Cruisin' and Boozin' ... with Brews on a Bus!

My gal pal's wedding weekend is fast approaching. It's a black-tie shindig, which I've never had the pleasure of experiencing as a wedding guest. I am so excited! For her, of course, but also for the classy, high-end ridiculousness that will ensue :)

A few weeks ago, a bunch of her fav ladies headed down to Charleston for a much-needed Bachelorette getaway. We had a beachfront house, plenty of drink on hand and what ended up being the entire city of Charleston with us out on Folly Beach (who knew that our street at the beach was considered the local's meet-up spot of choice?! Those poor home owners.)

We did the beach thing, the silly Just Dance thing, the stay-up-late and tell silly girl stories thing ... but my favorite thing we did was the cruise ... the Brews Cruise!

The Charleston Brews Cruise is run by a couple of really cool, laid-back guys that really love beer and want to share the beer-lovers experience with others. Locals and tourists alike pile into big passenger vans for a chance to be shuttled around to local breweries, sample (generously-sized) different types of beer at each spot and be given a tour and backgrounder on that brewery and it's specialties.

We had such. a. good. time. A few of us are beer lovers, and so we got to geek out a bit in the breweries (our S.O.'s have taught us well!) and ask a lot of questions about how the beers were made. We also got to purchase beer to take home with us, so we all loaded up with some growlers (64oz. bottles) and cans from our fav stops. My favorite beer? The ones from Westbrook, a place in nearby Mount Pleasant that featured a summery White Thai beer and a decadent Vanilla Tree Dubbel. I would go back in there in a minute!!

Local Atlantans, feeling a little left out? Well never fear, because Brews Cruise has come to our town, as well! I heard about their expansion and have been watching them grow up their local tour offerings. While I hope to hop on a cruise soon and share first-hand experiences, here are a few details in the meantime:



* Brews Cruise Atlanta features tours all around town - from Downtown breweries to some on the Southside! Thought Sweetwater and Red Brick were the only two around? You are wonderfully mistaken. Jailhouse brewing and Eagle and Lion are just two of the new spots you can check out on a tour.

* Tours cost $45 per person, but locals save $5 on weekday cruises! Nondrinkers and underage tickets are available for $25 each.

* The tours are offered on weekends, but the weekday tours would be a perfect way to spend a lazy summer Friday or vacation day. Also consider the tours for the next time family is coming in to town!

* Worried about drinking too much beer and not enough water? Water and snacks are available for all attendees. The peanut butter crackers were CLUTCH. Truth.

Want to find out more? Check out Brews Cruise Atlanta's website to see pictures from their first few tours and to contact Sandy, the awesome man behind the show.


Disclosure: I was not compensated for this post, but have been invited to join in a Cruise soon!

Walk it Out for History

Remember how I was recently talking about Buckhead being a neighborhood underneath its stigma of being simply a huge touristy shopping and restaurant district? Well, last weekend, we set out to discover just exactly how neighborhoody we could be.

Struck with the urge to explore a bit and also get some Vitamin-D and a stretch of the legs, we set off one afternoon on the mile or so walk over to the Atlanta History Center. Why walk, you ask? Well, it's really quite silly to drive the single mile over there, honestly. If we lived in NYC, we wouldn't be caught dead getting out a car to go that small of a distance!

Have you ever been to the AHC before? If you have just driven past it on West Paces all these years without being inside, you are missing out on a true in-town gem right in our backyards.

I first hit up the AHC last year with my brother for a Dr. Seuss traveling exhibit (see pictures to right. We crashed the kid's playroom and played with the mini puppets haha). While that show was definitely worth our trip, we were amazed to discover all the other exhibits inside the sprawling building.

What grabbed our eye then, and then did again over the weekend, was a Civil War exhibit that walks you through the years of the War from start to finish. Whether your interest is in the uniforms and supplies, the mass quantities and varieties of weapons used by the soldiers, or how the women spent their days at home waiting for their men, you will love this exhibit. It takes about an hour to go through the whole thing, but I honestly could go back again, because there were a lot of signs and displays I didn't fully inspect.



The other great exhibit at the AHC right now is the Metropolitan Frontiers exhibit. This takes you through Atlanta's history, starting with log cabin times right up to the Connector and Spaghetti Junction. I am a sucker for city history, and love seeing what familiar streets, homes, and buildings looked like back then. Seeing the city's skyline morph while learning more about what the residents were doing in those days was really interesting for me.



So, fellow neighbors, I dare you to walk to the AHC sometime soon -- don't drive. It's right around the corner, and you can do like we did and stop by Fado on the way home for some Sunday afternoon beers. Tickets are $16.50 for adults, but if you are a member at other participating area attractions, you can save $3 off through the end of September.

In my mind, there is no better way to spend a lazy weekend than learning more about our neighborhood, and perhaps enjoying a cold one or two :)