3,298 miles, 10 breweries, and 1 Mega Meet - a July '16 Trip Report *New 6/5/17 - Link to new TR!*

[TheMaxRebo]

Whew, just caught up on a bunch. Going way back, but I really enjoyed reading about dinner at Be Our Guest. Despite having had multiple lunches and a breakfast there, we have never done the dinner - but will be doing it in October. Looks like fun!

I have to admit that, when I saw the Epcot monorail box, I was wondering how you got it in your luggage for the flight...until you reminded me of the drive ahead. Looking forward to hearing about the rest of your road trip!

I hope you enjoy your dinner at BoG - didn't realize you hadn't done that yet. We definitely found it to be a very good meal. It's definitely one of those Disney things where the hype breads more hype and then it is hard to get an ADR and b/c it is hard to get an ADR it makes people want the ADR even more, etc. so hard to say it is truly worth all that hype/effort - but it is a high quality meal in a very unique setting - and very "Disney"

Definitely some advantages to driving ... and we (er, I) may have taken advantage of that when it comes to purchasing beer on the way home

I'm one of those people that love Via Napoli, but I would probably feel the same way as you if I had a restaurant close by that served the same food for a lot cheaper. That's probably why I never ate at too many seafood restaurants at Disney. I lived on the Gulf Coast and had that food every ten feet...

Your kids had some good souvenir choices!

I think so - and not just that we have good pizza near us be we have several places that have good pizza that is of a similar style. I definitely get why people like it - just for us not a "must do" (epecially at the price point)

I think the kids did pretty good - we try to steer them a bit and defnitely ensure they know that it is a limited number of things they can get

 

[Madonna3]

In regard to the show:

towards the end they made an announcement that the show needed to end and apologized for that. They went through with the little firework burst so not really sure what got cut

What likely had happened was there was lightning somewhere in the state of Florida and they had to end the show immediately. I have seen that happen with that show numerous times and even when there wasn't a cloud in the sky over MK. From what I have learned, the fireworks are computerized and they HAVE to go off, so they probably just ignited what was loaded. I've heard through the grape vine that this is the reason Wishes would go off no matter what. I remember one 4th of July it poured and then poured some more and Disney tried to set off Wishes multiple times only to have to stop. They eventually shot them off.... at 4am. So the fireworks at the end was likely them just discharging them so the computer could load the next set. I don't know why they can't just push "pause".

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Part 88: Traveling From Disney - Day 1
Getting to Athens and Copper Creek​

It was time to start our drive home in earnest - millage as of that morning:

​

Our first real stop for the trip home was Athens, GA. One reason was because that is where Judi was born and we were going to try and find the house she lived in when very little. Other reasons was, well, beer

We had some granola bars and stuff in the hotel room before leaving, but were still a bit hunger - and then we saw the sign and it opened up our eyes:

​

So we had a super health 2nd breakfast of still warm Krispy Kreme donuts. Hey, we might be on our way back but it was still vacation!

​

As we kept driving I noticed the following sign - I hadn't heard about this museum so it totally caught me off guard. Looking back I wish we had explored a bit more and tried to find it - but oh well, can't do everything

​

We got to our hotel in Athens, the Hilton Garden Inn Downtown, a bit before 1pm and our room was ready so we unloaded and then went out exploring to try and get some actual food in us

​

One place I knew I wanted to eat in Athens was the Trappeze Pub - so we went there.

​

Unfortunately they were full up and the wait for a table was at least an hour. They did have openings for reservations for dinner so we took that (the picture of Peter and Emma is them waiting while we were sorting all this out) and then walked back to another place we had passed along the way - the Copper Creek Brewery and Eatery

​

Beer list and our drinks - I went for the porter and Judi went for a mixed drink. Both were pretty solid but nothing super amazing

​

For food we got an order of the pimento cheese and then Judi and I split the Bison Burger with blue cheese and the kids had a couple of regular burgers to split. We enjoyed everything - the burgers especially were pretty tasty. Overall, pretty satisfied with the meal, but not a "must do in Athens"

​

Coming up, we let the kids play, before Judi and I play some

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Part 89: Travel from Disney - Day 1
Play time​

We knew over the next couple of days there would be a number of breweries and restaurants and stuff that were the focus, so we did want to find some time that was more for the kids, so we looked up some playgrounds and found one not too far away ... kids were pretty excited:

​

They then found a little friend who was also playing on the play set. I know for many of you a little lizard isn't a big deal but we don't have them in NY so the kids were rather excited about it

​

In this area was also the town pool. We had looked up and we could have gone as visitors, but the weather took a turn for the worse and they actually had to clear out the pool. We were about 50 feet away from the car before it really started raining so did get a bit wet, but not too bad

​

Coming up - we hit up a brewery ... which turned out to be one of the most fun of the trip

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Part 90: Travel from Disney - Day 1
Terrapin Brewing​

The main brewery I wanted to hit in Athens was Terrapin Brewing. They are a little outside of town so we drove right there form the playground and fortunately the weather turned in a positive direction and stayed fine for the rest of the day. We got there just after 4pm and it was already quite crowded - with no room in the main parking lot we had to park around the block a bit, along with a number of other people. Emma enjoyed running across the grass though

​

They have an interesting set up there in that it is agains Georgia law for the brewery to sell samples of their beer - however, it is totally fine for them to give it away. so what they do there is sell you a glass which comes with tickets, each ticket entitles you to a sample of beer (so basically the same thing as selling you the beer and giving you a glass, but whatever works). They have a variety of glasses available and the price varies depending on how fancy of a glass you pick - so it was nice that Judi and I each got different glasses.

Here is a view of the main tap room. There were four tap counters each with different beers (well, some overlaps but no two counters had the exact same lineup). Also, those three girls in the picture are apparently happy to see each other. Also shown are our first two beer, and you can see the different glasses we got (all the samples were about 5oz or so. This was right at one of the counters and you can see the signs they had behind them with what beers were available at that counter

​

Peter was apparently really studying up on one of the offered beer facts:

ou can ​

After one round we went outside to the big field area they have. There is another tap counter out there and also food for sale - they were grilling a bunch of beer can chickens

​

You can see the big field they have with a tend and other areas to chill out. Behind Judi in the 2nd picture you can see all the dogs that people brought as well - the kids all loved that

​

We had a couple more rounds of beer while outside. Going with a round of darker beers, and then lighter. I'll point out at this time that I was finishing a lot of Judi's beers at this pint as she wanted to try things but would be driving later .... this fact becomes relevant later

​

probably should mention some of the beers we liked. Well, we liked a lot of them, but Judi really liked this Maggie's Peach Ale and I liked the Wake-n-bake - which is a coffee oatmeal stout and one of the dark beers pictured above. The other dark one was the Liquid Bliss which was a chocolate peanut butter porter which was pretty good - but not as good as one would want/hope a chocolate peanut butter beer would be

Off the back of the building was a stage and there were tons of kids that made up a game where you would jump off the end and then run back up and on - there was a parade of ~20 kids or so that did this for quite a while. (Emma needed some help with the jumping down part).

​

There was also an other guillotine set up for a photo op ... nice to see Emma is such a good mood considering

​

One last round, and then to the gift store area to buy some beers to go and some souvenirs (we figured we would get some stuff for Judi's Dad here as he a) likes beer and ii) got his graduate degree at the University of Georgia which is in Athens. Only took this one picture of the area - largely I think because I thought "Black is the new Wit" was a cleaver name for a beer

​

One annoying thing was there was a limit to how much beer you could buy - and it wasn't that high (I think limited to a 2 6 packs). Well, between myself and Judi's dad I wanted more than that - so I had to buy some, carry it out and then go back in to buy more. Not a huge deal, more annoying than anything.

So I think you could tell we really liked this place. It was just a fun place, very kid and dog friendly, lots of good beer with good variety - I can see why it was possible.

Side beer note: They didn't have it on tap but they had just released for the season their Watermelon Gose beer so I got a 6-pack of it. Watermelon beers are really hard to make and this one is excellent!

Coming up - one last dinner in Athens

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Part 91: Travel from Disney - Day 1
Trappeze Pub​

So we drove back to the hotel and then walked to dinner - which, you may recall, was to be at the Trapeze Pub.

Remember when I mentioned I was finishing Judi's beers? Well, I think it started hitting me during dinner so my trip reporting abilities are not the best for this update. It did start with more beer (taking advantage of being walking distance)

​

And then some food... Judi and I split the fish (which was a North Carolina Trout) and salad. The kids got a quesadilla and I think Peter got the soup (he loves soup) - it was a tomato bisque with basil sour cream. Everything was very good and definitely recommend this place if you are in the area!

​

Then we got a bit silly with the pictures and selfies

​

Then back to the hotel and then apparently myself and the kids were a bit tired as Judi captured this picture before turning in herself:

​

Definitely a successful day (if perhaps, overdoing it a bit)

Up next, the one stop during the traveling I was most looking forward to - Asheville, NC!

