Beer, Bourbon & Brisket Festival

This past Saturday marked the 1st Annual Beer, Bourbon & Brisket Festival in Fort Worth and I would just like to say, it was tasty! (Please see the delicious brisket taco below!)

Anyway, after a stormy day that looked like it would put a damper on things (pun intended), the festival began as scheduled at 5PM and continued until 11PM. Thanks to the rain, the weather cooled off and it was a pleasant evening.

Now, you could purchase a ticket just to get into the festival, which allowed you to be able to walk throughout the area, buy some delicious BBQ and domestic beers and listen to the four bands scheduled to perform.

Or...you could also purchase a sampling ticket (which we did, of course) to make your way up to the 21 & Over tent to try out some bourbon and beer. We even got cute little sampling mugs (see below).

The sampling ticket came with 10 beer samples and 4 bourbon samples...and you could choose which ones to go for. There were definitely some tasty options! My favorites were (in no particular order):

BEER - Wood Chuck Cider (Fall), Deep Ellum (Dallas Blonde), Lakewood (Lager), No Label (Ridgeback)

BOURBON - Four Roses Bourbon (Small Batch)

It was definitely packed in the tent, especially as the evening dragged on, but if you could maneuver your way through the throngs of people and get out into the fresh night air, you could enjoy your sample while looking at the Fort Worth skyline.

The music wasn't too shabby either. There were some highs and lows, but my favorite was Jace Everett. Somebody's Darling and Whiskey Folk had some decent songs as well.

And let's just say, that after we ran out of the sampling tickets, the evening didn't end. The weather and atmosphere was too good to pass up an additional beer or two and enjoy the rest of the music.

Overall, the festival was a lot of fun and definitely made better by the good food, beverage, weather and company. I think we'll be coming back and if not, I found a bunch of new breweries and distilleries to try!

Color Me Bad? No! Color Me Rad!

This past weekend marked the first race for me since my half marathon back in June, as well as my first race here in Dallas since moving back: the Color Me Rad 5K.

The race took place in Fort Worth, so Stephanie and I made a day of it. Our race time was 1:00PM, so we didn't have to get up super early. We met up at my apartment and headed out to the location.

It's still hot in Texas in September, so I was grateful we started in white shirts. It kept us a bit cooler until we started running. At that point, it didn't matter.

This would also be my first color run. I had wanted to participate in one back in Hartford, but it was during the last week of half marathon training, so I couldn't make the race. I was very excited to try it out. I had seen pictures from other races, but didn't quite know what I would be getting myself into.

Needless to say, it was FUN! Every kilometer or so we would get doused with another color. By the end, I was a human tie-dye shirt. Poor Stephanie got hit in the face with a massive amount of purple color right at the end. She was coughing and sneezing purple. We got back to the car and luckily we brought towels and she blew her nose in it. PURPLE was all that came out!

 

After the race, we headed out to get lunch. We were definitely a sight to be seen at the restaurant. The only good thing was that it was past the lunch rush, so very few people were witness to our madness. Our waiter even made a 'comment' about how I had something on my face. How original.

 

Once I got home, I realized it was probably best to hop in the shower to get all of the color off. It was hilarious to see that it made it through my shoes and socks!! I had colorful little piggies!

 Well, the first color run of my career was a success. Next up: DISNEY!!