Irish Fest and Brewzzi

This past week has actually been rather adventurous for Husband and I. We went downtown, TWICE!

Mar10 was the Irish Fest. We presume they wanted to do it the weekend before St. Patrick's day to avoid competition with bars and their green beer celebrations (which probably start EARLY in the day.) We got to hear some bands form Ireland and perused mostly mass-produced goods that are probably only "Irish" to Americans, but it was still neat. It was kind of small, but the food was great. Husband had corned beef and cabbage (of course) and several pints of a dunkel. I indulged in some battered cod and fries and some red wine.

Husband bought me two beautiful new dresses. I don't really have any casual dresses and had been shopping around for some. They look like they're made by the same company (read: mass produced so they all look like they're made by the same company) as the beautiful dress he got me in Charleston before our first anniversary. I love them! Sorry no pics. We left a little early since it started to drizzle on us, but not before grabbing some tiny jars of jelly (Garlic and Rhubarb) and a huge rope of black licorice (I can't find any around here!) A good time was had by all.

Last night we had to abandon game night with some friends due to illness, and instead spent Cheat Day at Brewzzi. We like restaurants that microbrew, but they're hard to find. This one turns out to be SMACK in the middle of "Cityplace," which is the main "downtown district." The place itself was LOVELY! All copper and wood, which huge quarter-sphere canopies off the balcony to keep everything shaded and cool. We elected to eat on the patio, which was neat because halfway through the meal a cover-band started to play in the middle of Cityplace and we got to play "guess the band."

Husband loved the "Black Duke", a dunkel that even I thought was pretty good. 3/5. It was smooth and didn't have that bite that usually turns me off of dark beers. Likewise, the Brewzzi Reserve was too dark for me, but tasty and lacking the mean bite! 3/5.
My favorite was the Tropical Madness. It's a wheat beer brewed with a bunch of kinds of fruit. Still only a 3/5 but tasty.
From the rest of the sampler we tried:
Bohemian Pilsner: Ugh. Tasted like dirty socks. 1.
Brewmaster's Special: English Pale Ale: Meh. 2.5.
Boca Blonde: Not bad, not great. 2.5.

What was 5/5? The food. Interestingly: the entrees don't come with sides, and they're extra if you want them. It makes the entrees seem really reasonably priced, but if you factor in two sides it would be expensive. We skipped the sides. He got Eggplant Rotollini. I liked that I couldn't taste the eggplant, and the spinach stuffed in it wasn't slimy! I got Stuffed Shells in Bolognese, which was HUGE. My dinner was easily twice the mass of his, so he helped me finish mine. It came with garlic bread (which I was benevolent enough to share) and was just COVERED in melted cheese. I couldn't really taste the ricotta that was stuffed into the shells since the bolognese overpowered it, but it was still fantastic.

The dessert.... did not live long enough to be photographed, though I really wish I had. The Brewzzi Brownie in a Cookie Jacket (whole name) is a Ghiradelli brownie in a chocolate shell, wrapped in a chocolate chip cookie shell, topped with vanilla ice cream, served with whipped cream and chocolate sauce drizzle. We shared it. It almost killed us. It was soooooooooo good. Not enough o's in there. Amazing. We were STUFFED for HOURS.

We wandered around a little afterwards, perusing the games in Barnes & Noble until we came home to Sangria and Rummy (the first being alcohol, the later being cards. It was a great night.

So, sometime in between the soul-crushing job and our mind-flaying schoolwork we are finding some time to irritate each other. :)