Drinking with the Mouse

The second half of our trip was all centered around my conference in Orlando.  We checked into the hotel and the conference, and in the pouring rain (and a pretty nasty fall) we headed over to the House of Beer (http://www.hobflorida.com/) to see what they had to offer.  A great draft list, and some bottles, but since we were pretty hot we decided to get something to slake our thirst.  A Schofferhofer Grapefruit Hefe-Weizen on draft was perfect, a 2.5% thirst quencher that seemed to be made for the heat of FL.  The next day we were headed over to Epcot, so we grabbed some seafood close to the hotel and made a early evening of it.

My conference was at the Swan & Dolphin, next to Epcot, and the schedule had me attending a session only at 5:30 PM.  So Jenn and I had the day to ourselves, and Epcot is one of our favorites.  The Soaring ride (an opportunity to “fly” down the coast of CA) is the biggest attraction, but this more grown-up themed amusement park features great food and drinks around the World Showcase.  Since I had to be coherent at the end of the day, I couldn’t follow one of the drinking guides (http://www.disneydining.com/drinking-around-world-showcase-guide/).  But no worries, the showcase is about meeting people from the countries represented, eating, and drinking.  Canada is probably best represented with Unibroue, but we started off with France, getting a quiche and cheese plate to go with Jenn’s dessert and my Kronenburg 1664.  Morocco offered Strawberry Daiquiris and Estrella Damm Barcelona.  Japan had the drum show, Pokemon cards, and a frozen Kirin beer (ice cold Kirin with frozen beer foam floated on top, did I say it was hot?).  The US had a Napa Smith Hoppagedon Imperial IPA waiting for me, and Germany had a Riesling for Jenn.  Dinner was in Mexico, where the passion fruit margarita and the tacos de carne were to die for.  I made my session, rode a view rides, and enjoyed watching their Illuminations fireworks show.  It was a great day, but now the real business began and my fun was going to be limited to the evenings.

Wednesday was lectures and a down day for Jenn.  I picked her up at the Outlets, well actually at Dick’s Last Resort where we enjoyed a Sam Adams Rebel IPA while showing off my beer book (some people are really too interested).  We went to Margaritaville at Universal City Walk, getting over the $17 for 2 hours of parking shock, and enjoyed the visit.  I got a Volcano burger with a margarita sampler (more tequila on this trip than I’m used to).  I had to do it, since the margaritas had great names like “Last Mango n Paris,” “Who’s to Blame,” and “Fins to the Left.”  I next took Jenn to Redlight Redlight, the premier beer bar in Orlando that has been on Draft magazine’s top 100 Beer Bar list for the past 4 years.  This is my kind bar, sipping on local beers while listening to Judas Priest.  Our waitress Christine told me that they don’t offer samplers, but they did offer1/2 pours, so I was able to try a few.  I started with a Funky Buddha Hop Gun IPA and a Due South Category 5 IPA, 2 great beers from 2 breweries that I first visited at the Extreme Beer Festival last March.  Next was a pair from Swamp Head, Dark Water Black IPA and Saison Du Swamp.  Finally, I tried their own brew Columbus Gold on cask.  I appreciated the effort, but they still need to work on it.

Jenn went to Sea World on Thursday seeing baby dolphins, sea turtles and penguins, while I had a full day at the conference.  I stopped by Big River Grill and BJs Brewpub (http://www.bjsbrewhouse.com/), but didn’t find much.  Jenn and I went to dinner at Cricketers (http://cricketersorlando.com/), my favorite British pub in the area.  Ever since Jenn had gone to the UK with me, she’s been a sucker for Chicken Tikka Masala while I’m a big fan of Shepherd’s Pie.  Both were excellent, and the Tennents (my father-in-law’s favorite beer) was tasty too.  Next we stopped next door at the World of Beer (http://worldofbeer.com/), a great place to relax and hang out (coming to Albany on June 16^th).  We sat outside enjoying the house beer, a Bavik C’Est La Vie!, a Belgian Tripel brewed specifically for WOB.  It was a great way to spend our last evening in Orlando.

We wrapped up in the early afternoon, and headed over to lunch at Sea Dog Brewing (http://www.seadogbrewing.com/).  We each tried different version of the clam chowda (mine was better with sweet potatoes and Portuguese sausage), mahi-mahi sandwich, and a beer sampler.  Next we went to swelter at Downtown Disney.  Luckily for me, the House of Blues had beer to go, so I enjoyed a Florida brewing Devil’s Triangle IPA in a plastic cup while I searched for shade between stores.  For dinner (I hate eating at the airport) we went to the Nona Tap Room (https://nonataproom.com/) which offered good food and good beer close to the airport.  I said goodbye to FL with a Cuban sandwich and a Brew Bus Double Decker Porter.  This place also had probably my favorite beer of the week, a passion fruit Berliner Weisse, 5 Rabbit’s 5 Lizards.  I enjoyed this last stop that gave Jenn and I time to reflect on the week, as well as new stories to talk about.

We enjoyed the flight home, watching the Red Sox get revenge on the Rays 3-2 in extra innings (live MLBTV on the plane is AWESOME!) even though that punk David Price plunked Big Papi.  It was great to get away with my beautiful wife.  She spent a lot of time worrying about and shopping for the kids, but we were able to reconnect with her one on one.  A special thanks to my folks for giving us the opportunity to get away together, it surely was a blessing. – 15869

 
“Yes, sir. I’m a real Southern boy.  I got a red neck, white socks, and Blue Ribbon beer.” – Billy Carter