When Dale and I first planned our vacation to Kalamazoo and Chicago we didn’t really have any specific plans. We just knew we wanted to go and we’d play the rest by ear. But then, one day while riding in the car, I happened to read an article about a special Beatles exhibit at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn. Now, it’s a well known fact that my geography sucks but I couldn’t help but wonder just how far Dearborn might be from Kalamazoo. After a few texts with Kym and some itinerary adjusting we made a plan to include a trip to the Henry Ford as part of our visit.

And boy are we glad we did!

Our purpose was to see The Magical History Tour, an exhibit of Beatles memorabilia. Purported to be the most comprehensive Beatles exhibition ever assembled, it did not disappoint.

There’s Beatles music playing throughout and so much stuff! Instruments and clothing, signed autographs and never-before-seen photographs.

There’s a reproduction of their stage at the Cavern Club and they even have John Lennon’s personal juke box. It was very very cool, especially for Dale, a life long fan of the band.

But! There’s so much more to do and see at this museum!

We saw Mustang #1 from 1965. It sure is pretty!

And we saw Blue Bird #1, what is most likely the first school bus ever.

And I sat in the actual bus that Rosa Parks was in when she refused to move her seat. I just love when history comes alive like that.

We also saw, but didn’t photographed, the chair Abraham Lincoln was sitting in when he was assassinated, the car JFK was riding in when he was assasinated, a bed that George Washington slept in during the Revolutionary War, and so much more.

For a couple of history junkies like us this museum was a fantastic experience.

Let’s go back and talk about our time in Kalamazoo, shall we?

One of the truly fun things we did (which isn’t really saying much unique since everything we did was really fun) was a pub crawl. Kalamazoo is, apparently, a hot bed of craft breweries. And who are we to say no to try to experience as many as possible in one night?

We started at Gonzo’s. Very cool atmosphere, lots of people eating and drinking. I had a beer called Porch Appeal, a wheat ale infused with peaches, and it was excellent. The food looked great and, in hindsight, we probably should have eaten there.

Our next stop was Arcadia. This brewery is in direct competition with Bell’s Brewery, the most well known of Kalamazoo’s breweries. I should probably say, at this point, that we had already been to Bell’s our first night in Kalamazoo and that’s why they weren’t part of the pub crawl. Anyway, Tom likes the food at Arcadia so we hit there with plans to have dinner and more beer. It was, quite frankly, a bit of a disappointment. The beer was very good (I had the Porter Rico, a porter with coconut) and the food was excellent but the service was not (it took 20 minutes for us to just get a beer) and the atmosphere was duller than rocks. It was just weird. There were lots of people around and the place looks very cool but as brew pubs go, well, it was a dud.

After Arcadia we headed to an edgier part of town and checked out Boatyard Brewing. This place had an excellent vibe and live music in their parking lot. And also? They have a weekly knitters and spinners gathering. There sure isn’t anything like that here in my neck of the woods. The band was great and the beer was delicious. I had a Blueberry Maple Cream Ale called the Star of Kalamazoo. It was fantastic! We sat at a table in the parking lot and listened to the band and all agreed that we could have stayed there for the rest of the night.

BUT!

We were on a mission so we left and headed for One Well, Kym and Tom’s favorite local spot. Dale and I loved it here, as well. Kym had the Xalapa, a jalapeno blonde ale, and I should have had that as well because it was fabulous. Dale had the Sweet Water Street, an imperial porter brewed with donut holes from Sweet Waters Donuts and coffee from Water Street Coffee Roaster. It was heaven in a glass, I can tell you that. I had a cherry beer that I was not thrilled with, which is probably why I am raving about the choices Dale and Kym made. One Well was full of young people playing games, chatting and drinking beer. It’s definitely a place I would hang out if I lived in the ‘hood.

Our final stop of the night was Latitude 42, a brewery in Portage rather than Kalamazoo. It was a bit more like a traditional restaurant, upscale instead of edgy, and I don’t think they were altogether thrilled to see us come in so close to closing time. I had Rainbow Weasel, a honey cream ale, and it was excellent. No pictures because all.that.beer.

So, let me just say, we had a blast visiting all these spots! The beer was varied and delicious, the food was tasty, and the company divine. It’s been years and years since I’ve done a pub crawl and, while I don’t have the stamina I once did, I enjoyed it even more now that my taste in beer is more refined. Plus, there’s nothing more joyful than a bunch of very silly grown ups drinking lots of beer. My hat is off to Kym, our designated driver, who truly sacrificed and only had 2 tiny beers all night long, and Tom, our pub crawl planner extraordinaire!

Dale and I are back from a wonderful trip to Michigan and Chicago and, as usual, I am playing catch up with work, emails, photographs and more. I promise to fill you in on all the fabulous details but for now I will just share this photo with you:

He’s wicked glad we are home.

Hi! How are you? Did you have a good weekend? I definitely did and I have lots to tell you about it! First, though, I need to finish my stories about last weekend. You know, the one we spent in NH. I realize it’s been over a week but I haven’t told you about Sunday. Like Saturday, we had a leisurely breakfast (French toast, if you want to know and Dale liked Kim’s better than mine. Whateverrrr). And then we decided to all drive south to Smuttynose Brewery in Hampton. It was halfway home for Dale and I and, as a bonus, Kim and Ken’s daughter works there. The plan was to visit the brewery and have lunch and then we would head south while Kim and Ken headed north.

It worked like a charm.

We hit the brewery first, scoring cards to sample 4 of their different available brews. And, of course, we took some pictures.

Dale and Ken posed with the Finest Kind IPA board. You can see that Dale is, once again, sporting his favorite color.

And Dale and I posed with the Robust Porter sign. I wish I had legs like that in real life! We then toured the brewery, learning all kinds of things about hops and malt and all that good stuff.  And then we went for lunch at Hayseed.

It’s actually a farmhouse original to the property that they rehabbed and turned into a very cool restaurant. Lots of farm-to-table food options and lots and lots of beer. Our bartender was Courtney, Kim and Ken’s daughter, and she took very good care of us.

We sampled pickled eggs. And several different beers.

I had Shepherd’s Pie for lunch. Dale had a burger and I honestly don’t know what everyone else had but what I do know is that it was all terrific. Fresh and flavorful, reasonably priced and in a terrific atmosphere. It’s a great halfway point for us to meet up with Kim and Ken and I have a pretty good feeling we’ll be doing just that before long.

And thus concludes my tale of our weekend in NH. I hope you enjoyed the recap as much as we enjoyed our mini getaway!