"It all begins with a unicorn..."

I spent yesterday (Saturday) putzing around the apartment. It was a lovely, quiet day, but for the other half of my weekend, I needed an outing. I didn't feel like doing something that would be a big production and require a lot of planning and time on the road. It didn't take long for me to settle on picking a brewery to visit.

I was originally looking forward to moving to New Hampshire because of the wine trail. Then, I moved here and discovered that New Hampshire makes terrible wine.

Sorry, New Hampshire. But it's true.

Beer, on the other hand, New Hampshire does really well. I picked a brewery out towards the seacoast that was within an hour's drive, and set off on my way.

Smuttynose Brewery was the right choice. The location is perfect - rather than tucked away in an industrial park, like most breweries, Smuttynose is a destination in and of itself. There is a disc golf course on site, corn hole, picnic tables set up so you can enjoy a beer out on the lawn. They even have hops growing as part of the landscaping.

"Do any of you home brew? No?
Great, then I can tell you anything.
Beer making starts with unicorns..."

The tour was free, though the tasting was $4. A nice touch were the donation boxes where you could choose a local charity to support (the local humane society, or CASA). There was no hard sell on these; donations were truly optional.

My tour guide was Matt, who really loves beer. He was friendly and personable, and really offered us a lot of his time. This is the rare brewery where I liked every sample. Usually there is at least one beer that doesn't do it for me, but I liked all four that I tried today.

Mostly, I liked the ambiance. Beer people are good people.

This barn pre-dates the Civil War
and was made without nails. Just part
of the ambiance at Smuttynose.

As I was enjoying my samples, I asked what was nearby, in terms of places to wander. It turns out I was in a beach town! I drove a few miles east and voila - the beach. And not the beach the way Maine does the beach, where there are some rocky cliffs, the ocean, and weather so cold there's no point going anywhere near the ocean. This was the bonafide beach. There were people frolicking in the surf, fried foods to be had, tacky t-shirt shops galore, people wearing inappropriate swimwear. I was in heaven.

I wanted the beach experience, and I found out - only an hour
away from home! I took a lovely walk with my feet in the surf, and then walked back to the car by way of the tacky t-shirt shops, and was distracted by the call of a seafood shack. I haven't eaten fried food in so long I don't remember when I last ate fried food, but today, I ate clam strips that were so fresh I'm pretty sure they
were harvested this morning. I ate those clam strips while sitting in a plastic chair, listening to reggae music, watching the surf crash into the beach, and breathing in the ocean air.

I do love the beach.