We survived our first day in Philly…Though I am going to need to talk with my travel coordinator (you know him as Chris), as we left the house at 4am to get out here at 4pm! This early morning stuff really catches up with you by the end of the day. Hey, a girl needs her beauty sleep, right? But we triumphed over the tired, travel slump to have a great night.
We are joined in our press entourage by about 10 other people and the West Coast is well represented. Jay Brooks from the Brookston Beer Report, Rick Sellers from Draft magazine and Lisa Morrison, Beer Goddess are all here and they are always good for some laughs and hijinx! And Rick brought his wife Tracy. She’s a very cool beergeek who grew up on a malting barley farm in Canada. Plus, we are meeting new East Coast people…working hard to expand our sphere of influence in the beer world. Beer world dominance is the ultimate goal…(insert evil laugh here).
Our first stop was the famous Monk’s Cafe…phenomenal food and great beer pairing! Tom Peters was a very gracious host opening some Rochefort 8° Cuvee that he had brought back from Belgium.
I even ate smoked duck in one course and brussel sprouts in another. You know the beer and company must have been good if I ventured to eat outside of my usual comfort zone. Oh, I also drank a gueze from Cantillon! But my favorite was the Orval which was paired with the duck.
Then Tom was so kind as to act as our walking tour guide to a few pubs. We also got in one brewery last night…Nodding Head Brewery and Restaurant. They were cool because it is a second floor brewery. Now there is a feat…getting brewing equipment upstairs! They also had a funny bobble head collection. Get it?! Nodding Head…bobble head dolls.
A big thanks goes out to Tom for making it a great first night here in Philadelphia. No trip to Philly would be complete without a visit to Monk’s and a chat with Tom!
Well, we are off to full day of activities. In our free time this afternoon I want to go to the Penn Museum where they have a great collection of beer stuff spanning thousands of years. There is another museum that I want to try to get to also, which is a medical museum. Archaic instruments and medical oddities are the attraction. I’ll see if I can get Chris to go along with that one! I’ll keep you posted…