Beer, bicycles and babies

Our week long, long-awaited summer vacation has begun! Friday, we did the always familiar flight to the Denver airport. I always did look forward to our yearly training in Denver and vacation in Aspen, despite the freezing cold weather of December. But after a frustrating stint working on the election in Colorado Springs, I vowed never again to go to Colorado.

Then Chris' sister had a baby and, well, family wins out. We designed a vacation around seeing the newborn and our big loves (well, some of these are mine) - craft beer, bicycling and National Parks.

Colorado is a different place in the summer. I suppose the snowy mountains and Colorado always had been linked in my mind. Now I have a new picture to replace it. Dry heat, flash hail storms, bicycling wide avenues, great beer and Red Rocks.

After dropping our bags off at the Public Interest Network offices and got ourselves a B-cycle. They are absolutely adorable bikes, with a bit of a Schwinn influence and a big basket. We used them to easily bike between breweries and pubs.

First stop was Fresh Craft, a restaurant with a long beer list. Then off to Breckenridge Brewery, which had an amazing imperial IPA. Next on to Great Divide, which had a great tap room set up. Just $3 for 3 tastings and all the proceeds go to charity. Unfortunately all their beers seemed to be trying to hard and were far too malt-forward. Lastly we checked out Flying Dog. Getting their 10 minutes before opening, and feeling the altitude a bit, we sat down on the sidewalk outside. But the opening bartender instead let us in while he set up the bar space and immediately brought us a tasty rare brew. A shy german shepherd greeted us too and we got a great introduction to a brewery whose motto is "Good people drink good beer." The founder of the brewery lived next to Hunter S. Thompson and all their label art is by an artist that worked with Thompson, which leads to an imaginative, grotesque bunch of labels.

While Friday was all about beer. Saturday was all about hanging out with Chris' family. We got a lot of baby and puppy time in - both of which need a lot of attention. We also got to take them out for a hike in Red Rocks. Amidst the pine-covered mountains, Red Rocks stands out. It looks like it should be in Arizona, but these rocks are naturally here outside Denver. In the middle of one of the rocks they've made an amphitheater, which looks like it would be an amazing place to see a concert. Instead during the day it becomes a workout locale for local fitness-buffs. No wonder Colorado is the most fit state in the nation. If I could run up and down the stairs in this beautiful place, I might be a bit more fit too. (Or at least I'd balance out the beer drinking.)

Next up on the vacation menu is Boulder. See you there!

New Boston-focused Blog

I've been pondering and planning this for a while and finally launched it, Beantown on the Cheap.

I know everyone's a writer these days, and readers are hard to find, but I've wanted to have a 'maketable' blog for a while. My adventures home and abroad keep me connected with friends and family far-flung, but as of late, I've become an expert on Boston. Boston, cheaply that is. Yes, I'm a cheapskate. I've made career choices in my life that give me enough money to be comfortable, but not drop big bucks having fun. I think there's a lot of others in my boat. (Though the boat surveyed is mainly the non-profit office where I work.)

Beantown on the Cheap will be the place to easily find my free & cheap events calendar (just scroll down to the bottom), get weekly updates on the hottest events and my tricks for seeing Boston like a cheapskate year round.

So if you live in Boston, or are planning on checking out my fine city sometime soon, make sure you follow Beantown on the Cheap. If you want to stay abreast of my personal adventures in this city, and others (summer vacation season is coming up soon after all) stay tuned here.

And hopefully see you soon in either case!

A Perfect Birthday (long) Weekend

Since I was marking my third decade on the planet, I decided to fill a long weekend with my favorite things. Strangely one day did involve a brown-paper package and lovely enough, the silver-white winter melted into Spring on Thursday. (Sound of Music fans will get those.)

Thursday was devoted to the sliver of Irish heritage that is no doubt somewhere in my blood from my father's side and definitely in my name (Megan Ryan) from my mother. Starting at noon with a great round of drinks at Stoddard's. We first attempted to test as many of the Harpoon specials that were on cask. Then another. Then (like last time) our waitress kept misinforming us about what beers were available. So the barkeep came over, looking straight out of a 1910's fancy downtown Boston establishment, and offered us a round on him. It pays to be smarter than your waitress, a lesson I relearn on Sunday.

