This year it seemed like spring was never going to come. Another cold and wet weekend but Heidi and I are not the type to let a little rain slow us down. We had already made plans to go to a comedy show over in Little Falls on Saturday but the rest of the weekend was up for grabs. Friday evening Heidi showed up at my house and it didn’t take long for us to decide we should get out and take a hike before the rain started for the weekend. I suggested Father Hennepin State Park, a place that we have visited often. The park is located in Isle Minnesota and is right on Mille Lacs Lake. Last time we tried to go for a hike at the park the lake was mostly still covered in ice and we made it about 500 yards before it started to rain. This evening we pulled into the end parking area by the beach and had the whole lot to ourselves. When we walked down to the beach, the first thing that we noticed was the ice was off the lake and a bunch of it was on the shoreline. There were huge slabs of ice pushed up on the shore and even into the trees on shore. It's incredible to see the power of the ice when it gets a good wind pushing it. We walked the shoreline as far as we could but most of it was blocked by ice. We took the opportunity to play around on the ice for a bit and take some pictures to document this wonder of nature.
After taking time to check out the ice, we moved up to the hiking club trail that was just a few steps off the beach. We walked the trail south along the shoreline. The woods and lake were quiet and it was very nice to be out in nature once again. It was nice to have the park mainly to ourselves because in a short time the park will be humming with noise of campers and boaters. As we got closer to the boat launch we could hear and see a few boats on the lake. There were a few trucks lined up to put boats in or take them out. It’s the time of year when people are trying to get their boats ready for the season. As we continued past the boat launch we slipped into the quiet of the woods and took our time enjoying our walk. As we got closer to Maple Grove campground we started to see people and campers through the leafless trees. I was surprised to see as many campers as we did. The weather was dry at the moment but the rest of the weekend was supposed to be a wash out. Continuing down the trail we started to smell the nostalgic smell of a campfire. You know it’s spring in Minnesota when you smell the first campfire of the season. When we arrived at Lakeview Campground we noticed even more campers and kids running around. After the winter and spring we had this year it was nice to see that the weather hadn’t stopped these hardy campers from making the best of their opportunity to get out and enjoy the park. We turned around at the campground and headed back up the trail to the parking area. It was nice to just get out and enjoy the solitude of the park in the spring.
Saturday there was a plan to go help my brother move stuff out of his house but that plan stopped even before it started. Both parties realized quickly that moving things in the rain was not going to work. This now opened up our day to do something more adventurous. We already had plans to go to a comedy show in Little Falls that evening. We decided to spend the afternoon and evening before the show in Little Falls. We would get some food and try out a new brewery. Our first stop was Charlie’s Pizza for an early dinner. Charlie's Pizza is just north of Little falls on Haven Road. I had been to Charlie’s many years before but this was Heidi’s first time. Charlie’s is like walking into a small town pizzeria from the 80's. The decor was the same as it was the last time I had been there and they still had the game room in the back. We picked a table in a solarium added to the front of the building. The menu had a large selection and we decided on an order of garlic cheese bread to start and a large pizza with Canadian bacon, pineapple, and mushrooms for dinner. We both ordered a coke to go with our meal and were impressed by the frosted mugs they came in. The service was good and the food arrived quickly. The food was incredible and we ate our fill and still ended up with about half a pizza to take home with us.
After dinner we continued our adventure by heading down the road to Starry Eyed Brewing Company. The brewery is located further up Haven Road in an industrial area. When approaching from the road the building is large and industrial making you wonder what might the inside look like. When you pull into the parking lot you start to get a glimpse of what is really going on and the area becomes much more inviting. There is a large outdoor seating area with fire pits and outdoor lighting. As we made our way into the building we were happily surprised by the interior of the building. There was a large bar with seating and large menus to choose your beverages from. I was told before visiting that it was a small brewery and that they had limited options. Sometimes it is better to not listen to others and just go check things out on your own. The scale of the operation was as big or bigger than many of the other breweries we have been to. There was plenty of seating and the way it was set up was inviting.
The menus were extensive with many different types of beers, ciders, and seltzers. We decided to go with a flight to sample a variety of beers. We took turns picking the five different beers that made up the flight. In the end we ended up with the Robust Porter, XX Cream Ale, Kiwi Cider, Oatmeal Stout, and a beer called Banana Bread. The Robust porter had notes of chocolate and coffee with a slight sweet flavor. The XX Cream Ale was a smooth middle of the road beer with little to no bitterness. The Kiwi Cider stood out with its sweet flavor that reminded you of summer and sitting on the patio. The Oatmeal Stout thick and creamy as a stout should be. It had the signature roasted flavor of a stout. It was missing a bit of sweetness; so Heidi suggested mixing the porter and stout and see what happened. The sweetness of the porter mixed with the flavor of the stout made an almost perfect drink in our opinions. The Banana Bread flavored beer came off a menu called Tapfoolery. I believe these are the limited run beers with fun flavors. Other options on that menu include: Lime Lager, Strawberry Coconut Cream, and Peachy Kettle Sour. Banana Bread was an interesting mix of flavors. It was a good attempt to capture the flavor of banana bread in a beer. I enjoyed it a bit more than Heidi who didn’t care for the banana flavor.
After finishing the first flight we still had plenty of time before the show so we got a second flight. This flight mainly consisted of ciders and one beer that was on nitro. Besides the kiwi cider we had already tried, the cider menu included a Common semi sweet cider, Sweet Apple, Orange cider and a Blueberry cider. The Common cider had an interesting flavor that would lend itself to being a good base for other flavors. It had a semi sweet taste but was begging for something to bring out its full potential. The Sweet Apple was a sweeter version of the Common. The sweetness helped bring out the flavor of the apple in the cider. The Orange cider has subtle orange notes with a bit of sweetness. The orange was not overpowering and added to the apple flavor. The Blueberry Cider was our favorite cider from the menu. It has a distinct berry flavor and just enough sweetness to make it refreshing without being too sweet. After we finished we moved on to the one beer we had on the flight. It was a beer called Glasgow Kiss. It’s a Scottish Ale that was on nitro. The nitro made it creamy and gave it a great presentation when it was poured. The beer itself had a slight fruit or berry flavor that complemented the other flavors in the beer. The Glasgow Kiss would make an excellent after dinner beer or something to sip on by the fire.
Starry Eyed Brewing Company has a large variety of beers, ciders and seltzers to choose from and you should not have any problem finding something to your liking. Our experience at Starry Eyed Brewing and Little Falls in general was a great experience. The weekend that could have been rained out turned out to be another great adventure. Central Minnesota keeps surprising us with new places to visit, food to try and beers-ciders-wines to drink. If you're in the area you should check out some of these places and let us know what you think. If we have missed something in the area please contact us and we would be happy to check it out.
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