11:19 PM, Nov 5, 2005
Tourguide
Sometimes I am in the mood for oldies. I am listening to "Different Drum" by the Stone Ponies, over and over again.
Last night I was content and wistful. Tonight I'm just bored out of my skull. It is entirely my fault, however, and I claim no right to bitch. I waive that right. I actually had a chance to go and meet some friends out, tonight, but the allure of sitting around my apartment with no pants on was just too great, I suppose.
I am really enjoying taking these walks that are entirely too long. To illustrate for you, I refer you to these maps:
The map on the left demonstrates the typical route I have been taking on my walks, lately. Note the way it goes past almost everything of note in the Crossroads. This is crucial. Both maps orginate and terminate at my apartment, near the corner of Broadway and 11th. This route covers, to the best of my knowledge, about 5 miles. The beautiful thing is that I have not been getting tired on these walks, but rather, have wanted to venture farther each time. Perhaps this week, I will walk as far as Midtown or the Plaza.
Today, however, looking for something new in my walk, I turned toward Kansas on Southwest Boulevard, as is denoted in the map to the right(also sneakily ripped off google
maps). On Friday, I had a drink with Heidi at Jilly's, and as is my custom, and without segue or notice, I started talking about beer. She asked me what it was that got me into beer in the first place, so I thought about it, and realized that my current enthusiasm for the greatest thing in a glass came largely from my many dozen trips to the
Boulevard Brewery, over my short five years living in Kansas City.
So, without any real sense of purpose, I came upon the brewery itself, at the southwestern tip of my route today, and decided to act upon a desire I've had for a long time. It was about ten until four, which meant that right when I walked in the door, the 3PM tour group was walking into the tasting room from their whirlwind tour of the brewery floor. Seeing a perfect opportunity, I made sure to wait until everyone that was there had gotten a glass of what they wanted.
Julie was running the closest tap to where I was standing, and waved me over. We talked for a bit, and I tried an "Espresso Stout," a dry stout infused with beans from the
Roasterie, which was tasty, but not really to my taste. I told her about what I had been thinking for a while, so she asked me to leave my information. You see, I don't know how many times I have been on the tour there, but I think it's somewhere between thirty and forty times. With this in mind, I think I am going to start giving tours there, myself. Enough people have told me that I should give tours that I suppose it has finally stuck.
I headed home from there, going, as you can see, straight up Summit. According to Google Earth, that route climbs about 200 feet in about a quarter mile. A bit of advice, don't try to talk on the phone whilst making this climb.