Away on Veteran's Day

A trip to our Nation’s Capital to take the kids to the Zoo as Jessica’s birthday treat, and that gives me an opportunity to check out some new beer locations with the family.  I’m not heartless, when I travel with the family it is not dives that I’m venturing into, but cool places (although dive bars are often cool) with a great menu.  So we headed down to DC to see the sights and take in a bit of culture.

Our first stop was State Line Liquors in MD (State Line Liquors), off the first exit when you cross into the state, to check out a phenomenal beer selection.  My cousin Brian recommended it, and Jenn permitted it, so I took 13 minutes of the family’s vacation for just me.  The place was great with a huge, well organized bottle selection that made perusing simple.  I went straight for the Danish beers, and was pleased to find several Mikkeller beers that I hadn’t spotted before.  I picked up their Chipotle Porter, their white wine barrel aged Black Hole, and their cognac barrel aged black hole (completed my collection, yeah).  Evil Twin, another Danish brewer, was well represented so I picked up bottles of Katz Pis, Ashtray Heart and Before, During and After Christmas.  The domestic selection was quite good, but since I was on a time limit I limited myself to bottles of Full Sail Elevation (their series Imperial IPA) and Wreck the Halls, and Sam Adams Griffin’s Bow and the Vixen.  I figured I wasn’t being selfish since I only took 13 minutes, and I would share my booty with Jenn (and the kids) if they wanted some.

Next we met up with family in Old Town Alexandria.  I had been there a few months before, and was disappointed that I skipped stopping into Pizzeria Paridiso (Pizzeria Paridiso) on King Street.  The food was amazing (although stay away from the roasted garlic, delicious, but dangerous), and the beer selection was top notch.  The kids split a cheese pizza, Jenn and I got the veggie, and John & Cathy tried a pepperoni on wheat crust.  I tried a Williams Brothers Midnight Sun from Scotland on cask (only $0.20 celebrating their 20^th anniversary), and then a Baladin Nora from Italy on draft.  My favorite was North Coast’s 20^th Anniversary Ale, brewed with agave nectar and partially aged in oak and whiskey barrels, its described as an American Strong Ale (I’d think so at 12.5% ABV), but was full of flavors to go with the alcohol kick.  The place even offered flights, but I’ll have to save that for another trip.  Old Town is dog friendly, so we walked Cathy’s dogs down to the waterfront (beautiful day), skipped Bilbo Baggins (wasn’t enough time supposedly to stop by), and went to the Silver Parrot for jewelry shopping (25+ minutes worth).  It was a fun day, and we got Chipotle for dinner (yum).  The neatest treat was to watch the inaugural Carrier Classic, UNC vs. Michigan State played on CVN-70 for Veteran’s Day.  It was such a cool setting, I really did enjoy watching the game (or at least the first half). 

The next day we got a late start, but made it to the zoo to see the wildlife.  Jessica really loved the pandas, and Jacob really loved the Metro.  We headed down to the Mall (and past the Elephant & Castle, maybe next time), and walked around the Washington Monument and the WWII Memorial.  It was a great fall day (the trees still had their leaves), and we all enjoyed the sights.  But we were also pooped, and were thankful for a nice long blue line run back to Springfield.  Dinner was at Mike’s grill, a Kling Family favorite, and we got to meet up with Jon and Jonathan and enjoy some food (prime rib for me).  Good times, good times.

It was a great weekend, Jessica and Jacob had a lot of fun and Jenn and Cathy got the opportunity to catch up.  For me, it was a lot of driving but I was rewarded with some very good beer. – 5847/11594

"I am a firm believer in the people.  If given the truth, they can be depended on to meet any national crisis.  The great point is to bring them the real facts, and beer." – Abraham Lincoln