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Tag: US Trip

2022 US Trip – Day 15 (Chicago – McDonald’s on Old Route 66)
There is little point to this post other than this McDonald’s at 2315 W Ogden Avenue in Chicago, on the old road that was Route 66, has become one of the destinations that I remember from my several weeks long trip in the United States. A slow walk from the wonderful Goose Island to my train, this is a random point in time that I’ve quite fondly recalled.

I ordered via the kiosks as that’s the preferred method now, but I was the only customer in the place. The crew members were suitably polite when handing over my food, but that’s the only interaction that I had. But, despite the place looking like it hadn’t been cleaned for several hours, it felt like a little slice of the United States. Not the debris on the floor, just the whole efficiency of the service in what is perhaps one of the main exports of the country. And, the Chicken McNuggets were delicious with the hot Picante sauce, as was the Hot n’Spicy McChicken. What a time to be alive and all that….. There are moments on any trip when I just think that a moment is unexceptional, but is actually representative of the entire experience. And typical of me, this is the point in time that I’ve decided to pick out. I accept that I need to get out more.

It’s a very badly reviewed location on-line, with some customer service issues clearly evident and they like locking the inside early and make people drive thru (which would have been a problem for me). But, it was all quite memorable for me, despite being entirely lacking in inspiration. I did say that there would be little point to this post ?
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December 23, 2022
2022 US Trip – Day 15 (Chicago – Goose Island – Fulton Street Taproom Tour)
After having visited the taproom of Goose Island, it was then time to go on the tour that I had pre-booked a few weeks before. The tour guide was knowledgeable and engaging, with the tour lasting just over an hour or so. I’ve gone on a lot of brewery tours over the years and I’m never quite sure that I understand entirely what is going on as there are some many bits of polished metal kit about, but I think I’ve worked the basics out. I’m fairly confident that I’ll never be a brewer though.

There were numerous samples available and the guide allowed visitors to try whichever beers they wanted from this list. With the exception of BCS2022 (Bourbon County Stout) of course, that’s off limits for the moment.

The bottling part of the operation.

Some of the giant beer tanks and I’d note that I had come the furthest of anyone on the tour. Indeed, I was the only one from outside the United States.

Everything about this operation was substantial. As some back history to all of this, Goose Island was formed by John Hall after he travelled around Europe and decided that he thought Americans should be treated to some craft beer. It would be nice to say that Goose Island is an independent company, but they’re owned by Anheuser-Busch who also produce, if I’m being honest, some generic rubbish as well. But they haven’t ruined Goose Island, so I have no complaints and indeed it was only following the takeover that the brewery’s beers became more widely available.

This is the innovation centre where they brew up small batches of beer.

It was quite interesting reading the sheets of paper where the ingredients are listed and what has been amended during the brewing process. I thought that I’d better not take a photo that could be zoomed in on, just in case I was accused of breaching some commercial secret.

After the brewery tour we then went across to the facilities on the other side of the road, but this shows just a part of the large brewery complex that Goose Island have here. This brewery building was opened in 1995, although it has doubled in size since then and it is now 143,000 square feet in size.

This is a warehouse where I understand the infamous Bourbon County Stouts were once stored, but they’ve been moved now and this whole room is more for display than anything else. This exciting bourbon aged beer is something that they’ve been doing since 1992 and they’re now perhaps the best in the world in brewing this type of product.

Although some of the barrels are full.

These are all old wine casks, where they, and I quote, “use wine casks as an environment for beer, wild yeast and fresh fruit to ferment for nearly a year”.

The vineyard label is still visible on the cask.

I hope that’s not a leakage of Bourbon County Stout.

More tasters were offered and this one has yet to be given a name, which means it’s a loss to Untappd…. A nice rye beer though.

I mentioned in my taproom post that I had perhaps the best beer that I’ve ever had, the Rare Bourbon County Brand Stout 2015. This is the 14% version from 2021, which I thought I had tried in Goose Island in Shoreditch, but that transpired to be the 2020 edition. That made this free taster even more exciting as it was another one in the series I got to try and it was once again remarkable. Decadent, rich and with flavours of chocolate, molasses, whiskey and some more subtle notes, all quite beautiful.

I thought that the tour was entertaining, factual and I was pleased with how many free tasters of beer that were available, that was more agreeable. They did also offer everyone a free pint glass, but there was no way that I was going to try and get that back, so they gave me several branded plastic Goose Island glasses as well, which I’m pleased to note did get back safely. The tour is $15 and it’s worth it for the tasters alone, so well worth a little visit. It’s fair to say that I left the Goose Island premises entirely happy with my afternoon out.
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December 23, 2022
2022 US Trip – Day 15 (Chicago – Goose Island – Fulton Street Taproom and One of the Best Beers in the World)
I’ve already mentioned that my first impressions of this bar were positive as a staff member was welcoming and immediately moved my brewery tour forwards without any issues. That gave me an hour to try some of the beers before the tour and then I could spend longer at the bar after the tour. If I still sound excited about this tour, that’s because I was rather looking forwards to this.

