When school finally let out this year, we grabbed the kids and headed out for a quick road trip.  Our first destination was Pacific City on the Oregon coast.  We decided to head south to Portland and then head west to the coast.  The reason for our route?   Why the Lucky Labrador Public House.

We arrived mid day at the Lucky Labrador Public House and ordered up pizza by the slice, root beers for the kids and an adult beverage for us.  The pizza by the slice was delicious.  We enjoyed the Triple Threat IPA and Reggie’s Red.  Deb enjoyed the red and I thought the Triple Threat was fantastic.  Worth another pint before we departed.

One downside, the employees definitely treat you as if it is your fault it is their day to work and they don’t want to be there.  You have a feeling that you are simply being tolerated.  Too bad. 

Lucky Labrador makes one mean pint.  We thoroughly enjoyed the pizza and beer at their outdoor picnic benches and look forward to visiting the other Lucky Labrador locations.

Just wanted to give a quick tip of the hat to the website PubQuest.com.  We are currently charting a quick end of the school year road trip down the Oregon coast and PubQuest.com has been great.

Once at the site simply put in your destination city or surf the entire state to decide where your destination should be based on the brewery selection.  PubQuest will show you the location and wether it is a brewpub or brewery.  When you click on either the ‘Mug of Beer’ or the ‘Keg’ and you will get the street address and a link to the brewer’s website (great for finding out if it is family friendly or not).  I knew this internet thing would be helpful one day.  Thanks PubQuest!

The best Father’s day gift is arriving in Kenmore this weekend.  Starting on a limited basis on Friday and then running through Father’s Day weekend the 2009 Washington Brewer’s Festival will be at St. Edward Park in Kenmore, WA.  Note, that the festival is family friendly except Friday, when it is 21+ only.  Parking is in Kenmore with a shuttle to St. Edward park.   Find the a list of all the brewers attending and more information at the website.

Friday

Friday event features:

• Select Washington breweries only (30+ breweries)

• Select Friday exclusive beers

• Handful of Luvin’ on the Music Stage

• Select food vendors

• 21+ only

$15 advance tickets/at the door. (Friday advance tickets available online only)

Friday admission includes a tasting cup and 4 tasting tokens

Designated driver admission is $8 and available at the door only

21+ only

Saturday & Sunday

Saturday & Sunday event feature:

• Nearly 200 beers on tap

• Live music on the Music Stage

• Brewers Keg Toss Contest

• Kids Playground

• Rootbeer Garden

• Cider & wine tasting

• Craft market

• Festival food

$20 advance tickets or $25 at the door

Admission includes a tasting cup and 6 tasting tokens

Advance tickets are available online now and ticket sales at local outlets will begin May 1st.

Designated driver admission is $8 and available at the door only

All Ages. Those under 21 admitted free (must be accompanied by a parent)

Sorry, no dogs allowed.

 

This past Saturday we journeyed just a little North to Everett for their Garden Art Festival in the morning and finished in time to have lunch near the waterfront. Scuttlebutt brewery is located in an old seafood processing plant on Everett’s waterfront offers a brewpub for all ages.

We were lucky enough to score one of the three picnic benches outside and enjoyed a great lunch. The menu offers good pub grub including sandwiches, and many fried offerings from the sea (fish, clam strips, calamari,etc.). But, more importantly nice fresh beer. I tried the Sequoia Red from the nitro tap and moved on to the always successful Gale Force IPA. The service was great and everyone was very friendly. The kids enjoyed watching the trains across the street and we enjoyed another nice cold pint at a Northwest brewpub.

Bring your growler. Reasonable fill price at $8.00.

I love Vegas. I love how everything is completely over the top. People watching is as entertaining as it can be. And for a weekend we were kid free (Unlike many people in Vegas. Why would you bring a child to Las Vegas?!?), a chance to unwind and relax. And as I mentioned in a previous post we tripped on down to enjoy the Dave Matthews Band at MGM Grand. Great trip.

In this giant, crazy city that offers everything we did manage to find the ONE brewing company anywhere near the strip, Sin City Brewing. They are located in the Planet Hollywood Casino in the strip of shops and restaurants. It was great to find a place where it is quiet enough to carry on a conversation, listen to some good tunes and enjoy a nice (locally made) cold pint. It is a small bar with about eight bar stools and a couple tables. No food service, just fresh beer and a bowl of peanuts… perfect. I could have stayed much longer and enjoyed many more pints of “Say Hello to Amber”. But, after taking a nice break from the craziness that is Vegas, it was time to get back to the craziness that is Vegas.

If you are headed down to Las Vegas be sure to check out Sin City Brewing, not the best beer but at least it is not Bud, Bud Light or Heinekin (which is served everywhere else).

Yes, we tripped on down to Vegas and caught the Dave Matthews Band on May 8th. It was an amazing show. The band was in high spirits and the crowd was great. MGM Grand’s Garden Arena proved to be a good place to see the show. It was nice to simply stream in minutes before the show without all the long lines and baloney that other places (like the Gorge) put you through to get in. The Arena is steep enough that you have good sight lines and the sound system was LOUD. I think I am still waiting to regain all my hearing.

