Lauren goes to the fairgrounds....
Accompanied by fantastic, amazing, wonderful friends....
Let's back it up a little bit....
On Saturday June 5th I went with a group of my comrades to the Monterey Beer Festival, which is held annually at the fairgrounds.
The website described this event as the "greatest assortment of Beer ever assembled on the Central Coast. Sample varied styles of Ales, Lagers & Ciders from over eighty (80+) breweries with hundreds of beers to taste. On hand will be the best of beer from around the world, including:
America, Belgium, Germany, England, France, Australia, Thailand, Italy, Asia, Ireland, Russia, Mexico, Jamaica & California."
These folks weren't kidding.
The weather was absolutely perfect.
The night before Beerfest, Sarah and I had friends over for a game of battleship. Guys vs. Girls... the girls won, naturally. Before heading to bed I went with Chris and Combo to a liquor store to buy some Smirnoff Ice. Yes, the Icing phenomenon was unleashed this weekend.
We woke up Saturday morning and headed to Tommy's in Marina. Kyle's keys were stashed away next to a Smirnoff Ice. Therefore he had to get on one knee and down it like a
Between the seven of us, our bill was only $27 bucks. I ordered the French Toast with a side of hash browns. $3 dollars. Combo ordered 9 pieces of toast, 6 eggs, and 3 chunks of hash browns. $3 dollars. This place is crazy! So back to beerfest.... the line to get in was extremely long. 12:30 came and passed and the doors did not open.
Finallllyyyy we were let in and were able to taste the yummy beers (I just wrote 'bears' ha). My personal favorite was the Russian-made Baltika's wheat ale. I sampled almost all Baltika had to offer but the wheat stood out.
Other favorites include the pear and raspberry ciders from (I believe) Widmer's, and a mix of beer and champagne offered up by First Awakenings, a breakfast/lunch spot on Cannery Row.
As the hours passed, my focus strayed away from the beers and on to food - I vaguely remember pizza. I also strayed into the tent that was showing bits of short films as part of the Short Pour Film Festival. We all spent the last half hour (or was it longer?) listening to some of the bands and apparently there was a chicken fight?
We took our eats over to Tyler's house and checked to see if anyone wanted to go downtown. Those who were willing - the Safeway crew - drove down to Alvarado Street and went to the Mucky Duck. But first... a sneak Ice attack:
The Mucky Duck is such a fun bar! They have an outdoor dance floor, fire pits, a DJ, an outdoor bar, and $2 jello shots haha.... Oooh and they had a photographer. I informed him that we love getting our picture taken. That might have backfired considering my coworker told me she saw me on Mucky Duck's Facebook page :S I had such a great time with all my friends and I owe each of them a big huge THANK YOU!!! for driving from all over California to visit me. See you all next year!
P.S. Sarah - I had no idea this happened! HAHA :)
Oh I'm so sad I had finals and couldn't go! Plus how many people got "Iced" holy moses it seems like everyone had to take a knee at some point. Except the girls of course, we are so much smarter.
ReplyDeleteDon't tell those boys that you like Smirnoff Ice, because you will get Smirnoff Ice. Whatever - it was fun!
ReplyDeleteP.S. Do you like how I'm back in the United States and am reading all of your July posts? Take that as a compliment!
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