Sampling Beers at the City Tap House, Philadelphia

I'm cheating by writing this entry about 3+ weeks after the fact and back-dating the entry.  I wanted to document my visit to the City Tap House in West Philly, however, because I really like the place/space, food, and beer.

The City Tap House has a 100-Mile Happy Hour, which meant $2 off beers brewed within 100 miles of Philadelphia.  I couldn't convince the bartender that Belgium met this criterion so I wasn't able to take advantage of this offer immediately.  I'm glad I didn't, however, because I discovered some beers I really like.

I've always liked white and wheat beers.  I'd like to know the difference as they are both listed under the Wheat Beer section of menus but I'm too lazy to look it up.  (I suspect it's just two ways of describing the same thing.)  I also like Belgian beers and they - in my limited experience - seem to often fall in the white/wheat category.

The first beer I tried was Tripel Karmeliet.  I now know that Tripel is the style of beer.  According to Beer Advocate.com, which gave this beer an A-,

The name "Tripel" actually stems from part of the brewing process, in which brewers use up to three times the amount of malt than a standard Trappist "Simple." Traditionally, Tripels are bright yellow to gold in color, which is a shade or two darker than the average Pilsner. Head should be big, dense and creamy. Aroma and flavor runs along complex, spicy phenolic, powdery yeast, fruity/estery with a sweet finish.

This beer was really enjoyable, even though it was high in alcohol by volume (ABV) by my standards at 8.40%.  This beer is brewed in Buggenhout, Belgium.  I would love to write a review similar to other beer reviews I've seen about "the pour" and fragrance, etc. but I don't have it in me.  I just know I liked it.

The next beer I had was Kira, a white beer from Ghent, Belgium.  This beer was also given an A- by Beer Advocate.com.  At 4.70% ABV, it had less alcohol than Tripel Karmeliet, which was a good thing given my "light weight" status.  After I briefly perused the Kira website (in English, thankfully), I learned an interesting fact:

During the First World War, the traditional breweries of Belgium fell on hard times. Occupiers confiscated the copper kettles to be recycled into military appliances. Considerable investment was made after World War I and II to bring the (Kira) brewery (back).

I stopped my drinking to have a great beet salad with goat cheese.  It was terrific but, in hindsight, I should have eaten more.  It was also a lost opportunity to try some other menu temptations.  The City Tap House menu does not list just your standard bar food.  They have nightly specials that include herb-roasted rabbit, rosemary-mint lamb chops, suckling pig, etc.  They also have pizza, burgers, mussels, and other bar food.

Against my better judgment, I had a third beer.  Given that I don't drink very much, that was too much.  I didn't write down the name of the third beer but I think it was the Allentown Brew Works Space Monkey.  It was just OK...but it scored me the $2 happy hour discount...or at least I think it did.  (Happy Hour ends at 7pm and I'm not sure what time I ordered it.)

I definitely recommend the City Tap House for food and beer.  Even if the drink and food was average, I'd still recommend this place for the roof deck.  It was too hot to sit out there but I imagined what a great place it would be in the Fall.  I envision sitting by a fire pit in the very large space and feeling a slight chill in the air.  I will definitely make that happen and have one beer, two at the most...

Blackbird in Collingswood, NJ

Collingswood, NJ is a quick 20-minute ride (sans traffic) from my house and over the river that separates NJ and PA.  It is a dry town that reminds me of Bedford Falls (the town in Its a Wonderful Life) in the winter.  Simply put, it's a quaint, old town that has experienced a renaissance.  It is filled with restaurants for all budgets, and has quite a few good ones.  Blackbird was the most recent experience.

Blackbird is in a charming setting.  Big windows let in great light that makes the golden walls of the restaurant warm and glowing.  But what first grabs your attention is the way the table is set - the knives are set on their edges (cutting-side down) and they stay there easily because of their unique shape.  What was really special was that we dined there during Farm to Fork Week, an effort to "buy local" and support the farmers of the Garden State.  (For those of you who think "New Jersey" and see heavy industry and a jammed-packed turnpike in your mind, think again. Get down to South Jersey - home of the Pine Barrens, the largest open space between Boston and Richmond.)

Farm to Fork Week features either 3 or 4 courses (for $25 or $35, respectively), depending on the restaurant.  Blackbird had 4 courses with good selection in each.  There was - in no particular course order - the "Best of Philly 2009" gnocchi, soft-shelled crabs, scallops, veal, chicken, thai veggie rolls, great and creative salads, etc.  The food was presented beautifully and each course was good. 

