Pub Crawlin’

On New Year’s Eve day, we took a wonderful hike with Bob and Dianne in Carrizo and Dead Indian Canyons where we were thrilled to observe a beautiful male Desert Bighorn Sheep (aka Peninsular Bighorn Sheep) for quite a long time, and we climbed up a small waterfall in the canyon to take lunch a hidden oasis.  This was the last day to hike the canyon before it closes for the breeding season, so we were lucky to have such a beautiful day.

After our hike, we dined and tasted beer at Babe’s B-B-Que Grill before returning home to relax. We needed to get to bed early because January 1 was the Joshua Tree Christmas Bird Count. At Babe’s, D had two beers which I may comment more on later. I opted out of beer and just tasted his, as I didn’t think there could be anything “that great” after our trip to San Diego.

It was cold in Joshua Tree today, and a little windy, but it is mostly the dry conditions that accounted for the lack of bird life. We had a nice time, exploring the park, but we didn’t add a lot of species to the list.  Birds included:

• Loggerhead Shrike
• Raven
• Black-tailed Gnatcatcher
• Greater Roadrunner
• Ladder-backed Woodpecker
• Golden Eagle
• Peregrine Falcon
• White-throated Swift
• Rock Wren
• California Thrasher
• Gambel’s Quail
• Phainopepla
• Black-throated Sparrow
• White-crowned Sparrow
• Dark-eyed Junco
• Western Scrub Jay
• Red-tailed Hawk

Now for the long red-eye flight home…

Our morning started with the excitement of a visit by Guillermo - the resident roadrunner who comes by the house to feed on crickets and cockroaches caught around the house, as well as mealworms to suppliment his diet. 

After a great (people) breakfast of enchilada tortillas and grapefruit fresh from the yard, we took a morning walk through the Coachella Valley Preserve, located on the San Andreas Fault near Palm Springs. We toured the Paul Wilhelm Grove and the McCallum Grove, adding birds to our trip list and enjoying the beauties of the desert. In addition to the birds, we were blown away by the number of fish, dragonflies and a crayfish hiding away in the cool oasis.

After our walk, D and I headed for the coast.  We’re on a two day tour of the breweries, pubs and beer bars of southern California.  Two days won’t cover it all, and will leave me too tired for details right now, but here is where we were:

• Pizza Port - Carlsbad
• Pizza Port - Solana Beach
• Green Flash Brewing
• Lost Abbey Brewing / Port Brewing
• Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens

We enjoyed some great beers, some really good food and met lots of fun new people.  Unfortunately, I’m so tired out from the day, I’m putting off lists and comments to a later date.

This morning we had a late start (we got into La Quinta after 3 AM in “our time” so we needed the sleep!), but finally got out to do some birding near the Salton Sea in the late morning.  Our hosts, Bob and Dianne, knew just where to go for nice views of the water birds at the Sea and a beautiful walk through San Andres Oasis.

After a day of birding, we stopped off at Oasis Date Garden for date shakes, and then visited the Coachella Valley Wild Bird Center to meet some of Dianne’s friends (Rodney the Roadrunner was one of my favorite!)  We stopped at Trader Joe’s because it’s always a treat to go there, and then returned to the house for a yummy dinner of homemade enchiladas.

Our after-dinner entertainment was the Mr. Christmas Santa’s Marching Band (this video is not HER set, but you get the idea…funny, funny stuff, and pretty darn talented!) 

We ended our night with a trip to Back Street Brewing in La Quinta, which is part of the Lamppost Pizza chain.  There were 7 beers on tap, with guest taps including Framboise.

• Crossroads Cream Ale
• Heritage Hefeweisen
• Jagged Lil’ Pilsner 
• Rita’s Red
• Ron’s Pale Ale
• E.R. IPA
• Saint Nick’s Treasure

Our bird list for the day (not in order of appearance):

