Day Trips

This past week zoomed by. Seriously, I blinked my eyes and it was Friday. I had no idea where there week went and felt like I had gotten nada accomplished. Whatevs. I was glad to get to the good stuff…the weekend!

Earlier in the week The Scientist suggested doing a little day trip on Saturday. I love checking out new places in the area and knew it was going to be a scorcher of a day so I said “yes”.

Our final destination…a Saturday drive! We had plans to bike a path in Providence, RI but the rain was nuts and I’m not that steady on the bike on dry land. Forget the wet concrete. Instead we stopped for brunch at Julian’s, a hipsters dream brunch spot, in Providence.

 

We had a little wait when we arrived so I spent the better part of that time trying to convince that The Scientist that it would be hysterical to let me watch him try to ride the weird deserted horsey ride. He wasn’t buying it.

Once we were seated I realized we were in a little nerdy fantasty land. There were photos of Star Wars, comic books, and servers wearing Battlestar Galactica tshirts. The bathroom was filled with Pez dispensers. No photo. Gross.

Oh yea…you are seeing things right. That is a giant whisk for a lamp with a rubber chicken in it. What? No big deal.

I was loving the menu. Not only was it fun, but it had some great vegetarian/vegan friendly options. I love variety! Plus, with names like The Jedi Mind Trick, I knew I was in for some serious food. You can’t name something an awesome name and bring out crap.

 

I actually went for two of the Daily Specials. I have it on good authority that while the food is EXCELLENT at Julian’s, the specials are where it is at.

The Scientist and I split a corn, bean and tomato soup. 100% Vegan and 100% delish.

For my meal I had the Lemon Pepper Tuna Omelet special. It was stuffed with marinated olives, tomatoes, and kale. The addition of kale was awesome and something I had never thought of. I loved the huge chunks of tuna in this mega omelet!

I sipped on a spicy Blood Mary that was to die for after the dash of sriracha they put in it. Mmm…this goes on my list of fave Blood Mary’s. My dad’s is still #1 though.

We had some full bellies and were ready to roll out. It was still really muggy and damp so took the opportunity to check out a brewery in the area, Just Beer.

We drove and drove and then drove some more. This place feels like it is in the middle of nowhere.

Apparently everyone on the nearby beach had the same idea as we did and the place was jumping. I even ran into a few peeps I knew! We hopped on a 2pm tour to check out where the magic happens. Despite hearing how beer is made more than a dozen times I still love hearing all about the process. Fun Fact for Boston Folks: Pretty Things Beer Project uses this facility to do some of their brewing.

Tasting session followed the tour. Mmm…beer. Delicious cold beer.

 

Our tastes included Flip Flop Summer Ale, The Golden Flounder, MobyD, and Horseneck IPA. The IPA and Golden Flounder won the day for me. We debated taking the Back Door Cash Only Deal, but decided to just head home with two 220z bottles of our winners.

Once the boozing starting to happen we decided to make a little afternoon of it and headed down the street to make a visit to Westport Winery and Vineyards. They have about 80 acres of grapes growing and are part of the Coastal Wine Trail.

I love the feel of this property. It feels very Sonoma County-like. I should know…I’ve been there! (I’m so excited I can finally say something like that! Can you hear the snootiness in my voice?! )

We did a tasting of 6 wines, including 2 sparkling. I wanted to love the wine, but it just didn’t do it for me. Although they tasted lovely the finish was just missing for me. The sparkling wines are really their high point though and I really enjoyed them!

I’m looking forward to checking out the rest of the Coastal Wine Trail now. Anyone been to any of those wineries?

The pictures easily show that the day ended up being gorgeous and still super HOT. The only thing to do on a sunny day is to end up the beach and that is exactly what we did. We booked it down to Horseneck Beach to check out the sites. I’ve never been but have heard people talk about it before. Umm…no one mentioned that it was all rocks! I was fascinated by people just sitting in rocks. No sand!

The water felt great. Hearing the waves crash against the rocks and feeling the water between my toes was the perfect way to end our Saturday drive.

Oh yea…and a frozen strawberry lemonade *might* have happened on the way home.

After a week of feeling totally out of it, this weekend was the perfect recovery. Saturday’s outing was just what the Dr ordered. I felt refreshed and ready to face the week when I woke up on Sunday! Shouldn’t all days be filled with time with the people you love doing things you love?! I’m pushing that up on my To Do list to #1.

I hope you guys had a great weekend! Did you do anything fun? Is it hot where you are? If you have central A/C can I come stay with you for a couple of days?! Seriously. I’m not kidding. Have Mutt, Will Travel.

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