Best breweries to visit in Grand Rapids? I'm assuming Founders is a must stop. Anywhere else?

posted by justincredible

Best breweries to visit in Grand Rapids? I'm assuming Founders is a must stop. Anywhere else?

I don’t know what the brewery/tours are like, but HopCat has some damn good food. Get the crack fries and thank me later.

About an hour south is Belles, which I will check out one day. Love pretty much all their beers.

posted by Laley23

I don’t know what the brewery/tours are like, but HopCat has some damn good food. Get the crack fries and thank me later.

About an hour south is Belles, which I will check out one day. Love pretty much all their beers.

We stopped at HopCat for lunch. I'll check back in once I try the fries. I ordered the Nashville hot chicken sandwich and fries. 

Got a Huma Lupa Licious draft. Wife got Soft Parade. Love me some Shorts beer. 

posted by justincredible

Best breweries to visit in Grand Rapids? I'm assuming Founders is a must stop. Anywhere else?

I enjoyed Bell's more. Had less corporate feel.

HopCat fries were good. Food in general was good, thanks for the reco.

posted by Commander of Awesome

I enjoyed Bell's more. Had less corporate feel.

We could've gone to Kalamazoo but decided on Grand Rapids. We'll go to founder's for a beer, just because, but there are a few others we're gonna check out first. 

Went to Grand Rapids Brewing Co (awesome), Brewery Vivant (awesome), Founders (very good), and The Mitten Brewing Co (very good). Grand Rapids is a great beer city, for sure. Got pizza at the Mitten and it was very good. The pizza we got was called Da Meat Hook, it was an obvious choice. 

Good to know on those breweries. I knew Founders, but the rest would’ve been a guess.

Just bought my entry permit for my Boundary Waters trip next month. Looking forward to my annual solo trip of solitude.

posted by justincredible

Just bought my entry permit for my Boundary Waters trip next month. Looking forward to my annual solo trip of solitude.

Leaving for Philly and NYC next week. We plan to hit all of the touristy stuff in both cities since we've never been (Rocky steps, Liberty Bell, Central Park, 9/11 Memorial, etc.) We will also be going to Citizens Bank Park, Yankees Stadium and Citi Field. Are there any under the radar things we should check out in either city? Any must visit restaurants? We won't be in Philadelphia long, and my sister and her girlfriend live there and will probably know where to take us, so I'm more in interested in New York recs.

In NYC we're staying near Amsterdam and 105th on the Upper West Side. 

posted by Fab4Runner

Leaving for Philly and NYC next week. We plan to hit all of the touristy stuff in both cities since we've never been (Rocky steps, Liberty Bell, Central Park, 9/11 Memorial, etc.) We will also be going to Citizens Bank Park, Yankees Stadium and Citi Field. Are there any under the radar things we should check out in either city? Any must visit restaurants? We won't be in Philadelphia long, and my sister and her girlfriend live there and will probably know where to take us, so I'm more in interested in New York recs.

In NYC we're staying near Amsterdam and 105th on the Upper West Side. 

Best sandwich in the country is at Reading Terminal Market at Dinic’s. In general, I love that market. We always stay across the street from there at the Marriott. I also like Tony Lukes by the stadiums. Better than Gino’s or Pats, plus it’s an easy drive (or like 25 min walk) from the sports complex.

Id also strongly recommend getting a ticket with assigned time to get a tour of Independence Hall. You can see the room for first continental congress etc without one, but it’s worth it to see the actual hall. Then just spend an hour or 2 walking around the area. It’s just awesome if you’re at all into US History.

posted by Laley23

Best sandwich in the country is at Reading Terminal Market at Dinic’s. In general, I love that market. We always stay across the street from there at the Marriott. I also like Tony Lukes by the stadiums. Better than Gino’s or Pats, plus it’s an easy drive (or like 25 min walk) from the sports complex.

Id also strongly recommend getting a ticket with assigned time to get a tour of Independence Hall. You can see the room for first continental congress etc without one, but it’s worth it to see the actual hall. Then just spend an hour or 2 walking around the area. It’s just awesome if you’re at all into US History.

