Friday Fun!

So, I believe we left off with a little snacky, snacky of goldfish on Friday evening. Christine, my wonderful "date" for the evening arrived and we took off too Akins BBQ which is the local restaurant in my hometown. I said "the" restaurant not because our town lacks a few other eating establishment, but because I don't know why you would waste your money at them. I practically grew up at Akins seeing's how I worked there since I was 14 years old until I graduated high school and was known to pick up shifts when I was home on break from college too. Which Akins does not count as "healthy" food by any stretch of the imagination I am a southern girl and a loyal Akins family member on top of it, so don't be shocked if you see them on the blog now and again.

I was particularly bad on Friday night though. I went all out and got the CFS (or Country Fried Steak for ya'll who aren't so southern fare savvy) with mashed potatoes and green beans!
I hold strong that you really can't be a vegetarian in my town, as even the "veggies" have meat in them here and the bacon in my green beans was no exception. I did pick that out though.
I'm a little embarrassed to admit that I ate the whole plate except for the previously mentioned bacon and a few bites of garlic toast. I didn't even know I was that hungry and as my girlie and I chatted away I didn't even realize that I had demolished that beast until it was gone! Whoops. All washed down with copious amounts of sweet tea. No worries though, I only have this meal once or twice a year, so I'm set for at least 6 months, much to my arteries relief!

To keep up the trend of Friday night in the South Christine so kindly came along (ok, I bribed her) with me to the opening homegame for the high school I teach at. It was really fun to see the kids doing what they love, be it football, cheerleading, band or just hanging with their friends. I really love teaching high school, particulary I think because I really enjoyed my high school years and it's fun to see other kids enjoying theirs too. What about you guys? Did you love or loath your high school years? We did call it a night after the half time show and headed off to Gville to enjoy more "adult" activities!

Get your minds out of the gutter kiddies, we only went out to the best bar in Gainesville: Stubbies or Steins. You all may or may not have picked up on the fact that I LOVE craft beer so when Christine told me about this place I was pumped. Let's just say it totally didn't disappoint. With over 300 beers available and the most knowledgeable (and cute!) bartenders around it's a great place to have a pint, or three! I signed up for the 100 Beers in a Year challenge, so you can expect to see lots of time spent at Stubbies in the near future (and ahem, this coming weekend!) Oh, one other great thing about Stubbies is it's smoke free! So nice in a bar!

I started with Stiegl Pils which I have dubbed the ultimate "picnic beer" as it is a light lemony brew of 1/2 beer 1/2 lemon soda! I would get this again for sure.

Next was SeaDog Apricot Wheat. I love their Blueberry Wheat and have tried the Raspberry before so I was not really surprised to enjoy the apricot. I would totally buy this to have at the house, which I don't really feel the same way about the Raspberry.I took this picture after I finished this one, obvsioulsy. I nearly forgot to snap a pick but practically grabbed it out of the busgirl's hand (ok, not really...but I totally would have!). It's funny, my picture taking (I had to use the flash, it was too dark in the bar otherwise) was pissing off the guy sitting caddycorner across from me until I explained about the blog. I guess he though I was trying to take pictures of him? Werid.

Another cool think about Stubbies is they have all kinds of board games for you to play while you relax with your brew, so out end of the table battled on some Jenga for a while. This was our record stack! Very fun.

Lastly I knew I wanted a porter. So Dan, our fantastic bartender, and I talked some options and in the end I chose Fuller's London Porter.
Oh man, this was so amazing. It had that velvety smooth feel with a hint of mocha at the end that porters are known for, but with this great smokey, nearly fermented salt fish aroma. I know that doesn't sound appealing to some, but that is the only way I can describe it. A great way to end the night. That and chatting with the bartenders! ;)

I can't wait to go back and I think I'll try some of the great German food next time too, I was just amazingly from that dinner. I say amazingly because I wasn't miserably stuffed, and never even felt that tinge of hunger that typically comes from drinking. PS. We ate at 7pm and closed the bar down at 2am...so for me not to get hungry in 8hrs is really amazing!

Coming up next: Saturday Shopping and Sunday, well stuff.

Love to all,
~ A blog a holic, Jess