Where is this headed?

Well. If you know me in real life, you may may know I had a blog a long time ago. One of those personal blogs that was all about me and what I was doing at the time or reading at the time or thinking at the time. I had a few people, in a little network that read my blog and managed to make some great friends. But I lost focus and stopped.

About the time I stopped, Nic started blogging. But hers was a little different. I call it a "girl [network] blog". You know the type and you may be one of 'them'. She made some great friends and blogged about what she was thinking about or going through at the time. And hers is still going.

I thought about starting back and she'd encouraged me to start back -- she knows that I sometimes need an outlet. And when I start a post, I have a hard time stopping because it feels good when I write. I tossed around a few ideas with friends and even thought about joining an existing blog at one time. Maybe beer or cars or building or theology or maybe a travel blog...

So I pitched the idea of blogging about my travels and her travels (and our travels) to Nic and she thought it was a great idea. But I wanted to have a deeper purpose. I wanted to share the local flavor with those that may not be local and maybe inspire others to get out and do what we did -- love living in the south.

I know that we post after we do things and that's normally too late for you to do those same things until a year later. I know that we aren't doing our reader(s) any good if they can't experience what we are doing. So we are looking at what we are doing and trying to make it the best for you. Maybe I'm full of myself thinking that you guys would want to do what we have done. But if that's going to be my/our purpose -- to inspire you to experience -- then I want to do whatever it takes.

This means that we do need some help from you guys. We need suggestions, comments (good and bad) and we need to know if this is working. We are going to rethink things a little and may post a schedule or teasers so you know the things we are considering or that you can be considering. Maybe we'll even let you help us or meet up with us and experience things along side us.

Let us know what you think and we'll let you know how much we appreciate it.

-Todd

The Terminal Brewhouse

When this blog was created, I reserved the right to post about all the brew pubs, the breweries and the restaurants that I wanted to. (I even reserved the right to post about the nightly brew if I felt like it!) Having this ability lets me bring some really amazing stories to the reader(s) of this blog. So many brew pubs and breweries have amazing stories that are just waiting to be told. Not that I'm the one that will tell the stories but I can steer you in the right direction to hear that story yourself. One such story is that of The Terminal Brewhouse.

To warn you, I'm only going to hit the high points in this post. The reason isn't that there isn't a lot to tell but the just the opposite -- the story is so well told by The Terminal on their website and I really don't know if I could do it justice.

After spending the day introducing Nicole to Lookout Mountain, we decided to check out one more local establishment before we left Chattanooga. She had done a little search for local brew pubs as we went uphill and I had been thinking about the choices for a large portion of the time we were having fun at the higher altitude (don't tell her that). My mind kept going back to the picture she showed me of The Terminal Brewhouse. It was of the bar area and you could catch a glimpse of the brewery behind the bartenders and I knew that this was my kind of place. The exposed brick and the view of the tanks from three floors up had me sold from the start.

I plugged the address into the GPS and we started down the mountain to try and find the potential gem. Nic's iPhone is apparently much smarter than my car and led us to the correct location after I had driven down a street that was clearly not in the right place. We pulled into E 14th Street between the hotel and the brewhouse and found our place in the gravel parking lot.

We saw a cool staircase at the back but we are front-door fans and walked around so that we could get to walk through the entire restaurant on the way to the green roof deck out back. I made a stop by the restrooms and aimed for the bee (if you know what I'm talking about, you probably appreciate the fact that I added that). As I walked out of the restroom toward the stairs that I would be going up, I noticed a map on the wall showing of a number of micros around the country that held similar philosophies as The Terminal.


Going up the stairs to get to the deck, I stopped more than once to take everything in. As a builder, I noticed a number of things that would normally slip past many people but clued me in on the commitment to sustainability that the owners have taken. There are great views of the architectural details of the building and the brewing equipment that we craft brew seekers love to look at. Exiting the door at the back of the second floor (there are three floors with tables and the brewing equipment is located in the basement) took me out onto the deck that is adjacent to the green roof which has picnic tables as well.

This is where the only bad thing about The Terminal surfaced and to be true to the good and the bad, I have to mention this. There was a time between sitting down and our order being taken that no one talked to us. Granted this was probably only for 8-10 minutes but for two people that had skipped lunch and had a four hour drive fast approaching, it seemed much longer. I attribute this to it being a Sunday afternoon and the Brewhouse being much busier than the management probably expected.


Once the waiter came around we got some waters on the way while we looked over the menu. Nicole wasn't in the mood to try a beer so I went ahead and ordered the Belgium White - "The White Shadow" to change her mind. While waiting we enjoyed the view from the deck and commented about how many people out back looked like they were regular patrons. The parking lot confirmed this as we watched almost everyone that drove up walk right in as if they knew exactly where they were going.

