San Diego - Day 1

This series of blogs will diverge from the normal bragging and reporting of Colin and Nathan. Instead, I will follow our trip to San Diego without the kids where the Strong Ale Festival was our goal. But being that San Diego is in the heart of beer country, there were lots of side stops to make before we even hit the Strong Ale Fest. Now, some folks may say that Oregon is the home of the microbrewery which is not true, anymore! Something I read during this trip really put it into perspective for me. At the 2006 World Beer Cup, San Diego County alone won enough medals to place 7th if they were their own country.

So on with the trip details, our trip was with Bob, Dave, Larry and myself. The itinerary for Thursday included a stop at a beer store, two breweries, and a beer bar. First the beer store which was actually a convenience store/pharmacy. Larry found the place on the web and has been ordering beer from them. It is the South Bay Drugs & Pharmacy. Funny to go all the way across the country to buy beer at a convenience store/pharmacy, but that's what beer geeks do!



Next stop, Ballast Point Brewery where we finally were able to consume some beer! Lots of samples here.



Time to check into the hotel, the Surfer Dude, well that's what I call it, it's really Surfer something but I can't remember. I love this hotel. It's right on the water where all the rooms have an ocean view. It's also on Pacific Beach which has so much charm.

Then off to Alesmith! Yum, yum, yum! Alesmith does not do a bad beer, or even an average beer. Everything at Alesmith rocks!



Next O'Brien's, an awesome beer bar where we see a lot of the people that were pouring beers for us at the breweries. We meet up with some more Atlantans and beer friends here too.


After O'Brien's I turned in for the night. Larry, Dave and Bob went on to find more beer but I was done. Tomorrow, the Festival begins.