BEERtrekkin ~ Minneapolis Tuesday

So, slowly but surely the congestion is clearing, and now I am just beat. Taking vacations can be tiring sometimes, but it’s been a good vacation overall. Jenn and Josh have been wonderful hosts and the lil munchkin and Skyler have done more than their part to keep me amused. For our last day, Barley Johns was on the list along with a few stops along the way. One thing I didn’t do Tuesday morning was workout, and I’m glad I didn’t. This Kristyn is tuckered out.

A lazy morning gave way to a shower and off we were. First stop was, of course, coffee from Starbucks and then off to the public library to pick up a book Jenn had on hold. I used to be a library fiend when I was younger, but since have fallen out of favor with myself and I would imagine, many others. The Vero Beach library isn’t exactly a shining example of literary inspiration, much less modern adaptability. The library that Jenn uses is completely accessible online. You can check out, return, and even list books you are waiting on and when they come back in, you get an email notification and around 3-4 days to pick it up before they put it back on the shelf. Think Netflix except for books. Pretty darn spiff, if I do say so. Now, the real question lies in whether they have beer, scotch, bourbon, whisky, and other various books on spirits for rental. If they did, I would be all over it like nori on sushi.

We stopped at Lake Minnetonka again, but the north side this time versus whatever side we were on last time. The north side of Minnetonka is accessible in a quaint little town with shops galore for browsing and exploring. While I could never deal with the cold, I love all the quaint towns scattered throughout Minneapolis. Like Jenn said, some of them look like they belong more in a mountainside town in the Carolinas. I know when Mom visits Jenn again in the spring/summer, shopping trips will be on the itinerary.

The lil munchkin didn’t mind the short walk outside as bad this time around. We’ve definitely come to the conclusion that she didn’t like the cold wind and weather we submitted her to in Hudson. There were snowmobilers and trucks out on the lake again, those crazy Minnesotans, though no ice fishing huts that I could see. It is getting about time for them to pack-up before the snow and ice really starts to melt at the onset of spring with summer looming on the horizon.

As long as we could have looked around at Lake Minnetonka and the lil town of Minnetonka, a brewpub was calling and so we hit the road once more for a short drive through downtown Minneapolis which looked like any other big city: loud, noisy, under constant construction, and covered in black snow. Yes, black snow. Anyone who thinks snow is always pretty and white has obviously never taken in snow 5 minutes or less after cars, trucks, trains, and people have walked by and through it. Yuck sometimes doesn’t even come to describe it. I’ll stick to my sandy beaches and sunshine, thankyouverymuch.

A short venture through downtown Minneapolis and a jaunt back onto the interstate found us at Barley Johns Brewpub. Coming with high RateBeer and Eric recommendations, it was a must-visit for my first time in Minneapolis. Suffice to say, they didn’t disappoint, only my head-cold did. I had their taster tray which included their Little Barley Bitter, Stockyard IPA, Wild Brunette, Old 8 Porter, and for a seasonal, their Doppelbock. Out of all of them, only the Doppelbock was unimpressive. The rest which are their flagship, otherwise known as year-round beers, were excellent. I especially enjoyed the Wild Brunette. The addition of rice in a beer usually means one thing: cheap. Not so with the Wild Brunette; flavorful and very light on the palate which I would attribute to the wild brown rice used, and complimented with a dry nutty toasty palate. Intriguingly different and delightfully tasteful. The only other beer they had on draft which I regrettably did not get to enjoy was their other seasonal, a Belgian-style Tripel. I even had them pour me a glass in anticipation of saving her for last; I do have a soft spot for Belgians, you see. But alas, my head cold took over and I had to draw the line at the gleaming glass of Belgian Tripel goodness. For whatever reason, the combination of good food and good beer in my belly along with the Benadryl-D took me into the brick wall and I wisely stepped back. I know better than to push my luck, though I came pretty close this time around. In all fairness and for all you who know what head-colds can do to beer tasting fairness, if I wasn’t able to I wouldn’t have and I was still able to. Nuf said.

Another full day in Minneapolis, we headed home to kick up the feet and relax. I had thought to take a nap, but that tanked as soon as I lay on the couch and turned the TV on. Wide awake was I, so I channel surfed, enjoying some SVU and Criminal Minds and other random tidbits of cable. I was still feeling tired physically, so I didn’t exactly exert myself which was maybe exactly what I needed after a long and busy week of fun. Finally calling it a night around 1 a.m., I wandered upstairs. Shoving my clean clothes to the other side of the bed, eyelids shut and a parade of funky dreams got me through the night.



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