Can't find the damned travel thread again, so ... Boston?

Ha - I'd never buy it from a liquor store, but the brewery itself has a bunch of fruit-based beers on tap, which are a weakness for the wife and I. Kind of like Sam Adams, I find their amber ales and "hoppy" stuff to be bad attempts at something the smaller breweries do a lot better. The brewery also has a couple of nice outdoor seating areas and food on-site.

 

I've read that Wachusetts has a good brewery experience, but I've never wanted to go to the 495 bumfuck it is in.

In the 90's when the first craft brewing thing took off on Massachusetts, Wachusetts was selling growlers through packies and was competing with Pilgrim Brewery. Pilgrim was so much better, but for a few reasons it failed to stay alive.

 

My wife is from Bumfuck (Baldwinville), MA, which is partly why we've been there a couple of times, yup! I definitely agree with you that it still feels like a relic of that 90s, early 2000s era. In Rhode Island, we had Newport Storm, which was basically just peddling the same Sam Adams / Wachusetts like beers for a decade, before they finally did a rebrand in the past five years.

 

Bumping - Should this just be our general all-purpose travel thread now? Ha...

Next weekend, the wife and I are going to Austin for the weekend. While we might meet up with some pals for one night, any recommendations when it comes to cool places to check out would be welcome. (I realize this is kind of equivalent to asking, "Hey, what's this New York City all about?" now, but I figure the folks here might have some off-the-path suggestions, haha.)

For Thanksgiving, we're going to the Grand Canyon and the surrounding area, from Wednesday to Sunday. Any recommendations on breweries, restaurants, things to do outside of the obvious areas would be appreciated.

 

Where are you staying when you go to the Grand Canyon? It's been a hell of a long time since I've lived in Flagstaff but some of the spots I used to frequent still exist there.

 

Following (as the old folks say).

I'll be in Austin Wed-Friday with a free evening.

 

My wife hasn't booked hotels yet, but I think we're doing one night in Flagstaff, one night at one of the hotels at / near the canyon itself, and one night TBD. I saw that there was a Flagstaff Ale Trail, but I'm not sure if we can manage nine breweries in one or two days, ha.

 

I’ve done Austin a few times but probably stayed within the tourist corridor. Guerro’s on South Congress for lunch was great. The Mezcal hut at Clive’s was excellent, as was the whole Rainey Street scene. The bar at the Fairmont was super nice.

 

P. Terry's for the burger. Trudy's for the migas (and a Tex-Mex brunch). Kerbey Lane for the other brunch. The Brewtorium for craft beer. Sholz' Garten for the scene (and a great Rueben), especially on a gameday Saturday. Somewhere near the Statesman-American for the bats.

St. David's Episcopal for the guilt.

 

Nice thing about Flag is that everything cool is in a two- or three-block area downtown, so even if you stay out toward I-17/I-40, you can take a quick Lyft and just walk everywhere and check out multiple spots. Looks like a lot has changed down there, but some places that I loved still remain -- Dara Thai for an excellent take on Thai; Biff's Bagels for breakfast; the Zane Grey Bar at the Weatherford. The only breweries left from my time there are Flagstaff Brewing Co. and Beaver St. Brewing. Last time I was there in 2013, I checked out Mother Road and liked it, along with a little tavern called Hops on Birch. Either way, you'll have plenty to keep you occupied for a night there.

 

Bringing this one back as my wife and I are mulling over a trip to Boston in October around our anniversary. We can drive there from Toronto but hotels in the city are crazy expensive, is there somewhere we can stay outside downtown that has good access via transit and won't break the bank?

Thanks, I'll hang up and listen.