I recently went to the Blackbird website and saw they also have a special Sunday - Thursday that is dinner for 4 for $59 (plus tax and tip).  I didn't investigate the menu but I made a mental note of it for future reference.  (Good food and BYOB - definitely worth a mental file entry.)

The chef, Alex Capasso is a young, bearded, sleeve-tattooed guy who came out to greet us and ask how everything was.  (He seemed very pleasant.)  This prompted a friend to mention Capasso recently opened another restaurant in Collingswood called West Side Gravy.  According to Philadelphia Magazine, this restaurant is

in the old Woolworth’s. The 3,000-square foot space, which has original elements like tin ceilings and schoolhouse lights, (seats) about 100...

There is also a deck out back.  The magazine went on to say that West Side Gravy serves

comfort food that is contemporary — like veal meatloaf with chanterelle mushrooms, truffled chicken pot pie, mac ‘n’ cheese, burgers — 'but a little gritty,' says Capasso. Most items (hover) in the $12-$15 range.

On the way home from Blackbird I kept humming "Mmmmm, mmmm, blackbird."  I couldn't keep the song out of my head but I still can't remember exactly what it is.  It's not the Beatles' or Sarah McLaughlin's Blackbird.  Maybe the next time I make my way over the river to Collingswood - maybe to West Side Gravy? -  it'll come back to me.

Enough Already

This isn't about wanderings and musings.  This is just about an exasperating day.

1. Torrential rain comes in the house. Now the less-than-year-old addition has a hole in the ceiling and water under the new hardwood floors.  There is also water saturating the rug upstairs in the "old" part of the house.
2. Train late. In a class and didn't want to be late.  Deluge slowed down public transportation.  I was late.
3. Broke my work laptop.  Note to self:  Don't pick up laptop by screen.  My apparently strong thumb cracked the screen.  Nice thumbprint.
4. Failed a work test.  I had to take two exams and passed only one.  I'm not surprised I failed the second one as I missed much of class.  Still...
5. Got socked in the eye by a colleague's backpack with a computer in it.  We were on a bus and it lurched.  He flew backward and his backpack cracked me on the bone above my left eye.  I have a nice bump now and it's red...and sore.
6. Sat in someone's body fluids.  As if the bus ride wasn't bad enough, considering my eye had a close-up of a backpack.  I smelled urine...or perhaps poop...or both.  Next thought:  "Oh no, it's coming from my area."  I stood up and noticed something horrible on my seat.  No way.

I was afraid to take the train home for fear of another calamity.  Fortunately, that trip was uneventful, unless you count my miserable failure with the crossword puzzle. 

I've had enough for one day.  Although it is supposed to rain buckets tonight...

Shawn Colvin and Joan Armatrading at Longwood Gardens

The mercury hit 101 degrees on Wednesday, which was actually one degree cooler than the day before.  It was a hot night to sit at an outdoor concert.  But considering the setting was in a botanical garden and the performers were occasionally accompanied by fountains reaching for the sky behind them, it was worth the steambath.

To enter the concert area, concert-goers walked through an arbor covered in Angel's Trumpets (Brugmansia, a native of South America).  These fragrant flowers come in several colors - white, yellow, pink, orange or red.  The flowers on the arbor were all white.  It was a magical sight with luminaries in the pathway under the arbor.  The beauty of these flowers hides their danger.  According to Wikipedia,

All parts of Brugmansia plants contain dangerous levels of poison and may be fatal if ingested by humans or animals, including livestock and pets. Contact with the eyes can cause pupil diliation or unequal pupil size. Some municipalities prohibit the purchase, sale, or cultivation of Brugmansia plants.

Yikes!  Beware of the beautiful flower; it has an evil side!

Shawn Colvin, a singer-songwriter, opened the show.  Her new album (ahhhh...CD) is called These Four Walls and is her first in several years.  The songs she performed from this new album were classic Shawn.  She even warned us she had about three uplifting songs...and that was it.  Her songs are thought-provoking stories; they make me want to be attentive and see how the story ends.  I was happy to see her perform - especially from our front-row seats.

Shawn only played for about 40 minutes.  After a seemingly long break - maybe a 1/2 hour or more - Joan Armatrading came out.  I think the audience was shocked to see her in long sleeves and pants.  She immediately said she was hot.  No kidding!

Joan is 59 years old and has been a performer for 30+ years.  Originally born in St. Kitts, she's lived in England since she was a young child.  Apparently she's more popular in England than here.  This is the 2nd (3rd?) time I've seen her.  The last was about 15 years ago.  She draws a crowd here in the States, for sure.  In fact, I think her Longwood Gardens performance was sold out.

