Happy Birthday to Me!

Well it happened. I turned 40. The sky didn’t fall, my limbs didn’t fall off, hair didn’t start growing in strange places. And better yet, I was able to celebrate my birthday over several days.

Thursday, 4/5/07: Went to work for a half day, and was rewarded by a birthday cake that a friend’s wife made and a surprise test to see if I was on my toes (fun, fun, fun). Jenn had the car packed and ready to go, and we got the kids out of school early. It is a 4 hour trip, so we stopped for dinner in North Philly (not quite on the way) at the Grey Lodge Pub (http://www.greylodge.com/). It was #43 on Beer Advocate’s top 50 beer bar list, and I had never been there before. It was definitely a local crowd, and the Phillies were on TV losing to Atlanta. The waitress welcomed us in and said the kids would be fine, so we stopped for dinner (I got a Philly cheese steak since Weight Watchers points don’t count on your birthday.) They had a decent draft selection, and I tried the Stegmeier Brewhouse Bock and the Flying Bison Blackbird Stout. What the Grey Lodge is most noted for is their Friday the Firkinteenth program, where they celebrate Friday the 13th by tapping several unique casks (a firkin is a cask). I’m going to have to make it back this July. We finished and then fought the traffic to my folks and had cake and ice cream.

Friday, 4/6/07: My sister and brother both came down early for my birthday, and they agreed to go with me to a fantastic Belgian bar in Philly for lunch. I wanted to go to this place to eat beer steamed mussels, since Jenn and I plan to go to Belgium next year if we get the opportunity and it just sounds neat to say “Mussels in Brussels.” The place we went to is called Monk’s Cafe (http://www.ripsneakers.com/monks/), and the beer selection was fantastic. I had a special gueuze that was made for Monk’s by Cantillon, and I found the Gueuze Girardin that I had already ordered from Oregon (I know, patience isn’t a gift that that Lord has blessed me with). The mussels were very good and everyone agreed that the trip was worth it.

Saturday, 4/7/07: My other sister came into town yesterday, and after we had the egg hunt for the kids, my brother-in-law Greg got Jenn to let me go with him to a local brewpub. The Iron Hill (http://www.ironhillbrewery.com/) brewery in Wilmington, DE, has a wonderful tap line up and bottles some of their more special beers so patrons can enjoy them at home. I was able to get the Irish Red and the Irish Stout on draft, and took a bottle of their Imperial Stout to go. Little did I know that Jenn had planned a beer themed surprise party for me. Everyone got decked out in beer T-shirts, and brought me unique beers to try. My favorite had to be my Nana giving me a bottle of Chimay Grand Reserve, a fine trappist ale from Belgium.

Not to get too mushy, but I really appreciated the effort that everyone put into surprising me. I typically don’t like to be the center of attention, but the fact that my family and friends cared enough to be with me on this special weekend really meant alot to me. God has truly blessed me with a wonderful family. - 4125

"It is better to think of church in the alehouse then to think of the alehouse in church." – Martin Luther