Beer, Coasters and Culture II

[Jcoaster]

Hello ThemeParkReview! I’m back again with another photo trip report, this time its another edition of Beer, Coasters and Culture. If you read the last edition we visited Yuengling Brewery, Knoebels and Union Canal. That was 4th of July weekend, this edition is from Labor day weekend in which we visited the Mid-Atlantic States of Maryland and Delaware. Updates include DogFish Head Brewery, Baltimore’s Inner Harbor area, Six Flags America and a bonus section featuring Brandywine Zoo.

 

The first part of the report will focus on Dogfish Head Brewery which is located in Milton, Delaware. The drive was a little over two hours from Staten Island. Me and Cassie left around 8 am and arrived at the Brewery around 11:30am. For those of you who have never heard of Dogfish Head it is one of the countries most successful craft breweries trailing only Yuengling and Sam Adams. On the tour the guide told us that in order to be considered a craft brewery the output must be under 6 million barrels a year. Anyway, the Brewery was started 20 years ago in a garage and has grown into a massive brewing facility which is continuing to even grow now. One thing that I took notice of is how beautiful the grounds of the brewery are. The owner bought 80 acres of property and they have definitely utilized it. The facility is immaculate and even includes their own private pond. Tours are free, they give out a free 4 beer sampler and they have a food truck outside that sells great tasting food for a cheap price. If you are interested in a longer stay they do serve pints and the brewery also owns a brewpub and inn at Rehoboth beach. Dogfish Head’s motto is “Off centered beer for off centered people” and we are definitely that which is why I suggest anybody who is in to something different should check it out. Definitely my favorite brewery.

 

Later on after the brewery we took a 2 hour drive across Delaware into Baltimore where we ate dinner at Captain James Crab House (which has an amazing setting and awesome food) and hung out in Fell’s Point. Thats all for this part, the next section that includes Edgar Allen Poe’s house will be up soon!

The first thing you see after making a right turn off a quiet residential street. The surrounding area is a nice neighborhood and the brewery is really tucked back there.

Some of the massive tanks at the brewery. Just to think they started so small (Wait until a following photo then you'll appreciate this one more).

This is a metal treehouse the owner bought for 1 dollar. The shipping and construction came out to 4,999 dollars but all the materials cost a dollar. They serve beer up there from time to time and it can be rented for private events.

These are tanks located in "Brew Room 2" at the beginning of the tour.

This is what the owners started their brewery with. Now look at the place, incredible. The guide told us the owner has no idea how to operate any of the larger newer equipment so if he wants to brew he still does it from a starters set like that.

Some more brew tanks.

The fermentation room.

Sitting barrels. The beers that have a more oaky, smokey taste..You're looking at the reason why.

The packaging and bottling plant is a bit down the road so its a short walk there on the tour. Here you have a Ralph Waldo Emerson quote on the back wall of the main facility. The owner put it there cause he found it inspiring to people in whichever way they choose to see it.

That building is the said packaging and bottling plant.

Keg Party.

These are hydraulic keg lifting machines they bought from Japan. God Bless the Japanese for all the cool stuff they build.

Bottling and Label machines.

I was ready for some sampling after the tour. (Excuse my 4th grade handwriting)

Chocolate Lobster Stout!

We got a quick bit to eat after at Bunyan's Lunchbox.

Pulled Pork and a SeaQuench Ale. I like my pulled pork with a vinegar sauce better, can take the pork more in my opinion.

Can you tell we were having fun?

Once in Baltimore it meant it was time for fresh seafood. Captain James has a beautiful setting right on the marina.

Being in Baltimore also meant it was time for Natty Boh.

Oysters.

Steamed Clams in garlic and butter.

And of course crabs with plenty of Old Bay!

After we hit the Admiral's Cup for some fresh fruit crush drinks. That gadget right there is a sign of authenticity. Good to see them crushing the fruit right in front of you.

I opted for the Grapefruit Crush. See you guys next update.

