Twelve Mile Circle – An Appreciation of Unusual Places

Category: Brewery

  • Aircraft Carrier, Part 1 (Getting to Norfolk)

    I’d been on-and-off the road repeatedly for weeks, taking one brief trip after another for the entire summer.  The latest stretch brought me to six different places over twelve days.  I just wanted to get home and sleep in my own bed for awhile. That lasted barely three nights.  Then I headed right back out…

  • A Big Milestone – 1500!

    My travels this summer fell into a distinct pattern as I completed recent Twelve Mile Circle articles. I didn’t even plan to mention the most recent long weekend excursion until I crossed an important milestone somewhat unexpectedly. This marked our annual visit to Madison, Wisconsin for the Great Taste of the Midwest beer festival, our tenth straight…

  • Gulf Coast Weekend

    The college tours continued again last weekend although I didn’t go.  My wife and our older son headed towards sites in Ohio and Pennsylvania. The younger guy and I flew down to the Gulf Coast of Louisiana and Mississippi to visit with family instead. He didn’t get to go on the great road trip over the holidays…

  • Ithaca, Part 1 (Four Busy Days)

    We can drive from our home outside of Washington, DC to Ithaca, New York surprisingly easily.  All it takes is about six hours in the car over some pretty scenic roads.  I’ve loved New York’s Finger Lake Region for many years, one of the few places I’ve ever returned to for repeated vacations.  We didn’t…

  • Jersey Shore, Part 4 (Brewery Renaissance)

    New Jersey had some peculiarities.  People can’t pump their own gasoline, for instance.  It’s like the 1960’s, with station attendants and the whole deal.  The local roads also had this weird thing where drivers had to exit right to turn left.  I don’t mean like on the Interstate highways with formal ramps and overpasses where…

  • Cross-Country, Part 4 (Zoos & Brews)

    I came for the county counting.  Although, let’s recall I had to bribe my older son before this road trip could even begin.  How many zoos could we see during six days of driving from coast to coast, plus a week in Phoenix?  A lot.  We visited six, well seven actually, although we only got…

  • Australasian Adventures, Part 12 (Changes)

    I thought it would be fun to wrap up this series by comparing impressions from my original visit to Australia in 1997 to my return there in 2018. A lot remained the same although I also noticed some discernible differences too. Of course I couldn’t ignore the two decades of changes within myself, and that…

  • Australasian Adventures, Part 11 (Lists)

    We’re getting close to the end with this penultimate article in the Australasian series. Thank you for bearing with me. I thought I would shift my focus and provide an update on various lists that I maintain. I’m known to be a bit obsessive-compulsive and I tally visits to places or objects that I consider…

  • Australasian Adventures, Part 10 (Breweries)

    Longtime readers probably guessed that eventually I’d talk about beer and breweries that I found during the trip. I’m so predictable. Naturally I focused some research on this topic ahead of time so I’d be prepared. I did find one surprise, though. It turned out that beer trends in the United States seemed to cross…

  • Rockies Loop, Part 6 (Breweries)

    I’ll wrap up the Rockies Loop adventure with one final article that probably won’t interest the majority of Twelve Mile Circle readers. Please feel free to skip this one if you like. I won’t mind. Then we’ll start with a new topic next week. Breweries and brewpubs grew in abundance in this area and of…