Her music has been called "folksy-jazzy musings" according to one website.  Joan is so diverse and has experimented with music genres so much over the years that I would call her music folksy, bluesy, rockin', and occasionally soul-wrenching.  Regarding the latter, anyone with a pulse is moved by the song called The Weakness in Me.  (Melissa Etheridge covered this song years later and won a Grammy for it.)

I had a really great summer night.  I got to see a Grammy award winner (Shawn won two in 1996 for song and record of the year) and a nominee.  (Joan had three nominations. I can't believe she didn't win.  I better check on that again.)  The concert location was beautiful, I fell in love with a new flower, spent a quality night with my partner, and got to see several friends and acquaintances.  It all made the hot night well worth it.

4th of July Festivities and a Broken Bone

36 years ago today I was back home after the ER visit.  Diagnosis:  Broken collarbone.  It wasn't until about 25 years later that a chest x-ray showed I also broke one of the ribs that attaches to the sternum.  Ah!  That's why there's a big "knot" there.

36 years ago I was 10 years old.  I wanted to get one more motorcycle ride in before we ate burgers and dogs at our 4th of July gathering.  (Are 10-year-olds allowed to wander alone in 300+ acres to ride a motorcycle today?  Maybe in rural areas?  It seems like a different world now where that doesn't seem likely.)

I was going too fast up a steeply banked turn and went over the handlebars...apparently.  I don't remember that part but I see some parts of it as if it were yesterday.  I regained consciousness when I thought I heard a motorcycle and I remember being afraid it was going to run me over.  I also remember it was very hot and I had to walk home.  I couldn't take my helmet off because I had no use of my right arm and I was holding it with my left.  My head was on fire from the heat and I was thirsty.

I eventually saw my 11-year-old brother who was walking to find me.  I learned later they thought I was gone too long.  (I wonder how long I was lying in the dirt?)  The only thing he wanted to know was, "WHERE IS THE MOTORCYCLE?!"  I told him and he went to get it.

I didn't cry this whole time.  I just wanted to get home.  When I made it up the last hill and entered the far end of the backyard I saw my dad.  I uttered words that people teased me about for years to come.  "Daddy, carry me." 

My father looked at my collarbone and told me it was broken as he could see it hanging down.  He picked me up and carried me to a chair on the patio.  Someone - I'm not sure who - took my helmet off.  I remember how good that felt; it was instant relief.  My hair was soaked.

I think I must have said that I was really thirsty because my paternal grandmother went in the house pretty quickly to get me some water.  She came out in such a hurry that she spilled the water all over my shirt.  It actually felt good.  I remember she said "Oh shit."  I think I must remember that because I had never heard her curse. The second time she made the trip to the kitchen I was able to actually drink the water.

I rested just a few minutes and my dad said it was time to go the hospital.  When I was getting in the car I remember a family friend called Skippy saying, "Wow, if I were 9 I'd be crying right now."  I remember feeling proud and then saying, "I'm 10."

I only cried a little when they set my collarbone and put me in a figure-8 brace.  They gave me some Darvon for pain at the hospital.  That eventually proved to be more painful than the break.

I threw up all night.  Apparently the Darvon was too strong or I had a sensitivity to it.  For some reason I slept on the sofa that night.  Maybe because I started to get sick before I went to bed?  I remember my poor father trying to sleep in a La-Z-Boy so he could keep an eye on me and help me when I threw up.  He had to work the next day and he was up with me much of the night.  

I eventually went back to the hospital because I was so ill.  Although, I think it was actually the next day that I went.  I remember a very startled doctor looking at what I threw up in the basin.  He obviously thought it was blood but it was cherry Kool-aid.

I started riding motorcycles when I was about 6 years old.  I loved it and was very good at it.  Probably the best I've ever been at anything.  I also felt free.  I could always jump on my 'cycle and go fast, be in the woods, or challenge myself to some feat.  Perhaps what I loved about it the most is that it allowed me to wander.

I'm remembering that 10-year-old and the motorcycle tonight.  The motorcycle was just destroyed in a fire this past year.  My family held on to it all of these years.  It was special to me and my brothers as we all learned to ride on it;  I wish I had a picture.  I remember going out to the shed out back at my mother's to look at it every now and then.  It made me smile.  It was so small but it went so fast.  I miss it right now.  Or, I suppose, I really miss all that it represented and still reminds me of. 

Happy 4th of July.