Beer travel for Memorial Day: 10 options and more

by Jamie Rhein on

Head to any state and you’ll find a favorite local beer with quite the following. At HalogenLife, Kyle Anderson has come up with a favorite 10 beers in 10 states list to add perfection to a Memorial Day weekend trip. The list doesn’t mean you should drink and drive your way across America. Instead, use it as a guide to the best beers whether you’re beaching it, going on a picnic, or throwing a backyard barbecue.

Read on for Anderson’s suggestions as well as other best beer options.

I’m quite fond of Barley’s Brewing Company in Columbus. You’ll have to go to this microbrewery restaurants to partake, however–unless someone brings you a sealed glass jug of it like a friend of mine once did for her husband. Her main job was figuring out how to keep it cold long enough to make it to Sturbridge, MA. This was back when a glass jug filled with liquid could be a carry-on bag.

My favorite beer and food pairing is Barley’s Pilsner and sauerkraut balls. For a beer lover’s experience, order a sampling of each arranged from the lightest to the darkest. It’s a bit hard to find parking, but here’s a tip. Park at the North Market and head in to buy Jose Madrid salsa and chips. Get your parking ticket stamped, and voila, parking has just become affordable. By the way, this is a family friendly place.

For beer to take on the road, try Great Lakes Brewing Company. Brewed in Cleveland, the beer never disappoints. Burning River is the one we bring home the most. Great Lakes Brewing also has a brew pub in the Ohio City section of Cleveland, but it’s also easy to find at grocery stores and many convenience stores across Ohio.

If you’re driving through Montana, try Bayern Brewing Company, the only German-style microbrewery in the Rockies. The brewery is located in Missoula, but you can find its beer elsewhere. Every summer when we head to Montana, this beer is one thing we look forward to. Not the only thing. One thing. Try Juergen’s Bayern Pilsner.

Karen, the Gadling non-beer drinker vouches for St. Arnold’s Brewing Company in Houston and expressed disappointment it wasn’t on the list. Now it is. St. Arnold’s is touted as Texas’s oldest craft brewery. You don’t have to be at the brewery to partake On Thursday nights from how through the summer, you can quench that beer thirst while listening to a Thursday night concert at Discovery Green. Because this beer is also bottled, you can take it with you when you head out of Texas. Before you go, take in a public brewery tour at 1:00 on Saturday. Tours are $5 and included beer tasting and a souvenir glass.

Here’s Anderson’s list. The article gives a run-down of what makes each beer a standout. Enjoy a beer adventure this Memorial Day. Just don’t drink and drive.

Searching out spring: Head to a home and garden show at these 11 locations

by Jamie Rhein on

Paul Busse, the creator of the most fantastic garden train displays that grace major botanical gardens in the U.S., received a career boost when he made an award-winning display for AmeriFlora, an international garden show. With the temperatures taking a nose dive this week, and the gray of winter lingering, I’m thinking that a trip to a garden show may be a perfect way to pep up. They’re where top landscapers and gardeners strut their stuff.

Spring does begin in March, but at a garden show, it comes sooner than later. Gorgeous flowers and plants arranged in landscapes offer a respite from outdoors. Also, they’re perfect for picking up ideas for creating a sanctuary back home.

Here are eleven different events beginning this coming weekend and through March:

  • Columbus, Ohio. Central Ohio Home & Garden Show: Feb. 28-March 8. With the Oscars still fresh, here’s some movie magic. There are themed gardens inspired by movies like Raiders of the Lost Ark; Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon; Mama Mia, Lord of the Rings, Cast Away, Mary Poppins and more. I’m thinking China, Greece, a tropical island, Egypt, Great Britain and so on.
  • Fort Wayne Home & Garden Show: Feb. 26-March 1. If you have any junk and want to see if it’s an antique worth something, bring it along. A canned good will give you $1 off admission.
  • Philadelphia Flower Show: March 1-8. This year’s show is themed Bella Italia. Italian wine, food, and Italian gardens.
  • San Antonio Home & Garden Show: Has a 15-ton sand scuplture and birds of prey demonstration besides garden details.
  • Buffalo Home & Garden Show: Feb. 28-March 8. Has a staycation element to show you how to create a garden that makes you not mind staying closer to home.
  • Charlotte, N.C. Southern Spring Home & Garden Show: March 4-8. For a touch of Japan, check out the bonsai display and Ikebana flower arrangements.
  • Minneapolis Home & Garden Show: March 4-8. This show includes nine gardens. Get tickets off the Web site and save $3 a piece.
  • The same organization puts on the Home and Garden Shows in these cities in Texas. Dallas Home and Garden Show, March 6-8; Ft. Worth Home Show: March 13-15; Houston Home and Garden Show, March 20-22. Access all through texashomeandgarden.com. Look for vacation and leisure related displays at the show in Dallas.
  • St. Louis: Builders Home & Garden Show: March 5-8. Like the other shows, this one has a kid’s area to keep children busy. Also has an entertainment stage.

Eateries near an airport

by Jamie Rhein on

We’ve covered the best places to eat inside certain airports, and have given a big nod to the In-N-Out Burger just a mile from LAX Airport in Los Angeles, but here are other dining options in case you have a layover and want to find food that’s worth a bit of effort to get to.

In this Washington Post article, Joe Brancatelli gives a rundown of major airports in the U.S. and where he heads to eat if he has some time. In-N-Out Burger is one of his suggestions.

Here are the first 10 of his other suggestions, along with their distance from the airport. If you’re flying out of one of these cities, I’d also consider these as ideas for where to eat before you head off on an airplane. There’s nothing like a good meal to help face the uncertainties of air travel. Eating close to the airport helps food digest instead of attempting a mad dash across a city to catch a plane.

  • Atlanta—The Brake Pad. This is a converted gas station that serves up “pub grub.” It’s four miles from the airport.
  • Chicago— Here are two suggestions for Chicago-style pizza that are not at O’Hare airport. The Rosemont branch of Giordano’s is four miles from the airport and the Park Ridge branch of Lou Malnati’s is seven miles. If you’re heading to or away from Midway, try Giordano’s on South Cicero. It borders the airport. About five miles away is Lou Malnati’s on West Ogden.
  • Charlotte–Eight miles from the Charlotte/Douglas Airport is Villa Antonio on Southern Blvd. where you can find a pork sandwich, Italian style.
  • Dallas/Ft. Worth–Brancatelli suggests taking at 10 mile drive for the Mexican food at Via Real in Las Colinas.
  • Denver–I concur with Brancatelli about this airport. There is not much close by. He did find Blue Bay Asian Café and recommends the Thai food and the dumplings.
  • Detroit–To find good food here, you don’t need to go any further than the Westin hotel that’s connected to the McNamara terminal at the airport. Dema’s serves decent food any time of day.
  • Honolulou–If you can call ahead, try Mitch’s Fish Market and Sushi Bar. It’s only a mile from the airport’s runways. I’d say you can walk, but it might be further than it sounds.
  • Houston— Chez Nous is in a converted Pennecostal church and dishes out French food worth the seven mile drive from Bush Intercontinental Airport.
  • Los Angeles–Along with the In-n-Out Burger, Brancatelli suggests Mariposas at the Hacienda Hotel for Mexican dishes and breakfast. It’s only two miles from LAX.
  • Minneapolis/St. Paul–Café Levain, about eight miles from the airport only serves dinner.

For Brancatelli’s suggestions for New York/Newark, Philadelphia, Salt Lake City, Phoenix and San Francisco, click here. [The photo is from Mitch’s Fish Market and Sushi Bar.]