It’s been a busy year. We started this as a humble Wordpress blog and expanded to our own website. We traveled up and down the East Coast — covering Maine to North Carolina. We’ve eaten jelly fish, ramps, duck fat fries and lobster fresh from the boat. And we’ve had a beer (or two) in every stop along the way. Here’s a recap of the best and worst of our first year.

The Best Bars

Novare Res Bier Cafe and The Great Lost Bear in Portland, Me.: With the help of the guys from Portland Taps, we found these two amazing beer bars. Great selection, great atmosphere (Novare Res had a cellar quality; The Great Lost Beer bar was like a log cabin in the Great North Woods).  See our post here.

Brewer’s Art in Baltimore:  I don’t understand why Baltimore gets a bad rap with Washingtonians. Bar hopping there makes for a riotous, and affordable, night out.  This bar in particular is great. Its is in the cellar of a Victorian townhouse and on tap are the bar’s own Belgian-style microbrews. Even Esquire magazine noticed; it named Brewer’s Art the best bar in the US this April. Wow!  See our post here.

Flying Dog Brewery in Frederick, Md.: While this is not actually a bar – and we did visit many great bars this year – it comes in 3^rd. Flying Dog has an excellent spread of beers of which you can enjoy limitless samples.  The atmosphere at one of these Saturday afternoon tasting is that of a well-behaved college house party – strangers chatting and spilling out on to the back porch. And, did I mention, its $5. See our post here.

The Best Surprises

Yeah, of course Maine was gorgeous and New York City was a captivating metropolis filled with excellent food.  These places/events were just as amazing – in ways we never expected.  

Davis-Elkins loop – Although I’ve been singing West Virginia’s praises since this blog began, I have yet to influence anyone to actually go there. I don’t give up easily.  Follow this route for a road trip, a mellow escape from DC insanity and a getaway that’s great in the winter.  There’s skiing, burritos and beer. Just do it! See our post here.

Kinetic Sculpture Race – I heard about this race from a blogger meet-up. I mentioned that we cover quirky travel, and this event sprung to everyone there’s mind. For the Kinetic Sculpture Race, groups of friends, classmates and coworkers make human-powered parade floats that can float in the bay, push through sand and coast down bumpy brick roads. It’s amazingly odd. Next year, I’ll be bringing a bike so I can better follow along with the race. See our post here.

Ohio Brew Week –The word “festival” (and its cousin “fair”) often makes me shudder. It usually means high prices, hoards of people and lots of vendors pushing useless junk (used laser disks, anyone?) However, this beer festival was the complete opposite. It was festively crowded and reasonably priced. We heard some great music and tried beers I’ll never see elsewhere. And there was a beer choo-choo. See our post here.

The Biggest Disappointments

We really wanted to love to these popular destinations, but they just fell short.

Assateague  – Although camping on the beach sounds romantic and relaxing – think: falling asleep to the sound of the waves and taking an early morning swim — the reality is that you are camping in a hostile environment. Sand is everywhere, mosquitoes swarm and the sun beats down without mercy.  I wanted to love Assateague. But Assateague didn’t love me.  After a weekend of being eaten, burnt and drenched, I submitted. See our post here.

Asheville – Maybe it was the rain, but this southern city let us down. It wasn’t nearly as outdoorsy or hippified as I hoped it would be. Although, West Asheville had a food co-op, coffee shops and dive bars, downtown was too upscale. How many boutiques does one tiny town need?  I think we missed Asheville’s heyday.  See our post.

Best beers

Saison Dupont from Brasserie Dupont: This is a truly world class beer.  If you want an introduction to the style called Saison, this is the beer to try.  My favorite brew, at my favorite restaurants with my favorite person; it doesn’t get better than that. Find it at Annabell Lee Tavern, Baltimore MD

Grand Wazoo Batch 2 at Jackie O’s Brewery: A bourbon barrel-aged sour dark ale with raspberries, definitely a one-of-a-kind beer.  This brew really showed off the range and diversity of the beverage.  It’s flavors are probably more in line with a wine than any beer most people have tasted. Had at: Jackie O’s Brewpub, Athens OH

Dale’s Pale Ale from Oskar Blues:  Our go-to summer beer.  Dale’s is a very tasty IPA that comes in a can.  Naturally, makes it perfect for camping, tubing, and backyard barbeques.   Had at: just about every trip that involved a cooler.

We forwent the tour of the Biltmore Estate. I was told the grounds were the best part and figured it wasn’t worth the $40 ticket price to look at plants in the rain. Instead, we visited the US’s fanciest McDonald’s in the village/outlet mall outside of the Biltmore’s gates. The place had a player piano, chandeliers and tapestries hanging on the walls (see below). The McFlurries and Big Macs were unchanged.

The following day, the rain forced us to abandon our hiking plans. Instead, we opted for a driving tour of the Great Smoky Mountains. Fortunately, the famously beautiful Blue Ridge Parkway (see photo below) is nearby. However, a retaining wall had collapsed, causing the section near Asheville to be closed for maintenance. We took a motion-sickness inducing back road up to the ridge. The drive wound past trout fishing ponds and numerous road signs riddle with bullet holes. I assumed that’s the rural North Carolina version of hitting mail boxes with golf clubs.

We followed this curving route up to summit of the East Coast’s highest peak, Mount Mitchell. The place was entirely covered in fog. I donned my trench coat and climbed up to the look out. However, I couldn’t even see the parking lot — not to mention glimpse the sweeping view of the gorgeous countryside. We snapped this photo and headed back down the mountain.

On the way back to Asheville, we took a detour through Black Mountain to check out the town’s haunted bar, Town Pump Tavern (photo below).

This is not the first haunted bar We’re Out of Here has visited, but it is equally non-threatening. Supposively, the place is frequented by the ghost of a prostitute, who was murdered there in the early 1900s. She knocks glasses from the shelves and opens and closes the door. She must have been off the day we visited.

While in Asheville, we also visited several bars/restaurants. Here are the highlights:

Ashevile Farmer’s Market: A touristy market selling all the can goods you could ever imagine.

Doc Cheys Noodle House: A local version of Noodle & Company that serves heaping portions of Asian-style noodles. Also serves rice dishes. Prices are OK and the food is decent.

Salsa’s: Hailed on Yelp as the best food in Asheville, this restaurant did not disappoint. The dishes — we ordered the whole fish and lamb — were amazing. Our plates came piled high with fresh fruits and vegetables. My margarita was spot on, and, for the quality of the food, the prices were very reasonable. Just brace yourself for the crowd and spotty service.

The Admiral: We wandered into what would be my best night out at a bar in six months. I think it was the combination of cheap (compared to DC, of course) drinks, a DJ playing an excellent mix of early 1960s dance music and not having to worry about driving/metro-ing/hailing a cab to get home. The music was a welcome change from the typical 80s nights (I’ve heard “Come On Eileen” enough). Everyone was dancing. While the heat was ridiculous, the party spilled on to the backporch. We had been at the Admiral for 4.5 hours (from 9 to 1:30am) before I thought to check my watch.

Check back soon for a roundup on our first stop, Richmond.

Below is a map of our trip:

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Click here for the map of a previous road trip.