The Weekend That Was: Movies, Breweries & WrestleMania 29

Chewie With The Great Lakes Brewery FlightI’m several weeks late on this post, but I wanted to make sure that I put a recap post together from Pip’s yearly trip to Cleveland.  Unlike recent years we actually had some semblance of an agenda that we miraculously managed to stick to!  I find that as the years go on I tend to look back on these posts more and more.  I’d like to say its because I want to look back at all the fun we had and that’s partially true.  But its also cause I’m getting old and my memory just isn’t what it used to be 🙂  So… without further adieu, I’ll attempt to recap things day by day.  I’m sure (hoping) that if I miss anything Pip will be along shortly to correct my misremembering.

Friday, April 5th, 2013

Pip got an early start and made to Cleveland in the early afternoon.  He stopped off at his data center to cross that off his list and I met him there on the way home from work.  It was a beautiful day so rather than head directly to the movies we decided to head downtown to get our drink on.  If memory serves me correctly, we actually did start off toward the theater but Wife pointed out how stupid… err… what a mistake it would be to be sitting inside on a glorious day.   Naturally she was right (don’t tell her I said that) so off we went to Great Lakes Brewing Company.  I’m sort of embarrassed to say this, but this was the first time that I’d stepped foot into Great Lakes!  In all the years that I’ve lived in Cleveland, and being such a beer lover I can’t believe this is the case, but it is.  Wow.

In any case, we got a tremendous little sampler which was 10 4 oz. pours for something like $16.  Well worth it.  By this point it was around dinner time so we headed back towards the East Side.  One of the main things on Pip’s agenda for this weekend was to have his first ever Annex burger.  We spent a couple of hours at the Annex working off our food comas and decided it was time for a change of scenery.  Next up was the movie theater for a late showing of G.I. Joe: Retaliation.  That is… after a quick stop at the local liquor store to pick up a few airplane size bottles of rum.  That’s right… we’re in our mid 30’s and we’re rocking some Rum & Coke in the theater.

Saturday, April 6th, 2013

Wife and the boys were out and about all day so Pip and I decided to do what we know best… the movies.  We’d already seen G.I. Joe so next up on the list was the reboot / remake of the horror cult classic Evil Dead.  It’s been quite some time since Pip and I were able to take in a horror movie together (it may have been back in 2007 when we watch Rob Zombie’s Halloween in Indianapolis.  That said, I’m happy to say that this was a pretty outstanding (and gory) vision of Evil Dead.  If you’re into that sort of thing, head on over to our side project ScareTissue where we review all things horror.

As afternoon turned into evening we headed up to Willoughby to sample some more beers and to take in a show at the Willoughby Brewing Company.  Lucky for us, the band that we wanted to see, The Spazmatics, were playing there that night.  It’s once again an embarrassment as a Clevelander and more importantly a beer drinker, but this was my first trip to this brewery.  Just like at Great Lakes, we got a beer sampler which… was… TREMENDOUS.  Not only were the beers amazing (you simply must try the Peanut Butter Cup Coffee Porter) but the food was incredible too.  We had a variety of appetizers including some buffalo chicken egg rolls that were to die for.

After our beer and food sampling, it was time for the Spazmatics!!!  Well… almost.  They were advertised to go on at 8:00.  They came on right around there to do what amounted to a one song sound check, and then left the stage…. for 2 hours.  Pip and I hung out with the growing crowd that were there to party which consisted of a bachelorette party and quite a few local meat sticks that were worth the price of admission.

Sunday, April 7th, 2013

WRESTLEMANIA DAY!!!  The day we wait a year for was finally here.  We got up and got to spend some quality time with G & C at one of their favorite lunch spots – Burger King.  A couple of years back Pip and I had taken the boys there for lunch and they’ve been talking about it ever since.  Naturally, they wanted a return trip and we were happy to oblige.  After lunch, we came back and home and began to prep for the evening ahead of us.  We made sure everything was set for the forthcoming Beeramid activities and did even MORE beer sampling.  I had a few bottles of Christmas Ale that I’d been saving for just the occasion.  We sampled Rogue Ales Santa’s Private Reserve, Great Lakes Christmas Ale and 12 Dogs Of Christmas Ale.  With all the Miller Lite that was going to be coming later in the evening this was a nice little palette cleanser (with some damn fine beers).  After that we headed out to BW3 to pick up the wings for the evening and Mark came over with pizza and some other goodies.

Before we knew it, the preshow for WrestleMania 29 was on and we were off to the races building the 2013 Beeramid.  Full details of this year’s festivities have been chronicled in the WrestleMania 29 Drinking Game Results as well as here 2013 Beeramid – WrestleMania 29 so I won’t bother going over them again other than to say we had an outstanding time.  We’re not able to bounce back nearly as well as we have been in years past but as I sit here a month or so removed from the event I can tell you that for at least one more year I’m ready to do it all again.

As you can see it was a pretty amazing weekend.  As always seems to be the case, Monday came too quickly and it was time for me to head to work and for Pip to hit the road back home.  Pip’s next trip to Cleveland will be for WrestleMania 30 on April 6th, 2014.  I’m hoping to get out to see him in the late summer / early fall for another epic weekend.  Until then…

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