BEERtrekkin ~ Minneapolis Sunday

So, I woke up Sunday morning to a head bulging with congestion and a nose I am glad not to rely on wholly for breathing. Allergies have struck and hard. Not really a cold that I can tell, especially since the Benadryl-D is working much better than the Vics Cold & Allergy. Either way, my head feels THIS big and it's no fun. A little congestion or a lot, it isn't going to keep me from having fun and a lot of it.

I borrowed Josh's treadmill in his man-cave with work-out room in the basement. Even though the treadmill is my least favorite exercise mechanism, it is better than no exercise mechanism. I power-walked for 50 minutes after spending a few minutes figuring out how to work the machine. Settings finally taken care of, I walked the morning away then hit the shower to hit the road.

But first, the lil munchkin must be fed and Kristyn requires a beer; New Belgium 2* Below. I have 2 more bottles of the beer, one of which is set aside for tasting notes. Speaking of beer, our main trip was to Hudson, Wisconsin, a cool little old town right on the St. Croix. There we walked along the river and browsed the bridge which spanned all the way across. We didn't traverse the whole bridge or park area because it was cold and the lil munchkin, after 3 weeks in Florida, has decided that she really doesn't like this cold and snow stuff. Tis for the birds, she says. Our destination of destiny was the Historic Casanova Liquor and Nova Wine Bar. A historic destination with real beer caves, I am definitely going to have to go back to Casanova specifically and the town of Hudson in general. Between the pubs, shops, and overall scenery, a vacation spot to be sure. I made out like a bandit with a box of beer, though I could have made out with a U-Haul of beer. I didn't even hit the single-malt and bourbon selection. Mmm... Definitely have to go back. There was a passel of peeps gathered round the TV, Josh included, as they watched the last few minutes of the US VS Canada hockey game during overtime. Inbetween, Jenn waited patiently as me and Josh cruised the beer section, a tiny corner of the store packed to brimming with craft and import beer of all varieties. The bottles in particular that I bought for my return trip to Vero are:

Goose Island Bourbon County Stout 2009; New Glarus Raspberry Tart; New Glarus Wisconsin Red; Southern Tier Gemini; Weyerbacher Zotten; HaanBryggeriet Dark Force; Bells Best Brown Ale; Trappist Rochefort 8 & 10; New Holland Night Tripper; Jolly Pumpkin Calabaza Blanca; Bear Republic Racer 5; Bear Republic Hop Rod Rye; Victory Wild Devil; Mikkeller Jackie Brown; Brouwerij De Molen SSS; Brouwerij De Molen Hel & Verdoemenis

On our trip to Hudson, we stopped at a Starbucks for coffee and D'Amico & Sons for lunch to go. Talk about yum! Fresh salads and sandwiches made to order. At least, ours was as they had to make the bread for Josh's sandwich since they were out. I got an artichoke hearts and tomato salad marked with red onion and red pepper slivers. Dressed in olive oil, I was afraid the salad would be drowning in oil, but instead the olive oil was a gentle accent that allowed the fresh flavors of the artichoke hearts and additional goodies to shine through. Nummers!

After that, it was home we went for a relaxing afternoon of lil munchkin time, beer tasting (for me at least), hanging with the family, taking care of Mr. Skyler, and quickly changing channels during the yawn-worthy Winter Olympics closing ceremonies. I crashed sooner than I would have liked, but it was probably a good thing in order to start kicking this nasty congestion. Overall, an excellent first day in Minneapolis and Monday is shaping up to be a fun-filled repeat.



(an original written work by Kristyn Lier. plagiarism is not tolerated)