Move out on the highway...
looking for adventure...
in whatever comes our way... born to be wild(ish) sorta.


© 2009 All Rights reserved


NOTE: Click on pictures of interest to increase size

August 30, 2009

Excellent Adventure 4 "OC Beer Fest"

Orange County Beer Festival
Silverado, CA and
Cook's Corner Biker Bar
Trabuco Canyon, CA

We heard through the grapevine... (which is mostly made up of wine drinkers)... that there was going to be a beer festival somewhere in our area. A festival to celebrate BEER! Imagine that! So, we immediately went to work researching this on the Internet...



And sure enough, lo and behold, viola... there it was:



We immediately purchased tickets online (at $40 bucks a pop) and starting digging into this event a bit further...

We discovered there were going to be about 60 national brewers and local boutique brews on hand... and reviewing the list... one really caught our eye:



"Hey Rocco... am I reading this right?"

A little further Internet digging revealed that it was a near-by local brewery... and we decided a little advance contact might be in order
(what the hell, why not?)...

So, we called the company... got one of the co-founders on the phone (named Joe Ryan) and struck-up a friendship.



Joe was friendly... and said: "Hey great talking with you... look me up when you're out at the Beer Fest... uh,(static) garbled (crackling) you're breakin' up...(nothing).."

With that...
we were pumped and ready for the OC Beer Festival...

" Bring it on! "

_____________

On the big day (Sunday the 30th) I pulled into Rocco's driveway around 12-noon.



Rocco lives a bit more inland... and starting from his place put us a lot closer to the mountains right from the get-go...
So, I put up the top...



and it was time to fire-up the ol' HDw/SC
(that's: Harley-Davidson with Sidecar)...



And... we hit the open road.
Along the way we stopped for gas... where we saw the lovely Carolynn filling up her fully restored Tiffany-blue 1950 Ford pick-up truck...



What a beauty!



The girl or the truck...? (Are you kidding? )

Then we headed on up and into the mountains...



It was an extremely hot day in SoCal... with temps pushing north of 100 degrees.

So we decided to stop at Cook's Corner
for a cold one along the way...



Cook's Corner is one of Southern California's
most famous (and popular) biker bars...





Some days... Cook's Corner is busier than others...







This is definitely... what you might call:



After a few, on what was a fairly average Cook's Corner Day...



we headed on out for the near-by Beer Festival at Irvine Lake...which was just a hoot and a holler down the road...



When we got there...



Being the big celebrities that we are... it was obvious they were holding up traffic awaiting our arrival... They waived us right in...



As part of our Beer Festival education and etiquette orientation... we learned that upon entering...



you are given a small 4-ounce mug... (seen here)...


Which one can fill up endlessly (and for free) over the next three hours... at any and all of the the many beer booths here at the festival.

Free beer... what a concept !!





After a few quick stops to get warmed-up...
we began working our way through the crowd...





People were happy... and they were having fun...



Along the way... we met Becky Sue...
A professional pin-up photographer with a colorful tattoo of a juke box on her arm (among other tattoo's scattered elsewhere)...



Obviously, Becky Sue had attended
one (or more) of these beer fests before...







At the far end there was a stage...

and a very good rock group
called: METAL SHOP...



and they kept the crowd hoppin'...



Blood alcohol level now estimated
to be at 1.25 – and steadily rising...



"Yeah... great stuff... I need beer..."



Back to party, party...



"Let's see... is this number 11 or 12... or 19...?"



"Hey, is it my imagination...
or are things starting to get a little a bit hazy?"



Everywhere...
there were happy, happy people...





Like these three fun-loving young ladies...
(with the guy behind them drinking Holy Grail beer
and trying to channel where he left his car keys)...





And... here's a dynamic duo... Tania and Jamie...



And... (as luck would have it)...
they were standing right in front of
the booth we were really looking for...




There it was.... BIERBITZCH !!
And the adorable Ashley Tippit was a-pourin'...



"Hey, am I reading that sign right...?"



"Yep... a bottle opener hat... imagine that."



They also had a blow-up of the Bierbitzch label...
with cut-outs where you could stick your head through
and get your picture taken... which was a big hit...








And naturally... we couldn't resist... (click)...



There was lots of Biebitzch gear on hand too...





We also met up with Joe Ryan...
the co-founder of the Bierbitzch brand.



Here's Sandy and Ashley with Joe the man...



"Hey, guys... this is my 24th beer... heh-heh..."



Hey, isn't that one of the most famous beer drinkers of all time... George Wendt from Cheers...?
I think he needs a refill...






Fun, fun, fun... " 'til Daddy takes the T-Bird away"...
La-la-la...(hey, wait a minute... I've got a T-Bird...)



"Things are definitely gettng hazier..."



Here's Sasha and Sherri...
(Hey, what's up with Sasha's left hand?)



These guys are having a religious experience...
seeing the white light off in the heavens... or...
is it the mushrooms? (The guy on the left knows)



Here's a picture of Rocco...



Taking a picture of his drivers license...
in case he has to surrender it to a police officer.



Somewhere soon... I'll get my chance...



Okay, finally! I been waiting all day to
say this and here's my big opportunity:



" Hey... that's my Bierbitzch ! "

Yahoo... !



Now, you would think at a big event like this...
especially with oodles of free beer... that there would
be incredibly long lines for the bathroom, right?



Apparently not... those in there just seem to
be taking an incredibly long time. Go figure.

Okay... things were getting still hazier...



And it was time to say "Goodbye" to Joe and the girls...



Uh-oh... color is fading out too... definitely time to go.



So we started heading for the exit and the parking lot...

Right near the exit...
we found a combination bait, tackle, sandwich and (I think) barber shop... that was just getting ready to close... We convinced them to stay open while we finished our beers and switched over to water...



We wasted as much time as possible, in an effort to sober up, and when finally asked to leave, we noted: "Hey, we've been thrown outa places waaay better than this bud"... then we hung around on their porch for another 15-minutes or so...

Here, Rocco engages in a "spell-check" exercise...
and does a little on-the-spot editing...



Heading toward the parking lot...
we mistakenly got into a limousine..
which we thought for sure was waiting for us...




"Oops! Excuuuuse us"
At the gate, a very happy crowd was heading out...



And yep... there's "Tiny Dancer" from in front of the stage.



We also met up with some rowdy fellow Chicagoans...
* Rocco and I both are orginally from Chi-town...



It was country singer Mickey Gilley who artfully noted
" The girls all get prettier at closing time "... "Indeed."



And the sidecar seems to always draw a crowd...

Like Courtney and Jessica
who wanted their picture taken in the side-car ( click )...



"Hey, I think I been out with that girl in the middle"...



And then...



There was the beautiful Diana... ( click )... ( click )...



and... the alluring Joanna...
( click )... ( click )... ( click )...



"Gee... things are really getting dark"...



"Goll-ee... it's one-a them there moter-sickles"...
"And it's got a beer cooler stuck right there on the side"...



"Hey, look-ee there... some fella done gone
an got 'em self stuck right in the cooler"...



"Think we should help?"
"Naw... let's go get us a corn dog on a stick"...

With that, we fired up the HDw/SC and headed for home



"You alright?"....


"Yeah... I'm fine"....





Finally... back at the house...
It was time to put the junk in the trunk...
and to call it a day... and what a day it was.



Top back down...



and I'm on my way...



And so ends our introduction to Beer Festivals and
a most wonderful (burp) Excellent Adventure 4...

" Stay tuned... more soon "