Worst. Beer. Ever.

Steve came for a visit so we took him into Boston to see the sights.  One of our stops was Fenway Park.  As long as we were there we stopped across the street at Boston Beer Works for some dinner.  The beer served there is brewed locally and can get a little...creative, but they offer a pretty good description in the menu so you know what you're getting.  For example Watermelon Ale, with a "natural watermelon essence," doesn't sound good.  I played it safe.

Haymarket Hefe-Weizen: A German-style wheat beer brewed with authentic Weizen yeast producing a beer with a spicy flavor and aroma.  Sounds pretty good, right?  It's at least safe, no crazy fruit.

After one sip I was confused.  What is this flavor I'm tasting?  It couldn't be.

I had Ben taste it, he tasted the same thing (without me offering a suggestion).

Maybe we're crazy.  That's just not something you put in beer.  So Steve had a taste and came up with the same ingredient.  Bananas.

Why would you ruin a perfectly good beer by making it taste like bananas?  And why would you not warn people in the menu that they were getting BANANA beer!?!  What kind of person thinks describing banana flavor as a "spicy flavor" serves as an accurate description?  It was okay at first, weird, but okay.

After sipping about 1/3 of it I definitely didn't like it.  I felt bad though so I wanted to make it look like I didn't hate it; I had to drink 3/4 of it then I could pretend I was full and couldn't finish.  By half-way I actually shuddered with every drink and I was chasing it with food to cover up the flavor.  I managed to get it down to about 1/3 left and had to quit.

I don't even think Ojo could drink it.

Ojo

Ben and I got a pet back in September as wedding gift from Oscar and Joanne.  While we were in the middle of opening boxes of plates, utensils, and towels we opened a stuffed armadillo.  He (we think it's a he) is named Ojo after Oscar and Joanne.  He has a drinking problem and pretty much just lies on his back all day.  At Christmas Ojo was feeling festive and donned a Santa hat. He really wants to wear a Tigers hat during baseball season, but we haven't found one in his size yet.

This may seem like a very strange wedding gift, but there is a story behind it.  If you haven't picked up on Ben's fascination with animals already then you haven't been reading the blog.  He stops to watch wild animals all the time.  We visited Oscar and Joanne in Texas a few years ago and saw an armadillo waddling around.  Ben was very intrigued because he had never even seen a picture of one before.  They're common in Texas so Ben's excitement was pretty comical for our hosts.  When it came time to get us a wedding gift, Oscar couldn't think of anything better than a stuffed, beer-drinking armadillo.

It's pretty much the best pet you can have.  You don't have to feed him, take him for walks, clean his tank, or even water him.  All he needs is a bottle of beer.  When we first got him he was drinking Lone Star, but since we got home from Hawaii he won't put down the Longboard.

Busy Times

Another delayed posting due to photography.

Between buying a new mountain bike Wednesday, a rehearsal dinner on Thursday, having Becky in town Friday, the brunch-ecue on Saturday, and Alec and Michelle's wedding...we had a busy week. 

Ben's sweet new ride

Thursday we were invited to the rehearsal dinner at Michelle's house.  It was a lot of fun and we got to visit with Sue, Joe, Dustin, Alec, and Michelle which was nice since we knew all of them would be busy on Saturday.  Plus Michelle's family is very lively which is always fun.

Friday evening we drove up to Peabody (Pee-b-dee) to pick up Becky and have dinner with Dave, Laura, Keri, and Jason at the Seawitch.  For those of you who don't know, the Seawitch is a famous landmark; it has been used for navigation by travelers for centuries (or at least since they put the crazy jug handle in).

On Saturday Liisa, Paul, Izzy, Donna, Mike, Connie, Scott and the rest of the crew from Friday came over for a brunch-ecue.  (There was some confusion as to whether this was a barbecue or brunch so it was deemed a brunch-ecue.)  After some visiting and a quick tour of the house Ben fired up the grill while Pepper (our neighbor's dog) impressed everyone with her fetching abilities.

Ben holding Izzy

We missed the terrified look on his face when she ended up in his arms, not that I blame him (babies are scary).  By mid-afternoon everyone headed back to the hotel to get ready for the wedding.

The happy couple

The ceremony was really nice (no surprise) and the church was very impressive.  After things wrapped up at the church we headed to the reception which as about 30 minutes away and spent the rest of the night having a good time.  There was Portuguese music mixed in throughout the evening which was a lot of fun for those of us brave enough to give it a try.  As you can see below, Jason and Ben were not brave.

We have no idea what we're supposed to be doing

Later that night, Jason and I accidentally made Becky the center of attention for the bouquet toss.  The DJ learned her name while chasing her around our table trying to drag her to the dance floor.   He ended up coaxing her by name in front of the whole reception.  (Sorry Beck!)  Mike and Sue got everyone to join them for "Shout" and Ben even ventured on the dance floor for a few non-slow songs.   By the time we got home we were beat, and we still had to get up before 6am to have Becky back at the hotel to catch her ride home.

Now that the weekend is over I need a nap.