The bar doesn’t really do flights other than of their four core beers. I asked if any of these would be in the tour and the manager went off to check with the tour guide and it was apparent that one would have been duplicated, so they merrily gave me a different beer on this flight to avoid duplication. I appreciated that they didn’t find it odd that I didn’t want to have the same beer twice, but I have an Untappd account to keep varied….

I wasn’t expecting overly exciting from these four beers because they’re designed to be a little generic as part of their core range, it’s the dark beers which Goose Island is perhaps best known for. However, this is the Lost Palate NEIPA which I very much liked, not least because I like mangoes and cinnamon and they’re the ingredients that power through. All very pleasurable and I liked how clean the whole bar was, the staff seem very proud of this venue.

The service was impeccable, personable and timely. Despite being run by a large corporate business, this feels on-trend and slightly edgy in an exciting way. It’s at this point that I went off to the do the brewery tour, which I’ll post about separately.

Back in the taproom, the bar gave me this beer, but I can write with confidence that this didn’t impact on my next comment. And that’s because this is perhaps the best beer that I’ve had. This beer has an Untappd rating of 4.72 and the best rated beer in the world is sitting at 4.77, so that puts that a little in perspective. At the time of writing, this is the 13th best rated beer in the world and it’s the Rare Bourbon County Brand Stout 2015 edition.

I’m going to struggle to describe this 14.8% beer in a manner that gives it justice, but this is a barrel aged stout where the flavour is rich, smooth and every sip has an impactful taste. It’s also complex, with a sweet flavour but yet being full bodied with hints of chocolate, vanilla, fudge and heaps of bourbon. It might be thought that a 14.8% beer would be just too high in alcohol, but there was no sharp edge to this and it almost had port like richness. Intense, exciting, decadent and as perfect a beer as I can possibly imagine.

I’ll leave this post here, I think I’ve made sufficiently clear that this is one of the best bars that I’ve visited. Pitch perfect service, environment, cleanliness, customers, beers and surroundings.
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December 23, 2022
2022 US Trip – Beerhaus in Las Vegas
This beer restaurant is centrally located on the Strip, outside the New York New York casino and to be thrifty I deliberately visited during the happy hour. I think it’s between 14:00 and 18:00 on Mondays to Fridays, where local draft beers and a number of food items are reduced.

It was perhaps a little formulaic, but the server was friendly, the environment was comfortable and I liked it here. I was given a large booth table which was handy, with the server bringing over the drinks but they don’t take food orders as there’s a separate counter for those. I thought that was a slightly strange way of handling the ordering proceedings, but there was no queue for food and it was all easy enough to understand.

The Peace, Love & Hoppiness from Big Dog’s Brewing Company was a suitably refreshing pale ale, brewed locally. One limitation I had with the local beer menu is that two of the breweries I had already visited in Las Vegas, so there wasn’t an enormous selection to try I hadn’t sampled before. However, it was still a very credible local beer menu, with national options available as well, although they weren’t in the happy hour pricing. The free tap water is just about always provided as a matter of course without needing to ask for it.

Firstly, that is a beer on the left hand side and very good it was too, the Love Juice from the Lovelady Brewing Company who are located in Henderson, just a little way down the road. Lots of fruit flavour in the beer, as is evident from its colour and so that also made it healthy and nutritious. Secondly, the hot dog was also very agreeable and that’s a Nathan’s beef hot dog, one of the national favourites.

I’d happily recommend this restaurant, it offered an immediate and laid-back environment which always seemed inviting and warm. It wasn’t particularly busy in the afternoon, despite the happy hour, but there were plenty of staff about. There aren’t a huge number of venues on the Strip that focus primarily on beer and this seems like one of the better options.
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December 22, 2022
2022 US Trip – Beers Available for Free in Las Vegas Casinos
On my early visits to Las Vegas I thought that they only offered Budweiser as the free beer in casinos (free other than the tips), but I was pleased to see that there’s actually much more variety if you ask for it. And below is a little sample of what can be ordered, although the choice of course varies in each casino. Unfortunately some are draft pours and it’s not entirely clear what they were, I had to work that out so that I could put them on Untappd….
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December 22, 2022
2022 US Trip – The Nectar of the Gods – Dr. Pepper and Cream Soda
Two of my favourite soft drinks are perhaps Dr. Pepper and Cream Soda, so I was surprised and delighted to see this being sold in Walgreens. And talk about the nectar of the Gods, this was decadent, rich and quite beautiful. I wonder if there’s a way of turning this flavour into a beer? The company themselves describe this drink as “the symphony of deliciousness”. They’re not wrong.
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December 22, 2022
2022 US Trip – Day 18 (Only a Few Hours Left Before Check-In in Las Vegas)
I had a few more hours before I could check-into Circus Circus where I was staying, but my first problem was that my phone battery wouldn’t survive that long. It’s surprisingly difficult to find somewhere to charge a phone in Las Vegas and so I went back to the airport as they have several high desks with power and wi-fi. It was slightly odd to have taken the bus from the airport to the city before going back after a trip to some casinos and White Castle, but much about my life isn’t very logical.

