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Starkweather Beer Company

 When I moved back to Madison to attend law school in 1987, we moved to a crappy little apartment near the banks of Starkweather Creek on the unfashionable east side.  Today, the east side is booming, and one of the newer brewpubs is called Starkweather Beer Company. It was Saint Pat's Day.  While Guinness is a decent light-bodied stout, I opted for Starkweather's dry Irish Stout, named "Jamestown Jackdaw." Coming in at 5.9 ABV, it had a malty chewable backbone.  It's a new favorite stout for me.  Julia had Late Winter Haze, a New England IPA that didn't have as much fruitiness as she likes in a hazy.  It was still well-executed. We walked down the street to the Harmony Bar, where Julia enjoyed a complete corn beef and cabbage dinner.  I opted for the Reuben sandwich.  Mine was washed down with an Edmund Fitzgerald porter from Great Lakes Brewing.  Julia enjoyed her Chaos Pattern IPA from 3 Sheeps Brewing.  Both are great beers. Justin update:   After a long h

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The North Carolina State Fairgrounds in Raleigh has been a very convenient place for Julia to arrive and depart from.  It’s only about twenty minutes from the airport and offers full hookups for $30/night.

Showers and bathroom are a bit of an issue.  Almost everyone here is self-contained.  We are too, but showering takes some effort in the Brew Hut with the small wet bath. Camp-ground showers are always appreciated, especially from Julia’s perceptive.

On my first visit, I talked to the security guard about potential showering opportunities. He told me that there were some off-site showers, but I never did find them.  On my second visit, however, I got clearer directions.  The bathroom and showers are at the H6 gate.  Drive up towards the first horse barn on the right.  There’s a bathroom on the far side of the building.  There’s a door inside the bathroom leading to three shower stalls.

I’m pretty sure these are for the horse people, but there was only one other guy taking a shower there during the entire time that I was there shaving, etc.  One caveat:  don’t do what I did and park to close to the horse barn.  When I came out, the truck was parked in by a long horse trailer.  I managed to get out with the help of some spotters.  But it took a lot of wriggling back and forth.  Julia was worried because she needed to be dropped off at the airport, and I was late.

Visit with Friends

We  combined our second stay with an opportunity to visit with one of Julia’s graduate school classmates who lives in nearby Chapel Hill.  Jane and Julia spent an afternoon sightseeing, and then the husbands joined in at dinner time at Kitchen.

A good time was had by all.  After dinner, we picked up some pie and spent time at the residence, meeting their teenage daughter and the family’s crazy but friendly dogs. Callie would not have been amused.



I stayed at the Fairgrounds two more nights in order to get some errands done.  I’m not sure how long I’ll take on the return trip, but the plan is to make a couple of multiple day stops in Virginia and Kentucky.  The rest of the way will depend on the weather, which has been hot, humid and dry.  That’s going to head the other direction at some point in October.

It’s been so hot that Callie and I get up to take our long walk before and during sunrise when the temps are the coolest.

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