While this trip was primarily concerned with baseball (driving to and attending games did indeed take up most of our time), we were still able to see some of the cities we visited. Since we’re both hungry beer nerds, we focused mainly on eating and drinking the best food and beer we could find. With the help of recommendations by local friends, I think we did a pretty good job of that.
Stop 1: Cincinnati
Pulling into the city, Cincinnati seemed a little rough around the edges. We saw a lot of broken windows, decrepit buildings, graffiti, and overgrown lawns. We stayed in the Walnut Hills neighborhood, and it was pretty quiet. A quick Uber to Over-the-Rhine brought out some of the city’s character, and as we bar hopped, we really started to enjoy ourselves. We started at Rhinegeist Brewing, which has decent beer but a great atmosphere. The rooftop had a nice view of the area, complemented by the warm summer air. We were told to check out Vine and Race streets as a good place to eat and drink, so we went to town at Bee’s Barbecue, which was excellent. The bartender told us that a cool scene for alcohol and service industry folks was Longfellow, which did not disappoint. It was reasonably priced with great bartenders making excellent drinks for a crowd that did not stop coming. It was entertaining just to watch the masters at work.
Stop 2: Minneapolis
This city was great, made all the better by our fantastic tour guide, my college buddy, Nick. We had the first day and a half of our stay free, so were able to see more of Minneapolis than the other stops. One amusing aspect of our tour was the new stadium for the Vikings, located right in the middle of the city. It’s beautiful new age design aside, we pulled up right outside the stadium, parked, and took some photos with the statues outside. Trying to do that in Boston at say, Fenway, would incur a symphony of car horns and expletives from hurried drivers, yet there was hardly anybody around in Minneapolis. We stopped by Electric Fetus, a cool albeit pricey music shop with an expansive vinyl selection. For dinner, we stopped by Matt’s Bar, the alleged home of the Juicy Lucy burger, a Twin Cities staple which features cheese packed inside of two burger patties. Regardless of who did it first, Matt’s Bar does it perfectly, and it’s a must-try. We also visited Blackstack, Pryes, and Surly Brewing Companies. Surly was a particularly cool brewery. Nick explained that it was one of the older craft breweries in the city, opening its doors in 2006, and not as exciting as some of the other places popping up. However, It was my favorite stop in the city, with several delicious but simple options, good pizza, a ton of space, and even a small stage. All the breweries we visited were fun in their own way, showcasing only a small portion of the ever-growing Minnesota craft beer industry.
Stop 3: Chicago
While we saw a total of three games in Chicago, we only stayed two nights. Most of our stops were limited to the bars in our immediately vicinity, which was the Magnificent Mile neighborhood. We went to a few bars, including Headquarters barcade, a great place to play classic arcade games while drinking craft beer. Although we tried plenty of beers and breweries that were new to us, this was the one city where we didn’t seek out authentic Chicago-type things to do. Both of us have spent time in Chicago in the past, so that stop was mostly about baseball. Also, since we were there midweek and our free time only came at night after the games, our options for activities (like the Oktoberfest we were hunting for) were rather limited.
Stop 4: Milwaukee
We loved just about every stop on this trip, but I think Milwaukee might be the favorite. We were in the city for less than 24 hours, but we packed a lot into that time. We started our day at the Milwaukee Public Market with a coffee, then made our way over to Café Benelux to sample their amazing selection of both local and Belgian beers. From there, we strolled through the city over to SafeHouse, a speakeasy with a spy theme. When we didn’t have a password, they had us dance like bunnies to get in, which is when the applause broke out and we realized everyone at the bar was watching us on camera. It was a little early in the day for their performers, but the place is much bigger than you first guess and seems like a really fun spot to spend a few hours on the weekend. Then it was off to the Milwaukee Brat House for dinner. As I mentioned in the previous blog, most bars and restaurants on MLK Jr Drive offer free rides to the ballpark, so we filled up on beer and brats (probably the best sausage I’ve ever had, by the way), and hopped on the bus. The fans were exceedingly friendly and passionate, and I really can’t wait to go back.
Stop 5: Michigan
We stayed one night in Kalamazoo, a quick stop to cut down on the drive from Chicago to Detroit. We drove from Milwaukee straight to Wrigley Field, watched the Cubs game, and then drove off to Michigan. Much of our drive involved long stretches of highway cutting through rural farmland, but most of it was beautiful. The ride going in, out, and through northern Illinois and Michigan was probably the least aesthetically pleasing part of the trip. Lots of factories and run-down buildings peppered the landscape, and it was the only part of the trip where we noticed any air pollution. It felt like a quick trip into the past. Kalamazoo itself was a quiet college town, and the only stop we made was to Bell’s Brewery. Fatigue was starting to wear on us at this point, and while the beer and food were both fine, neither was anything special.
Like the day before, we drove straight to the game and left immediately after. Comerica Park, the Tigers home stadium, was very cool, but that’s about all we saw of Detroit. It was cold, wet, and gray, and the steam spiraling up out of the sewer grates made it seem like we’d be walking onto the set of a crime thriller if we stayed until dusk.
That wraps up my double header of baseball blogs! While we still have several months left in the US, my long, fun run of unemployment will be coming to an end next week. That will be the topic of my next post. Until then…
Beer and Diplomacy 