Edited September 9, 2016 by Jcoaster

[Jcoaster]

Quick update from the Saturday we spent in Baltimore:

 

- We hit Miss Shirley's for brunch in Baltimore. If you're a foodie definitely hit this place up, you won't be disappointed. We usually go to Blue Moon's Cafe when we are in Baltimore but we decided to switch it up this time. It was a good choice and its nice to have options for next time.

 

- After Brunch we headed over to Edgar Allen Poe's house which is a nice 45 minute stop for some Baltimore history. The man lived and incredible life and was every bit as strange as his reputation was. He didn't have a lot of money and his home was probably the size of his wallet. You are really squished in there. Admission is 5 dollars and you get to see some of his belongings as well as his bedroom with the furniture and such still intact.

 

- At night we headed to Yankees vs Orioles at Camden Yards. I love this stadium and even if you aren't a baseball fan it is worth going to see. Things didn't go the Yankees way but at least I had Chesapeake Fries and some Old Bay infused beer.

 

- Stick around cause the SFA update is up next.

Why not start off the day with a Peach Tea Crush?

Chicken N Waffles anyone?

Poe's House landmark

Full view of the house. You can see how small it is.

Some of the silverware he ate and drank from.

His kitchen and the fire place within the kitchen.

Some quotes from Poe's biggest fans.

Poe's telescope.

His writing desk. I heard it contains magical powers.

Cassie with Edgar Allen Poe himself.

In between Poe's house and the Yankee game I decided to do this. Natty Boh for life. Sorry mom and dad.

Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

Beautiful.

I'll end this part of the report with Chesapeake Fires and Flying Dog Dead Rising beer.

Poe's actual room.

[coasterbill]

Woah Woah Woah Woah Woah did you just seriously post a trip report featuring Dogfish Head, Camden Yards, the Baltimore Inner Harbor, Crabs loaded in Old Bay, Camden Yards Chesapeake Fries, Natty Boh, Crushes and the importance of fresh squeezed Orange / Grapefruit crushes?!?!?!?!

 

This is the greatest trip report in the history of the world. Shut the site down. You win. It's all over.

Edited September 6, 2016 by coasterbill

[viking86]

Beer, coasters and culture, I'd rank it in the exact same order! Sweet report so far, thanks for sharing! Looking forward to the next part!

[Jcoaster]

Woah Woah Woah Woah Woah did you just seriously post a trip report featuring Dogfish Head, Camden Yards, the Baltimore Inner Harbor, Crabs loaded in Old Bay, Camden Yards Chesapeake Fries, Natty Boh, Crushes and the importance of fresh squeezed Orange / Grapefruit crushes?!?!?!?!

 

This is the greatest trip report in the history of the world. Shut the site down. You win. It's all over.

 

Thank you Bill.

 

I'm unsure of wether or not I should post the SFA part. I just know the coaster nerds will kill me if I don't.

[coasterbill]

I'm unsure of wether or not I should post the SFA part. I just know the coaster nerds will kill me if I don't.

 

Did you ever see the movie Jaws: The Revenge? The original was a brilliant, perfect timeless classic. There was no need to continue on but for some reason they decided to follow up complete perfection with a giant turd that put a damper on the whole thing.

 

Six Flags America is that turd. Six Flags America would be your "Jaws: The Revenge". It doesn't have to be this way.

[boldikus]

JFC all I wanna do is eat and drink when you post reports. Killing me.

[prozach626]

Nice report! The chicken and waffles looked legit.

[Jcoaster]

I'm unsure of wether or not I should post the SFA part. I just know the coaster nerds will kill me if I don't.

 

Did you ever see the movie Jaws: The Revenge? The original was a brilliant, perfect timeless classic. There was no need to continue on but for some reason they decided to follow up complete perfection with a giant turd that put a damper on the whole thing.

 

Six Flags America is that turd. Six Flags America would be your "Jaws: The Revenge". It doesn't have to be this way.

 

Lmao, yes unfortunately my eyes were soiled by watching that disgrace. I will try my best to make the sequel to this report the Godfather II.

 

JFC all I wanna do is eat and drink when you post reports. Killing me.

 

Sorry. There is no point in going on vacation if you don't eat and drink like an animal

 

Nice report! The chicken and waffles looked legit.

