parents visit

It has been a crazy month so far and this weekend and next weekend will continue the run. This weekend the parents came down for the annual visit. They hung out in Raleigh as usual leading up to the weekend. On Friday we had Jen’s engagement party at Scott’s house. A lot of Scott and Jen’s friends were there as well as Mark and Michelle. I brought over a growler of Sierra Nevada Southern Harvest Ale to share. There was food from Uncle Julio’s as well as cake. Lots of beer and food. Beth, Matt, and I crashed out at Mark and Michelle’s place that night.

Mark made an excellent breakfast on Saturday. We decided to go on a beer run and look for Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA. I heard it was supposed to be released on Thursday or so. There are only 20 cases coming to Virginia (or Northern Virginia depending on who you ask). It is a very sought after beer especially since the 2010 version was dumped down the drain as seen on the Brewmasters TV show. I was hoping that Total Wine or Whole Foods may have just gotten their case that day or still had some in stock. On the trip out I made some phone calls and found out it was either sold out or not yet in stock at all locations. Those that were still getting it in were only getting one case and it would be during next week. I assumed there was no way I was going to be getting 120 Minute this year. Quite the bummer. We did pick up some fine brews for the evening though.

We also picked up a bushel of med-large live crabs. After some appetizers we opened my last bottle of Infinium to celebrate Matt’s birthday. Only a few ounces for nine people but it was still tasty. Then Scott steamed up the crabs and I ate a lot. First time in two years. After dinner we drank my two bottles of SAVOR Flowers and people seemed to enjoy it. I got a few comments that it went well with the cake. The SAVOR Flowers appeared to lose a lot of the flower taste and smell but was still present. We went back to Mark and Michelle’s again Saturday night. We played Set and I actually participated and won a round this time. We also ordered a pizza against Mark’s recommendation and it was the best pizza ever. On Sunday we lazed around a bit and waited for my parents to arrive and check out the aquarium. I was dropped off at the metro and went home to relax for a bit before dinner.

The parents, Scott, and Jen came over before dinner to check out the new TV and entertainment center. We watched a few 3D shows from On Demand. Everyone seemed to enjoy the 3rd dimension. We had dinner at Fire Works. I had a Flying Dog Pale Ale on cask and it was very delicious. I can only assume because it was so fresh. It was dry hopped but tasted wet hopped. I could have drank a few of those.

The parents left on Monday and that left one more big weekend coming up.