Jackson US Summer Tour 2013 - Boston and Newburyport, MA

     In recent years a summer trip up to the New England area has become a given as we have family in Newburyport as well as friends in Boston.  It doesn't hurt that ol' Beantown is a great city with lots of colleges for Marisa to visit and breweries for me to check out.  Last year we came down for a Red Sox game, toured Boston College and endured a Sam Adams brewery visit.  We also participated in several Yankee Homecoming events in Newburyport which were reason enough for a return trip.
     This time around we stopped in Boston first to see my boy Matt Davis in his new home of Somerville before continuing up to Newburyport for a second helping of Yankee Homecoming festivities.  Of course the primary goal was to spend time with the Winters, visit our nephew Nolan and log some hours poolside.  I'm happy to report that all objectives were met this year.

Highlights from our time in Massachusetts:

1.  Harpoon Brewery
     While we didn't make it in time for an official tour of the place, we had a great time sampling beers and throwing down gourmet pretzels in the taproom with Davis and Kim.  Having done both Sam Adams and Harpoon now, I definitely put my stamp of approval on both of these fine establishments.  Don't visit Boston without seeing at least one of these.

Matt is not afraid of the dark. 

One thing I appreciated was that they sold three different samplers to try: IPAs, UFO series, and seasonal (or whatever this one is called) 

It looks worse than it was......or maybe it looks exactly like it was.  Don't worry, we were able to take public transportation afterwards. 

Marisa's favorite - UFO hefeweizen. 

Great time had by all, but not the easiest place to get to using public transit.

2.  Salisbury Beach

     Now I don't want to admit to being a beach snob, but when someone refers to a beach in New England I have already passed judgment and written it off as a cold, rocky strip of beach that may feature a sweet lighthouse but isn't fit for summer enjoyment.  However, we were able to take a short drive to Salisbury Beach and I now stand corrected - there is at least one beach in New England that doesn't suck.

Sisters reunited at the beach

Susan stayed bundled up 

 and I worked on my skin cancer.

3.  Yankee Homecoming Events
     Once again there were several events that we participated in for the festival.  The beer fest was a huge improvement on last year, mostly in terms of the weather, but also the offerings.  Marisa and I ran the 5K again, both setting personal bests from the previous year.  Perhaps the biggest addition was the authentic local wrestling which brought back memories for me from the Paulding County Community Center.

Nothing better than a beer festival WITH a designated driver - thanks again Kendra. 

 

The "New England Championship" pitting "Big Gun" in the luchador mask against the Yugoslavian Grizzly.  It was intense but by far the most entertaining part was the heckling from the sidelines.  "Put 'em in the Boston Crab".  "Slap his chest".  "There's a ginger on your back, Gun!  What?  I don't think he knows its a ginger." 

Jeff and Nolan, seconds before Nolan cocks back and tosses the football through a tire with zero hesitation......left-handed.  Can you say "scholarship"? 

It was nice getting to introduce Newburyport to Matt and Kim since they aren't too far away now. 

Another year, another ride on the train.  Note to self, if I ever get desperate for cash I should operate a train at festivals.  At $3 per head we decided that he easily pulls a few thousand per weekend - that explains the smile on the conductor's face.

Pre- 5K race 

Post 5K race 

Nolan digs the mighty machines

4.  Guys' Nite Out, Girls Nite In
     While Jeff, Nolan and myself went out for dinner and duck-feeding, the ladies hosted a jewelry party with tons of yummy finger foods.



Just as we started to feed the ducks we were distracted by a small snapping turtle.

Jeff scores man points by subduing this reptilian beast and demasculating it by showing everyone his underside.

There were a lot of ducks and Nolan went with the "feed one enough so that he'll make it through the winter" strategy rather than the more socialist "a crumb for every bill" method.



Jewelry party!!  Kind of makes you glad to have a penis so you don't have to partake in these things.

Fancy finger foods 



Sisters with the jewelry party lady, Heather.

5.  Other breweries and family time
     Throughout the week we were able to get-together with extended family and friends, hang out at the pool and visit a couple more local breweries in New Hampshire and Newburyport.  We always enjoy the simple life of a New England summer.

Portsmouth Brewery/Smuttynose Brewery - Portsmouth, NH

Marisa, Kendra, and Susan with family friend Mary.

Extended family time with the Riley/Faherty/Mitchells.

Pool time with uncle Justin

Newburyport Brewing Company

--Justin

Jackson US Summer Tour 2013 - GA

     Atlanta is always an essential stop on our visits to the States and it tends to be where we spend the bulk of our time since we have so many family and friends there.  This year I spent a week there by myself while Marisa finished her graduate school in Virginia, and then we came back to spend about two weeks there before heading to California for the end of our trip.  We had a great time visiting with tons of friends, staying with the Brazells and Bryans as usual, checking out local breweries - both new and old, running a 5K, and keeping my dad company while he recovered from surgery.
    