St. Patrick's Day continued as we joined in the revelry at Faneuil Hall then drinking for free at Harpoon. We wrapped up the night with my favorite dish and local dinner joint - eggplant parm and Bella Luna.

Friday was brutal. 8 straight hours in the kitchen. Our first all-grain brew. Then more apps then you could shake a stick at for my evening shindig. Our first all-grain batch, a rye, will likely be low in alcohol and have a slight hint of burnt sock. (Our grain sock burnt to the bottom of the pot.) Oh well. What started off with hard work ended with many good friends gathered round the table at the Haven, being served kelp-chocolate beer by our local Scotsman.

Saturday, back to me time. I took a leisurely ride down to the Haymarket. If there's two things I love, it's slow cycling and Boston's Haymarket: the number one source for cheap produce. Some steals to be jealous of: ginormous bag of mixed greens for $2, 5 nectarines for $1, very large bunches of basil for $1, bags of onions for $1. I biked back on home with my load and then took myself out to get some pad thai and read a book I just got from the library. (Pad Thai and books are on my favorites list.) We ended the night with a bottle of cava and the best mussels I've ever had in my life at the bar at Bon Savour down the street. (Cava and mussels, also on my favorites list.

Sunday, more favorites: A belly dancing class at the adult dance school. A parade in Southie for St. Patty's Day.

Lastly, I donned my new red dress and Chris took me out to a very fancy, very expensive restaurant (with a Groupon). If you are in Boston, you must go to Aquitane. Without a coupon you can make it affordable by going 5:30-6:30 and doing a three-course, beat-the-rush menu for $30. It's worth triple every penny you spend. And when you're turning thirty, there's no better reason to spend every penny.

In a hot New York weekend

New England's smushed-togetherness lends itself well to quick weekend trips. So last Saturday we roused ourselves at 6 in the morning and drove to New York City. An old friend and co-worker and her husband were gracious enough to host us in their Manhattan-sized apartment.

I almost forgot how tiny those one-bedrooms are! It's now been 10 years since I lived in New York and now the 'home' feeling has really faded. I'm over it. I'll always enjoy visiting, but I'm grateful for the pace of a smaller city like Boston.

With little preparation we headed out. First stop: Heartland Brewery for lunch. We talked them into letting us do a full flight of 9 beers (note the extra glasses in the middle). One outstanding brew was the Quad - 10 grains, 10 hops, 10%.

Next up: The MoMA. Excellent stuff. We probably spent a little too long there, since by the 3rd hour or so, my brain wasn't registering things as much. I might take a little virtual tour at Google Art Project to remind myself everything I saw.

One thing about New York that baffles me is the rate at which restaurants open up and close down. So it was with blind faith that we took a bus 70 blocks down to 2nd St. and 2nd Ave. to go to a French-Russian restaurant I remembered from eons ago. All I remembered about the place was the strange combo of ethnicities and the beautiful ceiling - painted black, layered with white Christmas lights, and then fake palm fronds over that gave the impression of being under a jungle canopy at night.

In any case, Anyway Cafe, was there, open and delicious. (And they served Lithuanian beer!)

The rest of evening was a little awkward as we decided one thing after another was too expensive $15 art house films, $25 jazz clubs, $5 bad beers. We eventually settled in at the Blind Tiger which had an astounding 30 excellent beers on tap.

Sunday we all made the necessary stop over at Veselka, an old Ukranian Diner I worked to graveyard shift at in college. I forewent brunch and got the vegetarian deluxe platter of pirogies, kasha, borscht, stuffed cabbage and a latka. As good as I remembered.

We wandered across Manhattan the rest of the day - Chelsea Brewing Company, Chelsea Market, High Line park, the Natural History Museum. It was almost too much for some weekend, but still, I didn't feel rushed.

We ended our weekend with a trip to another old stomping ground from college the Daryl Roth Theater. We were lucky enough to get 1/2 tickets to the new De La Guarda show: Fuerza Bruta. 6 years after working there, I only remembered one of the staff. But the big black box theater, the lights, the water, it all was the same. Letting loose in that show 4 times a week during college, was certainly better than any therapy I could have had.

That's what New York is for: a little let loose, eat exotic, walk about, culture-filled weekend therapy session. And I feel great.

Awesome trip to Benelux - Nailed it!

