Saint Louis

I arrived yesterday at 1pm at Dougs.  We immediately (more or less) went on a Schlafly's run for Bill (Crabby Bills) to buy, what else, beer.  Afterwords we headed out.  The public transportation system is great.  (side note to dumb shit Walker: trains and busses will encourage people to visit your town/state).We took the train and then a bus to the Civil Life brew pub.  It took a while to get there (45 minutes?) but it was well worth it.
Civil Life:
The pub is awesome.  Pints are $5 and half pints are $2.50.  What a novel concept: a set price per ounce.  The bar has slate inset on the server side which is used for keeping track of tabs and calculating bills.  They use chalk to record what you drink and eat and then you settle up at the end.  It's all done on the slate.  They are a cash only pub but their beer is served in maybe 30 different establishments around Saint Louis.  I had a half pint of their APA which was very good and then had 2 half pints of their porter which was outstanding.  Doug and I had subs (vegi for me) which were excellent.  My sub had hot peppers on them so I was happy:)

We then caught the bus to go to the Shlafly Tap Room.  I like this place better than Doug.  It was loud and busy (lots of packer fans) but the beer was good (really awesome).  I had a pint of their Tasmania IPA and a pint of their Stout.  Both were very good.

We then headed (another bus ride) to the Urban Chestnut Brewing Company.  I would like to go back as we spent very little time here.  I had an IPA which was very good.  I liked the ambiance of the place.  They had a fire going outside in their 'beer garden'.

It was outstanding afternoon/evening of sampling local Saint Louis Brews.  I loved all the beer, and all 3 locations were outstanding with outstanding servers.

We then headed back (had to wait maybe 20 minutes for our last bus) and went to a middle eastern restaurant.  I had a vegetarian platter which was very good.  I had a Schlafly Pale Ale with my meal.  The restaurant had a belly dancer doing her thing between tables.  All very interesting.

We finished our evening at Ciceros and I had a not so good IPA which Doug loves.  Chain Breaker from Deschutes.  It is a white IPA (whatever that means).

We went home and crashed.

a 'Normal' town

I arrived in Normal Illinois at 8:30 last night and was at the Destihl Brewpub by 9pm.  The beer was outstanding but pricey.  $6/pint for the Vertex IPA (a good name for a geometry teachers beer) and $5/pint for the Black Angel Stout.  They had about 15 beers of their own on tap.  I would of stayed longer, but I drove as it was raining.  My motel was less than a mile away and I had planned to walk.  I will definitely be back next time I'm on my way to Doug's.
On a side note:  the FIB's reputation as speeders may be unfounded.  The only asshole driver I saw was from Wisconsin and as far as speeding goes the Wisconsin drivers were fastest.  I drove at 73 -74 mph and almost no drivers from Illinois passed me, but I passed a ton of them.  Wisconsin drivers though regularly passed me.  This begs the question then; Who are those Illinois assholes that come to Wisconsin?  The answer is simple.  The only Illinois residents that can afford to own property in Door County and Minoqua are the rich republicans (aka romneyites) who believe that no laws apply to them - and when caught they just buy their way out.