I Went to a Brewery for the First Time and It Is My Thing Now
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Date nights these days are rare. Generally speaking, it’s too much trouble to bother with. Finding accommodations for three f̵e̵r̵a̵l̵ ̵c̵r̵e̵a̵t̵u̵r̵e̵s̵ little kids is difficult. However, that doesn’t mean we aren’t game for it when the opportunity arises.
This time, opportunity knocked in the form of my mom offering to watch the kids so we could catch up with some old friends. I thought about her offer for three to four seconds before asking if right now was good for her. After surviving Christmas, New Year’s, the mall, the zoo, the winter carnival twice, and almost all the school holiday break, the time was more than right.
So, there we were, sitting at the end of a long, slate gray bar in a confusingly trendy brewery/restaurant in my sleepy home town next to a couple from Minnesota who definitely were up to something. I remember how exciting it was when our town first got a gargantuan Super Walmart, which immediately became the crown jewel. It was the all-in-one stop for groceries, assorted trinkets, garden hoses, and night life. A few years later when we got a Target, there were persistent rumors that the newcomer was struggling and might even go out of business, suggesting that the mid-level retailer was too high end and town’s people were too committed to Walmart to support a competitor. Keeping this history in mind, I can only presume that this brewery with its sleek furniture, hanging lights, and attractive food and drink must have been tipsy when it meandered to its location among a series of car lots on the highway heading out of town. It was almost like it was trying to get away, but didn’t quite make it.
Other than the parking lot, in which our mid-size SUV was swamped by a legion of large pickup trucks, the brewery could just as easily be in any large city. The food was good and the beer was cold and transcendent, largely because it had sufficient alcohol content. I won’t get into details, but let’s just say that I drank more than I normally do (i.e., had more than one drink) and the primary effect was, later after we picked up the kids and stopped by my friend’s house, I found it hilarious that my 3-year-old kept saying to Alexa, “ALEXA! TELL US A FART!”
Kids are so great. I am typically a prude when it comes to bathroom humor, but sometimes you just have to let it go.
The main point of this story—which isn’t much of a story, but whatever—is that I am a brewery person now. This is my thing and there’s no turning back. I can’t wait to get back in front of a big bar and order up a flight of microbrews. Or IPAs? Craft beers? I’m sure it’s one or all of those. Or something else. Who would’ve guessed I would be a brewery person? But that’s the thing. It’s funny how people and things can surprise you. A trendy brewery in a tired, small town? The love of your life on a Facebook app? The super boring and quiet guy in real life who can be kind of funny and moderately entertaining when he types words? You just never know what you’re going to find. So, you have to keep looking.
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And catch up on some recent posts...
http://www.explorationsofambiguity.com/blog/2018/1/4/nighttime-in-december
http://www.explorationsofambiguity.com/blog/2017/12/21/the-measure-of-a-year