I read an article about how the preparation and anticipation for a trip brings you almost as much pleasure as the trip itself. Well, in this case I had a scant three weeks to get ready.

I busied myself ordering Lonely Planet Encounter guides for Belgium and Amsterdam. (I highly recommend the Encounter series: a bit of history, the main tourist attractions and just enough restaurants to feed you described in a pithy manner. Plus, they fit in your pocket.) I read The Undutchables (Did you know the Dutch are incredibly forthright?) and subscribed to newsfeeds from Belgium and the Netherlands (which consists a lot of how their soccer team is doing). I pre-bought tickets to the biggest museums which ended up saving us a lot of time at the Anne Frank Huis and money at the Rijksmuseum (1/2 price for ING bank card holders).

By time I got there I was ready with lists of things to do, beers to drink and sites to see. That said, I'm a pretty laid-back traveler, so if we end up having a two hour lunch because we're playing with the cute dog at the bar - totally fine. I did run out of time to see visit some breweries that were on my list and resistance museum, but I didn't have many regrets other than those. Plus, I got a lot of good sister time, which is rare these days when we live nine states away.

Highlights:

-Belgian beer Every beer was an epiphany! We sought out the best beer joints and delighted, drank everything that the bartender recommended it. Ah the trappists! Back home, sadly each bottle goes for $4-8, but at least I can relive a bit of the experience. Our biggest mind-f* was Cantillion, where they ferment the beer spontaneously from yeast in the air!

-Belgian food From the chocolate shops to fancy restaurants with fireplaces, to dog-filled pubs where no one spoke English. I enjoyed every morsel. One of my favorite meals was my last at Le Circus - where I chose beer from a 15 page menu, enjoyed a big chunk of vegetarian lasagna which watching a 1980 David Bowie concert.

-Brussels Christmas Market Brussels' Grand Place was recently voted the most beautiful square in Europe. Fill that with a holiday market and tree. Add in a lightshow on the palace every hour and what you get is really spectacular.

-Bikes in Amsterdam I subscribe to H.G. Wells thought that "Every time I see an adult on a bicycle , I no longer despair for the future of the human race." So I was in absolute heaven in Amsterdam. I could have sat for hours just watching all the Chic Cyclists. Instead Katie and I rented bikes and joined them.

-Boats in Amsterdam Our first night in Amsterdam, we oriented ourselves to the city on a cheap boat tour. At night the canals are lit beautifully. You also get a perfect view into the house boats that line the canals, decorated in perfect ikea style, and filled with families eating perfect dutch dinners. If there's anything I like better than bikes, it's water.

-Dancing I haven't had that great of a dancing high in America in a while. Our night out dancing with a live band in Brussels with Madame Mustache was fabulous.

-Amsterdam Brewery Tours Our first was Da Prael. Located in an old 17th century canal house, Da Prael is part brewery, part non-profit. It employs several dozen people with mental disabilities and teaches them skills. The two of us had our own tour guide, who was incredibly enthusiastic, if not confused as to how to English speaking girls found their brewery. We chatted with the brewers, tasted green beer out of the tanks and got to climb up ladders to look inside the brew kettles. Our second brewery, Brouwerik 'IJ wasn't nearly as tasty, but it was in a windmill and had a fun guide.

-Museums We spent almost no time in churches, but what trip to Europe is complete without some museums? Unfortunately the Rijksmuseum, which houses the Dutch masters, has been under construction, so the selection we saw was limited. Van Gough was excellent. But the best had to be the Musical Instruments Museum. It's housed in a gorgeous art-deco glass department store. When you enter, you're given wireless headphones and as you step in front of each instrument case, you hear the instruments. There's also a cafe on the top floor with reasonably priced gourmet food and gourmet views to match. (Check out the website to see views of the building.)

And of course, the Ann Frank House was an experience. It was moving and well-curated. At the end you could do an interactive video experience which would pose complex societal questions and ask you to vote. (Like is it okay to racial profile if the round-up actually found most of the people were illegal immigrants?)

Damn, Amsterdam!

Well, let's just say if you combine, bikes and water, you get my ideal city. This is perhaps one of the reasons I loved living in Miami so much. But I've found that even in colder weather, I enjoy the speed of a bike and the lapping of waves.

I've many pictures and more to elabotate on further, but for those of you reading at home, yes Amsterdam and Brussels are all that they're made out to be - and more.

In Brussels we partook in wonderful food and drink. We endulged in an amazing home-grown beer at every meal and at different 'Brown-Bars' every night. Every single one was spectacular. We toured a brewery that does not add yeast or sterilize it's equipment, but rather allows the yeast in the unique micro-fauna of the air to make their beer. The spiderwebs weren't for show - they were to catch the bugs flying about! We ate pralines and fabulous meals and walked through spendid old squares.

Amsterdam seemed to have more to say - the architecture is wonderful and all jives. With more canals than Venice, every other street is a view to more of their beautiful buildings. We've had good pancakes, and some beer. (The breweries here are colorful, but no where near as good as Belgium.) The highlight has been the easy-breasy riding of bikes around in well-marked lanes.

I always do remark that bike riding is the most efficient mode of transportation in Boston and here, the people have realized this en masse. I could spend days watching all the beautiful people on their beautiful bikes.

Or just being one of the beautiful people myself . . .

Yes, please!

What do you say when your mom offers to send you to Amsterdam to take care of your sister?

Yes, please!

Thank you Katie for being 'nervous' about traveling Europe by herself. Thank you mom for loving Katie so much to send me with. And thanks Dad for making the money to make it all happen!

So that's it now, I'm off to Brussels for 4 days and then 4 days in Amsterdam. I'm super proud of my ticket-deal skills. A bunch of surfing got me $600 tickets. (That's a bit more than it cost to fly to Hancock, MI for Thanksgiving.) And just as nice, my four hour lay-over is in Philly, where I'll meet my parents for lunch. Hopefully they'll let me pick up the bill.

My bag is packed (one carry-on), my guide books are bought (Encounter series from Lonely Planet), and my ipod is loaded up (lots of Rick Steves).

I've got a few must-dos on the schedule - Anne Frank House, Van Gough Museum, Belgian beer, chocolate, ice skating. What else should I add?

Karma, Boston style?

I had an awful morning. Biking has become not only part of my daily routine, but something I love and do to feel connected to my city. So when I lost my headlamp - my only light and way to hold on my hat in this god-awful weather and make it possible to bike - I was pissed. After a frantic 15 minutes tearing apart the house, I found it under a pile of coats in my car.

But then one mile into my ride, pedaling face first into the wind, I regretted biking. It was cold, I was barely going 5 mph and my pants and feet were soaked. I wished I hadn't found my g-d headlamp.

So the Gods send me a sign. Gah-dunk. I get a flat tire. Thankfully I'm just 4 blocks from a bike shop. I park my bike out in front (it's not open yet) and walk the last mile to work in the rain. I've been reading Eat, Pray, Love, so on my way I do what the character, Liz, does when things go wrong. I pray, or sort of. I'm not the God believing type. I offer up an apology to the thing overseeing the karmic balance of the world.

I'm sorry I crazily ransacked my house in search of my headlamp.

I'm sorry I regretted biking to work.

I'm sorry I'm acting as miserable as the weather.

I made it to work, wet and cold, but at peace, and what happens when I check my voicemail? I've won an in-office massage party for me and 7 co-workers. I call the massage center back. They'll come by any day we'd like and give us chair massages in the conference room.

Thank you, universe.

I'm on Rick Steves (again!)

We taped this back in March, but it finally aired this weekend on public radio stations. You can download the episode on itunes or windows media.

A year ago I got on an episode to ask about where to celebrate Day of the Dead. This time we talk about my trip, in particular about connecting with locals as a woman.

I even made the episode notes:

The Lunatic Express; Open Phones: Travel Discoveries

Airdate: October 30, 2010

Program 223

Carl Hoffman describes his experiences traveling on the most notorious, over-crowded trains, planes, busses and ferries from India to the Andes and listeners share their own travel discoveries and suggestions for seeing the world.

• Listen to the entire show (Windows Media)

Additional Links:

• Carl Hoffman's website
• Caller Megan recommends reading the collection of women's essays called "Mexico: A Love Story," edited by Camille Cusumano, and published by Seal Press
• Caller Jeff recommends reading Graham Robb's book "The Discovery of France," published by W. W. Norton, winner of the 2008 Ondaatje Prize

Last time I got to pick a free book for being on the show. Here's hoping they can ship a copy of Rick's Netherlands guide before my December trip!

