NHC Wrap UP

Having come out from under the Cone of Silence, It's time to wrap up my NHC trip, or, as Satan and I called it, The 2008 Mission from God.

We skipped the Saturday morning sessions at NHC and drove down to the river and Newport Kentucky. After shopping at the Mall, we headed over to Hofbrauhaus.

It was a couple of minutes before 11 am, and we walked into the lobby and were deciding whether to buy a liter stein or a Stiefel, and the hostess informed us we could sit in the biergarten or we could wait for two minutes. For some reason, we chose the biergarten. Then menu in the biergarten is different than in the dining room. So instead of schnitzel, I had sausage.

We had a German Pilsner and it was excellent. It went well with the brats. Our server was attentive. How could he not be? We were the only ones in the biergarten. Everyone else decided to sit inside!

We left Cincy on Sunday and drove to St. Louis where we had lunch at Square One Brewing Company. Square One is located in a cool little, St. Louis neighborhood with a lot of brick buildings. You can tell a lot of money has been spent to revitalize the area and it has paid off.

We arrived at about 1 pm on a drizzly Sunday afternoon. We spotted a few people in the courtyard and decided to risk the rain. I ordered a pulled pork BBQ sandwich and the wheat ale. Both were excellent! I would have liked to try the Festival Lager, but they were sold out. Our waitress knew her beers and was very prompt.

And, finally, this place has the best smelling bathroom in the world! It smells like BBQ smoke.

Our next stop was Springfield Brewing Company in Springfield, Missouri. We arrived between the lunch and dinner rushes. The restaurant is in an older neighborhood downtown apparently near the college. There is an upstairs area with pool tables and a downstairs dining area. Antique beer signs and ads decorate the walls brick walls.

I ordered fish and chips and a wheat beer. The beer was crisp and clean. The fish and chips arrived and the portion was huge: three big fillets and a basket of seasoned waffle fries. The fish was excellent, but maybe there was a bit too much. I only ate a couple of fries.

It's a very comfortable place, and hope to return someday.

We spent Sunday night in Joplin, and head to Oklahoma City's Bricktown Brewing Company. We arrived a little before one in the afternoon. The crowd was surprisingly light. Bricktown is the old industrial district in downtown OKC. I almost overdosed on brick buildings. It's a great area of town, and is probably packed on weekends.

We sat in the bar area and had the sampler. The copperhead ale was the best of the bunch. The porter had some butterscotch flavor in it. The copperhead was clean and refreshing.

I ordered the BBQ stuffed potato and was amazed at the size of the thing. It was huge. The potato had been cut open, and filled with pulled pork with a small amount of sauce. It would have been better with a bit more sauce, but it was still very good.

This is a great place. I look forward to visiting again.

We arrived at Satan's parents' home about 8 pm. I finally got home at 11 am and began to unpack. We brought home a lot of beer, and a lot of pint glasses.

The encore? Oakland. The 2009 Mission from God.

Heaven help me.