Opening the menu and trying to order was an experience in itself. The descriptions all come to life and the only thing on the menu that isn't named something interesting is the "CHEESE DIP" but then again, who calls cheese dip "CHEESE DIP"? Another thing to note is that most of the dishes had beer pairings for those who want to add to the experience. Someone (the one who didn't want one) kept stealing sips of my beer claiming it the "best beer she had ever tasted" while we placed our orders. I ordered our waiter's favorite sandwich "THE MACHO MAN" and Nic went for a bowl of french onion soup and the brewhouse salad with chicken.

Our waiter brought out a second beer for me to try, the American copper ale - "Terminally Ale". The Malt notes in this copper were a bit strong for my tastes but it sat really well and paired nicely with my sandwich when it came out. I will admit to like the white a little better but fans of good ambers will not be disappointed. I didn't see a sampler on the menu (I may have overlooked it) so my beer reporting is limited to the full pints that I ordered. And my ordering was limited due to the driving I knew I would have to be doing when my shift rolled around. I regret that I learned after we left that I could have bought a growler for $4 and had it filled for another $14; it would have been well worth that for a half-gallon of beer to enjoy later in the week.

Our food came out and didn't disappoint. Not much that I can say about it other than it was great. My sandwich was well put together and I could tell that the chef put a ton of thought into the items on the menu to make each one not only unique but memorable. Nic enjoyed her salad and soup as well; she didn't have to tell me, I knew by the noticeable lack of conversation once the food arrived.

We wrapped up our meal, paid and ventured back inside to the bar because I wanted to try something I saw on the menu that caught my eye. A while back I had BLT Bloody Mary and every time I see bacon flavored vodka mentioned, I want to try it. At The Terminal, they have their own flavor infused vodkas that you can order from the bar. These sit in clear glass sweet tea dispensers (what are those called Nic?) behind the bartender, one for each flavor - bacon, cucumber and jalapeno/habanero. We sat down and I ordered a taste of each one as Nic rolled her eyes. I'm not a fan of liqueur and there are only a few drinks that I like (with the Bloody Mary being one of them) so I only intended to taste each one and see what my initial reaction was.

We tried the cucumber first and it was a little green tasting - kinda like putting cucumber slices in water instead of a lemon, it gave off a faint hint of the added ingredient. The third was the bacon flavor and it was faint to say the least; Nic noticed it more than I but it didn't live up to my expectations. We only had a taste of each and that was what we'd planned on having so the portions we were given looked barely touched and sparked the interests of our brewhouse fellows. An older couple and a guy sitting next to me all wanted to know more about the second one that we tried, the jalapeno/habanero. To me, vodka itself burns but this stuff will light you up and everyone wanted to have a go. We all tried and we all ordered something to put out the fire.

So much goes into enjoying a brewpub, microbrewery or brewhouse. The atmosphere, the beer, the food if you have any and even the cushion on the chairs can play a role in what you take away. When a location remembers these things and makes the effort to put thought into each one, it shows. The Terminal Brewhouse is the total package. These guys get it. I'm not sure that there is another establishment that I enjoyed having a beer at any more. I might be caught driving back up just to make another visit.

Beer Score: 8 (out of 10)
Atmosphere: 9(out of 10)
Food: 7(out of 10)
Local Commitment: 10(out of 10)
6 E 14th St, Chattanooga, Tennessee 37408 (423) 752-8090

http://terminalbrewhouse.com/
http://twitter.com/terminalbrew

-Todd

See Seven States!

I grew up about an hour and half from Panama City Beach, Florida and took more family trips down there than I can remember. We had a Skamper pop-up that we pulled behind my mom's white '79 Caprice Classic (my dad's truck occasionally supplied the power but it got tough to fit four on a bench set, especially when the grandparents tagged along).


For some reason, the trips to the beach stopped. I think it may have had something to do with MTV discovering Panama City in the 80's and my dad not holding that 80's rock in very high regard - either way, "the beach" stopped being as family oriented as my folks would have liked, Petticoat Junction at Long Beach closed and it just lost the appeal it once had. It was soon replaced with a new destination.

We always took the same route to get to our new destination, passing barns along I-59 to Tennessee that had "See Rock City" painted on the roof. I do remember asking my folks what they were about and they'd always dodge the question. Maybe they knew that if they explained it, I'd never let it go until we went. So, for the majority of my youth, we drove through Chattanooga, without stopping, with some sort of camper in tow.

Eventually my folks gave in and we set aside a day to visit Lookout Mountain overlooking Chattanooga. By this time I was a little older, maybe nine or ten and I remember things well. I wanted to check out the two places I'd seen over and over on billboards; Rock City and Ruby Falls.

