Scenes from the Weekend

Spent all day on Saturday wandering around Joshua Tree!

It was chilly, but awesome

Our friend Brandon came along with us

I'm really strong, guys

Finished up our hike right as the sun was setting

Stopped at the Joshua Tree gift ship for some cool stickers!

And found the magic school bus

And ended the night at the Joshua Tree Saloon before heading home

Look, In-n-Out is getting all festive for the holidays!

Checked out some new breweries on Sunday: Iron Fist and Barrel Harbor
(honestly, we weren't impressed with either of them)

So we went where we knew we could get some good beers: The Lost Abbey!

And ended the night at Stone Brewing Company!

Now that we are officially moving home to Pittsburgh in a few weeks, we are trying to squeeze in as many things as possible that we want to do here in California before we leave.  It is definitely bittersweet.  We are going to miss a lot of things about California, but we are also really excited to get home.  But with these few short weeks that we do have left here, we are making them count!  And also stocking up on all our favorite beers to take home with us to the east coast. ;)

Cheers!!*

We should probably start packing...

Scenes from the Weekend

Lee & Jess (my brother & sister-in-law) are visiting!

Kicking things off with dinner at Stone Brewing Company!

Mmm, Saturday morning donuts

Hiking along the coast in Laguna Beach

What a beautiful day!

A snapshot of the guys at the top of our hike

"Cards Against Humanity" - This game is RIDICULOUS!  Lee & Jess gave it to us as a gift and we have been playing it for the past 3 days straight.  It is hilarious!

Hanging at San Clemente, where Brett taught Lee how to surf!

We have been having SO much fun with Lee & Jess here!  They are still here and don't leave until Wednesday, so we have a few more days of fun ahead!

Happy (?) Monday!*

Dreaming of California...

Missing California today...

so I made a little video from our trip last year.

Enjoy!*

Can we go back now?!

Stone Brewing Company - Beer Garden

When you step onto the property of Stone Brewing Company, it feels like you are stepping out of your normal everyday world and into a whole separate beer paradise.  This feeling is especially strong when you walk out to the beer garden.  In my post yesterday about Stone's brewery tour and bistro, I mentioned that the beer garden was getting it's own separate post because it is just that awesome.

After we went on the brewery tour, sampled tastings, and ate dinner, we grabbed our beers and headed out to the beer garden.  If you ask me, this is pretty much the perfect way to digest a delicious meal and finish off your beers.  We slowly wandered around the gardens, chatting, sipping our beers, and just taking in the beautiful and relaxing surroundings.  The sun was setting, the air was warm, and we were happy.  We seriously didn't want to leave.

It was, as I said before, a beer lover's paradise.

Till next time!

Stone Brewing Company - Brewery Tour & Bistro

This morning, I woke up to snow falling from the sky.  It's the middle of April... why is it snowing?!  In order to not fall into deep cold-weather depression, let's focus on some sunny warm memories, shall we?

While we were in (warm, sunny, perfect) Southern California back in September, we ventured to a bunch of different breweries in the area.  I'm pretty sure I can speak for both Brett and I when I say our favorite was definitely Stone Brewing Company.  This brewery was AMAZING.  If you ever find yourself in Southern California, you MUST go.

We arrived at the brewery (in Escondido, CA) just in time for a brewery tour.  They give tours a couple times a day, but I've heard they can fill up pretty quickly, so it helps to get there early.  We lucked out, as there weren't a ton of people at the brewery when we arrived, so we were able to jump right in.  The tour started with a walk around the brewery, highlighting different steps in the brewing process, and ended with beer tastings (obviously, the best part!).

After the brewery tour and tastings, we were hungry!  We originally said we weren't going to eat dinner at Stone, but once we got in there and saw how awesome it was, we couldn't help ourselves!  The food was seriously delicious.  We wiped our plates clean.  (Um, I even forgot to take any pictures of our actual meals because we inhaled them so fast.... oops!  I promise, they were pretty.)

After dinner, we grabbed our beers and wandered around Stone's beer garden.  We just didn't want to leave this amazing place.  This beer garden is getting it's very own post because it was so awesome.  To be continued..