 

One of the best Chicken & Waffles dishes I've had. They used a chipotle butter that went well with the jalapeño infused waffle batter.

[Jcoaster]

Sunday we woke up around 11 o’clock, ate some breakfast and got ready to head to Six Flags America. We were in no particular rush since we were feeling the side effects of the night before and figured that the lines at Six Flags wouldn’t be outrageously long. The drive from Baltimore to the park was around 45 minutes and we arrived around 12:45.

 

The last time I visited Six Flags America was 2009. At that time there was no Ragin Cajuan, no Apocalypse and Skull Mountain was still operating. What I remember from that day is that it was fairly pleasant, had minimal wait time for lines and operations stunk. 7 years later and the only thing that changed was the new rides. The park was still pleasant enough to kill a few hours and the operations stunk. Every single ride besides Ragin Cajuan and Wild One were running one train and the ride ops were another worldly kind of slow. There should have been 5 minute waits max for most rides but they were dragged out to 20. Don’t get me wrong of all the Six Flags parks I have visited America’s have some of the most friendly, but boy do they need to start moving trains out a bit faster.

 

I know this park catches quite a bit of heat for not being the prettiest looking park but I do have to say that the entrance area and front of the park do look very nice. Coyote Creek and Mardi Gras are very nicely landscaped and maintained but Gotham City is flat out ugly. It just looks like an abandoned field which is a shame cause thats where most of the best rides in the park are.

 

During our time at the park we rode everything once besides Ragin Cajuan which broke down while we were about to be dispatched and Batwing which we didn’t attempt due to the combo of it had the longest line in the park, being pain loading and unloading as well as SFA’s operations. It would have been the perfect storm of suck which is a shame cause it is one of my favorite rides in the park. All in All it was a fun 4 hours at SFA and I’m glad I visited cause Wild One, Joker’s Jinx and Superman are all fun rides. Hopefully it won’t be 7 years before I visit again. Im actually eyeing a trip to their HITP if the weather holds up.

 

Ride Count:

 

Mind Eraser: Bad but not as bad as SFNE’s or Nor’Easter at Morey’s Piers. Even though the ride stinks I do love its location tucked back in Coyote Creek. Makes for nice scenery while on the ride.

 

Roar: I had fun on Roar. We sat in the back row and I even caught a few decent pops of air. The first drop had decent strength and the laterals throughout the ride weren’t bad either. Best case scenario is they RMC it down the road, worst case scenario is you enjoy a decent GCI and walk over to Mardi Gras to ride Wild One.

 

Apocalypse: Great theming (especially for Six Flags), below average ride. I liked it better than Green Lantern (Yea you read that right) but best case scenario is that it becomes a floorless. The entire ride I kept thinking how much better it’d be as one.

 

Joker’s Jinx: I forgot how fun this ride is. Premier Spaghetti Bowl coasters are great rides. I would lobby for a new generation of Spaghetti Bowl coasters. Great launch, forceful layout. A+ coaster.

 

Superman: Sat back row and caught some serious, serious airtime. Second hill was so-so but the hill after the straight away as well as the bunny hills were ejecting me. Not Intamin’s finest work but still above average compared to most coasters out there.

 

Wild One: Absolutely timeless. Back row, massive amounts of painful airtime. Such a fun classic ride. It closed twice throughout the day and tested but thank the lord it opened back up before we left.

 

On to some pictures now.

Generic looking Six Flags entrance, they tried real hard with these.

I really thought the entrance plaza was nice. Nicer than what I remembered.

Coyote Creek had some nice landscaping. (And you all thought SFA was ugly!)

Whats that in the distance? Some sort of instrument of torture perhaps?

My goodness, its a Vekoma SLC! Quickly avert your eyes!

Too late! Watch and listen as they scream their souls out to the painful transitions and inversions of a ride

that allows gaps between the wheels and track

ROAR's entrance plaza is nice. The ride itself is in a field of weeds.

But that just adds to the theming of a monster hiding in the undergrowth (come work with me here im trying).

There they go in the clutches of the GCI's 1999 lukewarm fan reviewed monster now!

