Stuff What I've Seen

Another Adventure…Again

After 3 months at home, the longest time I have spent at home in about 3 years, it is time to hit the road again. It has been wonderful to spend so much time with my family but my bags are packed and it is time to go back to work. I can’t believe it has come around so quickly.

I get to prance around in Blue make up again for a while and visit Barcelona, then Naples, Civitavecchia, Livorno, Palma and Marseilles throughout the summer with, perhaps, a little trip to Istanbul tagged on the end. Not to shabby.

I have tried to pack light but have two instruments to carry now that I have my banjo. I have no idea how I am going to carry it all!

Tags: blue man group, Epic, Europe, luggage, NCL Epic

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Categories Blue Man Group, Europe, Journeys, New Experiences, Travel

Adnams Distillery and Brewery, Southwold, UK

8 May

When my friend Haydn told me that he had a couple of days off work and asked if I fancied going away somewhere, of course I didn’t say no. Although I knew the trip probably wouldn’t involve my passport, I always want to see more of my own country and this seemed like a perfect opportunity for me to suggest a place for Haydn, his brother Richard, and me to go. we packed the essentials and jumped in the car

Southwold is a beautiful seaside town located on the North Sea Coast in Suffolk. It is well-known for its pier, and it’s rather expensive beach hu ts (£60,000 asking price?!) but perhaps the most famous part of the town, and certainly the most exciting for us three, is the Admans Brewery! Beer has been brewed in Southwold for hundreds of years but it was only when the Adnams family took over the business in 1872 that the famous name and beer came in to being. I am no stranger to breweries. A few years ago, my good friends in Chicago had the crazy idea of opening their own, Pipeworks Brewing and now they sell some of the most sought after beer in the American Midwest. For this reason, I am always interested to check out other brewing facilities. Purely for investigative purposes of course, to check out the competition. It has nothing to do with the copious amounts of alcohol one is plied with on one’s way round the facility. Haydn, Richard and I decided to do the triple header and do the distillery tour, followed immediately by the brewery tour, finished of with the wine tasting from Adnam’s specially selected bottles of wine from around the world. Crikey. We had quite the day! Things started off well when we were met by the lovely Tracy to show us how they make their spirits. I had no idea that vodka is the purest of the spirits and that gin is actually vodka with other things added and that whisky has to be aged in barrels for three years and one day before it can officially be called whisky. Despite brewing beer for over a hundred years, Adnams has only recently started distilling and for that reason we were unable to taste the whisky as it will not be ready until December 2013, just a few months away. I guess we will have to come back. They have even bought some second-hand Jack Daniels casks and are ageing some of their whisky in those! The equipment that they use to produce the spirits are not only functional,but beautiful. The main fractioning column should stand at 16 metres high but because planning laws in the area they had to chop it in 2 and stand one half next to the other. However, it means you can see more of it! All of the equipment is meticulously maintained and presented. We rounded off the tour with a tasting of pretty much everything they produce in the distillery. We had enough time for a quick sausage roll topped with some of Adnams’ own brown sauce then it was back to the start to check out the brewery. Belinda took very good care of us as we made our way past the enormous stainless steel vats and hoppers. We saw the process from the hops and grains right through to the bar at the end where we got to taste the products! Now, if you are planning on doing these tours I recommend doing what we did and somehow end up with only a couple of other people in your group that do not drink. This meant that each jug or bottle of beer that was brought out had to be drunk by the 3 of us! It would have seemed rude not to finish everything that was put in front of us so we made the most of it. Needless to say, by the time we walked, or rather, rolled out the door back to the shop for the wine tasting we were certainly enjoying ourselves. Belinda handed us over to Michael who took us through the wines that we were to drink and again, purely in the interest of fairness of comparison, we tasted everything that was put in front of us. They certainly have the right idea when they finish the tastings in the shop as for some reason it seems much easier to spend money after you’ve had a few!

We were brilliantly looked after through out our entire day at Adnams. The staff is so friendly and have a genuine interest in what they do and look like they actually enjoy their jobs. The company itself has proven that it is not just driven by profit. Aside from taking good care of the people who work for them, they contribute to the local community through their charity work and to the local landscape by sponsoring parts of the beach. As well as all this, they have an acute awareness of the environmental impact the company makes. They recycle much of the excess energy they produce and even contribute energy back to the national grid. Not only that, but they make bloody good beer!

