A Holiday not Totally Wrecked

I had a plan, made a list, and new exactly where I wanted to go for my Thanksgiving holiday.  Jenn had travelled out to NH earlier, and I was going to bring the kids out Thursday morning and then head back on Saturday.  And since I wasn’t in a hurry to return, I had planned to travel up to Greensboro VT to Hill Farmstead for some rare bottles, stop by Three Penny Taproom for drafts and the Hunger Mountain Co-op for some bottles, a late lunch at Prohibition Pig, and some more bottles and VT souvenirs (Christmas is coming) at the Warren general store.  That all changed in a blink of an eye.  A pickup truck loss control of his car in the VT Mountains, hit one car, and then flew across my lane and collided with my Toyota Sienna at about 50 mph.  My engine went through the designed crumple zone and ended up under my feet, the airbags all deployed protecting myself and my precious cargo, and the seatbelts (all being worn in my car) did their job and held us in place.  The pickup driver wasn’t as lucky, a older car without airbags and he wasn’t wearing a seatbelt, he sustained head injuries and was taken to the hospital (I’ve been praying that he is okay).  My kids exited the car, worrying about their Nook and their Playstation.  Jenn and my father-in-law came and picked us up, and we all remarked that we had lots to be thankful for that Thanksgiving Day.

Black Friday came and went, and I celebrated the way that I normally do, with a trip to the Portsmouth Brewery.  This year I went with my family (it felt important that we spent the day together) and my father-in-law Ed, fighting the shoppers for a table and kicking back and relaxing.  We waited for a table, and I enjoyed their Project X, an Extra Pale Ale that had the appropriate amount of bitterness.  We sat right next to the vats (boy I enjoyed being brewer for a day with Wayne), and I got their cask.  Jenn and Jess had gotten up early for the deals, and celebrated with cups of chowder (the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree), putting smiles on their faces.  Portsmouth was trying something new by infusing food in their casks (weird), and today’s offering was tiramisu in their Biere De Garde.  It was tasty, the dessert definitely adding a different flavor and sweetness to the beer.  I got the Thai mussels, and Jenn and Ed each got nachos, Ed got the chili and Jenn got the pulled pork (the pork was awesome).  We then spent the rest of the day visiting family.

So on the way back, I was now faced with a dilemma.  Snow showers were forecasted in the afternoon in VT, and the prospect of spending the day cruising around the back roads of VT didn’t seem that appealing.  I didn’t want to take the MA Pike because of traffic and Jacob didn’t want to go back over the same mountain that we had the accident.  He was a bit shell shocked, and I didn’t blame him.  There were high winds that was pushing my Honda Fit around the road that even got me to drive a bit white knuckled.  So we chose to take Route 4 back through VT; not as far north to hit the snow, and not the curvy mountain road that we came out on, and it apparently only added 20 minutes to our trip (thanks for confirmation Garmin). 

And there was a side benefit, Long Trail (http://www.longtrail.com/) brewpub was on Route 4, and would make a great rest stop along the way (is it really exactly half-way?).  Long Trail is located on a picturesque river, has a great selection of beer (mostly standards with an occasional new release), and has a menu with enough variety to please everyone (including Jacob).  The place was packed (20 minute wait), but I grabbed an Imperial Porter on draft and we used the time to take the self-guided brewery tour and sit by the fire pit outside by the water (a beautiful view).  We got paged and grabbed our seat (indoor picnic tables, nice) and had a great conversation with our waiter.  He liked my Flyers jersey since he was from South Jersey, and told us some stories about when he actually knew some of the Broad Street Bullies (even the troopers didn’t want to mess with the Hammer, Dave Schultz). 

Jacob got an order of chicken fingers with fries, and I asked for their Jonas sauce (their version of a hot & sour sauce) since I was pretty sure that I was going to finish up his meal.  I got a bowl of the southwestern fish chowder (was delicious, but would have been better in a bread bowl) to go along with their Coffee Stout on cask.  That is the best part of visiting a brewery, there is always a chance to get something that you can’t find elsewhere.  It was a nice break, and the view on the road was stunning, but it was time to get home.

I had a great time riding with Jacob, letting him select the music (mostly a mixture of 80’s rock and Christmas music) and chatting along the trip.  The weekend was eventful, but at the end of the day my family was safe and sound.  Besides, Jenn never truly loved the black color for the Sienna, although she is a huge fan of its safety features. – 6181/13197

“It’s all fun and games until the beer runs out.” – Sign at Long Trail Brewing