The Trip to Indy – Day 7 Recap: There and Back Again – A Drunk Hobbit’s Tale (WhiteHorse Brewing LLC, Gearhouse Brewing Company, Rubber Soul Brewing)
Started the day waking up in Morgantown West Virginia to the full cacophony of noises one can only hear at an Econo Lodge at 5AM. After getting situated, getting gas, mountain dew for the drive, basic necessities, I made the hour and a half trek to Ohiopyl Pennsylvania. There I made landfall in the state park at 10:30AM.
I started at the parking lot by the Cucumber Falls (pictured above) and took the long yellow trail. It was about 6 miles out and back to get to Flatrock and then Cascade Falls. (I’ll post pictures of them in the full recap.) This was a more difficult hiking trail than some I’ve done on the trip. The Meadow Run rapids and the Cascade Falls were equally beautiful.
There was a few other things to do in Ohiopyl, but since this was my last day, and by 3PM (the time I finished the hike), I figured it would be best to head home. It was roughly a 2.5-3 hour drive home, so I wanted to get moving. If I took the turnpike (and selected tolls) on my Google phone GPS maps whatever, it was going to be 2 hours and 15 some minutes (plus stops). If I did no tolls, it had me drop into Maryland just below the Mason-Dixon line and then come back up and be 3 hours and 34 minutes. Or something like that (don’t quote me on it exactly, I didn’t write it down).
But, I didn’t take either of these routes. I wanted to at least try a brewery in the area, since I most likely won’t be in this area again. So the closest, most local brewery, was Whitehorse Brewing LLC in Berlin. So off I went. Forty minute or so drive there.
I was a bit surprised by this place, because it looked like a typical development / suburban house and garage. (And I’m pretty sure it was, just converted into a brewery.) Inside was the brewer and a bartender and they were extremely nice, generous, and talkative about the area. I got an Apple Butter Cream Ale and enjoyed it outside by the fire before moving on.
Instead of driving for 2-2.5 hours straight home, I decided to break it up and hit another Pennsylvania brewery I hadn’t been to yet….
Gearhouse Brewing in Chambersburg. I’ve heard nothing but good things, and know the brewers and many people who frequent it, unfortunately, getting down to Chambersburg hasn’t been in the cards until now. So I stopped there, had a flight, a delicious hamburger, and then it was ontowards home.
Sort of.
Earlier in the day my friend Drew texted me saying if I was home by 5 he’d be at Rubber Soul; well that didn’t work out, but my mom had wanted to go to Rubber Soul to try their Italian Wedding Soup (as did I; being a huge huge huge fan of Italian Wedding Soups), so I drove to my parents place, and we walked over to Rubber Soul for dinner.
And while I was gone, they had released four new beers I hadn’t had yet, so I got a flight of the beers I’ve missed (enjoyed all of them by the way, especially the blueberry pomegranate IPA and the sticky stout). Showed mom the pictures of my trip, the museums, the waterfalls, etc. Discussed how her grandmum (pure 100% Italian) made wedding soup, and my mom even went so far as to say this was her favorite Italian Wedding Soup she’s had not made by her family. Which for her would be extremely high praise.
Finally got home, and got to be reunited with my dog who I hadn’t seen since Sunday morning when I left. My ex-wife took good care of her, but she was still so super eager to greet me and take another walk that she basically pulled me the entire way.
The above picture doesn’t do justice to how excited she was to see me, and I have to say the feeling was very mutual. I sure missed my pup.
After taking her for a long walk, came home to see that I had a beer mail package from a buddy out in Bristol PA.
We did a trade 2 cans for 2, and he threw in the extra – 12 oz can of Dulachan by Lavery – for me to review for the blog, free of charge. Thanks Steve! So be on the lookout for all three of these being reviewed soon.
Well, it is 11:30, and I am exhausted and its been a long seven day trip and I can finally rest and sleep in my own bed, so that is exactly what I am going to do.
Goodnight everyone and cheers, and thanks for following along on the trip!
-B. Kline
Please be sure to follow us on our social media accounts – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and Influence. Please be sure to also follow, like, subscribe to the blog here itself to keep updated. We love to hear from you guys, so be sure to leave a comment and let us know what you think!
The Trip to Indianapolis:
