Yuengling Brewery Tour

NOTE:  I updated three days in the blog tonight.  Check each day for some great photos and stories.  **********


Once again we were up bright and early, this time to make the drive in to take the tour of the Yuengling Brewery in Pottsville, PA.   It is the oldest continually operating brewery in the U.S. and has been producing some of the best beer available since 1829.  They still use the original building built back then and have modernized it over the years, but it really looks it's age.  The family is in its fifth generation of brewing the beer. 

The tour started at 10:00 AM and we arrived just in time; however, since the number of people waiting for the tour was so large, they split us into two groups.  There was only a short wait and then it was our turn.  

Unlike other brewery tours, Yuengling gets you up close and personal on their tour.  No plastic windows in front of you to keep you away from equipment or anything like that.  Oh, did I tell you that there were over 160 stairs and a very steep climb up a side street involved in the tour? 

Grant & Gerry by old beer barrels.

The cave below was dug out of the side of the mountain when they first started brewing beer in 1829.  It was dug out by hand and took ten years to reach the current size.  The caves went back three city blocks into the side of the mountain and are limestone caves that hold a constant 54 degrees year around.  They don't use the caves anymore since more modern equipment has taken their place, but it was neat to see how they used to compensate for the different temperatures in the area.

Aging, fermentation and storage cave.

Two happy Yuengling beer drinkers.

I went on about one half of the tour and then when they started going up and down stairs in the very hot brewing area, I decided to skip that part and go right to the tasting room.  Of course, I had to wait for the rest of the group to join me, but by then the stairs were working on my right knee and telling me to stop.  I did!

After the tour we stopped at the Roma Restaurant in Pottsville and ordered a small pizza for Grant, a cajun chicken sandwich for Gerry and I had a calzone with ham.  We were all amazed when the food came to the table.  The portions were huge and the calzone alone could have fed us all.  Doggy bags were the order of the day and we ate the leftovers for dinner.  Except for the calzone, which we still couldn't finish and saved the remainder for another lunch.  I couldn't believe the size of the orders.  HUGE!

We stopped on the way back to the campground to pick up a geocache and then came back and rested for a while.  Grant wanted to go to the swimming hole and we all went there for a couple hours.  He met some kids there and played with them until it was time to go back to the campsite for dinner.  See above.  

After dinner we made a campfire out of wet wood and had a devil of a time getting it started.  I finally cut some starter pieces and got them a blazing before adding more firewood.  Grant fixed some marshmallows in the fire and we stuffed ourselves with them.  This was Grant's introduction to "real" camping.  Since we only have electric, our water usage is limited and he even got to experience a shower in the bath house.  He didn't think that was too bad.  By that time it was the end of the day and we called it quits.

That was our day, how was yours.

Locust Lake State Park, PA

Today was the big day for the next phase of Grant's trip with us in the motorhome.  We all were beat, but we got our act together and hit the road this morning.  Our goal was Locust Lake State Park near Pottsville, PA.  It looked like a nice place and was on our way to New York, so it was a great stopping off place.  We had an easy drive up here and except for the last few miles we had good road.  The roads to the park were narrow, hilly and curvy, but we made it in one piece.

The campground only has electric hookups in one section and nothing in the other sections.  Most of the sites are small and hilly, but we managed to find one long site that was fairly level and after some twisting and turning, backed the motorhome into the site.   Setup was easy since only the power cord had to be attached and then bring out the slides.

Campsite #50

  

There is a small lake here with swimming and fishing, plus a number of sites around the lake at waters edge.  The CG is filled with families and lots of kids, but they are well behaved so far.

Locust Lake

 We had an early dinner and settled in for the night.  That was our day, how was yours?

C&O Canal & Antietam National Battlefield

This was a busy day for us with a planned trip to Antietam Battlefield and also the C&O Canal.  We started off the jaunt by visiting the Canal at Williamsport, MD.  They have a very nice display there, along with a pond and the actual canal.  The C&O Canal goes from Georgetown to Cumberland, MD and has a rich history.  There is a bicycle path for the length of the canal and it's heavily used.  

C&O Canal - Williamsport, MD

Algae filled pond

Abner Doubleday played a role in the defense of the Union in Williamsport and later at the nearby Battle of Antietam a few years later.  Most people remember him for inventing the game of baseball in 1835.  He retired as a Major General after the Civil War and moved to San Francisco, CA where he established the first Cable Car company.  