Tags: adnams, adnams brewery, adnams distillery, beer, brewery, craft beer, dan cooper, distillery, gin, haydn oakley, richard oakley, southwold, suffolk, vodka, whisky, wine tasting

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Categories Europe, Food and Drink, Friends, New Experiences, Road Trippin', Travel, UK, Uncategorized

Pipeworks Tasting, Downers Grove, IL

13 Feb

I recently had the pleasure of observing and assisting my compadre, Bobby Minelli spread the Pipeworks Brewing love at a Binny’s in Downers Grove. We were inundated with people, some of them had driven nearly 2 hours to be there. Every last drop of the beer we took got consumed and dozens of bottles were sold. It is a real testament to the quality of the beer and the hard work my buddies have put in to make it so successful.

I wrote a blog last year about a road trip I made from Chicago to the East Coast with a case of Pipeworks beer. I shared it with my friends along the way so I am no stranger of introducing this stuff to people. This experience was equally as satisfying. The people who drink craft beer don’t just drink craft beer but they DRINK craft beer. They often brew their own beer at home and wait with anticipation for the next release from their favourite brewery.

They are also really friendly people. Everyone there has a mutual love of beer and wants to talk about it, but inevitably you end up talking about all sorts of other things and the whole event becomes one big social gathering. I had a blast and made the acquaintance of some lovely people.

Tags: binnys, binnys downers grove, Bobby Minelli, craft beer, Pipeworks, Pipeworks brewery, Pipeworks chicago il

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Categories Events, Food and Drink, Friends, North America

Fat Tuesday Hootenanny

13 Feb

What do you do on Fat Tuesday if you have a bunch of talented friends that like food as much as they like music. Well you do what my friend Christine did and throw a kick ass dinner an jam night.

I stepped off a plane from Nashville and went straight to Christine’s apartment from the airport. Having not eaten in about 7 hours I was starving and the smell that hit me as I walked into the kitchen was quite incredible. On the menu was jambalaya and shrimp po’boys followed by an old fashioned hootenanny all accompanied by some great craft beer and whisky. Needless to say that the more we drunk the better we sounded.

The line up included banjos, guitars, a squeeze box, a cello, a fiddle, a saw, and a ukelele. Each of us took a turn to throw out a song, everyone else listened in then played along. We had everything from Bob Dylan and the Beatles to French drinking songs.

I must do this more often!

Tags: banjo, Bobby Minelli, cello, christine stulik, fiddle, hootenanny, jam session, jambalaya, Pipeworks brewery

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Categories Events, Food and Drink, Friends, North America

Go West (and South) days 4 and 5

8 Feb

Thurs 7th & Fri 8th Feb 2013
Day 4 Flagstaff, AZ to Las Vegas, BV
21 hours – 350 miles – 2 States AZ+NV

Day 5 – Las Vegas. NV to Los Angeles, CA
6 hours – 300 miles – 2 States NV+CA

Yesterday was a vey long day. We managed to see the sunrise at one end of the Grand Canyon then the sunset a the other end at the Hoover Dam and ended up partying in Vegas.

We were determined to see the sun come up at the canyon so we dragged ourselves out of bed at 4am and headed from Flagstaff to the Grand Canyon National Park. The journey took about an hour and a half and we were still early enough to arrive before the people who take the money as you drive in so we didn’t have to pay!

We found a parking lot just inside the boundary of the park and regrouped. We ate the muffin that constituted ‘breakfast’ at the place we stayed the previous night and waited for the sun. We took a walk to the edge of the canyon and by the time our eyes had adjusted to the dark the stars were incredible. Even better than the night before in New Mexico. We were truly in the middle of nowhere with no light.

Looking out over the edge we could not make out the peaks and valleys that make up the canyon but there was an eerie mist hanging there and as the light slowly started to improve the black started to turn to greys and the shadows of the topography of the inside of the canyon gave it an ‘other-worldy’ feel, as if something could jump out at any moment.

We headed off to find the spot where we would actually see the sunrise; Yakapai point. We wrapped up warm (it was very cold!) and made our way in the dark to the edge.

It always surprises me just how fast it becomes light once the sun starts to come up. We were lucky and arrived a good thirty minutes before anyone else did so managed to get some good photographs and enjoy the quiet undisturbed. Even so, we were only joined by about half a dozen people so it really felt like our own private viewing.

I have never been to the Grand Canyon before but have always heard people talk about it with a kind of awe that i never really understood until I went there. It is simply breathtaking. Once cannot really comprehend just how big it is. As you look down it almost looks like a model and the Colorado River which runs through the bottom appears like a tiny stream. It was quite humbling to see it in person. I will be a long time before I forget the sight of the rocks changing from grey to a deep reddy brown as the sun fully appeared over the horizon and fell on them.

One of the highlights of the day was actually befriending a squirrel who also enjoyed the view of the Canyon. Kristen named in Murray and they swapped details and are in touch on facebook and stuff.