TTFN

 

[missangelalexis]

Sounds like a busy and fun day in Athens! Terrapin Brewing sounds like it was a great place, glad you were able to enjoy yourself there I think that last pictures proves just how much fun you may have had!

 

[katt789]

Lovely upadtes!! LOVE Via Napoli!! We split apps and a pizza in Feb and it worked out to be pretty cheap, so it's definitely one we love. Not my absolute favorite, with everything else in WS though! La Cava! Ooo those margaritas look awesome! I usually opt for avacado or cucumber! Maybe I'll change it up this time!

 

[rteetz]

Looks like a fun trip home so far! That Uncle Remus museum seems very interesting.

The kids seemed to enjoy the stops as much as the adults!

 

[DLo]

We live north east of Atlanta and go to Athens occasionally. Trapeze is one of our favorites. Have you tried Creature Comfort beers ? That is on our list for next time we are there .

 

[ashleymrush]

Ok...so it has taken me 3 days to catch up since I last read from your report back in September but I'm finally done! There is clearly no way for me to catch up on everything, but what a great trip!

My husband surprised me with a two night trip for next weekend for us to go to Disney Springs and MK. It's my farewell to Wishes trip. Wishes is my thing and was devastated when I found out it was coming to an end. I loved reading all of your Disney Springs info. I'm definitely taking a trip to some of the same places you went to get some drinks! Many of my friends and family think we are crazy to go down for fireworks since we are also headed down for a week long trip in 50 days but a girl has to have priorities!

I can't wait to see what you have in store for Asheville. It is one of my favorite places to visit. It's only a 2.5 hour drive for us and it has great food and drinks.

Glad I'm all caught up though. It has helped to continue amount me up for our trip...like I need much help.

 

[amazingact21]

A day well spent in Athens, it would seem. I love that there was an open area for the kids to play at Trapeze. Over here in Germany, people take their dogs everywhere, so it took me a second to remember that dogs on leashes at an establishment isn't the norm! I am sure that helped the kids stay entertained while you *ahem* enjoyed the beers.

I am confused as to why the store would limit the number of beers sold to a single customer...does it really matter in the end who buys the product so long as it's being sold and making them a profit? Maybe it's more GA rules...

 

[annie170]

What a fun day in Athens!

The pimento cheese you ordered at lunch reminded me of my childhood. I think that was at every family gathering.

Both of your meals looked delicious. You really do your homework for trips!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Sounds like a busy and fun day in Athens! Terrapin Brewing sounds like it was a great place, glad you were able to enjoy yourself there I think that last pictures proves just how much fun you may have had!

It was a pretty full day, though we relaxed for a while at Terrapin so didn't feel like too much running around. I think we had a good day!

Lovely upadtes!! LOVE Via Napoli!! We split apps and a pizza in Feb and it worked out to be pretty cheap, so it's definitely one we love. Not my absolute favorite, with everything else in WS though! La Cava! Ooo those margaritas look awesome! I usually opt for avacado or cucumber! Maybe I'll change it up this time!

Thanks so much Katt! Maybe it was just the alcohol that really brought the price up at Via Nappoli as we really did just split one appetizer and two small pizzas - oh well .... and yeah, there is just too much good stuff at EPCOT (if via Nappoli was in DHS or something I'd probably be more into it)

We definitely have done bot the avocado and cucumber margaritas in the past and enjoyed them. This one was excellent, though a more standard flavor. Definitely fun to mix it up a bit!

Looks like a fun trip home so far! That Uncle Remus museum seems very interesting.

The kids seemed to enjoy the stops as much as the adults!

so far so good - overall the travel really went as well/better than I was expecting (definitely better than I was fearing it could be!)

We tried to pick places the kids would enjoy too - plus they are just used to going to breweries at this point

 

[TheMaxRebo]

We live north east of Atlanta and go to Athens occasionally. Trapeze is one of our favorites. Have you tried Creature Comfort beers ? That is on our list for next time we are there .

I haven't tried Creature Comfort but it was one place I was looking into - just didn't make it there (it was a little off our path where we were walking and didn't know if it would be as kid friendly ... but if we had more time we would have tried it)

Ok...so it has taken me 3 days to catch up since I last read from your report back in September but I'm finally done! There is clearly no way for me to catch up on everything, but what a great trip!

