Auburn: Brave Brews Festival

Auburn, NY

March 4th 2022

Mark and I drove straight home from Florida, no stops except bathroom breaks. We arrived sometime around 3am Friday morning. I somehow was up and on my way to Auburn NY to meet up with Kelly for a day of Brews. Prison City Brewery was hosting the Women's Brave Brew Fest this weekend. There were several events that went on over the weekend, but we were here just for the brew tasting. I had no idea just how many brews we were going to try, but they started us off with Cocoa Puffs brew and breakfast of fine pastries. It wasn't half bad. I personally am not a big IPA/craft beer gal, and Kelly isn't either. I surely would not have been at this event after driving 18+ hours and having little sleep, had it not been 100% FREE!

Yep, Free. 

Technically, I think this was for Women who make craft beers, but hey, they let us in. I was super excited, cause I love this stuff.  We had a little announcement and before we knew it they were handing out beers. Mind you it was only like 10am. 

I loved this logo! The logo's were super fun. Even better then the beers themselves. I did actually like this one if I recall. 

In between beer tasting, I took a look around the brewing room. 

Kelly, is not a beer drinker at all so she scored herself a grapefruit brew, and she later switched to wine. 

We had a few more tastings before they opened up for a lesson on how the barley and hops makes the beer. Deliria was not bad either. 

So, I wish I had taken notes on the process, but basically the barley fermi nates, which is what makes the alcohol. Flavors/nuts/fruits/etc. are added to assist in the specific taste.  

The Barley being cleaned and washed from the shell or hull. Or maybe this is the hops. I really should have taken notes. 

The product is rinsed from the hull and fermentation begins. 

I could be all wrong, if there is even Barley in these beers. I do know that the next picture are Hops pellets. 

Looks like rabbit food. It has a strong smell. 

Back at my seat, we had a few more tastes. This one, was actually one of my favorites, despite the funny fishing label. 

Not on my top list. This one was not liked at all. (Not a fan of the Amber Ales)

The dark beers are generally not on my list of go to's. I'm a Coors or Bud Light kind of gal. These dark beers are just way to bitter for me. 

This one was not bad.

We had a nice beer and cheese pairing. I would have never thought to have beer and wine. Honestly I didn't like some of the cheese's either. Not only am I a Bud light kind of gal, apparently I'm a good old Velveeta cheese kind of gal too.   

Before long, it was lunch time and all of the eats were made with beer. They even have cookbooks out there for this.  Who would have know? It was DELISH!!! I even ate salmon for the 1st time and liked it. Of course it was paired with the brew the meal was made with. I do not recall what each was. 

After lunch we had a few more try's as well as playing BINGO. 

Loved this label, the brew was okay. Of course I didn't win BINGO, but there were some great prizes. 

Another brew to try. Cool label. Nice message. We got dessert too....and 

A goody bag. WOW!

A cookie, stickers, lip balm, key chains, a whole candle and jewerly. 

We had a wonderful day, and we still had more fun on the agenda. We had an early dinner in downtown Auburn before hitting up a tour and hors'doeuvres at The Willard Memorial Chapel. 

The chapel was built by the Willard daughters, in memory of their parents between 1892-1894, and it is one of the remaining buildings that was once part of the Auburn Theological Seminary. What makes it so special is that it is one of the extremely rare examples of unaltered Tiffany Glass in the world. The chapel and the adjoining Welch building are part of the Nstional Historic landmarks.  

The place was beautiful. 

Our tour guide was incredibly knowledgeable about the chapel and the Tiffany glass factory. 

We were told that it was actually several women who had been behind the production of the well known Tiffany glass. They were known as "Tiffany Girls". Employment of women during the gilded age was rare, and there were strict rules for those women who were employed by Lewis Comfort Tiffany. They could not be married or engaged.  

One of those women was Clara Wolcott Driscoll, who actually left and returned to her employment several times as she did marry, but returned after the death of her husband. She became an important designer to the Tiffany company and designed the famous; Dragonfly, poppy and Wisteria Lamps we often notice as being Tiffany glass today.

I also learned that the difference between stained glass and Tiffany glass. Tiffany glass uses opalescent  glass to make vibrant colors and textures. 

Schooled in Tiffany glass and The Willard chapel we entered into the lobby for treats, and more alcohol. This was also FREE, by the way. Auburn has these types of events every month called First Friday's. They are at multiple places throughout town and happen on the First Friday's of the month. 

They also had some musical talent in the lobby to enjoy and a little store that was artistically charming. 

We had a wonderful day. I can't wait til my next adventure in Auburn. It actually has a ton of history and my Library has free passes for the Seward house. Next trip out I'll be twisting Kelly's arm to join me. 

 Until next time. TTFN

Florida or Bust: Downtown Melbourne/ Morrison's childhood home

 Florida/Melbourne

March 2, 2022

Our last day in Florida was spent exploring our soon to be new hometown. Melbourne.  We started the day by traveling into the historic district of Melbourne. 

There are several cute little shops along this strip. We window shopped and enjoyed the beautiful day. This was in an art shop. There were some strange things. 

A quaint little allyway. 

Mark and I posed inside some famous paintings. 

A statuisic art piece in the center. 

We had a nice breakfast at this little place on the corner called Backwater Cafe. The food was amazing and there was a lot of it. 

After breakfast we headed to a place I did not know about until I had done some research on things to do in Melbourne via youtube. Just a block away from the main street is the boyhood home of Jim Morrison. Yes, the Jim Morrison of the band The Doors. Since we were here we had to at least check it out. It is currently a private residence, so we were careful not to disturb the owners, but we did get a few pics. 

The owners must get some questions, as there were pictures of Jim in the windows. 

Up next we ventured into the Melbourne Art district Eau Gallie. We walked around the streets and enjoyed the community. 

There were several murals to enjoy as we strolled. 

I even found a painted rock. 

Adjacent to the art district is the James Wadsworth Rossetter house. 

There were no current tours available, but we walked the grounds and enjoyed the garden. 

The house was moved from its original location but serves as a historical reminder of the areas history. The home stands of a memory of the 19th century, a time when the population was working in farming and the waterways. 
The Rossiter family built the house in this community when the East Coast Railway offered transportation to the North. James Rossiter became a leading merchant in the fishing industry. 

The gardens lacked the luster due to the season, but I am sure it is alolutely amazing in the summer months. 

It is a lovely little neighborhood. The houses are simply charming. Near the home is a small cemetery, where the family is buried. 

We made a visit to Ben's work to surprise him on his lunch break and did a little buming around the hotel before heading out for dinner. I tried to catch the sun set as we drove back into the city. 

We had dinner at Gator's Dockside. It was bottomless boneless wings night. We definatly tried to eat our max, but were unsuccessful. Unfortunately, no take home boxes. These wings went to waste. 

Wasted or not, they were yummy. It was our last day in Florida until next time. Next time we will be working on moving our stuff down to our soon to be new residence here. Until next time. TTFN