Sunday, December 17, 2017

Hoosier Country

Our first stop was Indianapolis, Indiana.  While we drove through mostly rolling terrain reminding us of Pennsylvania on route 70 through Ohio and Indiana, the terrain flatten out as we neared Indianapolis.  We started planning our rest stop driving into Indianapolis.  Brad's request was for a burger and I of course, wanted Belgian beer.  I found a cool place that celebrates everything Belgium!  But Brugge Brasserie was a bit out of our way so I started searching for breweries.

The first one I came across was St. Joseph Brewery.   They had two Belgians on tap and ONE burger. It looked doable and was right off of 70.  I didn't want to settle so I reviewed more breweries along route 70.  Well, most of the other breweries were tap rooms.  Meaning the did not serve any food.  If they did, the did not have burgers or it was a lite fare,  Then I found this socially conscious brewing company that donates 5% to animals and wildlife organizations: Metazoa Brewing Company.   I was excited but then I said to Brad, if they have any food, they will not have meat!  They, too, were a tap room.  It reminded me of Montana's tasting rooms.  Brewers could open tasting rooms to sell their beer to customers without having to buy a liquor license.  But you could only buy 3 pints and they closed at 8 pm.  It was wild when we visited a friend in Missoula (Broeder!) and we hopped from one tasting room to another drinking beers as the law in 2008 was two per customer.  For a synopsis of the law, the NYTimes wrote about a story as the Tavern Association was trying to change the law four years ago.

We decided to go to church at St. Joseph Brewery and Public House.  It was perfect.  No wait, we saddled up at the bar and I ordered the two Belgians.  Two half pints of the blonde and dubbel.  Brad ordered an IPA.  Luckily there were three burgers on the menu, a beef, a turkey or a lamb burger.  Brad actually had the turkey and I ordered the lamb burger.  They totally hit the spot but what wouldn't after snacking all day on charteurie, tortilla chips, banana nut muffins, fruit and yellow peppers.

Tired from driving all day, we totally missed everyone dressed in red and all the televisions had the Hoosiers basketball game.  There were minutes left on the clock and the patrons were going wild because they were down by 2 or 3 points then came back.  I jumped on the bandwagon and was cheering on the Hoosiers.  It would have been crazy if we walked in with Norte Dame shirts.  The game went into overtime and the place got packed.  Somehow the Hoosiers pulled out a win and broke 500 for the season!

We had just finished eating and my hope of driving a few more hours fleeted.  We Googled nearby hotels and stumbled across a cute inn; the Stone Soup Inn.