And just like that its over, then telling yourself, "this was okay but it would make a nice RMC one day."

You bet I did the "three coasters one shot" thing.

You make a quick right from Roar and the world starts ending.

Apocalypse's theming is very similar to Nitro at Great Advent.... Oh wait.

One loop, big deal.

At this point in tne ride it really does feel like the world is ending.

After that ordeal I went right over to the lovely Mardi Gras area to....

Yea you guessed it. Get myself a drink. This was a pretty well made Bayou Bullfrog. I think its just a gernade without the naming license.

Sticking with the whole "green vibe", next up was Joker's Jinx.

Visible from Joker's station is remnants of Skull Mountain....I mean more Nitro theming....I mean more Apocalypse theming!

I love the launch on this ride.

Pasta bowl.

No VR for us. Just good ole clean fun.

There they go out into the abandoned field abyss.

Ejector.

More ejector.

I saved the oldest for last.

The most spot on name for a coaster outside of Asia. I wish we had a "Diving coaster Vanish" or something like that in the United States.

"I may be 99 years old but....

I will still punish you with my unbanked helix of doom!"

Of course I was gonna end the day with a flight for surviving SFA. See you at the Brandywine zoo.

[coasterbill]

Apocalypse's theming is very similar to Nitro at Great Advent.... Oh wait.

 

[Jcoaster]

Apocalypse's theming is very similar to Nitro at Great Advent.... Oh wait.

 

 

I know any person with Gadv as their home park will appreciate this.

[Philrad71]

Beer, food and coasters....that's all that needs to be said.

 

A++ report!

[boldikus]

Nice update. I liked SFA seemingly more than most around here, it helps to just go in with low expectations and be surprised it's not quite as bad as you imagined. I still haven't ridden it's sibling at SFNE and I'm sure it's vastly superior, but I really liked Superman, and rode it a ton. Operations were not that bad that I can recall. A small part of me does want to make a trip back at some point but there are way too many other parks I need to do before that happens. Shame because it's not too far and Superman, Wild One and Jokers Jinx are tons of fun. Good pics too.

[Jcoaster]

Beer, food and coasters....that's all that needs to be said.

 

A++ report!

 

Thank you.

 

Boldikus I agree with what youre saying. Having ridden SFNE's Superman, that one is superior but its always nice to ride different hypers. As for going back, nobody goes out of their way to go to SFA, however it is nice to pay it a visit when in the area.

[coasterer]

Beer, coasters, culture ... This is my kind of TR! Very nice, thanks for sharing.

 

Call me crazy, but the few times I've ridden Bizarro at SFNE, I was so turned off by the Bizarro theming, loud noises, and general sluggishness of the big trains that I actually preferred Darien's model out of the three, with this one being not too far behind. Much cleaner. And the straight segments and large helixes with head choppers, while maybe not ideal and perhaps a little on the dead-space side, all things considered, do in fact give a nice sense of speed, especially over the lake and long grass.

 

Thanks for this!!

[Jcoaster]

Beer, coasters, culture ... This is my kind of TR! Very nice, thanks for sharing.

 

Call me crazy, but the few times I've ridden Bizarro at SFNE, I was so turned off by the Bizarro theming, loud noises, and general sluggishness of the big trains that I actually preferred Darien's model out of the three, with this one being not too far behind. Much cleaner. And the straight segments and large helixes with head choppers, while maybe not ideal and perhaps a little on the dead-space side, all things considered, do in fact give a nice sense of speed, especially over the lake and long grass.

 

Thanks for this!!

 

Thank you. The other two modes outside of NE's do have a bit of a funky layout. The helix's are bizzare but I actually enjoy the straightaway. Definitely enhances the speed.

[ytterbiumanalyst]

I'm loving this report. You're making me want to visit Baltimore. That's an accomplishment.

[coasterbill]

I'm loving this report. You're making me want to visit Baltimore. That's an accomplishment.

