On The Way To Monteverde

Monteverde, is a small town in Puntarenas, Costa Rica. Monteverde was founded in 1950 by Quakers. Costa Rica abolished their army in 1948 and Quakers, being pacifists, decided that this would be a good place to settle. Monteverde means "green cheese" and gets its name from a variation of Monterey Jack cheese that the Quakers make but which quickly turns green in the moist climate.

Hah, fooled you didn't I. It actually does mean "green cheese" but that is because the Quakers moved to Costa Rica from Wisconsin, famous for both its cheese and their football team, The Packers, who wear green uniforms. The Quakers, being big football fans, would often wear Packer shirts and cheese on their heads so the locals took to calling them Monteverdes.

A Cheesehead


Okay, so I lied again. Monteverde really means Green Mountain and, given the location of the town, it is easy to see why. The part about it being founded by Quakers in 1950 was true though, and they do make and sell cheese there. It is also true that Costa Rica has had no army since 1948 and, by and large, the Quakers moved there for that reason as well as to avoid the draft for the Korean war. How many of them came from Wisconsin I do not know.

The night before we headed to Monteverde I did make it into a little town to have a beer and to provide a requisite picture of me drinking in a bar.

Don Fernando Bar & Restaurant


There wasn't much going on in this town but this place was packed. There were stools on the street where you could get a drink but they were full so I had to go inside. The bar was packed in there as well, but I did manage to jam myself in and have a beer.

Jam and Beer


I couldn't stay long because the next day we had an early start and a long ride, both boat and bus.

We set our bags out early to be picked up and put on the bus. The bus would drive around Lake Arenal and pick us up on the other side after we took a boat.

Heading To The Boat


Getting On The Boat


On The Boat


Lake Arenal has been enlarged to about three times its original size to form a basin for a hydroelectric project that now produces about 70% of Costa Rica's electricity. A couple of towns were flooded for this project so it was kind of like a mini-TVA project.

The bus trip around the lake takes much longer than the boat ride and the roads are kind of thrilling. Not much room for error and plenty muddy as well.

No Shoulders


Along the way I saw a sight that gladdened my heart.

Cold Beer


Luckily this was where we would stop for lunch.

A Little Luncheonette


Not only did they serve really good local fare (rice and beans, chicken, fish, pork, and vegetables) they also had a nice little bar area.

Bar Man Doing What He Does Best


Be forewarned, however, if you don't have the money to pay for your meal they have something much worse than washing dishes in store for you.

Working Off My Meal


We really were crushing sugar cane to extract the juice so we could all take a taste. Images from White Zombie, a great movie staring Bela Lugosi, kept flashing through my mind.

Tomorrow I shall post a bit more about Monteverde and the Cloud Forest.

Top Of The World, Ma!!!

Well, not exactly the top of the world, just closer to the top of the volcano. Still the image of James Cagney burning at the end of White Heat did cross my mind.

I guess this view of the volcano from the hotel wasn't good enough, we had to get closer.

Peek-A-Boo


The journey started out ominously enough when we came across this eyelash viper (Phylum - Chordata, Class - Reptilia, Order - Squamata, Suborder - Ophidia, Family - Crotalidae). Bar Man tries to educate.

Eyelash Viper


He was lurking in a stone wall not far from the path we would take. If he wasn't enough of a warning, there were more to come.

Looks Promising


I Get The Point


Enough Already


This was starting to remind me of some bars I have visited.

We did finally get underway and began our somewhat arduous climb.

Rocky Mountain High, Kind Of


And who do you suppose that was bringing up the rear?

Who Else


As you can see, it wasn't exactly a walk in the park. Well, yes it was, but not a park park. You know what I mean.

Walk In The Park


On the other hand, after clambering over piles of rocks the view was spectacular, more rocks.

Rock On


If I hadn't made the climb I would have missed seeing the wildlife though.

Wildlife At The Top


But, I am being a bit cynical. The view was really nice. You got a good look at Lake Arenal, which we would be crossing the next day on our way to Monteverde and a cloud forest.

The Mysterious Chinese Woman's sister joined us on the trip and here we are posing for pictures at the top. That is Lake Arenal in the background, but you probably guessed that already.

Postcard Perfect


Turning the other way we did get a nice look at the volcano though.

Arenal Volcano


It was well worth the climb because the view was so much better than the one from my hotel room.

