The Summit Brewery!

Spring break continues... we went to our very own hometown craft brewery, Summit Beer! The lone factory for this great lager is in St. Paul, right along the Mississippi. It has been in operation only since 1986, but already has a national reputation with its 11 varieties. The Winter Ale is my favorite!

The tour gave us a view of the giant copper vats from Germany, the bottling and packaging center and the "hot room" where the hops, water, yeast and, er... one more ingredient is added.


Luke really enjoyed the giant stacks of empty bottles, all ready to be filled up and shipped out... 80% of Summit - which gets its name from the historic Summit Avenue area of St. Paul - is consumed in this state, and the rest has a following around the country.

The kids couldn't sample the beer at the end of the tour... but did get some great, ice cold root beer instead!

Spring Break "Stay-cation"

The kids are on spring break this week, and we are making it a "stay-cation" (as in, we are staying around here). The weather is looking good for the week (no rain or snow anyway - maybe even 75 on Wednesday!), and we are taking some day trips for some activities around the local area. Here we are at one of our favorite restaurants - Benihanas!

Rock Climbing!

Activity One on the "Stay-cation" was rock climbing at "Vertical Endeavors" in St. Paul. This is just like what their Dad did in Malta when he was Jack's age... only this is a bit safer, with harnesses and ropes.

Luke is the one who insisted that they do this on Spring Break... he went to a birthday party here a couple of weeks ago, and has been talking about it ever since. He is fearless!