My husband surprised me with a two night trip for next weekend for us to go to Disney Springs and MK. It's my farewell to Wishes trip. Wishes is my thing and was devastated when I found out it was coming to an end. I loved reading all of your Disney Springs info. I'm definitely taking a trip to some of the same places you went to get some drinks! Many of my friends and family think we are crazy to go down for fireworks since we are also headed down for a week long trip in 50 days but a girl has to have priorities!

I can't wait to see what you have in store for Asheville. It is one of my favorite places to visit. It's only a 2.5 hour drive for us and it has great food and drinks.

Glad I'm all caught up though. It has helped to continue amount me up for our trip...like I need much help.

Wow, thanks for catching up! Hope it was worth the effort

That's great you are getting in one last Wishes - I am definitely sad to see it go (though I will say I am really loving the main song from the new show so I am optimistic for the new show). I am hitting up Disney Springs again next month for my upcoming trip and planning to try Homecomin' for the first time and might try to sneak into the Polite Pig for a drink as well - so many good food/drink options there now!

Asheville is coming up and we loved it!

A day well spent in Athens, it would seem. I love that there was an open area for the kids to play at Trapeze. Over here in Germany, people take their dogs everywhere, so it took me a second to remember that dogs on leashes at an establishment isn't the norm! I am sure that helped the kids stay entertained while you *ahem* enjoyed the beers.

I am confused as to why the store would limit the number of beers sold to a single customer...does it really matter in the end who buys the product so long as it's being sold and making them a profit? Maybe it's more GA rules...

We definitely enjoyed Athens - and I forgot to type it out but we did go look for the house Judi lived in as a youngster and we think we found it ... so that was neat to show the kids as well.

A lot of breweries are pretty dog friendly - but Terrapin really had that big field so it was super popular to bring your dog I guess

I was surprised about that as well - and mostly was just standard 6 packs and stuff, nothing crazy. There are a lot of unique laws related to craft breweries and what they can serve and sell at the actual brewery and it all varies by state. I could see the place limiting me buying too much of one type, but I was getting a variety so not sure why it was a big deal.

What a fun day in Athens!

The pimento cheese you ordered at lunch reminded me of my childhood. I think that was at every family gathering.

Both of your meals looked delicious. You really do your homework for trips!

We did have a good day in Athens I think. I know pimento cheese is very popular in certain areas - I've had it a few times, but not that often ... thought it would be a good sharable thing to get

Tried to do what research I could - especially for food, want to ensure we take advantage of being in new places!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Part 92: Travel from Disney - Day 2
Oscar Blues​

Hi everyone - hope you have been doing well. The media event for Pandora has gotten me even more excited for my upcoming trip.

Also wanted to share that we have a new member of our family as over the weekend Olivia got her belated birthday present - and so I present Lion the kitten:

​

*******************************

So we are actually up to the last real travel day of our trip already - but this was probably the travel day I was most looking forward to. We were heading to Asheville, but we had one stop to make on the way - and that was to visit Oscar Blues location in Brevard, NC. First, the millage as of that morning and some scenery pictures as we were driving through some very pretty country

​

We were making good time and actually got to Oscar Blues before they opened. But after not too long people started showing up. They have two bar areas (one inside and one outside) but only the inside one was open. They had a play area for the kids outside so Judi and traded off going up to the main bar while the other kept an eye on the kids.

This is the beer tap listing sign they had out side, and then a beer that Judi brought down (she went up first)

​

I was watching Emma playing

​

Then it was my turn to go up. They had a lot of fun artwork around - including an arch of beer cans you had to go through while going up the stairs (excuse my terrible selfie-taking ability)

​

Then I got to the tap room at the top of the stairs

​

And I ordered a flight ... gotta love the sign on the tip jar! (the beers go from right to left, 1-5)

​

Quite a number of the beers were good - though the standout was the Death by Coconut so I got a glass of that to bring down to Judi. On the way out I noticed the large supply of cans they have (In talking with people at different breweries over the years I know there is a shift to more places using cans instead of bottles (for a variety of reasons) but one negative is that you have to order them in simply huge quantities, so I wasn't surprised to see this)

​

We hung out of a bit and enjoyed the beer and just being outside and relaxing - and then we were off to the main event for the day!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Part 93: Travel from Disney - Day 2
The Funkatorium ​

After our stop at Oscar Blues we had a drive of about 45 mins to our main stop of the day, which was Asheville, NC. Specifically, it was to the Funkatorium which is one of the locations of the brewery Wicked Weed in town. This was one of the places I most wanted to visit and we had booked a tour at 3pm. We arrived around 2pm though so had time for a snack and a beer or two

​

This is the beer list they had for at the bar/seating area - just to give you an idea of the types of beers they have here ... some pretty funky stuff but a lot with fruit as well so lots of variety. Also, another terrible selfie, this time to show the bar area

​

I took Emma to the bathroom and on the way snapped another selfie, this time with a bunch of the barrels being used. And they even had a neat mural near the bathrooms

​

When we returned our beer was there - our server indicated which beers we would get to try on the tour so we made sure to try a couple here that wouldn't be. The larger one is the Black Angel which is a black sour beer aged in bourbon barrels with a bunch of tart cherries - it was excellent!