     Highlights from our time in Atlanta:

1.  Sweetwater Brewery get-together
     On our last day in Atlanta we managed to pull together a nice selection of friends from college and high school for an extended happy hour at the Sweetwater brewery.  The place holds a bit of nostalgia for us as we can remember the weekly beer tastings at the brewery while we were in college.  The place is hardly recognizable from that time.  Before it was merely a warehouse with an informal tour and the beer was served from taps in the parking lot for around $1 per pint ($4 for a glass and four generous "tastings").  Today it's a massive production facility/distribution center that puts out 1 million barrels (or kegs?) per year with a tasting room/event space and swag store that definitely impresses.

My how the brewery has grown.  This mural decorates the new (to me) addition to the previous brewhouse.  "Don't float the mainstream".

It was great seeing our world-traveler friend Nicole who stayed with us in December.

Joel and Dave graced us with their presence twice this summer

Marisa and Chris - like old times in Salamanca, Spain

Fellow East Paulding HS alumni - Nicole, Sarah and Cole

 Jeremy is maintaining a low profile with his Wrigley Spearmint shirt.  Pop!

2.  Globalscope 5K

     In support of our missionary friends we made it down to Atlanta just in time to run in the "Around the World in 5K" that was organized by our friend, Lukas Fortunato.  While the course surprisingly a cross-country course, it didn't seem to slow us down much from our previous showing in the Newburyport "Yankee Homecoming 5K".  It was also a blast visiting with tons of old friends from GT Christian Campus Fellowship (CCF). 

Andrew and Quiggle ran a 5K while it appears that I have just stepped out of a swimming pool.

Trey and Meredith

3.  Visiting family
     This summer I was able to have some quality time with most of my family in Atlanta.  My dad had some corrective jaw surgery to alleviate his sleep apnea, so I dropped by a few times to keep him company.  Marisa was also pleased to display her "juicing" skills  with their new juicer to help him mix up his all-liquid diet from OJ and Ensure.  Of course my 14-yr old brother Jake is nearly my height, so it'll probably only be a year before I'm looking up to him.
     We also were able to have lunch with my grandma and aunt Amy, which was a pleasant time.

I caught Herb and Grandma at Jim and Nick's on their way up from Jacksonville.

Aunt Amy

Amy and Grandma Shirer 

4.  Visiting friends

     We spent one week at the Brazells and one week at the Bryans which included several big get-togethers and many other lunches, happy hours, and dinners.  One thing that stuck out to us was the generosity of our friends to offer a home-cooked meal, which was certainly welcome in a six-week gluttony tour.  It's always nice catching up with people face-to-face and hearing about how people have been growing in the past year.  We were also pleased to have a lot of questions about life in Hong Kong, since we know that people don't always know what to ask.

Cole and Becca moved to Atlanta this year and brought Addilyn with them.  It was duly noted that they have been sleep-deprived in these first few months, but isn't she worth it?

Cookout at the Brazells - Andrew, Neal and Cole.

Good to have my boy back in ATL - not that I'm around or anything, but at least that guarantees a visit when I pass through town.

Buck

Meredith, Mae &, John Nolen, and Liz (making a quick drop-in from Charlottesville)

We were fortunate to catch Scott and tour the new b-ball facilities at Tech before he took off on some European adventure.  This guy lives the high-life.

Had a really fun night with Rick and fam at his place.  He's so much more relaxed during the summer.

Nice little Sunday lunch with Nick and Kimberly at their place - complete with sugar-free brownies!! (very thoughtful)

Another year, another pilgrimmage to Senoia for time with the Dukes.  Always guaranteed laughs with these two (and kids).

Not sure how we were convinced to strike this pose.

Mel and Chris for happy hour and dinner in Smyrna.

On a scale of 1-10, Marisa was probably an 8 in terms of excitement to see Kayce for happy hour.

5.  Spontaneous tour of Monday Night Brewing

     After lunch in Atlanta, we got a wild hair to stop by a new brewery called Monday Night near Georgia Tech campus.  We knew that they wouldn't be open for tasting, but wanted to see it anyways so we found the warehouse on a little industrial street.  While it was closed, we were greeted by a very friendly staff member (Carlan) who does the marketing and private events for them.  After a brief introduction and mentioning that we live in Hong Kong but are on a summer brewery tour she invited us in to have a couple of beers.  Why do awesome things randomly happen to us?  She let us sample their brews, talked about the history of the brewery and gave us a quick tour - all on a whim.  Needless to say, we were very impressed by their hospitality........and their beers are pretty good too.

Love the logo - appealing to the "young professional".  My recommendation is the "Blind Pirate Double IPA", the "Drafty Kilt Scotch Ale", and the "Eye Patch Ale w/ Serrano peppers.

--Justin