Guys Weekend

My wife has had a couple weekends or nights away from Jordyn, so we decided it was time for a guys weekend. So after months of trying to figure out a weekend and spot, we settled on Portsmouth New Hampshire. Not knowing much about Portsmouth we quickly located the breweries and had mixed results..

We left on Saturday morning and our first stop was Smuttynose brewing, originally we were going to the hotel but traffic ran us closer to our tour time at Smuttynose. Smuttynose is off the beaten path and basically you arrive at the back of old warehouse. The tour is free but they do recommend a donation to local charities. The tour is short but informative and they offer plenty of free samples. Beers on tap were pretty good with the short run Rye IPA being the best in my opinion. Stay away from the big bottle beers, we were talked into purchasing two at $12 a piece and were completely disappointed. Even with that Smuttynose is worth the stop and time.

After checking in to the hotel we needed lunch so we hit the local Margaritas for some apps and drinks. So after few drinks and apps we headed back to the hotel for a few more drinks and then would take the shuttle back into town and plan to take a cab back. There were quite a few stories in between all but we will keep those for another time.

The shuttle ran every half hour so at 6:30 we hopped on the shuttle and next stop Portsmouth Brewing. Most of the reviews on Yelp were positive while a lot of locals claimed the place has gone downhill between food and lack of beers on tap. We planned on a long seating time so we would hang out at the bar, but to our surprise the wait was only 30 minutes and turned out to be about 15. They offer a beer sampler which features 10 beers and 4 of them being Smuttynose so we knew what to expect. Still the sampler was very worth it and we ended up getting two for the 4 of us.  We washed those down with nachos which we pretty good. I had the pastrami on rye which was pretty good and stacked with meat. Overall the food and beer were good, the staff was friendly and quick. So no complaints and I recommend a stop if you are in the are.

We walked around the town which is really a throwback to the classic little coast line towns. Lots of mom and pops shops, small alleyways and lots of local events. We came across a couple bands playing on the streets and a kids play of Willie Wonka on the water in a park which was packed with people. We stopped at a small place called The Station with was a garage with a bunch of picnic tables and more beer. They had a very good selection, but close early. It was almost 10 and they were closing up shop so we only had a couple beers and started walking. We hit one more place called the Fat Belly which is more of your typical bar and where all the freshly 21 year olds hang out. No cover which was a plus, but the place was packed upstairs, after one drink we decided to head back to the hotel.

After a night of crappy sleep, I was quickly reminded I am not in my 20's anymore and made a few visits to the bathroom. We decided to hit up a local baseball game on Sunday in Manchester, so after making sure I could hold down water we hit the road to the Fisher Cats game. For a minor league stadium it was pretty nice, except the smell off the river. They have an awesome Sam Adams grill that over looks the field and all the seats are good. The only downfall was you need to keep your eyes open because pretty much all the seats are in foul ball territory and we seen a small girl wear a line drive. The prices are reasonable and the visit was fun, so I am def going to try and do it again...

The trip was great and a lot of stuff went down that I can't post about here. It was a needed break from reality which don't get me wrong is great, but sometimes you just need to step away and breath. Hopefully we plan more of these and not only once a year...