1. Eared Grebe
2. American White Pelican
3. Brown Pelican
4. Double-crested Cormerant
5. Great Blue Heron
6. Great Egret
7. Snowy Egret
8. Green Heron
9. Canada Goose
10. Northern Pintail
11. Northern Shoveler
12. Gadwall
13. Ruddy Duck
14. Osprey
15. Northern Harrier
16. Red-tailed Hawk
17. American Kestral
18. Gambel’s Quail
19. American Coot
20. Killdeer
21. Black-necked Stilt
22. Greater Yellowlegs
23. Least Sandpiper
24. Bonaparte’s Gull
25. Ring-billed Gull
26. California Gull
27. Herring Gull
28. Yellow-footed Gull
29. Caspian Tern
30. Rock Dove
31. Mourning Dove
32. Common Ground Dove
33. Costa’s Hummingbird (at the house!)
34. Northern Flicker
35. Say’s Phoebe
36. Common Raven
37. Verdin
38. Cactus Wren
39. Black-tailed Gnatcatcher
40. Northern Mockingbird
41. American Pipit
42. European Starling
43. Orange-crowned Warbler
44. Yellow-rumped Warbler
45. Sage Sparrow
46. White-crowned Sparrow
47. Brewer’s Blackbird
48. Great-tailed Grackle
49. House Finch
50. Lesser Goldfinch

In general, Carlisle (PA) has never had a lot to offer the beer drinker, but it’s where I work and close to the hawkwatch, so we end up downtown a lot.  For ages, our only real choice was Market Cross Pub, which is a reliable place - especially for the bottled beer selection - but rarely offers anything spectacular on tap.

The problems with Market Cross are that it is so popular that they cram the tables in there so tight that it is uncomfortable, and there is hardly a difference between the smoking and non-smoking sections.  The draft selection is not awful, but also not very exciting.

As of today, the tap list was last updated Feb. 2007 and lists the following:

Market Cross Red Ale, Market Cross Pub Porter, Market Cross Olde Yeller IPA, Youngs Double Chocolate Stout, Bass Ale, Guinness Stout, Leffe Blonde, Harp Lager, Boddington’s Pub Ale, Smithwicks, Stella Artois, Yuengling Lager, Corsendonk Pale Ale, Lindeman’s Framboise, Weizen tap (changing varieties), draft cider (varies) and there is always a Cask Conditioned Ale.

They also do LOTS of beer blends and blends of soda and beer.  We’re talking about at least 17 beers on tap (I thought they had 20), and only one or two that really interest me.  None that impress me.

So when the hawkwatchers wanted to come down from the mountain for some great beers and good food on Saturday, I began to tell them about my last experience at Alibis Eatery and Spirits.  B-Susan and I popped in three nights ago on Halloween to treat ourselves, and decided to do a flight of 6 7-oz samples which, IMHO, included a really great line-up. 

In addition to the nice selection of draft beers and a varied selection of foods on the menu, Alibis offers a clean, less crowded, non-smoking atmosphere.  This was a MUCH better choice than a table in the smoking section at Market Cross.

The last time I posted about Alibis was a year ago, and I’ve been there many times since.  For awhile they were carrying a strong selection of lagers and pilsners - not my favorite - and some slightly flavorful ales.  But lately they have really stocked themselves with bigger beers, and last night we were thrilled with the hop possibilities.  We were treated to the following:

• Weyerbacher Double Simcoe IPA
• Tröegs HopBack Amber Ale
• Victory Hopdevil
• Sierra Nevada Harvest Ale(mmmm….love that fresh hop flavor!)
• Boulder Beer Company Mojo IPA
• Lancaster Hop Hog

Additionally, on Wednesday night, B-Susan and I enjoyed:

• Brooklyn Brewery Post Road Pumpkin Ale
• Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA
• Rogue Juniper Pale Ale (must see: brochure)
• Weyerbacher Slam Dunk Ale (I’m told it’s the first of Weyerbacher’s new line of Tap-Only beer releases; sometimes referred to as Slam Dunkle Weizen, but I used the name registered with the PLCB.)

Alibis carries a decent selection of bottled beers as well.  And they are offering a PA beer drinking t-shirt program:

Alibis is proud to offer more than 100 different beer selections, by the bottle and on draft. We also offer the areas only Pennsylvania Beer Tour; 38 quality brews representing PA’s great brewing heritage. Take the tour and we’ll pay homage to your efforts with the gift of a commemorative shirt!

They also have a great menu.  Everyone I’ve been there with loves their grilled selections - grilled chicken, burgers and steak salad.  I had the grilled salmon last night (glazed with Terrapin mustard; served with grilled portabella mushrooms, fresh asparagus, red bell peppers, and wilted greens in a roasted garlic balsamic vinaigrette) and a salad with cumin dressing (WOW!)  Other favorites are the grilled portabella and roasted red pepper sandwich, the grilled cheese (this is not your Kraft American grilled cheese…choose Mild or Wild, made with local cheese!) and the pulled pork barbeque.

