Holiday Brewery Tour: Yuengling

Going to see family is the best way to spend the holidays....especially when a 150 year-old brewery is a short drive away.

This year, John and I traveled home to NJ to visit our east coast kin between Christmas Eve & NYE. Our trip has been fabulous - we've taken a drive up the shoreline to Asbury Park, had a fun night at an Irish Pub in Red Bank with my cousin, took a chilly stroll on the boardwalk and took an unbelievable trip to Pottsville, PA for a tour of America's oldest brewery: Yuengling

Built in 1829, Yuengling was in business long before prohibition....and refrigeration. Under the main building are creepy caves that were hollowed out by hand to lager the beer and assist in the fermentation process by keeping it cool. The tour includes a walk through the caves and a peak at what life was like many years ago.

Throughout the brewery are hand painted murals, gorgeous stained glass windows and a history of Yuengling signage and lables. The huge copper brew kettles, turn of the century kegs and fast-paced bottling room were an exciting sight for beer nerds and beer novices alike. 

At the end of the tour, we stepped into their tasting room to sample a few of our favorite Yuengling brews and took in their history in photographs, beer cans and bottle styles.

This tour is the best I've been on yet a must-see for all who love beer!

Favorite Christmas Movies

Christmas is my favorite time of year for several reasons; the touch of magic in the air, the smell of holiday baked treats, classic Christmas music and carols, and of course....Christmas Movies! 

My favorite list includes:

Christmas Vacation - "Clark, is your house on fire?"

Elf - "the best way to spread Christmas cheer, is singing loud for all to hear"

How the Grinch Stole Christmas - "and the grinch with his grinch feet down deep in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? it came without boxes, it came without bags. it came without packages, ribbons or tags. he puzzled and puzzled till his puzzler was sore. then the grinch thought of something he hadn't before. maybe Christmas he though, doesn't come from a store. maybe Christmas....perhaps, means a little bit more"

White Christmas - "let's just say we'll do it for an old pal in the army."

Holiday Inn - "come out and relax on a farm, music, dancing, home cookng. open holidays only."

Take in each of these holiday classics over the next couple of weeks and you'll be all geared up for Christmas and full of holiday spirit!

Birthday Goals

Well, the 29th birthday is here. Four months have flown by and I haven't written many posts, but this year will bring more words and posts from me.....lucky blog readers. 

Also, in addition to blogging more often and along with my anxiety of wrapping up my 20's, I have long, long list of goals to accomplish before I turn 30! I'm reminded to use the SMART goals strategy to ensure I accomplish everything I want to do:

Specific

Measurable

Attainable

Realistic

Timely

Well, happy birthday to me! Hope my last year in my 20's will be fun and productive!