Week Twenty-Two

Event:  Boulevard Brewery Tour

Raise your hand if you like beer!  I do!  I do!  And 6 of my friends do too, so we decided to go to the Boulevard Brewery for a free tour.  At Noon.  On a Sunday.  The tour started with one of the tour guides giving us beer caps to "cash in" for samples at the end of the tour.  We each got 4 and I was excited.  As we made our way on the tour, we got to see the big silver funnel looking things that hold the beer, conveyor belts, more big silver funnel looking things, some really old barrels and even more big silver funnel looking things.  The gist of the tour went like this, "And then so and so discovered that when the barley got wet it smelled funny so he was dared to try it and he did and voila - beer."  Ok neat.  Where are the free samples? 

30 minutes, 3 videos and a bunch of big silver funnel looking things later, the tour was over and it was time for samples.  We quickly bellied up to the bar and grabbed our Dixie-Cup sized beers.  Shoot.  They were little.  But that's ok, we sipped away and decided to strategically engage the bartender in conversation about how great our tour was (he was our guide), blah blah blah and before we knew it, we were getting free samples hand over fist.  We even let him show off a bit and let him fix us his favorite mixes - we didn't care - we were drinking for free!  (Did I mention it is now about 1:00 in the afternoon on a Sunday and we haven't had lunch yet?)  Now that our tour guide had become a close friend, we went ahead and got his phone number - you know, to set up another tour sometime.  I was excited, until I learned he was still in school and was all of 23.  Ugh.  At that my friend looked at me and said, "Do you know what my favorite animal is?  A cougar!"  Ha ha.  Not funny.

As the crowd thinned out, my friends and I were still hovering around the bar making it look like a scene from Cheers.  That's when I decided it would be a good idea to get behind the bar.  And I'm pretty sure an American Gladiator couldn't have stopped me.  Successful, once behind the bar, our tour guide/BFF looked on, nervous, as my friend and I not only stood behind the bar, but as girls do, we had to take pictures.  I'm pretty sure we were their favorite.  In fact, I'm positive.

At this point, it's 1:30pm, we're politely being asked to leave and we're starving.  So, we decided to stop at a nearby restaurant that the majority of us had not been to.  As we looked over the menu we discovered they only served breakfast food.  Ugh.  The last thing I wanted at that moment was breakfast food.  But, the group ordered a round of Bloody Mary's and for a moment I thought I liked Bloody Mary's.  And even if I don't, I like olives so I'll just take a sip, eat an olive, take a sip, eat an olive...it'll be fine!  Conflicted, I wasn't sure what food group went with 14 different types of beers and a Bloody Mary so I decided to order something I've never had before (at least together) - Chicken and Waffles.  I mean, who in the world thought up that combination?  But let me tell you, whoever did deserves a freaking medal because that was the best combination I've ever had.  Fried chicken and waffles?  Are you kidding me?  The absolute best!  The unfortunate discovery was that I really don't like Bloody Mary's. Even if I put an olive on every finger tip, stuff them in my mouth and take a sip, it's just not a pleasant experience. 

To summarize, my "Sunday, Bloody (Mary) Sunday" was a total blast.  Upon reflection, however, I've realized I consumed 87,614 calories - between the 47 different kinds of beer, fried chicken, waffles and a jar of olives - I have officially become the poster child for Weight Watchers. 

And Alcoholics Anonymous.