The set list was great and included several new songs from the upcoming album:

Tripping Billies *

Spaceman *

Corn Bread *

Seven *

So Damn Lucky *

Out Of My Hands

You Might Die Trying *

Funny The Way It Is *

#41 *

Why I Am *

Where Are You Going

Jimi Thing *

Rhyme And Reason *

Burning Down The House *

Two Step

Encore:

Rye Whiskey +

All Along The Watchtower *

Special Guests:

* Jeff Coffin

+ Dave Solo

Loved ‘Spaceman’ and ‘Why I am’ (which is a song written for Leroi). I cannot wait to hear the studio versions when Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King arrives in stores on June 2nd.

We stayed at The Paris which was a nice place to stay. The pool was large and had ample seating. We saw comedy shows at both The Improv at Harrahs and The Comedy Stop located in the Planet Hollywood Casino. Very funny and a nice break from the tables in the casio.

All in all a great quick trip and another grand DMB experinece.

This Fall gave us a few nice weekends inbetween rain showers, and before the snow & floods, we were able to continue with our favorite weekend activities.  One of our favorite ways to spend a Saturday afternoon:  A bike ride, followed by a local brewery.  A great place we discovered to accomplish this goal is the Preston-Snoqualmie trail.  It is paved and ends at nice little view point of the Snoqualmie Falls. 

The trail can be found by taking the Preston Fall City exit off eastbound I-90.  Exit off the free way and turn left toward Preston/Fall City.  After crossing under the highway turn right at the intersection.  To your left you can park in the parking lot of the ball fields or continue on the road a short distance to a small parking lot on your left, located at the trail head.

We parked at the ball fields and pedaled through the parking lot to the trail head.  The trail proved to be a good one for the mixed skill levels in our family.  

Be warned: there are some good sized hills that may require some walking of the bikes for the kids.  There is also a point where the trail goes from paved to dirt switch-backs that are quite steep and proved impossible for me to ride up with the trail-a-bike.

 At the end of the ride there is an overlook that looks across at Snoqualmie Falls.  It’s quite a ways off, and the kids were not too impressed.  But the ride was great.  There and back. 

After we rewarded ourselves with great food and local brew at Snoqualmie Falls Brewery.  The pub is kid friendly and has great pub grub (mmmm pizza and Wildcat IPA).   After a fun ride it is great to find a friendly inviting atmosphere with great beer.  And don’t forget the growler, they have beer to go.

We then visited the falls close up so the kids could get a better view.  It was a quick visit as evening was creeping up and it was beginning to get cold.  If you’re from out of area or want to stay longer you could book a room at Salish Lodge & Spa.  But this was just a day trip for us.  And a good one for anyone in the greater Seattle area. 

A recommended ride to welcome Fall and get everyone ready for some cool weather rides or, early Spring to kick off the coming riding weather.

2009 Water 1st Beer 2nd Fundraiser:   This event hit my radar today.  Looks like a fabulous time.  A $30 ticket gets you food, drink & live music.  All while helping a great cause for clean water in Ethiopia, Honduras, India & Bangladesh.

The keg sponsors will be:

• Alaskan Brewing Company
• Big Al Brewing
• Georgetown Brewing
• Hale’s Ales Brewery & Pub
• Mac & Jack’s Brewing
• Maritime Pacific Brewing
• Pike Brewing
• Two Beers Brewery

How lucky we are. Here in the Northwest we can watch Super Bowl commercials for Budweiser, laugh at the humor and think back to high school when we had no beer palate and a different agenda for beer, then sip our wonderfully flavorful Pale Ale or nice hoppy IPA .

There is no better place to fill your growler for the big game than Georgetown Brewery. The makers of the wonderfully tasty and cloudy Manny’s, the nice and hoppy Choppers Red and (Debbie’s favorite) Roger’s Pilsner can be found in Georgetown. They are located in the south part of Seattle in historic Georgetown. The brewery is currently housed in the original structure for the old Seattle Brewing and Malting Company (the original brewers of Rainier Beer).

There is no brewpub here, just the brewery. However, they do have retail sales offering your choice of a t-shirt, cap or pint glass for the home bar. Most importantly you can get Georgetown Brewery’s beer to go in growlers or kegs. Bring your own growlers and the fill is a bargain at $5.00 each. Better yet bring your Georgetown Brewery growler and it is simply a swap-out for a growler already filled and chilled (same price, $5 each). Are you kidding me, $5.00!   Thanks Manny & Roger. Good stuff!

Although we must suffer through the Pittsburgh Steelers back in the Superbowl, at least we have Roger & Manny to help us endure it.   Cheers!

Go Arizona Cardinals!

Good News!  It is time for Slipknot to come back around on the Full Sail Reserve rotation.  Here is the news straight from Full Sail:

Slipknot Kicks off our 2009 Brewmaster Reserve line up
Attention hop lovers – Slipknot Imperial IPA is back. This annual favorite and gold medal winner at the 2008 World Beer Championship will be available January to mid March. As the name implies, every aspect of this American style IPA is amplified – from the up-front hop aroma and bitterness to the big malt body. (ABV: 7.8% IBUs: 80)

Slipknot will be available in 22oz bottles and on draught in specialty beer stores and pubs throughout the Pacific Northwest. In March, Full Sail will follow-up Slipknot with Full Sail Imperial Porter. New beers in Full Sail’s 2009 Brewmaster Reserve line-up include Keelhauler Scottish Ale, due out in Mid-March, and Grandsun of Spot IPA, due out in June.

Slipknot is part of our rotating selection of Brewmaster Reserve Beers. Every ten weeks we come out with a different beer that showcases the brewer’s art. We began the program back in 1998 as a way of celebrating our independence and creativity.