This post isn't about Ruby Falls and as you can imagine I'm not going to talk about it. I remember enjoying Rock City much more than Ruby Falls and chose to introduce it to Nic..... -Todd

Much like Todd bugged his parents to take him to Rock City, I haven't stopped talking about going to seeing the leaves change (she checks the Georgia Leaf Watch every other day) since the day I met Todd. I knew my persistence would pay off and soon enough we made an impromptu trip to Chattanooga in search of some fall color.The drive up Lookout Mountain is lined with homes with a view. We even zillowed them and I think with the sale of an organ or two, we could buy one! We made our way up to the ticket counter at Rock City and chose to purchase our admission tickets with passes to the corn maize (which we ended up skipping). I guess you could consider it a walking tour... As we made our way through The Enchanted Trail of rock crevasses (there should be a weight limit sign on Fat Man's Squeeze!), caves, and pathways, Todd told me how Rock City came to be. I have to admit, I think that Frieda had done lost her mind back in the 20's but that's neither here nor there. Todd kept reminding me to slow down and enjoy the plants and flowers (which were all nicely labeled) around us when all I really wanted was to get to the top. We passed a random white deer and every once in a while we'd see a garden gnome (more on that later). After what seemed like miles of walking we finally reached the lookout at Lover's Leap.

Despite the above average temperatures and hoards of people, the view was breathtaking. We've had a strange fall this year which have caused the leaves to delay their turn but that did not take away from the beauty. I pulled Todd aside and did the obligatory-embarrassing-girlfriend-thing of asking strangers to take our pictures approximately 14 times at every angle. There were countless photo opportunities! I also snagged a couple of beautiful orange leaves from the maple (I really haven't the slightest clue what kind of tree it was. I'm not a "horti" as they call them.) to press between books. There was an Oktoberfest celebration going on (which didn't help the crowds) complete with a band, beer, and girls in lederhosen.

photo from pluckysurvivors.com

Little did I know, they had saved the best for last! We had continued onto the second half of The Enchanted Trail when we reached the Fairyland Caverns. The gnomes we had seen earlier apparently came from the dark crevices of the Fairyland Caverns. Not only were there nursery rhyme characters covered in day-glo paint under black lights, there were hundreds of gnomes! These weren't your average garden gnomes! They were making moonshine, breaking out of jail, and swinging on swings. I think Todd put it best when he said, "I feel like I'm at a Grateful Dead concert!"
Aside from the cheesy and a bit bizarre ending to the trail, the view from lookout mountain was more than worth the trip up. I only wish we had seen it a month later when the leaves were at their peak. If you've got a little extra time while you're up there, stop by Covenant College. It's hard to imagine going to school perched at the very top of a mountain!

Mercier Orchards

My dad has a house on a lake in South Dakota. Yes, you read that right, South Dakota. He's got acres and acres of land and a few apple trees right up by the house. Every fall they would produce so many apples that come Christmas when I would go up to visit, he'd open up the freezer and show me all of the apples they'd stashed away just begging to be baked into a pie. I never got to see the apples on the tree or pick them myself but since that time it has been on my “must do” list.

Unfortunately, there aren't any apple orchards in Florida so when we made the trip up to Ellijay, Ga for the Apple Festival I secretly hoped we'd end up at an orchard. It was a Saturday, and it's Fall, which means one thing down here in these parts: college football. I knew I would be pushing it to want to spend the afternoon prancing up and down lines of apple trees when big games were being played so you can imagine my excitement when Todd said “let's go!” to my apple picking suggestion. We grabbed an attractions guide on our way out of the festival and looked at a map of the orchards around Ellijay. “Let's just go north”...and that is how we ended up at Mercier Orchards.

The gravel parking lot was packed when we pulled up just a few hours before closing. We found a picnic table waiting for us where we bought two large bags to put our apples in. I think it's called a peck but you really should be asking the farmer's son about the lingo.

We hopped on the tractor and took a ride up the hill. On the way up, our guide told us the history of the orchard and all of the different fruits you can pick at Mercier's (don't tell Todd but we will be going back during cherry season). He also said, “And eat as many as you want! Wipe it off on your shirt and try it!” And boy did we ever take advantage of that! Mercier's only uses fertilizers once a year in the spring so come fall when the u-pick season is in full swing, the fertilizers have been washed away making the apples safe to eat without washing.

The tractor dropped us off at the top of the orchard where we could see for miles. We regretfully took off as soon as the tractor stopped and didn't listen to where each variety of apple was located so we spent the next 2 hours saying “Which one is this? No wait, that was the other row!” Truth is, there wasn't a bad one in the bunch. Despite it being the end of the harvest season, the trees were still full of apples. Each one we picked tasted better than the last and I can honestly say after tasting an apple right off of the tree...I don't know that I'll ever be able to buy them from a grocery store again. I lost count of how many apples we ate while we were out there but it's safe to say we both left very, very full. We got back on the tractor for the trip back down the hill just as the sun was setting. Mercier's truly is a beautiful place.

Before leaving we made a stop in the country store at the front of the property. If you don't want to pick your own apples or you're there outside of the season, they offer many different varieties already sacked up for you. There are shelves and shelves of jams, preserves, and other canned goodies. They have a deli, a bakery, and samples throughout. If you're lucky, you'll even get a chance to meet Mrs. Mercier herself! She's approaching 100 years old and was working just as hard as everyone else. Maybe an apple a day really does keep the doctor away.

8660 Blue Ridge Drive (Highway 5), Blue Ridge, Ga 30513 (706) 632-3411