Postless

Lack of posting recently because last week I went and visited my college roommate in Wilmington, N.C. It was a very relaxing four days that included all the things I have to get when I go to N.C./The beach.

1) N.C.-style Bar-B-Que – vinegar-based, spicy and tangy with hush puppies, fried okra and red slaw (I didn’t get any red slaw this trip but subbed in some excellent potato salad) We went to a place called Jackson’s Big Oak. I highly recommend it. It’s exactly what I look for in a BBQ joint. 

2) Bojangles – If I really really want to I can get Jenna to drive me to Maryland for some Bojos, but it’s a must any time I head back. For any of you who don’t know, Bojangles is a southern chicken and biscuits chain restaurant. 

3)Flaming Amy’s - This one is Wilmington-specific. Best burrito joint I’ve ever had the pleasure of patronizing. Yes, it’s better than Chipotle.  Carrburritos in Carrboro, N.C., is way up there as well, but Carrburritos only has Mexican-style offerings, whereas Flaming Amy’s has any kind of combination you can imagine and a salsa bar. The pineapple-jalepeno salsa is a personal favorite. If I were getting Mexican-style, it would be a much tougher decision. 

4) Cheerwine – A cherry-flavored soft drink that’s available lots of places in the south, but mainly N.C. and S.C. It also originated in my hometown, Salisbury, and is still based there. I worked for those guys for a couple  of summers.  

5) A “real” beach – That’s what I call the beach in Carolina. It’s one where you can walk for miles if you want and not have to worry about running into private sections of coastline. Also one where everyone in town is wearing shorts and flip flops and the “shirt and shoes required” sign isn’t enforced. You can drive your boat to a restaurant and your bike anywhere because it’s so flat. There aren’t attractions like mini-golf and water parks, just the beach, and that’s all you need. 

Didn’t mean to get all preachy on that one. There’s just nothing like going to the beach for me. 

If I had gone home to “tha Bury” I would have gone to Hap’s Grill. It’s another one of those “best” places that no place on Earth will ever compare to for me. It’s solely hot dogs and hamburgers, and the way to get them is “all the way,” which include chili, onions and mustard. I get cheese as well. 

………..great. Now all I can think about is how much I want to get back.

Salisbury Post Inauguration Article

So, I wrote an article for my hometown paper, The Salisbury Post, about the inauguration and what it was like to be there.

Here it is.

Barack Obama Inauguraton Blog #1

So, as I live in D.C., I did go to the inauguration today. I just spent the last two hours or so writing up a little column for my hometown paper, The Salisbury Post. (In N.C.) I’ll link to it tomorrow and start posting pictures once I get home hopefully. I’m posting from a friend’s house who happened to live close to the Capitol and I don’t have my camera cord. I think when I venture out tonight I might head to the Brickskeller for a pint of Ommegang’s Inauguration Ale. I read on Apellation Beer that the beer was originally titled “Obamagang,” which is one of the most awesome names, but Obama’s peeps said no to that. So unofficially, I’ll be attempting to get some Obamagang tonight. Great speech, Barack.

A Christmas List

Probably a little late, but here’s what I’d like this holiday season when I head to my stomping grounds in Salisbury, N.C.:

a secure job
some new brown shoes
a new president(check)
a wort chiller
some homebrew(check)
pumpkin pie
a new wallet
a sudden realization that I know what I’m doing
CDs!
an interesting book
some old friends
egg nog ( and So. Co.?)
snow

I would appreciate anyone who could make one or all of these things happen. Thank you.

For Starters….

I want to get two batches of brew done for the Christmas holiday, so it’s about time to get started if I want to have a traditional winter warmer ready. As I’m back in Salisbury, N.C., I went to Alternative Beverage in Belmont for the goods. I wanted to make an Aventinus clone and a Midas Touch clone. I managed to located all the necessary ingredients for the Aventinus pretty easily. A three-gallon batch will be what I’m shooting for because the recipe I’m using calls for lots of extra space in the fermenter and I only have a five-gallon carboy. The Midas Touch was a little bit harder to find. I didn’t see any of the Alexander’s Muscat Grape concentrate it calls for. They may have had some, but I stopped looking after a guy there said he would give me a discount on their kit that makes “St. Nick’s Christmas ale.” It, like the MT, uses some honey and spices to give it some complexity. Instead of the saffron used in MT, the St. Nick’s will include some cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla. Alternative Beverage had a sale on a beer kit they called Christmas Cheer, but they were sold out so he gave me the deal on the St. Nick’s. 

Yesterday, I began the yeast starter for the Aventinus. I’m using Hefeweizen IV yeast from White Labs. I used this yeast before for a Bavarian Hefeweizen that tasted similar to Paulaner. It was my first home brew, but it got the most compliments of any I’ve made so I have some faith in this yeast. I’ll try to get some pictures up soon.