Before we explored the rest of what we were able to see we had some breakfast and warmed up. Throughout the whole day I was very pleasantly surprised at the setup they have in the park. All of the food and coffee is very reasonably priced and served by very friendly people. There is a small village up there that includes various visitor centres, hotels, and restaurants and the accommodation of the people who work there. However, I never really felt that the buildings encroached on our experience. Each building is surrounded by trees or set in the woods in a way that makes you feel like it belongs there. Overall I was very impressed.

We spent the next few hours driving along the edge of the south rim, stopping at a few of the lookout points along the way then finally decided to head out to Vegas.

The drive was to take us about 5 hours but about half way there Kristen realised that to get to Las Vegas we would have to drive virtually over the Hoover Dam, of course we had to stop.

This was an awe striking experience of a different nature but it is still quite impressive. A true engineering masterpiece. However, we discovered that we should not have paid the 8 dollars each to go to the viewing platform when the view is just as good from the road…for free.

We lingered there long enough to see the sun go behind the hills then headed of to Las Vegas. I had sorted some tickets out for Blue Man Group so we had to make it there in time to eat before hand…and get changed in the parking lot. We had set off at 4am that morning and had been on the go all day so we were ‘fresh’ to say the least. We grabbed a bite and saw the show and met up with the guys afterwards.

After a drink in the bar opposite the theatre in the casino we headed downtown to old vegas to a great bar called Commonwealth. I had never been to ‘Old Vegas’ and loved it. We managed to hang out long enough for Kristen to practically fall asleep at the bar. After being up for 21 hours I could not blame her and despite the fact that I had somehow found a 5th wind we left to go to bed (something I was very grateful for this morning…I could see it turn into a long night!)

We were asleep before out heads hit the pillow and woke up this morning ready to complete our adventure. We stayed with a good friend of mine, Scott, a fellow Blue Man, and he joined us for a coffee and some breakfast this morning before we hit the road.

The drive from Vegas to LA was equally as good looking as anything we had seen before. Mountains and desert and even the odd piece of tumbleweed blowing across the highway. We listened to a CD of cowboy songs that I had bought at the Grand Canyon the day before (‘Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs’ by Marty Robbins – highly recommend it!). Quite fitting for our journey across the desert.

We stopped at Peggy Sue’s 50s Diner long enough for some incredible malted shakes and some banana cream pie and a photo of a giant gorilla then it was on to LA.

We arrived in LA this afternoon and began unloading some of Kristen’s belongings into the apartment where she is staying temporarily before he rented apartment becomes available. Despite the fact that we were nearing the end of our adventure the excitement was not over. As we walked from the car to the building a mass of sparks flew from the over head power lines accompanied by the relevant ‘bang’ and we entered the apartment to find all the power out. Not quite sure what happened there but I guess it will be back on again soon. Not that we have to worry. We have come to the coffee shop across the street to decompress a little and to afford me to opportunity to write this final chapter in our adventure.

So that’s it. We left on Monday and five days later on Friday afternoon it feels like a month ago. We have squeezed every inch of life out of every opportunity we were presented with and have arrived in LA with some wonderful memories.

I could not have asked for a better road trip buddy and I am so glad I volunteered to help Kristen. To be honest it was as much a help for me as was for her as what we have been through this past week will stay with me for ever. It is difficult for any from a country as small as England to truly comprehend the magnitude of an undertaking such as Kristen is embarking upon. The furthest you can travel in Britain is a 10 or 12 hours before you fall off the edge. To pick up your life and move across a country as big as this, to completely start again in a new city from scratch is brave and admirable. I wish her the best of luck, not that she will need it. She is going to conquer LA in a similar fashion to the way we conquered the Grand Canyon and come out on top.

I have already said that if she ever needs to drive back again for a visit to Chicago she should give me a call. Next time we can take on The Rockies….

Tags: blue man group, Grand canyon, hoover dam, las vegas, los angeles, peggy sues diner

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Categories Friends, Journies, New Experiences, North America, Road Trippin', Uncategorized

Go West (and South) Day 3

6 Feb

Wed 6^TH Feb 2013
Day 3 Tucumcari, NM to Flagstaff, AZ
11 hours – 740 Miles – 2 States NM+AZ

The beautiful little bunkhouse that we stayed in last night fast east out across the New Mexican plains towards the rising sun and we wanted to make the most of it. We woke up at 5.30 and were sitting outside with coffee by 6am to see the first rays of sunlight creep above the mesas.

We spent some time wandering around the area near by the bunkhouse and saw how the rocks all changed colour as the sun came up.

Mimi and Tom, our lovely and hospitable hosts invited us up to the house for a cup of coffee before we hit the road and we spent an hour show hearing about their life on the ranch and how they came to be there and we shared a bit about how we came to be travelling across the country. I enjoyed telling them about my adventure on the cattle station in Australia and I made sure I showed them a photograph of my leg!