View From My Room


It really was a fun climb. You could hear the rocks booming as they were being blown out of the top. This thing erupts all of the time and has been since 7:20 A.M. on July 29, 1968 when the west side blew off and destroyed two villages, Pueblo Nuevo and Tabacon, killing 78 people in the process.

One night we went to the side facing away from the hotel and saw a bit of the lava that periodically spews out of the three openings. Not too long ago the lava flowed down the side facing the hotel. That would have been a spectacular view on a clear night. The lava flows down in different spots at different times, not unlike the way melted wax flows down different sides of a candle as it burns.

Tomorrow we head to Monteverde, founded by Quakers in 1950. Stay tuned and I will tell you why they settled there.

Under The Volcano

Well, we will have more about the volcano tomorrow, but today we did head to it. The volcano's name is Arenal and it is still very active, spewing lava and shooting out rocks all day every day.

On the way to Arenal from San Jose we did observe some "wildlife" along the way. Our first spotting was of a white-nosed coati, a relative of the raccoon. The males tend to travel alone and hang out by the road looking for handouts or, in this case, the possibility of a honey-flake in a discarded bag of them.

White-Tailed Coati


Lunch


A bit further on we saw a whole herd of Iguanas basking in the sun. I guess you could say the Iguanas was a bit sluggish today (this is a joke only New Yorkers will get and has to do with the traffic on the Gowanus Expressway).

Sluggish Iquanas


These weren't really too wild either. They hung out on a little triangle of land across from a restaurant and gift shop where they were kept well fed.

Chowing Down


And, of course, the most prevalent wildlife of all, TOURISTS. They can be spotted along the road everywhere.

Roadside Tourists


You have to be sharp-eyed to spot them sometimes as they forage for their favorite food, coffee beans. Little do they know that these cannot be eaten straight from the tree.

Coffee Beans (pre-Starbucks)


Much like the United States has to deal with Mexicans crossing the border to pick crops so we won't starve to death because nobody in the United States would actually work in the fields for twelve hours a day, Nicaraguans cross the border into Costa Rica to pick coffee beans. They get two dollars a basket and a top picker can can pick about twenty baskets a day. Get the whole family working and it isn't bad pay for this neck of the woods.

After the bus ride I checked into our hotel and relaxed in the Jacuzzi with a beer.

Bar Man Relaxing


You can just see the volcano through the window. But, as promised, more on that tomorrow. After my beer I had to take a whiz and, uncharacteristically, I actually got out of the Jacuzzi to do it. You will never guess what I found waiting for me when I returned.

The Seductive Mysterious Chinese Woman


Life just doesn't get any better than this.

Costa Rica, No Ifs or Ands, but Butts

Nothing like getting up at 3:00 A.M. to catch a plane. The fact that I was going on vacation helped quite a bit though. We arrived in San Jose, Costa Rica at a reasonably early hour so I had a chance to explore the city a bit. Can't say I was overly impressed though. It was a bit like Guadalajara in that it is largely a commercial center. Not too many people actually live there and after about 8:00 P.M. it is pretty empty. During the day it is bustling though.

As you can imagine, I did find a place for a beer.

Bar With Unknown Name


The street entrance, which you see above, attracted my attention so in I went. Absolutely everyone in the place (all five people) were drinking Imperial Beer, the Costa Rican Budweiser. I, of course, joined right in.

The back entrance to the bar was inside a large market where you could buy everything from an octopus to a refrigerator magnate. There were also a lot of little stands where you could get a bite to eat.

Early the next day after a pleasant evening in our hotel we hit the road for our big adventure. And we didn't have long before it started.

The Adventure Begins


The tire was quickly fixed though and soon we were on our way and taking in the view.

The View


Well, that about sums up the trip.

Not really. It was a great trip and tomorrow I shall post more about my travels. And you can never guess who showed up. Well, you probably can.

The Magical Mystery Bus and Chinese Woman


Stay tuned as the adventure continues.

Extreme Beer

I haven't been real lucky lately with the timing of beer drinking events in regards to my being out of town. Next weekend appears to be no exception. I was walking by the Downtown Bar and Grill, located on Court Street and Amity not far from where I live. This used to be Cousin's II and I haven't been in it since it changed hands and dramatically increased the number of beers they have available. They have hundreds now.

Downtown Bar and Grill


I would have stopped in to see what they had but I was a bit early so it wasn't open yet. One day soon though.