Alibis is doing a great job servicing my hop desires, and judging from the size of the crowds I’ve been witnessing, they seem to be fulfilling those of others as well.  I hope they don’t let the martini thing get bigger than the beer thing, and I hope chef Jason Turner keeps up the great taste and beautiful presentation.

If you go…check the entertainment schedule.  It can range from a “meet the brewer night” to karaoke, live rock bands and football, and can certainly change the experience.

After a week in Salt Lake City and two weeks in Mexico (and no good beer to speak of!), I been playing too much catch-up to blog.

We did brew a Cherry Vanilla Porter on the Sunday of our return, but other than that, I’ve been concentrating on work ever since.  And thank goodness Scott blogged about it so I don’t have to play catch-up with that one…

Today I learned about this great website I could have used during all of my October travels: the Airport Wireless Internet Access Guide.  Not that I could blog on WordPress from my Palm, but I could have been seeking out the best airport brewpubs using my handheld device.

We crossed the border into Montana and spent the morning birding at Medicine Lake NWR (I had terrific looks at my lifer Baird’s Sparrow, heard (and saw Sprague’s Pipit displaying and there were Marbled Godwits everywhere - lots of good birds on this large expanse of habitat!)

Then it was on to Regina, Saskatchewan where we enjoyed a long lunch at Bushwakker Brewing Company.  Mitch, the brewer, gave us a great tour with a taste of a few things to come.  This place is TERRIFIC!  I’ll get details posted later.  I have SO much to say about it.  This place was absolutely worth the trip.

Tonight we’re sleeping in Brandon, Manitoba (we slipped off to Douglas last night to listen to Yellow Rail in the marsh - another life bird for me, if I count “heard birds”), and searching for a route home.  We’ll probably go across the top of Lake Superior and drop down through Michigan.We’re at 17.5 hours of daylight, but D says we can sleep in tomorrow!

More about our visit to Pierre, the Badlands, Wind Cave, the Black Hills and Firehouse Brewing in Rapid City, SD….coming soon (my WiFi access hasn’t been very good on this trip!)

Terrific opportunities for hiking and birds here!  The West-of-Mississippi trip list is up to 140 now. We visited the Nebraska National Forest, Miles Ranch on US 83, Valentine National Wildlife Refuge. Snake River Falls, Fort Niobrara National Wildlife Refuge, Smith Falls State Park and slept in Pierre, SD.  Details to follow.

As I stated in my last post, we were glad that the birding was so awesome at Quivira NWR last evening, because our morning birding on the south drive wasn’t very productive. We repeated the north drive just for fun, and did pick up a few new birds, plus got a great look at black-necked stilt babies (not a very long look, as we didn’t want to upset the parents!)

We drove back to Grand Rapids, KS by way of Ellinwood – a cute little town with wheat sheaths on the lightpoles – where we found Mississippi Kites and Eurasian Collard Doves.   We continued on to Liebenthal where we followed the advice of Leo from Mo’s and picked up some Pat’s Beef Jerky.

There was no coffee this morning, so combine with the monotony of the drive from Grand Rapids to Hays, I fell right asleep. I woke up as we were driving into Hays from the south, and it looked like a sleepy little town (coming in from the north, it looks like any other larger town on an Interstate exit – busy with gas stations, convenience stores, fast food and chain restaurants.)

We located Gella’s Diner & Lb. Brewing Company, and things were far from sleepy in there! This place has a clean, fresh look that ranked it as a restaurant fitting for any major U.S. city. The literature described it as “inspired by icons of the Midwest”, with it’s handpainted farm murals, industrial agriculture lighting, open spaces and references to early railroad (one of the most obvious references was a part of the restaurant sectioned off my box-car style sliding doors.

This building, built in 1922, was used by Western Union and Midwest Energy, then closed up for many years until local investors were inspired to create the pub. The brick walls, light wood and use of metal piping and brushed aluminum against black surfaces gave clean lines to the entire place. Even the bathroom sinks were great – gooseneck faucets over flat white marble – the sinks were at least 1.5″ x 1.5″ with a 1″ lip.

“Fesh” is their motto, with as many ingredients as possible homemade and homegrown (mustards, dressing and ice cream all made in house; meats with no preservatives and never frozen, vegetables prepared on site and nothing ever microwaved.) The only contradiction to this were the colorful jars of pickled vegetable products that lined large sections of walls – giving the place beautiful color, although I noticed they were pickled products from Jake & Amos in Lancaster, PA. (more…)