Fall has Come to Boston

A free food & wine event lured us out to Forest Hills Cemetery in Jamaica Plain last weekend.

More Deal Sites

Groupon started it all and then the flood came - Living Social, CoupMe, BuyWithMe. My personal opinion is that Groupon is still king, but here's an update on more coupon sites and which are still worth it.

Prepare yourself, there's a lot! Just be careful you don't overdeal it.

Groupon - Still the best. Still the most well presented. And now with the Groupon app, the easiest to use.

Living Social - Almost irrelevant now. Many deals are out of Boston, and they have way to many coupons for Brazillian blowouts (weren't those declared toxic?) and yoga classes.

CoupMe - They often have really amazing massage deals, but the rest of the deals are bunk.

BuyWithMe - Getting better and the cool thing is that their deals often last a week, so you can sit on it and decide if it's really worth it.

DigDeals - Great rotating sale of actual gift certificates that get mailed to you. Not a big selection, but always quality places.

Yelp Deals - Just launched this week. Not sure how frequent they're going to be or how good, but the first deal was $50 for a massage. Not bad.

Bloomspot - A higher end deal site, like stays at a French country inn, or limo rides.

Eversave - Most deals tend to be in the suburbs. Lots of spa deals.

KGB Deals - Questionable name. They had $6 movie tickets on sale, but now it looks like they haven't officially launched in Boston yet.

DealOn - Not launched yet.

Zozi - Local, National and Travel deals for around the world. They mostly sell hotel coupons and deals for activities like kayaking in Baja or photography classes in Boston.

Plum District - Mostly geared towards moms, but recent deals have also included Target gift cards and Bruegger's Bagels.

Tippr - Looks like they just steal deals that others have done.

Homerun - Well designed site. Looks like most of their deals are for small things like a $2 pitcher of sangria at Tasca or a $2 glass of wine at Davide's.

Dealster - Many are outside of Boston, but there's some amazing deals like $30 for 4 oil changes.

DealsforSchools - Some decent deals, like $30 for two facials, hair cut and pedicure. Bonus is that part of the proceeds go to schools!

Sites that bring together all the deals:

DealMap.com

Coupz.com

DealSurf.com

DealGator.com

More on Vermont

I couldn't get enough of Vermont, so I went back again this weekend.

Okay, I had to go for work. Not normally would I inflict on myself 3 1/2 hours of driving by myself without needing to. I spent most of my waking hours working. But nonetheless, it was a good trip.

Most of the week was spent in Burlington. My work last week was mostly canvassing, my work consisted of long walks amidst the gorgeous autumn trees. I made sure to get to American Flatbread to have some Zero Gravity beer. Still the best brewery I've encountered yet. Sadly they don't carry six-packs, but I did grab a case of Rock Art and Trout River.

We also got to stay at a friend's parents house in the Middle-of-Nowhere, Vermont. It was practically like staying at a retreat center. It was also the same place we camped out at after my friend's wedding party there. It was nice (and warm) to be inside too! Here's some pictures from the wedding to give you an idea of just how gorgeous it was . . .

Discovering Vermont

VT Weekend

Chris and I take Columbus Day Weekend off to discover Vermont. We find out - it's great! Click above for the photo tour. Warning: we took a lot of pictures of beer.

A Weekend on the Waterfront

It's really easy to forget that you live on a waterfront in Boston. Its a bit out of the way for those of us that work downtown or even Back Bay. Thankfully, for those of us with bikes, it's just a quick jaunt down to the water. With the big dig behind us and the Rose F Kennedy Greenway freshly green, there's no more pleasant place to be than the harbor.

First event on the water was Friday's Harpoon Oktoberfest which turned out to a

lso be under water. The event was held outside their waterfront breweryThere were three tents, with pools of water between them and rain pouring down. We tried to run between the raindrops, but without much success. So our pints had some Boston rainwater, but by the third we didn't notice. We were busy noticing the amazing German oompah band and folks in chicken hats.