We drove a short distance to Sharpsburg, MD to tour the Antietam Battlefield.  It was here where the bloodiest day of fighting in the Civil War with 23,000 casualties taking place in one day.  An interesting sidelight to the battles was that after the fighting was over, the Union & Confederate Armies left the area and the local people had to deal with the wounded and dead.

Dunker Church

Burnside Bridge

Antietam creek tubers

Sherrick House

.There is a driving tour of the battlefield that takes you by Dunker Church, The Corn Field, Sunken Road, Burnside Bridge and other stops along the way.  If you have any interest in the Civil War, this is a must stop for you to visit.  In addition to the history of the battle, it is located in one of the most beautiful spots in Maryland.  We thoroughly enjoyed the tour and reading the signs explaining what happened in each area, along with the different army groups who were in that area.

After the battlefield visit we drove over to Cassie & Jack's and met up and went out to dinner with them.  We picked Applebee's to try for dinner and we enjoyed the food and company.  I don't think anyone left there hungry, but we went back to Cassie & Jack's house for a fantastic dessert prepared by Cassie.  We were so stuffed after that and barely were able to waddle out of their house.  

It was a long day, but most satisfying to us. 

Cabin Visit & Thurmont Carnival

It's been 10 months since we last saw the cabin and went up there today to see if it was still standing.  Not only was it standing, but it looked in pretty good shape.  We replaced the water filters on the pump and turn it on to see if we had any leaks.  We did!  Nothing major and Cassie, Jack & Lexi arrived just in time for Jack to help repair the busted PVC pipe.  We just cut the bad part out and duplicated it with new pipe and glued it together.  All was well with it after that.  

Cassie asked if Grant could go with them to the Thurmont, MD carnival and it sounded like fun for Grant, so off they went.  In the old days we used to pay for individual rides, but now you buy an unlimited pass and ride all you want to or can, depending on the crowd.  Grant managed to get about 15 rides in before it was time to head home.  We picked him up around 9:30 pm for the ride back to the motorhome.  He was one tired young man by this time.

Cassie & Jack took some pictures with their camera phones and sent them to me.  I hope you can see the pictures well enough to pick out Grant & Lexi.

 

On The Move and 20 Straight Days of Rain

We spent the last couple days visiting with our friends Carolyn & Mann and enjoyed their company.  We all enjoyed a great meal at a huge Chinese buffet near their home.  As said in an earlier post, we chatted non-stop.  Always nice to see them and it's possible we will meet up with them again in late August.

This was a slow morning for us since everyone was tired out and slept in.  Finally we all began to stir and slowly got to working on leaving Pocahontas State Park.  The only bad thing about the park is the 4-5 miles of Beach Road that we had to drive to get to a bigger highway.  Beach Road is narrow and has many curves, however the speed limit is 55 mph in some places.  The locals seem to think that 65 is more appropriate and tailgate all the time.  No problem for me since I drive the speed I want to.

It rained again today and that is the 20th day in a row that it has rained on us.  I don't think it did that while we were in Costa Rica during the rainy season.  Needless to say, we are sick and tired of all the rain.  It looks like we may have some clear days early next week and then the temps will be in the 96 degree range with high humidity.  It could be worse, we could be sitting in Tucson with their 100+ temps.

The drive from Pocahontas SP to Falling Waters, WV was around 200 miles and slow driving most of the way due to traffic, 2 lane roads and just slow driving conditions.  I-95 and I-81 were bumper to bumper in all lanes with a ton of tractor trailer trucks.  I-81 was the worst with the trucks and I just got in line and stayed there.  All in all it was an easy drive though and we made it here around 5pm and got setup in our campsite.  The campground fees are out of line for what you get here, but it's the only game in town so we have to pay it.  There aren't many campgrounds around the Hagerstown, MD area and we need to be here a few days.

Cassie, Jack and Lexi came by to visit with us and welcome us back to the area.  We left September 10, 2012 and finally returned.  I think they thought we had abandoned them due to the long absence.  It was great visiting with them and we will be seeing them the next few days before we continue on with Grant's RV trip with us.  We plan on being back in the area later this month and will get caught up on all their lives during the next couple months.

That was our exciting day, how was yours?