Wednesday, May 25, 2011

And Maifest Continues

We took a little one=hour boat ride during our Maifest festivities and it was a pleasant break from all that beer drinking.

Break, What Break


At least the scenery was a bit different.

Much Nicer On The Water


Oh, Wait, I Meant This Scenery


I am not sure who owns this boat, but it looked like it might be a fun ride.

Over The Bounding Main


And then it was back to the party, which was going strong.

Hardly A Seat To Be Had


All in all we had a very fun day. It clouded up a bit in the late afternoon and a few drops of rain did manage to fall, but not enough to dampen anyone's enthusiasm.

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Maifest In May, When Else?

Yesterday started off as a nice sunny day here in New York and stayed that way until late afternoon, perfect weather for a Maifest. It was held at World Yacht, located at the edge of the Hudson River in Hell's Kitchen. We got there by taking the subway to Time's Square and then walkng down a somewhat desolate stretch of 40th Street before cutting over to an equally desolate stretch of 41st Steet.

Not Your Rich Uncle's Yacht Club


As you might imagine, this was a German themed affair and the Paulaner Brewery had a large presence. In fact, it was the only beer available. No problem, though, Bar Man likes their beers.

Obligatory Stupid Pictures




Bar Man, having no sense, had to cough up $20 bucks each for a couple of souvenir beer mugs complete with beer.

Like I Don't Have Enough Mugs Already


I Did It All For Her


I figure I can sell the mugs on Ebay in a few years and recoup my money. It is amazing the things you can sell on Ebay. Who would think anyone would bid on a Sony MD Walkman that I just put up for sale. Too bad the mugs weren't inscribed with "1st Annual," though, I am sure that would have increased their value dramatically.

In addition to the beer they also had some dynamite Brat's, both regular and chicken, with saurkraut and mustard.

Grillin' Up The Goods


Colorful, But Not Traditional


That one was just sitting on a table and looked colorful. Maybe the ketchup was for the French fries that they were also selling. Not sure why, though. Potato dumplings would have been more appropriate. Even better would have been spaetzle. Bar Man loves spaetzle, those little potato dumplings.

Nice German Dumplings


The Mysterious Chinese Woman and I ate the Brats with the appropriate condiments.

Is Saurkraut A Condiment?




The little girl in the above picture was kind of looking on in awe. That was The Mysterious Chinese Woman's third one. She said she really only had two and a half because, and I admit it, I took one bite out of two of hers. Still, pretty impressive. And they were just small bites.

Of course, no German festival would be complete without a German band, although this was a pretty scrawny one.

The Scrawny German Band


Note, by scrawny I meant inferior in size, not thin and bony. They did put out plenty of music, some of it was even German. Hell, add an accordian and almost anything sounds kind of German.

And, of course, you had the traditionally costumed dancers.

No Polka's, Though


A one hour cruise was also included. Well, not really. We paid extra for it. But that will wait until tomorrow.

Nobody I know got swept up in The Rapture yesterday, but I did have to grab The Mysterious Chinese Woman's leg to keep her from floating away.

I am not a big fan of Captain Morgan Spiced Rum, but based upon a friend's recommendation I bought a bottle of Captain Morgan Private Stock and am sipping it for the first time as I write this.  Quite delicious.  I wouldn't think of mixing it with anything because it is perfect just as it is.  It has a vanilla carmel nose to it and has a bit of the same taste, especially at first.  Somewhat sweet on the tongue, but the rumminess does come through. Exceptionally smooth. My new favorite, for sipping. Appleton is stll my favorite for mixing with Meyer's running pretty much running neck and neck.  Captain Morgan's also makes Tattoo and Parrot Bay rum and is the second largest rum producer in the world behind Bacardi.