We hung around outside long enough to say goodbye to the dogs then it was on our way.

We were heading for Albuquerque about 2 hours west, which meant we were timed perfectly to meet up with my old friend Cody Dove. Cody and I worked together on the Norwegian Epic, he for Second City, me for Blue Man Group and we have stayed in touch ever since. Seeing as both and he and Kristen have worked for the Second City it meant they had a lot in common (just about everybody they both know!) and we had a lovely lunch at great cafe call the Flying Star and then headed off to Arizona.

From there it was a straight shot. We drove for about 5 hours or so across some of the most beautiful country I had ever seen. Mountains in the distance, mesas all around, valleys, plains…it was incredible. I had no idea how beautiful New Mexico would be.

We cheered as we crossed into Arizona (as we have done every time we have crossed a state line) although we were very disappointed with the sign that greeted us. We pretty much missed it. New Mexico’s was much better.

We made it to Flagstaff, grabbed a pizza and headed to our digs for the night. Tomorrow will be our earliest start yet. We plan on getting up at 4am to see the sunrise at the Grand Canyon.

Tags: cody dove, flying cafe, JX Ranch, Kristen Studard, mesa new mexico, New Mexico, road tripping, second city

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Categories Friends, Journies, North America, Road Trippin', Travel, Uncategorized

Go West (and South) Day 2

5 Feb

Tues 5^TH Feb 2013
Day 2 Springfield, MO to Tucumcari, NM
12 hours – 700 Miles – 4 States MO+OK+TX+NM

Day 2 was an early start. We had a long way to cover and didn’t want to be driving in the dark in the middle of nowhere at our destintation, New Mexico.

The alarm went off at 5.30am and we were out of the door and in the car before the sun came up. Kristen spent the first hour of the journey trying, unsuccessfully, to sleep, while I spent the first hour of the journey figuring out how I was going to get the sunglasses back that I had left in the apartment until I realized they were hanging on the collar of my shirt the whole time.

We dived straight into the audiobooks, as planned, with a bit of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. Yes, we are geeks, but it was fun to listen to the book after not having read it in so long.

We made it as far as Oklahoma City before hunger got the best of us and we stopped in a great little diner called Jimmy’s Eggs. I had some eggs. And we left to drive across Oklahoma to Texas and New Mexico.

At this point I would like to point out that although the plains in Oklahoma are many and vast, there was no wind coming sweeping down them, nor, due to the fact that it is winter and way past harvest, was there any corn as high as an elephant’s eye. In any case, I didn’t have an elephant with which to compare it so I guess it is no matter.

We crossed the state border into Texas. In case you are wondering I now know the way to Amarillo. It is pretty easy to get to actually. We stopped at a super market there to pick up supplies for dinner tonight.

Just outside Amarillo is something unlike anything I had ever seen before. The Cadillac Ranch is just a few miles outside the city and consists of 10 Cadillacs buried nose down in the ground. Completely random but quite the spectacle. We spent some time wandering around and checking out all the graffiti on the cars. You are encouraged to bring your own spray paint and contribute to the artistic aesthetic of the display.

It is such a bizarre sight to see. And not that easy to catch site of if you are driving by at speed. In fact we drove a mile past it and had to come back. It looks almost like the half buried back bone of some old dinosaur ruins as each of the vertebrae like vehicles protrudes from the earth. There is nothing apart from open fields for miles around but this thing stands out as some kind of coming together of the industry and nature.

We hung around long enough to take some pictures and listen in to the interesting conversations strange Texan family who were also visiting then we hit the road.

The scenery in New Mexico was by far the most interesting and beautiful we had seen yet. There were valleys and ravines and enormous imposing masers rising up out of broad sweeping plains. And we made it off the high way and on to the side road in enough time to see the sun go down beyond the horizon.

We made accommodation for the night, The JX Ranch in New Mexico. Another brilliant find on Airbnb. We had to travel 20 miles of the highway then several mile up a dirt road before we reached the house of Mimi and Tom. Mimi, originally from Sweden some 25 years ago, showed us to the bunk house where we were to sleep.

We had been in touch with Mimi on the way and she had ready for me a steak from the grass fed cattle on ranch so we got in the kitchen and set about cooking it. Well, I did, Kristen had salmon although she did try a piece of my steak and did not throw up.

After dinner we both wrapped up in blankets and went and sat outside to look at the stars. It is quite incredible out here. We are so far from any source of light that after a few minutes your eyes adjust and there are more stars than I can remember seeing in a long time. And it is so quiet. You cannot even here the highway. There is literally nothing out here except us and the stars and….I hope that’s all!