Saturday I volunteered at the Boston Local Food Fest with Corporate Accountability, gathering petitions for their Think Outside the Bottle campaign. Right on the waterfront outside the Children's Museum we were afforded a beautiful view of downtown Boston across the water. We also got a ton of local, amazing food. This was the best free stuff event I've ever been too and I loaded up on samples of cheese, chocolate, crackers, pita, salads, apples and more.

But really, the waterfront is great even without big hullabaloos. Plenty of park benches and greenspace abound. Perfect for picnic lunches during the work week, or wine and cheese while watching the ships pass by at night.

Fall Adventures

It's been quite a few weeks here in Boston! The weather has swung back and forth between cold and hot.

Last Saturday we were left cold at Jacob Wirth's when Harpoon didn't show to give out free tickets to Oktoberfest and liter steins as promised. Thankfully we did get some excellent beer and german food and our complaints on facebook got us our tickets and stein. So now that they've made it up to me, I encourage you to become a friend of Harpoon. They have lots of free events and card holders get into Oktoberfest for 1/2 price. Go here to register.

This week I also snuck a tour to the Just Beer Brewery in Westport on the South Coast. I happened to drive past this sign on my way to a meeting.

Well, I had to stop on my way back. Just Beer is a fairly new brewery. The owners have been making wine for a while, and decided they needed something to drink during football games, I suppose. I tried for ales and the standout was their Harry's IPA. I bought myself a growler.

This weekend was JP Open Studios, always a fall highlight. We saw a lot of good and bad art, drank a lot of free wine and checked out sweet JP apartments. I really got a kick out of checking out others' gardens too. These guys gave me some great ideas.

We ended Saturday with a trip to the Amesbury Brew Fest, which was filled with strange red-necks and some decent beer. A good $15 spent overall.

For some extra dough you could get inside this thing and ride down the mountain.

Cops were on hand to flirt with, I mean keep the peace.

A big Red Sox fan.

By the end things devolved quite a bit. We knew it was time to hit the road.

Boston Ahts

Well, Boston is no Paris. We don't have the Met like New York or the Getty like Los Angeles. But Boston has 'ahts'. Yes, that's arts with a Boston accent.

This weekend is the annual Boston Ähts Festival. The event takes place this Friday, Saturday and Sunday in Christopher Columbus Park. (Just plug in 105 Atlantic Ave., Boston, MA into google maps.)

I haven't been before, but their website looks pretty cool. Their acts range from indie folk rock to ballet to New Orleans R&B. There'll be visual art from glassblowing to ceramics to metalworking with a lot of hands-on demonstrations. I'll definitely checking it out in between the Greek Festivals. (Somerville and Brookline)

And that's not all Boston is doing to celebrate the Ahts. Check out the Public Art Boston website they've got a great map you can download with all the public art like old statues, murals and modern installations. Lastly, another great resource is the Boston Open Studios Coalition - there's a lot! Though of course my favorite, of course, is JP Open Studios. It's totally homey and has lots of great snacks. It's September 25th -26th, so mark your calendars and I'll see you there.

Back in Boston

I'm back settled in Boston after a long summer of travel, some chosen places, some not. And last week on the hottest day of the summer, we moved. Not far, just a mile away. It was still hard work in the heat and my back is still a bit thrown out. But the new apartment is absolutely lovely; just a block from the best restaurant in JP and equidistant to two T lines.

I've missed most of the summer festivals, unfortunately, but I promise to keep up even better my Boston of the Cheap calendar. Here's a few of the delights I've taken in since I've gotten back:

Swimming at Blue Hills National Park

Lunch at the Clover Food Lab in the Rose Kennedy Greenway

View from Nira Rock, a Boston urban wild

View of the historic Shirley Eustis House from the public orchard there

Labor Day tour of Harpoon

Oh Shenandoah, I long to hear you

Well obviously, I'm no professional blogger, which is why three weeks later I'm posting about my vacation. But I need to wrap this up, since so many exciting things are going on back here in Boston.

We spent two more days in the Smokies - hot and humid, without a shower, I really felt like we were roughing it, until you end up sitting in traffic on Newfound Gap Road with all the day tourists. Off the roads and in the woods, you could still feel like you were alone, one of the first settlers, or a Cherokee, for that matter.

