WOW! Had not ever seen THIS before....
I've probably mentioned I have been visiting ALL of the craft breweries that have popped up in Charleston. We now have almost 20.
My buddy and I decided to pick three at a time that are fairly close together and go sample their brews on a relatively quiet Thursday evening.
Hey, I am a craft beer fan, and it's the least I can do to sample and write about it on my blog. Burp.
The night after stopping at Revelry Brewing Company, I was looking at receipts and noticed that, at the bottom, a suggestion was made by Revelry to support a dozen other breweries.
Competitors!
I have never seen such an example of camaraderie among competing companies like this before.
I am sure Sears and K-Mart would no doubt appreciate a cross-plug by J.C. Penny or Target.
Or, Amazon inviting you to grocery shop at Whole Foods. Oh, wait a minute, that's going to happen really soon now that they just bought the 400+ organic stores for a ton of money.
About four more crafters are due to open in the next few months so I will drop by, sip some of their suds and blog about them.
I'll also check my receipts to see if other breweries are as altruistic.
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| Mural at Revelry |
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| Checking out a 20-barrel beer tank |
Labels: #Revelry Brewing, 20-barrel beer tank, competitors always compete...usually. Beer brewed buddies., J.C. Penny and Sears, Target and K-Mart
More to life than just craft breweries....
And, that, of course, would be
fine dining.
Actually, at the Piccolo Finale in Hampton Park last Saturday, I opted to stand in line for two hotdogs.
Naturally, I saw the bacon sign and did head toward that food truck.
But, instead, I was swayed by the other sign that said $5 for a hot dog, chips and a cola.
I am aware that a hot dog has never topped the list of healthy foods so I instead got two BRATS, packets of mustard and sweet pickle relish and some Fritter Corn Chips.
I didn't need a beverage.
My small cache of cold beer sat at my feet as I relaxed in my folding chair.
I looked around and straight ahead was a fellow wearing not only a
Holy City Brewing Company t-shirt but one that featured the very beer I was sipping.
I tried to get MY beer in the same shot with the
Chucktown Follicle Brown design he had on his back.
But, my arm wasn't long enough to include both items, zoom in and keep all of it in focus.
So I snapped this and resumed concentrating on my beer.
And enjoyed scanning the crowd sprawled on blankets, in chairs, and wandering all around me.
It appeared that each lady tending to a baby was also very pregnant.
That would be having twins the hard way.
Some childhood memories flooded my brain.
Children were tossing pieces of white bread to the gathered ducks in a nearby pond.
We have photos of my younger brother at Hampton Park doing that when he was about 7 or 8 years old.
I can't recall but Mom must have brought along a half-filled loaf of stale bread in its wrapper for just that purpose.
Nice memory.
Overhead, I saw half a dozen confused seagulls flapping and circling us overhead.
Guess they are not limited to the beaches or the last few K-Mart shopping centers parking lots, fighting over discarded bags of French fries.
This starry-eyed youngster was in line for some hot dogs.
I think she was giving me the eye as I raised my camera to snap this scene.
Hard to tell for sure though with her sunglasses covering her eyes.
I believe the Mom bought the $5 Special, aware that she would have to share.
Or, maybe she bought two Specials.
That's what I would have done, with leftovers for each.
My brats tasted good and two was about right for me.
Well, for now.
We were in the back of most of the crowd, facing the large tent that was the main stage.
The opening group played as we were getting settled and then, a large band - from Louisiana - started setting up.
To my right, by the pond and bridge, I saw a young man and his date. sitting on two of the 250 MUSC colorful rental bikes.
They had been recently donated to the city and proudly nicknamed
Holy Spokes.
These are really high-tech and apparently, you use your SmartPhone to log into an onboard computer to open your two-wheeler account.
Believe I read it's $8 for an hour (hope they aren't paying that all afternoon!) but also can be rented for 15-days or even a month at a time.
The best part - if needed - is it can be located and recovered using its GPS chip.
Handy for the police or for a forgetful rider/renter.
There WAS a booth selling beer which surprised me at a city function.
But I had brought a few cans of a beer I liked just in case.
The sun was shining, the shade was provided by the ample trees, and there was a nice steady cooling breeze (no bugs!).
I eased on back, enjoying the Cajun Indie band singing in French with at least 5 or 6 band members on stage.
Speaking of the band
Sweet Crude, here is a photo I snapped of the two leaders, Alexis Marceaux and Sam Craft, as they were performing.
Agreed, not a great shot, but it was taken from my seat at the back of the crowd!
This would not be hard for a fancy - and expensive - DSLR with its array of lenses.
But I snapped this with my $200 Canon camera that is very lightweight and small enough to fit into my shirt pocket.
Yes, I usually have it with me and enjoy its 20x zoom lens. This shot was about 40x zoom, combining optical and digital elements.
I did walk over for a closer view earlier and noted the parquet wooden dance floor that had been set up in front of the stage, along with several rows of black folding metal chairs.
That would be handy if you forgot your blanket or a folding beach chair.
And, since beer was being sold, looks like everything was well thought out and covered.
Hmmmm. Too late to get me another bratwurst.
(Click on the photos and links for more details.)
Bet you're glad I didn't talk about craft breweries again.
Well, there's always tomorrow....
and my re-visit to Revelry Brewing Company.
The outside entertainment was provided by Lorra Amos of
Sunflowers and Sin,
Labels: #Revelry Brewing, bratwurst, Chucktown Follicle Brown, confused seagulls, feeding the ducks, Hampton park, Holy Spokes rental bikes, Lorra Amos, Piccolo Festival, starry-eyed kid, Sunflowers and Sin