When I got back from the airport dawn had broken and I got off the bus outside the Strat, a hotel where I’ve stayed before (and would stay again on this trip). It’s a subtle little building, visible in the rear of this photo.

It was still early morning, but people were milling about, although there wasn’t much traffic on the roads.

Oops…. I don’t much like McDonald’s breakfast and would rather they ditched it from the menu (perhaps replacing it with something more chicken strips related), but they had a cheap offer on two sausage McMuffins, so I forced myself to eat them. Along with eight free refills of Fanta, which is a lovely bright orange colour in the United States.

Inflation has taken its toll judging by the past offers that have been crossed out on the signage.

My room at Circus Circus, where I’ve stayed before as well, was cheap and so I headed there to amuse myself for a couple of hours before I could actually get in it.

It’s unlikely to be a surprise to anyone that the theme of Circus Circus is, well, circus things. Clever branding there.

It’s all a bit dated and is situated at the far end of the Strip, so it tends to be one of the cheaper accommodation options. It’s also one of the few casinos which has made an effort to appeal to families, although I question just how exciting a trip to Las Vegas is with young children.

There are meant to be live performances here, but I didn’t see any actually taking place.

Wooo! I started with $1 and left with $2, that was suitably agreeable. At midday I went to reception to ask what time check-in was available from and the helpful receptionist told me that free early check-in began at 14:00. The staff member was personable and keen to assist, and she processed all the paperwork bits immediately and told me to collect my key from her a little later, which I did after a little sit down in the food court of the casino. This travel isn’t all glamorous it has to be said, but I remember the entire night with some fondness as there’s something different about a late night White Castle and casino trip. You don’t get that on a day trip to Fakenham.
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December 22, 2022
2022 US Trip – Day 18 (White Castle on Fremont Street)
I don’t get to have White Castle very often, but there’s a new 24 hour outlet on Fremont Street which proved useful to spend a couple of hours in early on in the morning. I really wanted 100 sliders but thought that I would just stick to the Original Slider Meal. Restraint is important.

Delicious. White Castle burgers are steamed, which is unusual for a fast food chain, infused with the onions that they’re cooked on. They’re an unusual texture as they’re soft, but I’ve definitely acquired a taste for them. And you get four of the sliders per meal, what a time to be alive and all that…. They were out of Dr. Pepper, but they mentioned that to every customer as they arrived at the till, such is the popularity of this world class drink.

The reviews here are pretty mixed but I like reading the negative ones and imagining how furious the customers must have been.

“I am beyond livid of the poor quality of food I was served!”

“Woman at the register was extremely rude and spaced out. Fire everyone, replace them.”

“Was so heart broken.”

“The people behind the counter were rude, inconsiderate and hostile!”

“Congratulations White Castle. This is the single worst restaurant I have ever been to.”

I also love reviews that start:

“Before we were kicked out….”

Or my favourite comment:

“Acted like I was asking for blood instead of ketchup.”

Yeah, because most people get work done at 3am at a White Castle in Las Vegas. No-one cared or noticed though as there are no shortage of odd people on Fremont Street and I thought that I was really quite productive. Bits of the floor were a bit sticky, but the staff seemed polite despite being harassed by rude customers and I liked the variety of entertainment that is almost guaranteed by drunken customers.

Most people had gone home by the time I left White Castle. They were sensible.

To wake myself up I went on a little walk pleased to be back in Las Vegas. And also looking forward to checking into the hotel.
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December 22, 2022
2022 US Trip – Day 18 (Sleepless in Las Vegas)
As my flight had arrived in the early hours on the morning I hadn’t bothered worrying about getting a hotel given that Las Vegas is a truly 24 hour city. This proved challenging for a few casinos during the lockdown as they had to work out how to chain the doors up (some used plywood), as some didn’t have any locking systems since they weren’t meant to ever close or they’d just lost the keys.