We made sure to get some more local beer in in Bryson City - Nantahala Brewing Company - and headed North again on the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Our next stop was Shenandoah, a place of fond childhood memories. (Though when I asked my mom what she remembered about the park she said, "Rain, lots and lots of rain.") But while we heard NPR reports of massive lightening storms and tornadoes in the DC area, we were blissfully unaware of any disturbance up in the high-elevation meadows of Shenandoah.

While the views weren't amazing, it was the minutiae that drew us in. Our campground at Big Meadows was surrounded by dozens of hiking trails. Within ten minutes of arriving to the park we saw a bear (and ended up seeing 5 on our stay). Our camping site was a 'walk-to' meaning that you had a several yard walk back to the site, which left us blissfully secluded. (Unlike being next to giant RVs with generators in the Smokies.)

I also loved that we had a touch of civilization. Shenandoah was a resort area back in the early 1900's and wasn't made into a park until FDR. So the lodge is still there, it may be run by Aramark, but it has charm.

A big window overlooking the valley is lined with rocking chairs. A bar downstairs featured local musicians at night. And, best of all - wifi. My favorite part was seeing the rows of backpacks outside the fancy restaurant on the ground. This must have been the first nice meal and shower folks who've been hiking the Appalachian trail had for a long time. Part of me wanted to hike the trail, but a bigger part of me wants to use my vacation days in Europe.

We took advantage of the ranger-led hikes, doing three of them. We spent a good time grilling the twenty-something ranger about life in the Service on the way down Hawksbill Mountain. Turns out it's not too unlike canvass directing. Low pay, you have the freedom to get transferred each season, you become an expert in each park you work in, you work outside. It might have been another good career path for me.

Even when leaving, the park charmed us with one last baby bear along the road.

So long, Shenandoah!

Through the Smokies

Leaving the urban sprawl behind, but not the heat we arrived in Appalachia. First stop was Sylva. A cute little town in the foothills. Destination: brewery. Heizelmachen was our first. Located in a small store front, the husband and wife team, the former from the Black Forest of Germany, own this tiny operation. Perhaps the tiniest brewery I've ever seen, a chill college student poured our eight brews and furnished us with great Bavarian pretzels. Filling our keg would be tempting, but we already have learned that beer doesn't keep too well in our trunk.

Sylva is apparently a budding brewery town. We also got a chance to try to new brews at Sapphire Brewing Company, which has the cutest setup that feels like you're hanging out at someone's house. (It probably is.)

Leaving our empty mugs, we headed into the park. First hurdle was the Cherokee Indian Reservation. No casinos here, just Bingo night, and a ton of tourist stands selling moccasins, tomahawks, and dream catchers.

You enter the southern end of the Smokies through a meadow, in a valley surrounded by lush, high mountain slopes. Our campground was just a few miles in. We realized we were back in the South with the number of trailers and RVs parked around our site. Gangs of children cruised the streets on bikes and generators hummed. Almost every license plate was from North Carolina. Cooking that night the neighbors, who were rarely seen outside of their RV, were super-friendly and gave us a whole plate of fried potatoes, hush puppies and catfish. How Christian of them!

Chris put it best when he said that Smokies was best on the macro level (and Shenandoah on the micro level). Drives can be long through the park, and sometimes you even sit in traffic, but the views are gorgeous. The first night we try to go to a ranger program in Cades Cove, which ends up being an hour and a half through the park. We give up half-way on the drive and just stop to watch the most gorgeous sunset I've ever seen that hasn't been over an ocean.

Afterwards we decide to keep going to Gatlinburg. Imagine: you drive for over an hour through complete wilderness. You look out on either side of the road and see nothing for as far as you can see. Then all of a sudden - boom - you're right in the middle of Hick-ville Disneyland. Stand-still traffic, neon signs, fat people in fanny packs strolling down the street, tourist traps like a wax museum and house of horrors. We park as soon as possible and started over to the one place that might be the one tolerable place in town: the Smoky Mountain Brewery. I get distracted by an outdoor bluegrass band accompanied by the chickenman.

I didn't get this one on tape, but we also saw the four curly-haired, pig-tailed, gingham-dressed tap-dancing children. But we finally did make it in. The sampler was $8 and an astounding 10 very creative beers. We walked off the buzz afterwards through the neon-lights and slowly made our way back to the other end of the park.

Our next day would include even more miles in the car, but a bit more adventure.