Harry was quick to check us in on the Facebook.
We had about thirty minutes to kill before we took the brewery tour, so we nom'd up a bit in the beer hall. Dancing and music galore!
Harry and I finished up our beer and lined up to join the brewery tour. May I introduce you to the world's most fantastic tour guide, Ryan. He said "awesomesauce" and "fart" more times in an hour than I have heard anyone in my entire life. After his intro (and sending us off with "Party on, Wayne!", in which only four of us in the crowd knew how to respond), I whispered to Harry that I wanted to be Ryan's BFF. For realsies.
A history lesson about beer (WOMEN INVENTED BEER!!!!!!!), history about the brewery and some basic beer-crafting info., and we were off to have more beer!
Ryan is not shouting at us in this picture; he's just very happy and telling us that they love us.
GIANT TANKS. I volunteered at a (new, and therefore small) local brewery last summer, and the tanks were NOWHERE NEAR the size of these! It was so interesting, just knowing the process and being able to apply it to this enormous level.
Ryan demonstrating his muscular strength and endurance (I think he muttered the word "fart" when I took this picture), and teaching us the anatomy of the keg. I blushed a couple of times.
This poor kid (the bombed guy in the black tee) was celebrating his 21st birthday...with his parents. He was pretty much snot-slingin' drunk at this point. And still double-fisting. :O
After running 17 miles (18 for Harry), road trippin' about two hours to Milwaukee, and a couple of brews, Harry and I were ready for a NAP.
We ended up grabbing some dinner and passing out (from exhaustion, not beer-related, haha).
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Don't let this picture fool you: We got some good rest and were really stoked about going for a run.
Muuuahahahaa.
We showered up and head off to the Wisconsin State Fair!
Ummmm...so much mandatory crap to eat, so little time.
Stop, number two: A brew and Bacon-wrapped pork belly, fried pickles, and fried cookie dough.
I really am ashamed of myself, haha.
I got to meet Kim's friend (and my new buddy!), Al! She was a BLAST! She's clearly excited/freaked out about the enormous amount of food she was about to consume.
I also had the pleasure of meeting Jackie, Kim and Kevin's neighbor. WHAT A HOOT she is! And she's known Harry since he was a kid, so she's got some stories. :P The only picture I had of Jackie was ummmmm...well, she was feeding Kim something. I'll post a pretty one of her later.:)
We walked around a bit more and hit up the pig races. Soooooooooooooooooooouuuuu-eyyyyy!
And then I became a pig. Again. MORE ASHAMED.
Once again, we didn't have any problems getting to sleep. We were all zonked out by 9:01pm!
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Somehow, someway, Harry and I got up and laced up for another run. I seriously don't know how, but I got he courage to run five miles the morning after consuming a ton of fried crap. It was a bit more steamy out than the day prior.
Run done, showered up, and head off to downtown Milwaukee before going home. Harry has been here a couple of times, and really wanted to hit it up before we left.
It was sooooooooooo gorgeous out, we HAD to sit outside! Beautiful view + a cool breeze + a cold brew = Heaven on a Sunday afternoon.
Harry's flight.
MORE ASHAMED? No. These were our duck sliders, and they were the best thing I've tasted in a long while. No shame.
After inhaling our appetizer, they actually brought us more food. Whaaaaaaa...!
We tried walking around for a bit up and down the Riverwalk. It was so lovely out, but my leggies were starting to get sort of achy and heavy.
I simply couldn't leave the state (even though they have them in several other states) without getting a shake from Culver's. Believe me when I say that they taste better in Wisconsin. <3
A fantastically fat weekend for us, and you can see why I'm all about ditching the sugar for
Wisconsin is an amazing place for gluttony, that is for sure. Good choice ;)
ReplyDeleteSounds like you had a delicious weekend! That view from the alehouse is so pretty and your running trail shots look lovely too. Glad you had such a great time!
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