Everything is big, bright and illuminated in Las Vegas. I’ve mentioned before that the first time I came to Las Vegas I thought that I’d only go once as it’s tacky, tawdry and crude, but then I realised I quite liked those attributes in a city, hence the multiple return visits. This is an exciting city which seems to be constantly evolving in a way I’m not sure is matched elsewhere.

Despite having been to the airport several times before I managed to get muddled up and it took me ten minutes to find the bus stop which wasn’t entirely ideal. But, then again, I wasn’t in a hurry. I had bought a seven day public transport ticket which was for the local buses rather than for the more expensive Deuce bus service which is designed for tourists. Fortunately, I was able to use my phone to purchase the ticket, unlike the situation I had encountered in Chicago where they had geoblocked the app. And yes, I’m still going on about that.

The bus journey from the airport to the downtown area, the original Las Vegas rather than the main strip, takes around thirty minutes.

Understated as ever.

The light displays continues in the early hours of the morning.

Live music which isn’t really my thing, but it does undeniably add to the atmosphere.

I know, I know. But it was free other than for the tip. I was pleased to discover later on that casinos have widened their beer options somewhat, so there weren’t many more Buds.

Woooo… My gambling level wasn’t going to win the casinos much, I only play video poker and the payout is not that far off 100% meaning it’s not particularly costly. And I don’t know how to play the more complex machines anyway, this is much more me. By now I only had a few more hours before the new day was here, but it’s hard to tell in casinos as there are no clocks and everything is brightly lit regardless what time it is.
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December 22, 2022
2022 US Trip – Day 17 (Chicago O’Hare to Las Vegas Harry Reid with Spirit Airlines)
This was the section of my trip that had been messed around a little and so my planned trip by train from Chicago to New Orleans had to be cancelled. That was because a strike was going to be called by staff from the company who own the rail track, meaning that Amtrak were making arrangements to cancel some of their services. They pro-actively cancelled the first train segment and when I asked them on-line they kindly offered to refund the other segments in the itinerary. I was staying at cities such as Carbondale and Jackson, but given the water problems that the latter city has had recently, perhaps that was for the best. That mean I had a gap of one week and after rooting around on-line for some destinations, the cheapest flight was a return from Chicago to Las Vegas with Spirit Airlines. I do like Las Vegas, tacky as it might be, so that’s where I was heading once again.

In the above photo the gate for another destination is still open. A few minutes after it closed a man and his wife (or I assume it was his wife) turned up and realised that their flight details weren’t on the screens. Another customer told them they had missed their flight, but the man wasn’t believing it. He went hunting for staff whilst the wife looked on rather annoyed at the whole arrangement. He wasn’t best pleased at the whole situation when he couldn’t find any staff at the shut gate, so he went through the secure doors, although was soon ushered out. He then made some demands about stopping the plane. They didn’t. His wife then went from annoyed to bloody furious, so there was some entertainment then for the assembled masses who were going to Las Vegas. They trooped off just as the Las Vegas flight was going to board, I had wondered for a moment whether he had deliberately missed his flight so he could go to Sin City instead, but seemingly not.

The boarding area isn’t quite as decadent and plush as American Airlines, but everything is functional and clearly signed. I had a cheap seat on the aircraft meaning that I was pretty much the last to board. I hadn’t paid for seat selection, but was pleased that I was given an aisle seat anyway, which is my preferred choice. Incidentally, there are strict limits on luggage and you’re only able to take a small bag on Spirit. However, like all these budget airlines, they seemed entirely happy with my backpack and I was content to put that under the seat in front of me.

Safely seated and ready for the off. Note that there was plenty of overhead space available, that’s a result of not allowing any large bags in the cabin without charging for them. It was a smooth boarding arrangement, but budget airlines do like to keep their turnaround times as minimal as posible.

As the safety card states, the aircraft was an Airbus A320. I fell asleep for a chunk of the flight as is my usual way, testament though to there being no disruption on board. The flight landed on time, the crew were friendly and the pilots made useful and appropriate announcements. Even with the horrendous exchange rate when I booked this flight, it was still only £50 each way which I thought was very reasonable for a late booking. There was a trolley which went down the aisle (not on its own, crew were pushing it) selling food and drink to customers and although the prices were a little expensive, they were selling a fair amount.

It’s always good to be back in Las Vegas. As an aside, I was initially concerned that Spirit were going to fly me to an airport I didn’t know, as instead of seeing McCarran Airport on the ticket as I was used to, it was Pat Reid Airport. This is a change since I last visited the city, they renamed the airport in December 2021 as McCarran had made anti-Semitic and racist statements whilst he was alive and it was thought things needed to be amended. Reid died at the age of 82 just a couple of weeks after the airport renaming, it must be a proud moment to know that you’ve had a major transportation hub named after you.
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December 22, 2022