlamps at all. We made good time up to the overlook where we arrived just as the sun peeked over the horizon.

We took a nice rest on the rocks and watched the sun come up as Ashley unpacked a slew of surprising brunch items out of her pack. Strawberries, a baguette, curry chicken salad, and prosciutto to start with a homemade whoopie pie for after!

We ate well and took plenty of photos of the sunrise over New Jersey and Mt. Tammany. It was an amazing and peaceful way to begin the day.

We continued on along the trail and hiked the rest of the way out to the top before turning around and taking the same route back. The trail was rocky, but it was a nice walk.

There were a few overlook spots along the way that graced us with views in the opposite direction. Nice things to see all around. Hiking in the morning is the absolute best.

We headed back into the city in traffic, making jokes about signs along the way until we got to The Abbaye for lunch. She had me pick out her food and beer for her, and she was not disappointed with either. I had to get going after lunch and she had a meeting anyway. I came home and packed up all my stuff for the trip and laid down early once again in hopes of getting a lot of sleep.

Apr 5, 2012

I worked at Lakeside all day in a history class with the teacher in there with me most of the time. It was easy but slow. After work Ryan and I went to Belleplain to run the East Lake Trail. It was a seven mile loop that I completed with relative ease while listening to Stuff You Should Know's new episode on beer. How appropriate. I was happy with my run overall. Now we just need to kick it up a few more miles, add some hills, and twenty obstacles and we'll be ready!

I came home and had some dinner and watched 24 while packing up some stuff for my early morning hike. I feel that I need everything laid out so I can wake up at the last moment. Here goes.

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.

Apr 3, 2012

Annoyingly I did not get a job this morning, so I went to drop my car at the mechanic's early and my grandmom suggested getting breakfast at Jim's Lunch. I got a pretty good omelet and a very small orange juice.

It was gorgeous out so we went and played a round of disc golf. Kate is getting much better by the small amount of practice she's had. I did pretty well too. We got a basketball and went to the park so I could embarrass myself. I'm awful at basketball. But it was fun shooting around though.

We spent some time planning the trip for next week and then went to the fairgrounds to let Jack run around and chase balls. I was also scouting it out for a possible booth there in the summer to take photos.

I went for a run on the trails behind Kate's house, but I was pretty tired from running the last few days and only went about two miles. I walked the rest of the way listening to Stuff You Should Know and getting lost on the confusing branched trails.

We decided to have a fire later on. It was already going when I got back from home. We got to try out the beer that Fred picked up for us at Coddington's Brewery in Newport, RI. It was quite good.

Chuck and Tracy joined us. Tracy and I tried to make some plans as far as camping and running/obstacle events for the spring and summer. We have a better idea of what we want to do.

It was a nice day overall and I was tired when I got home so sleep came quickly.

Apr 2, 2012

I spent the morning looking for work but enjoying relaxing. I didn't think anything was going to come up until after noon when I got a call for a half day at Lakeside for a Language Arts class. I didn't have much to do, but the kids were being extra annoying to make up for my short day.

I went over to the course and played a few holes until the wind and my poor shots encouraged me to stop.

I went for a trail run at the Silver Run trails and made a few laps that felt good. I met Ryan at the gym after that for some circuits that were pretty strenuous.

To make up for the exercise I did I got a pint of Ben and Jerry's and came home. Alex came over and helped me finish it thankfully.

We watched some Wall-E and Parks and Rec while we talked for a while. Not a bad day.

Apr 1, 2012

Kate and I went to have breakfast at The Queen and I got an omelet that was much too big but very delicious. After that I met Ryan at the gym for our weekly muscle medley followed by a trip to Parvin for a run. We did four exercise stops along the way, making it seem much more difficult than my longer run the other day.

I came home for a bit but had to go back out shortly after for Kate's cousin Hunter's birthday party. He was turning 7 and got way too much candy as presents. He seemed to be having a good time. We hung out and had some ice cream and I listened to them tell their old family stories for a while before departing.

I spent the evening working on this video as a teaser/intro for NJCB and the interviews I will be editing soon. I'm pretty happy with how it came out. I wish I did more general footage of the fest though. Next time I'll know.

After some perusing of the internet I was ready to get to bed early.