Patriot Parrotheads

This Labor Day weekend we visited my in-laws in NH, and did a lot of our usual activities (got to beach, swim in my sister-in-law’s pool, visited Portsmouth brewery, got some food and beer at the Shipyard, etc.). However, this weekend my mother-in-law had agreed to watch the kids while Jenn and I went down to Boston to catch the Jimmy Buffett concert at Gillette stadium. We’re both Parrotheads, and were dying to see him in concert again. And we thought the unique opportunity to see him in a football stadium would be worth the price of admission.

We started out at the Sunset Grill and Taproom (http://www.allstonsfinest.com/), which is located close to Fenway Park, and boasts about 112 beers on tap. The beer is great, and the place also has an outstanding menu. I had the blackened swordfish tacos, and they were outstanding. The Sunset Grill offers flights of beers (four 5oz beer samples of their drafts), and I ordered Jenn the Fruit Sampler which included a Watermelon Ale from Opa Opa brewing, and a Blueberry Ale from Ipswich brewing. Both of these were very good. I went with a flight that had the Beer of the Gods and the Two Headed Beast from High & Mighty brewing, and Hop Juice and Cane and Ebel from Two Brothers brewing. Other notables were the Stone Cat Pumpkin Porter from Mercury brewing and Harpoon IPA on cask from Mass Bay brewing. This will be a favorite stop for Jenn and I on our travels, and I’d highly recommend anyone checking it out.

As all Parrotheads know, the best part of a Jimmy Buffett concert is the tailgaiting before the event. This can get expensive, so Jenn had picked up some snacks from the Christmas Tree Shoppes earlier in the day, and I went to Marty Liquors to pick up some different bottled beers. I got a couple of beers from the Tommyknocker brewing (Alpine Glacier Lager and Ornery Amber Lager), and got ready for the celebration. We busted out a beach umbrella and some lawn chairs, and sat back and listened to the Red Sox game (they won by the way) and music. The folks around were very nice, and there were a bunch of characters in the parking lot.

The stadium was not a very good place to see a concert. We were up in the nose bleed section, and even though I knew we wouldn’t be able to see much, I was surprised how hard it was to hear. The stadium had a wicked echo, and it seemed like the drunken folks around us were not there to even try to listen to the music. Jimmy played a lot of his standards, and had a few new songs that I really liked (especially the title song for the tour, Bama Breeze (http://margaritaville.com/_media/MV_bama.htm). The beers were $8 a piece, and I decided that this was a case of it NOT being worth it, even if they were pushing the AB Landshark Lager.

All in all, it was great to get away with Jenn for the day. However, seats that were $80 a piece, parking for $40, and some $40 for gas probably wasn’t worth it to go to a venue that wasn’t geared for concerts. But a got to spend a day with my wife, I got to check out a new restaurant, and I got to sample a lot of great beers. I’m not complaining. - 4300

"An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools." - Ernest Hemingway

P.S. - I’m sad to report that Mr. Jackson past away the other day. The beer industry has lost a powerful advocate. We will miss the Beer Hunter.