I spotted this in their window though and my heart sank when I realized I would miss it.

Extreme Beer Drinking


I am heading for Costa Rica early Saturday morning and won't be back until after this is over. It starts on Thursday, May 31st and ends on Saturday, June 2nd. The beer starts flowing at 6 PM each day. This is not for lightweights. The alcohol content of these bad boys runs from a low of 9% (Stoudt's Fat Dog Stout and Allagash Triple Ale) to a high of 12.5% (Weyerbacher Blasphemy). I would probably fixate on the Weyerbacher Blithering Idiot just because I like the name.

To get over my disappointment I stopped in at American Beer just up the street a few blocks and bought a bottle of Harvestoun Bitter and Twisted Ale. American Beer is off-sale only but it has one of the most amazing selections of beers you will ever find. The prices are fairly competitive as well. One day I will write more about this place. I am very lucky to have this place in my neighborhood. If Mister Rogers had it in his neighborhood his show would probably have been more like Pee-wee's Playhouse.

Harvestoun Bitter and Twisted Ale


Harvestoun Bitter and Twisted Ale is made in Scotland and Harvestoun also makes the delicious sounding Old Engine Oil, a dark beer. I guess I will have to try it one day. The Bitter and Twisted is a nice light and refreshing beer with a crisp cirtrus flavor to it. The Twisted part of the name comes from the allusion to a lemon twist, although I didn't find any overpowering lemon flavor. Guess this is yet another example of a brewery fruiting their beer, man rules be damned.

I won't be posting until I get back from my trip. I just don't feel like lugging my laptop with me this time around. Keep alert though, I hope to have some interesting stuff for you when I return.

A Fair Day, Kind Of

I headed out to a neighborhood not too far from where I live in Downtown Brooklyn. This neighborhood is called the Waterfront District, and for good reason. It is a narrow neighborhood bordered by the Brooklyn Queens Expressway (BQE) to the east and the New York Harbor to the west. It used to be a really rough and tumble area and not too many years ago it wasn't a place you felt comfortable in after dark. Now it has become a fairly hip neighborhood where a lot of East Village types have migrated too when the East Village became a bit pricey and, some would say, a bit plastic. For the record, I still think the East Village is cool, but then I am a bit of an old fart. There was supposed to be a small street fair but it had been canceled due to the threat of rain. It was a bit overcast and drizzly.

I could see from a distance that there wasn't any fair, but of course I also saw something that caught my eye.

Gosh, Could That Be A Bar?


It Was!! It Was!! Actually, it was Moonshine, the bar at 317 Columbia Street that was supposed to be sponsoring the fair.

Moonshine


Well, fair or not, I was going to stop in and have me a beer.

Marni was the friendly and very busy bartender who poured me my Brooklyn Brown Ale in an old mason jar. Get it, Moonshine, mason jars. Cute, but effective. The Brown Ale is a nice dark creamy concoction that is a bit hoppier than most brown ales. Very drinkable and not so heavy that you couldn't have a few.

Barman and Marni


They also sold buckets of four cans of beer for five bucks. A great place to go to basically get hammered.

There was a bit of an assorted crowd hanging out here on a dreary Saturday afternoon.

Sonia and Orion


Sonia was the one with the visible tattoos. I don't know if Orion had any yet. Sonia used to live in the East Village and had recently moved to Redhook, an adjacent neighborhood. I don't know if you are allowed to have children in the East Village, but there were plenty of them in here. It was a true neighborhood bar in the style of the pubs you find in Ireland where the whole family hangs out.

A Good Spot To Just Hang Out


They have a pool table in here and darts and the obligatory Big Buck Hunter game. They also had a really neat area out back.

The Back Yard


The really cool thing was that they had a couple of nice grills and you could use them to fix whatever you brought.

Community Grill


Considering that Barman loves to grill but lives in an apartment this place rates a return visit. Next time with a slab of ribs or something.

All in all it was a very friendly place with a nice crowd and I could easily have settled in for a long stay. But, I just had my one beer and toddled off down the street. Maybe I could have taken their limo, a nice touch.

The Moonshine Limo


Not too far away was Sugar, a bar I hadn't previously visited.

Sugar


I can't say they spared no expense on their window decoration, which was basically just packets of sugar.

Sugar at Sugar


No kids in this bar but, interestingly, except for me everyone in the place was there for a baby shower.