​

We also ordered some snacks - including some picked vegetables, a soft pretzel and a flatbread with mushrooms and other good stuff on it

​

Then we were called for our tour. I believe it was sold out - the tours fit up to 12 people, including kids (ours weren't the only ones), so pretty small and gives you the ability to ask questions which was nice. Everyone needed to wear glasses, so if you didn't normally wear glasses they gave out safety gogles - including to the kids

​

The large barrels are called Foeders and hold the equivalent of 30-barrels - they also use the stainless steel for brewing and before transferring to the barrels

​

The tour lasted about 45 mins and included about 6 samples of beer which was great. A really fun time and something different.

I did need to restrain myself in the gift shop though

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Part 94: Travel from Disney - Day 2
Dinner at Cootie Brown's​

After the tour we decided to walk around the town a little bit which was nice. There were a ton of brew pubs and we stopped at one that had large doors open to the outside. It was called Highwire - and was pretty good (though I don't think anything would have stacked up all that well after having the excellent and funky beers just before)

​

then it was time to go - we had to load up the car (and unfortunately during that process I dropped my phone and the screen cracked, so now we had another task to take care of) .... and it was getting pretty full

​

We drove for about an hour into Tennessee before stopping for dinner. We passed a lot of really nice scenery during this part of the drive:

​

We were looking for places to stop and came across one place that got good reviews so we decided to stop. It was in Johnson City, TN and called Cootie Brown's

​

Beer list - Judi went for a cider which I went for a lighter beer

​

We were sitting outside and they did have this big, external a/c type unit. The kids loved it and Olivia especially loved having a wind-swept hair look

​

We ordered a bunch of food and all of it was really good! The kids largely split a pizza - which came out as about 1/4 of a huge pizza. I think they are known for their pizza - but I think it was a style the kids weren't really used to. I got a fish sandwich that was really good and Judi got a chicken meal. Then we got a tamale and some beans for Emma and others to share. Everything was really good!

​

After that we stopped for the night a bit further up the road, to the Virginia boarder. Just another 8 hour stretch the next day and we would be back to Judi's parents' house!

TTFN

 

[pepperandchips]

We went to Hi-wire in Asheville too, and pretty much our opinions are the same - it was fine but nothing to measure against some of the other offerings in Asheville. We did not make it to the Funkatorium (neither of us is a huge fan of sours) but we did hang out one evening at Wicked Weed and loved it. The food was really good too. It's become really common for us to have Wicked Weed brews available here in Atlanta so it's become one of my favorite breweries. I saw a story on FB today that Wicked Weed was just bought by Anheuser Busch InBev. I don't think that's probably a great thing but I guess we'll see. Burial Beer ended up being our favorite of the breweries - the beer was great and the atmosphere was really nice there. I would love to go back to Asheville!!!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

We went to Hi-wire in Asheville too, and pretty much our opinions are the same - it was fine but nothing to measure against some of the other offerings in Asheville. We did not make it to the Funkatorium (neither of us is a huge fan of sours) but we did hang out one evening at Wicked Weed and loved it. The food was really good too. It's become really common for us to have Wicked Weed brews available here in Atlanta so it's become one of my favorite breweries. I saw a story on FB today that Wicked Weed was just bought by Anheuser Busch InBev. I don't think that's probably a great thing but I guess we'll see. Burial Beer ended up being our favorite of the breweries - the beer was great and the atmosphere was really nice there. I would love to go back to Asheville!!!

wow, I actually hadn't seen that but just read the story - I will try to remain optimistic and they will bea ble to stay truly independent when it comes to what beers they make but I can't help feel a bit sad about it...

I do get that at some point these craft breweries need more capital but I wish there was another alternative than selling to InBev

I'll have to keep Burial Beer in mind for next trip (it was on the list, just couldn't fit everything in). I really did like Asheville a lot!