Wow!  Seriously, who knew beer slushies existed?  Okay, probably most craft beer followers, but I hadn’t seen them yet in any of the recent breweries we visited.  But, before diving into this tasty treat, let’s talk about the journey getting there.

It really started with beads, jewelry beads to be more specific.  Karen let me know another bead show was coming to Jacksonville, which on its own merit was a good enough reason to head north, but I needed a break from recent events, therefore……..road trip!

Sorry, I stand corrected, it’s not a ‘bead’ show, it’s a ‘Gem’ show.  While it’s a mix of vendors, it definitely reminds me of my time in Shanghai  when I visited my favorite vendor (Julia’s) almost weekly at the Pearl Market.

I really try to limit what I purchase, sticking to key colors that I use the most.  This time I concentrated on blue, black, white and purple beads.  I did pretty well – kind of.

Naturally, this trip wasn’t all about beads, it included food (and drinks).  One of our first excursions involved Legacy Ale Works, of which Rich is one of the founding members.

There’s this really cool board on the wall, recognizing all the founding patrons (127) that bought into the brewery prior to opening.

You can find his name in the upper right corner.

We shared a flight, concentrating mostly on beer styles I favor, dark beers.

And here was my biggest surprise…………………they pair extremely well with sushi!  There were several restaurants within walking distance and the brewery allows patrons to bring in their food.  Rich and I shared the sushi while Karen and Connor ordered a pizza.  This is a pairing that needs to be replicated.  And I’m talking the beer and the sushi!

Between the four of us we shared two pieces of cake – and had leftovers.  They were BIG pieces of cake.

Another evening, we visited a brewery and pizzeria combo:

The clown in their logo is a bit creepy, but it didn’t affect the beer.  We got two flights and shared.  I still can’t add ‘sours’ to my drinking palate.  I try them, then wish I hadn’t.

We started with pretzel bites before our pizzas arrived – very tasty.  We easily could have gotten two orders to share.

The pizzas………………OMG!  We all agreed this was some of the BEST pizza in recent memory.  Just wish it was closer to their house.  The top pizza  has pepperoni and bacon with the bottom pizza having mushrooms, banana peppers and more bacon (my pick).

While it wasn’t exactly the typical ‘brewery’ atmosphere we were expecting, we definitely enjoyed our meal.  The vibe was very low key.

We just couldn’t end the night without a few more calories and a chance to ‘fill in the cracks’ with ice cream.  Whit’s is a local ice cream shop on the drive home.  They gave you waaaaayy too much ice cream and without Eric to help me, I just couldn’t finish it.

Oh yeah, the beer slushie that I mentioned in the title.  I’m finally getting to it.  That was a part of our first night at Legacy Ale Works.  It was absolutely delicious!  Come on, anything put into a glass that was coated with chocolate syrup, has got to be good.  🙂

And all those beads I purchased………………….I was able to quickly make two pair of earrings from my new purchases.  I had to finish a few details on bracelets (from a previous working visit) and they came home also.  Love them!

 

Stay tuned, we’re getting close for another (over-night flight) Darden Travels trip!

Ginny