#cousinfuntime

My cousins and I went on tour a couple of weeks ago. And by on tour, I mean we were a part of a tour. We took a quick trip to Merrimack, NH to see where the magic happens behind :

"The King of Beers"

After some samples of their new Black Crown, we got going to see the rest of the brewery.

They did the standard explanation, what goes into the wort, how much beer fits in one of their tanks, how long it takes to get a finished product etc. Made us watch a brief video (because their machines weren't on that day, but usually you just watch it live) on the bottling process. Further went into detail about all of their products - and trust me, they have a lot - 

But, then it was on to everyone's favorite part of any tour, the free samples.

They gave us the opportunity to try their Mango-rita, which wasn't supposed to hit shelves for at least another couple of months, along with a pretty good selection of some other Budweiser products: Kirin, Cidre, a UFO, Shocktop etc. You got to try two 6 oz. samples, and then a full pint of your choice! They didn't give you a lot of time, so we pretty much had to chug everything (we weren't mad at it).

Finished the tour, and were told to exit through the gift shop.

The great thing about Budweiser is their mascot of choice!

Overall, I would definitely recommend going there if you're in the area. Not really that interactive in relation to some of the other brewery tours that I've been on, but definitely worth it. If only for the Clydesdales. 

My cousin is quite the fashionisto. And I couldn't help but snap a few of his jacket and footwear. Gentlemen, take note.

I have the best familee in the world. My cousin was gracious enough to suggest going to Hopsters! The story behind this husband-and-wife run store is to essentially get you to brew your own beer. The concept is awesome but we were a little disappointed with the fact that they didn't have a license to serve while we were brewing. The irony. 

After looking at a binder full of options for custom brew, we ended up choosing a sun-dried tomato based ale. 

Our craft guide started us off by making (willingly) us measure all the ingredients to add to the wort.

Wort /ˈwɜrt/ is the liquid extracted from the mashing process during the brewing of beer or whisky. Wort contains the sugars that will be fermented by the brewing yeast to produce alcohol.

here's everything in fast-forward 

Only criticism we had from the brewing process was it wasn't as interactive as we would have liked. A few times our guide just went ahead and did some crucial steps "for us". Which kind of defeats the purpose of brewing your own beer. Nonetheless we had a fabulous time. Truly a birthday experience to remember.

now for the goods!

My cousin Sandra, is one of the most artistic humans I know to walk the earth. Growing up I wanted to be her. She always had the coolest clothes, the best taste in music/art, you name it she been had been known about it. All of this holds truth still, obviously. She's also one of the most considerate people I know as well; always thinking ahead of others. She's sweet as can be, and I've never been prouder to say I'm related to her. When I grow up I wanna be just like Sandra.

to twenty-two more with the best familee a girl could ask for, now if you'll excuse me I'll be getting buzzed off tomato beer. give a shout if you want a bottle!

I had the pleasure of spending Labor Day weekend in San Antonio, Texas! It was a mini cousin reunion for us (except for the boys). Early Friday we headed to Logan to catch a five dollar flight (September 11th security fee?) to Houston (connect locale). Made the hour time-jump and bam! we were in San Antonio by noonish. First thing we did was pick out a place to quiet our growling stomachs. 

We settled on Dough!

there was a bit of a wait so we headed across the street to sit in the shade and on our walk over we couldn't help but ease our frustrations with these two beauties! (I forget their names, but apparently they're dog royalty)

after our first taste of Texas, we headed over to our safe haven for the next five days! One thing I noticed is that everyone has white cars there (reflects the rays man!).

just when you think you've packed everything, you realize you forgot useless stuff like a toothbrush, contact solution, deodorant, etc. We bought too many banana popsicles so we creepily (semi) handed them out to kids in Target. Who wouldn't  accept a free frozen treat from a stranger??

Meet Titan! or as I like to call him tee-tahn. His dome is massssive.

fun fact : apparently just about every kid near the south of the border loves this hot fries. I had two and immediately ran for the milk. 

Day 2 started out with great breakfast tacos, followed by donuts from Shipley's. I heard some of my friends from Texas rave about how good these bad boys are so of course we had to check em out. They lived up to their reputation too!

I feel for Texans. Let me just put that out there right meow. The climate there is kind of unbearable. It's nearly 100 degrees every day (or just about) and there's not much of a breeze, it's humid, and even at night you're not given much of a break. 

To beat the heat we went to Las Nieves : the mecca of shaved ice and fruit. 

My cousin and I both got a mango chili popsicle, and split a watermelon/lemonade agua fresca. 

I also witnessed my first pickle popsicle (was in too much shock to snag a pic) and my first Frito Pie: cut a slit on the side of the bag, add: nacho cheese, chili, jalapenos, spices, heart attack.

we headed home to rest up before dinner, and on the way we got a glimpse of the Alamo and the neighborhood that my cousin shares with the  Tommy Lee Jones. 

note, I've seen some pretty insane houses in my day but the lavishness of these abodes was cray.  

Arcade ended up being the place of choice to eat that night

walking after dinner had become something I love doing, and my family agreed that we needed to get some exercise in after the constant feasting that we've been doing. We went along the other part of the river this time

Day 3 started off with a bang. You can't just not  go to the most visited water park in America while you're in Texas, that'd be nuts. To Schlitterbahn (world's best water park 16 years in a row) we went. It's just as much fun as it sounds German. 

It's more of a resort than just a park . I forgot my waterproof camera like a goon so I didn't get a chance to capture all the stuff we did but if you ever get a chance to go, I wouldn't pass it up.

after a day of fun in the sun, there's only one thing to do, eat. 

Big Lou's for forty-two inch pizza? Why is that even a question.

We passed out the moment we got home from BL's. 

Woke up the next morning to spend out last day in San Antonio before heading to Austin. After the bucket of salt we probably ingested last night, we were craving caffeine and sweets.  

For all of your dessert needs, Bird Bakery is the place to go!

After a little maneuvering, we headed to Austin for day trip before our early morning flight the next day. And as if we hadn't ate enough already, we stopped at a burger food truck the moment we got there. 

A friendly local told us to check out the bats  under the bridge. We were a bit skeptical at first but they weren't kidding when they said how cool it was. Thousands and thousands of bats fly out from under the bridge every night around this time of year and we got front row seats to the show. (the pictures are a bit shotty, apologies)

When in doubt, drink! We got a chance to check out 6th street which lived up to all of it's drunken glory. If you have a vagina you can't take two steps down 6th without getting solicited to come into "the best ___ bar on 6th". Nonetheless us girls enjoyed every moment of it. 

if you ever get a chance to visit Texas, do it! (if perfectly alright if you forget to bring a jacket, you won't need one)