Excellent, thank you! 

posted by Fab4Runner

Leaving for Philly and NYC next week. We plan to hit all of the touristy stuff in both cities since we've never been (Rocky steps, Liberty Bell, Central Park, 9/11 Memorial, etc.) We will also be going to Citizens Bank Park, Yankees Stadium and Citi Field. Are there any under the radar things we should check out in either city? Any must visit restaurants? We won't be in Philadelphia long, and my sister and her girlfriend live there and will probably know where to take us, so I'm more in interested in New York recs.

In NYC we're staying near Amsterdam and 105th on the Upper West Side. 

When you guys going to be in NYC?  I'm headed there next week as well.

posted by O-Trap

When you guys going to be in NYC?  I'm headed there next week as well.

We'll be there 17-21.

Heading to Valentine, Nebraska Thursday for a wedding--dreading the drive (air fare was crazy and we'd have to rent a car and then drive another 4-1/2 hours), but hey--it's family.

Heading out on my annual Boundary Waters solo trip tomorrow. Heading to Chicago for the night, then driving to Minnesota on Saturday. Hoping to play the top 2 public courses in Minnesota on Saturday and Sunday, The Quarry at Giants Ridge and The Wilderness at Fortune Bay. Then 5 days and 5 nights of solitude in the Minnesota wilderness. 

Dorian derailed our year long planned family trip to Myrtle Beach, but my wife was able to find (on Sunday morning, nonetheless!) a three bedroom suite at a resort hotel in Pigeon Forge with awesome accommodations, so we diverted our trip there. It was 90 degrees and sunny all week, and this place had a HUGE waterpark area for the kids, as well as a lazy river and pool for adults as well. There was plenty to do in the area (even though with grandchildren 3yrs, 19 months and 10 months old, we stayed away from Dollywood-lol), such as Wonderworks COSI, Island at Pigeon Forge amusement park, etc., that was all within a mile of where we stayed. We made lemonade out of lemons, that's for sure, and had a trip we'll always remember.

Holy shit.  With those age gaps, were you like an eager substitute waiting to get in the game, and as soon as the procreation horn sounded, you sprinted in?

posted by justincredible

Heading out on my annual Boundary Waters solo trip tomorrow. Heading to Chicago for the night, then driving to Minnesota on Saturday. Hoping to play the top 2 public courses in Minnesota on Saturday and Sunday, The Quarry at Giants Ridge and The Wilderness at Fortune Bay. Then 5 days and 5 nights of solitude in the Minnesota wilderness. 

Any updates or pics?

posted by ernest_t_bass

Any updates or pics?

Here you go: https://photos.app.goo.gl/Gw7d4V5GZBHtFPLU7

Didn't take many photos this year due to the weather.

The trip was as enjoyable as ever. Made a stop in Chicago on Friday night to hang out with a friend. Got up and on the road at 6:30am to get to Minnesota in time to play the #1 public course in the state (The Quarry at Giant Ridge). The course was awesome. Spent all day Sunday in Ely, MN, which is the small town I always enter the wilderness from. I'm usually rolling into town in the evening on Sunday, so it was nice getting in in the morning and spending the day checking out the shops and restaurants.

Weather was rainy for the first half of my time in the wilderness. My 3.5 hour travel in on Monday morning was dry but cloudy, and as soon as I got to my campsite it started to rain. The wind was also pretty bad (steady 15-20mph) for most of the trip. It pretty much rained Monday - Wednesday afternoon so I spent a lot of time reading and hanging out at the campsite. No big deal. Wednesday evening into Thursday were clear and sunny, which is the weather I'm used to on this trip. There were a few bigger storms that ended up missing me, luckily. It did downpour for about 5 hours non-stop from 2am-7am on Thursday morning. But once it stopped it cleared up and was sunny the rest of the day.

I'm already starting to plan next year's trip.

Pretty awesome.  

posted by ernest_t_bass

Holy shit.  With those age gaps, were you like an eager substitute waiting to get in the game, and as soon as the procreation horn sounded, you sprinted in?

99.99999% sure those are grand kids lol

Moving to Italy next week.  Anyone have recs for Naples? I'll take any Italian recommendations.  I have been to Florence, Siena, Venice, Rome, and Milan.

You're MOVING to Italy? Damn, that's a big step.