Another beer fest

My parents and I, sometimes with other guests, have gone to a beer fest every year since it started in 2010. Therefore, 2014 was our 5th year doing this. As always, so much fun. My parents are great sports and are probably doing things in their 60s with me that they never imagined they would be doing. The divorce was good for my entire family!

Have you ever heard of Beard Beer?  When I was at my local liquor store, they told me about it, but it sounded so disgusting that I didn't buy any.  After thinking about it for a few months, and deciding to play a trick on my parents, I went back to buy some but they were out of it and not planning on getting any more.  I figured my chance to try it was over.

But I hadn't considered the beer fest!

They had it, and it was surprisingly good.

For those not in the know, they found the yeast for this beer in the beard of one of the workers.  Pictured on the bottle.  My dad wouldn't try it, but my mom and I agreed that it just tasted like pretty good regular beer!

This beer fest happens to be on the same weekend as a big street festival about two blocks away.  So, even though we'd been drinking most of the afternoon, we headed over to the festival.  There is a bar in my town that is known for its international theme -- I went here to watch many of the World Cup games.  I told my dad that it was one of the hippest bars in town (you can tell I am not hip as I actually said that to him), and he responded, "That's why we're here, of course!"

So he went to buy us what we didn't need: another beer.

We ran into some friends at the street festival, and had a great time. Finally, we decided it was time to go home, so started walking.  But first, I wanted to show my parents the amazing house that two of my very good friends just bought and renovated.  They weren't home, so I texted them, they gave me the garage code, and we took a tour.  What a fun evening!

And then we stopped on the way home for some pie:

We had a great evening.  My parents spent the night at my house, and my dad had his first good night's sleep in months.  (I have an amazing bed -- trying to get them to buy one -- and my dad needed surgery -- which he had and which was successful.)

Early Summer Beer Fest

I live in a town with a fair number of beer fests. I also now live on the side of town in which most fun activities happen, which means that I can bike to most of these fests! My best friend, her friend from high school (who has now become my friend), and I went to a beer fest towards the beginning of the summer. We'd started the day with a 15 mile run, so we were definitely ready and thirsty when it started. Also happened to run into other friends there!

The taps from one of my favorite breweries (I must admit, I'll frequently buy the beer solely for the nature-themed names and pictures on the holder!)

An ingenious way to carry your beer around in my neighborhood -- though you'd run the risk of theft, depending on what type of beer you're carrying...

Cheers!