5 Trips for the Beer Lover

Happy Friday!  I'm linking up with Mar, Courtney, and Cynthia for the Friday 5!  The theme for the week (I KNOW, I'm actually with it this time!  Woo!) is 5 trips _________, so I figured I would give you guys some of my favorite beer trips I have been on.  I'm excited to read other bloggers' suggestions though!  Always nice to get away!

1. Dogfish Head Brewery: Lewes, Delaware.

I was so excited to finally make it out here!  My nice friend and I went in early November and it was perfect.  We stayed in Rehoboth Beach and had pretty much the whole boardwalk to ourselves.  It was an amazing way to relax and the brewery is so, so cool.  When you do the tasting they bring out your samples in the order they feel is best and give you background on each beer.  If you guys love craft beer you should definitely add it to your list of trips!

2. Flying Dog Brewery: Frederick, Maryland.

This is by far my favorite brewery tour that I've ever been on.  You learn a lot of the background and the brewing process, but it's also loud and obnoxious and fabulous.  You get very generous samples that you can drink before, during, and after the tour.  While you're in Frederick you should check out the downtown area.  It's really cute (and dog friendly!).

3. Devils Backbone Brewery: Lexington, Virginia.

This was another weekend away with my nice friend.  We stayed in downtown Lexington for his birthday and had a really laid back getaway.  We were also able to walk to Blue Lab Brewing, which has the best beer logo ever in my opinion.  There's a lot of hiking you can do in Lexington, so it was the perfect combo of beer and outdoor time.

Ok, so this logo is way cuter than the DB one.

4. Mission Brewing: San Diego, California.

My trip to San Diego a couple of summers ago was one of my all time favorite vacations.  There is SO much to do in San Diego (the zoo, Sea World, baseball, etc.) and such great beer.  We also went to Stone Brewing, which was cool too, but Mission was a blast.  It's in an old Wonder Bread factory and super chill.  It's really close to the Padres stadium (we actually ended up walking around the stadium while we waited for the brewery to officially open) and they have fantastic beer.  My nice friend and I kicked butt in table shuffle board there, too.  Just sayin'.  We also went to Local Brews and Local Grooves, a fun event that features local bands and beer from the area at the House of Blues.  I was so excited when the event decided to come to Maryland!  They do it EVERY week in San Diego.  I'm hoping we get it more frequently here, too!

5. Crawlin' Crab Half Marathon: Hampton, Virginia

I've sung its praises before, and I'll do it again.  This race is SO much fun and when it became a craft beer festival, too, it pretty much became my dream race.  You can read my recaps here and here.  Even if you aren't into running a half marathon, you can run the 5k and still enjoy the full beer fest.  We actually spent a lot more time at the festival after the 5k because I knew I probably wouldn't be too excited about sampling lots of beer after running a half.

Have a great weekend!

Beer lovers!  Where is the best place to go?  I've been to quite a few other breweries that almost made the list, but these weekends just stood out a little more!