The Party Room


I was offered a piece of cake but because I was watching my girlish figure I settled for a Brooklyn Pennant Pale Ale 55 instead. This is a nice English style ale the color of honey with a nice malty flavor. It is named in honor of the Brooklyn Dodgers who won the pennant in 1955.

Barman Wins The Pennant


Heading on home I had to pass, or at least try to pass, Pete's Waterfront Ale House. They were running the Preakness today but I decided to hit a trifecta of my own by having a Brooklyn Blast.

Barman Having A Blast


Brooklyn Blast, which I have written about before, is a strong (8%) ale with some notable hops to it, but not at all over-the-top. Dangerously drinkable.

The bartender also gave me a taste of Sly Fox Amarillo IPA and I liked it so much I had one of those as well. Amarillo is the type of hops that they use to make the beer and it gives it a bit of a pine flavor. Nothing overpowering though and this is an excellent IPA with a crisp citrus flavor. Sly Fox started out in 1994 as a brew pub and restaurant just outside of Philadelphia but has since added a full brewery. You don't see too many of their beers here in New York but if I ever get out their way I will certainly stop in. They put out a large selection of beers and I would like to try some of their other offerings. The Jake's ESB sounds like it would be mighty tasty.

I often mention about how the food at Pete's is well beyond the usual pub grub so I decided to take a look at today's specials.

Today's Specials


The Wild Boar Meatballs sounded interesting as did the Braised Buffalo Short Ribs with Asian Blackbean Sauce. Tempting, but the Asian Blackbean Sauce reminded me that the Mysterious Chinese Woman was fixing duck legs for dinner and I dared not linger.

The talent behind the food at Pete's is Jim who, busy as he is, always has a bit of time to chat with the customers.

The Talented and Creative Jim


As always, if you are in the neighborhood you should stop in for a beer and, time permitting, a bite to eat. You can't go wrong.

I Like Ike's

Interestingly, I live in New York which, arguably, has more great restaurants and bars than any other city in the world. On the other hand, the bars in the airports leave a lot to be desired. On the other hand, I grew up in Minneapolis and return there on a regular basis. Although Minneapolis has a number of very good restaurants and bars, its airport really shines. In terms of bars and restaurants it is easily one of my very favorite airports. If I have the time I may do a whole blog on them. Of course the big problem is that you actually have to go through airport security, which means having a ticket, to visit them. This is a pity, really. With the new light-rail system that goes right downtown you could easily visit the airport just to have a few drinks and dinner. But I am not going to buy an airplane ticket just to do that.

Ike's


Ike's is a recent addition. They first opened a restaurant in downtown Minneapolis that I visited (not for the first time) back on September 19th, 2005 when I was hitting my 1000 bars. It was, in fact, bar number 800 and you can see that I liked it. I spotted the one in the airport when I flew into Minneapolis on Thursday but didn't have time to stop. Luckily I did have time to stop before I headed back to New York.

In fact I had enough time to have a wonderful steak dinner with a half-bottle of a nice red wine. Again, most definitely not your typical airport food. Before dinner I did hit the bar for a beer.

Barman at Ike's Bar


A tip of the hat to Betsy Grierson who recognized my tee-shirt in the above picture and wanted to know if I had actually gotten buzzed at the Chainsaw Sisters.

I had a local beer, Summit Extra Pale Ale, brewed by Summit Brewing Company in St. Paul. Crisp, hoppy, and quite delicious. Minneapolis and St. Paul are known as the Twin Cities and, of course, are the home of the Minnesota Twins who actually play in Minneapolis and really should be known as the Minneapolis Only Child. Now the New York Jets and the New York Giants both play in New Jersey. Go figure. We won't discuss why The Twins are the only baseball team that I can think of named after a state instead of a city. The New York Mets and Yankees are named after the city of New York, not the state, and actually play in the city. But anyway, I digress.

Note: The Flower Guy from Miami Petal pointed out that the Texas Rangers, Florida Marlins, and Arizona Diamondbacks are also baseball teams named after states and not cities. Barman should stick to what he knows best; bars, not baseball.

Michelle Doyle also pointed out that I forgot about the Colorado Rockies. Damn, I could have sworn they were a hockey team.

If you get a chance, be sure to stop in at Ike's. You can do this even if you are a Democrat because Ike's is named not after Eisenhower, but a relative of the owner's.