 

Honestly, Baltimore is awesome. The food drink in the Delmarva, Chesapeake region is really amazing. Old Bay is a religion there, they have the best crabs / crab cakes in America, Orange Crushes are ridiculous, Natty Boh is piss beer but it's just so, so much fun to drink and I stock up whenever I'm down there. There's plenty of Dogfish Head 120 to be had (research some cab companies before drinking this, you won't be in any condition to drive) and Camden Yards is one of the most beautiful ballparks around. Seriously, go. Visit the Inner Harbor and the Delaware / Maryland beaches (Mainly Rehoboth Beach DE and Ocean City, MD). You won't regret it.

 

PS: Jcoaster, have you ever been to the Starboard in Dewey Beach? It seems like your kind of place.

[ytterbiumanalyst]

I'm loving this report. You're making me want to visit Baltimore. That's an accomplishment.

 

Honestly, Baltimore is awesome. The food drink in the Delmarva, Chesapeake region is really amazing. Old Bay is a religion there, they have the best crabs / crab cakes in America, Orange Crushes are ridiculous, Natty Boh is piss beer but it's just so, so much fun to drink and I stock up whenever I'm down there. There's plenty of Dogfish Head 120 to be had (research some cab companies before drinking this, you won't be in any condition to drive) and Camden Yards is one of the most beautiful ballparks around. Seriously, go. Visit the Inner Harbor and the Delaware / Maryland beaches (Mainly Rehoboth Beach DE and Ocean City, MD). You won't regret it.

It's very far away....

 

When I was growing up, my neighbours went to Rehoboth Beach and said some very good things about it, so it's been in the back of my mind for a while. Fortunately, flights from STL to BWI tend to be pretty cheap, and it's not too far from Knoebels, which is a bucket list item for me. Maybe next year, still working out plans.

[coasterbill]

When I was growing up, my neighbours went to Rehoboth Beach and said some very good things about it, so it's been in the back of my mind for a while. Fortunately, flights from STL to BWI tend to be pretty cheap, and it's not too far from Knoebels, which is a bucket list item for me. Maybe next year, still working out plans.

 

I'm amazingly biased but Rehoboth Beach is the best beach town on the East Coast. If you want to go to a huge beach city with a party atmosphere then I love Wildwood NJ and Ocean City MD but if you want to spend a week relaxing, drinking and wasting the day away then go to Rehoboth. The beach itself is pristine (Delaware beaches always score as the cleanest in the nation) they don't charge beach fees like all of those bull*** Jersey shore beaches minus Wildwood (because they're cool like that) and it's a great balance between a crazy beach city and a small beach town. Plus everything is family friendly and reasonably priced on the boardwalk.

 

I can't recommend Rehoboth enough. It's pristine, but not stuck up. It's big but not too big. It's perfect. And like I said, if you want to spend a day in a huge beach city then Wildwood is just a short Ferry ride away and Ocean City is right up the road.

[ytterbiumanalyst]

^ That sounds like my kind of place. I'd want to do Wildwood, Great Adventure, Hershey, and Knoebels too (that sounds like the beginnings of a trip to me). I haven't spent much time on the East Coast, though I have been to Boston, D.C., and Florida. Hmm...

[Jcoaster]

PS: Jcoaster, have you ever been to the Starboard in Dewey Beach? It seems like your kind of place.

 

No, but I heard its a great hangout.

 

Dogfish head has a brewpub and Inn that I think I may check out soon. So if I do that I'll check out Starboard as well. The Dogfish inn is in Roheboth.

[boldikus]

I'd want to do Wildwood, Great Adventure, Hershey, and Knoebels too

 

That honestly sounds like the beginnings of a GREAT trip.

[coasterbill]

PS: Jcoaster, have you ever been to the Starboard in Dewey Beach? It seems like your kind of place.

 

No, but I heard its a great hangout.

 

Dogfish head has a brewpub and Inn that I think I may check out soon. So if I do that I'll check out Starboard as well. The Dogfish inn is in Roheboth.

 

Yeah Dogfish Inn is pretty cool. And the Starboard... lol god damn. Happy hour starts at 9AM and then basically it's a party until 1AM. They make awesome Crushes too which somehow taste great despite being about 80% Vodka. lol