Beer Travel – Beer Trips – Beer Adventures
Photos by Kim Sharpe Jones. View from the deck (lanai) at our condo.
There are a lot of reasons you might decide to visit West Maui, and beer probably isn’t very high on that list. I get it. However, since you’re going, you might as well know where to get the good stuff. Whether you’re snorkeling, golfing, whale watching, or just relaxing, know that great beer can fit into your vacation plan seamlessly.
On a recent Saturday afternoon, Kim and I found ourselves north of Seattle visiting some new and new-to-us beer destinations. Stops along the way included Stanwood, Camano Island, Burlington, and Edison. The tour took us to three brewery taprooms and one alehouse that is in the process of transforming into a brewery. (Above: Terramar Brewing, photo via Facebook.)
Life in a mountain town is a bit different than life in the city. To us city folk, it seems much more honest and much less complicated. Life in a town like McCall, Idaho is uncluttered. It’s not congested with superfluous nonsense you don’t really need.
Photo by Kim Sharpe Jones.
An hour east of Seattle, along Interstate 90, the town of Cle Elum, Washington is now the home of two breweries: Mule and Elk Brewing and Taneum Creek Brewing. With a population of about 2,000, the main drag through downtown Cle Elum still has that small-town vibe, with lots of small, locally owned, private businesses, including a pair of pint-sized brewery tasting rooms.
Story by Kendall Jones. Photos by Kim Sharpe Jones
It’s a very Duluthian thing to do, and it pairs nicely with a Duluth-brewed beer. Even for the locals who’ve seen it dozens of times, it never gets old. As a big freighter approaches the harbor, steaming in from across the expanses of Lake Superior, people gather around the canal. A loud bell clamors as the aerial lift bridge is raised. The ship’s crew stands dutifully on the deck, waving at the spectators who’ve gathered to watch another 1,000-footer pass through the narrow, manmade channel between the lake and the harbor, moving quicker than you’d imagine, so close that it seems you could reach out and high-five the crew as the behemoth passes by.
The long bridge across the Columbia River that connects Astoria, OR and Washington State.
A few weeks ago, we packed up the Washington Beer Cruiser and headed down to the mouth of the Columbia River. Our purpose was twofold: volunteering for the annual Washington CoastSavers Beach Clean-up, and spending an afternoon catching up on good eatin’ and drinkin’ in Astoria, Oregon. Handy thing, Astoria is only about 30 minutes south of Cape Disappointment State Park, so it was easy to kill both those birds with one roadtrip.
Astoria makes for a great overnight or weekend destination from the Seattle area. On a Thursday morning, we got there in just over three hours. With a working waterfront, blue collar roots and an artsy vibe, Astoria reminds me of Port Townsend as much as anything. You could easily spend a weekend wandering the historic downtown, alternating between shopping, seafood and tastings at breweries, cideries and distilleries. But with just one afternoon, we had to focus on beer touring.
Recently my wife and I spent two weeks in the United Kingdom on vacation. This was not a beer-specific vacation and beer was not the reason we were there, but we love beer and it’s hard to imagine us gallivanting around Britain without immersing ourselves in the local beer culture. This is one in a series of posts about beer touring in the U.K.
This story originally appeared on Washington Beer Blog, our sister site. We advise that you follow Go Find Beer at http://www.washingtonbeerblog.com/go-find-beer/
A comprehensive beer tour of the Spokane area would take days to complete. Depending on where you draw the lines, there are now more than 20 breweries in and around Spokane. For this story, I’m going to talk about the downtown brewery scene, focusing primarily on a cool little brewery crawl that will take you to three breweries within a couple blocks of each other. Actually, it’s three taprooms but five breweries. Read on.
Tasty beers, nice people at Whistle Punk Brewing.
When I use the term downtown, I am talking about the historic district south of the river, north of I-90 and west of the Convention Center, where you’ll find The Bing Crosby Theater, the historic Davenport Hotel, the old Steam Plant (also a brewery/restaurant), and so on.
There are plenty of reasons why you might find yourself in the beautiful part of the world known as the Central Coast and, more specifically, the town of Monterey, California. Maybe you’ll be there to visit the world famous Monterey Bay Aquarium. Perhaps you’re a car lover who has always dreamed of attending Monterey Car Week and the Concours d’Elegance, held in August each year. For many avid golfers, playing a round at Pebble Beach is a bucket list activity. Perchance you fancy a walk on a dramatic beach or a hike through the dark forests and lush green hills of Big Sur. There are just so many reasons you might choose to visit this happy corner of the Universe. Pick one and go.
