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Contact us
480.213.8035
Contact us
480.213.8035
Contact us
480.213.8035
The sparse history of pub crawls often places their beginning in Great Britain. Today, this bar hopping experience has become a popular event for those who want to enjoy good drinks with locals and tourists from around the world. The Ramble Dog version never required us to purchase a commercial tour.
We started with a Google map of our destination: Ocean City, Oregon; Flagstaff, Arizona; Durango, Colorado; Cheyenne, Wyoming. Each saved pub or brewery was marked with a star on the map. Next, we set a course to visit the places we chose. Our goal was to experience each brewery’s craftsmanship and style. Plus, we just wanted to drink some tasty beer. Some locations were very walkable allowing us to visit pubs in one outing. In larger towns, it made more sense for us to visit pubs in multiple days so that we could drive away safely.
We determined whether our location was a brewery, a taphouse, or a restaurant. A brewery that is just that, a brewery, offers only craft beer. This allows the brew master to focus solely on his or her craft and production.
Of course, a brewery that has a menu does take part in our pub crawls for obvious reasons. Many of them serve up fantastic pub food. A taphouse is great for their choices on tap. We were always excited when a local beer that we had fallen in love with at another establishment was on tap. Each brewery creates their craft beer as a reflection of the culture, history, and character of its location. But bottom line, people want to drink tasty beer.
Often, there were so many beer flavors making it hard to choose. We are not sophisticated beer drinkers who sit across from each other at a pub table discussing compliment, contrast, and cut of the beer.
We just know what we like and our likes do rotate just like the beer menu at most breweries. We have learned that not all hazy beers are made equally, so we appreciated bartenders offering a sample before we committed. In the end, we ordered a 20 ounce mug of the best tasting beer.
We used to sit at a table, just the two of us, enjoying the pub’s atmosphere together. Outdoor spaces would often call us to enjoy a beautiful day. Fabulous memories were made while sipping well crafted beer in the sand at the beach, in comfy chairs on the deck of a historic lodge, or sitting creekside in Adirondack chairs.
On later crawls, we chose to sit at the bar to experience the rhythm of the bartender. This added dimension to our conversations and deepened our bar hopping experiences. If the bartender was too busy, we chatted up a local patron warming up a barstool next to us. This conversation often taught us many unique details about the town we were in, all while enjoying a good brew.
Recently, we roamed museums and galleries around Santa Fe, during our cold April visit. We had worked up an appetite for some lunch. While wandering the historic streets, we were trying to answer the question, ”What are we hungry for?” Within seconds, we walked right into The Burger Stand @Taos Ale House. A pub burger became the obvious answer, but our bigger question was, “Can we do it?” You see, this visit to a pub was a test to our commitment to be alcohol free. The answer was, of course, “Yes! Yes, we can.” And we did. We enjoyed an amazing pub burger and fries along with a very delicious ice tea.
Being AF (alcohol free) was a decision we made together over five months earlier for our physical and mental well-being. Although we can appreciate the significance of being AF as a positive and empowering lifestyle decision, we will still hold dearly the memories of all our pub crawls. As we set ourselves on a new journey of adventures and discoveries, we leave the many wonderful breweries scattered around Santa Fe for other beer enthusiasts to discover and explore.
We never forgot a sticker to add to our sticker bomb in the camper.
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Carole@rambledog.com