Walking and Drinking Beer on the Midnight Ride of Paul Revere

Paul Revere statue and Old North Church 

Listen, my children, and you shall hear
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere.
On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-Five;
Hardly a man is now alive
Who remembers that famous day and year.

When poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote those lines in 1862, he was correct -- hardly anyone had heard of Paul Revere.  The early histories of the American Revolution didn’t even mention him.

But the poem changed that.  Overnight, Paul Revere became one of America’s greatest heroes. Today, he is practically an industry in Boston.  You can tour his house, see his portrait, buy reproductions of his silver work, walk the streets he walked, have a drink in his favorite tavern and even leave pennies on his grave.  In a city that spawned a revolution, there is no greater figure than Paul Revere -- a fact that would have surprised every Boston resident in 1775, the modest Paul Revere most of all.

Paul Revere by John Singleton Copley

Why did this practically unknown, stocky, 40-year old silversmith become one of the most cherished icons of freedom?  Perhaps it’s because he did something that few other men have accomplished:  in one evening’s work he changed history.

On a day trip in Boston, it’s quite easy to follow the dramatic story.  Every significant building associated with the famous ride has been preserved and can be toured.

Like many a good story, this one begins in a tavern.                    

In 1775, Boston was a powderkeg.   Three thousand British soldiers patrolled the streets,

trying to crush a growing rebellion, while a rag-tag group of rebels called the Sons of Liberty made their secret headquarters in the Green Dragon Tavern.

The original tavern was torn down in 1854, but a reconstruction has been built nearby at 11 Marshall Street.   Although not an exact reproduction, it does have the feel of a Colonial inn with its dark wood beams and old pub exterior.  A mural inside helps you imagine the Green Dragon as it must have appeared in 1775, filled with rebels engaged in deep discussion while smoking clay pipes and downing tankards of ale.

The Green Dragon Tavern

One of these rebels was a silversmith and engraver named Paul Revere.   An active patriot, he led a group of 30 “mechanics,” as artisans called themselves, whose purpose was to watch the redcoats.  Whenever the British army tried a foray into the countryside, Revere and his men acted as “express riders” to spread the alarm.

On the afternoon of April 18, a 13-year-old boy named Sam Ballard overheard two British officers talking about a raid to Lexington and Concord to arrest revolutionary leaders Sam Adams and John Hancock.  Ballard told the landlord at the Green Dragon, who sent a messenger to Paul Revere’s house. You too can walk to Paul Revere’s house from the Green Dragon in about 10 minutes.  

Paul Revere's house is the oldest in Boston

Built between 1650 and 1680, the Revere House is the oldest dwelling in Boston.  It is the only colonial building of this type to survive in the heart of an American city.   

Paul Revere lived here for 30 years (1770-1800).   The gray dwelling with its second story overhang was restored in 1907 to reflect both its original 17th-century appearance and the later Revere period.

It is now a museum where on self-guided tours, it is possible to rub shoulders with hundreds of international visitors, as you squeeze up narrow stairways to view rooms and exhibits that tell the story.

It was from this house that Paul Revere gathered his spurs and riding boots and set off on a 20-mile ride to Lexington to spread the alarm.  His first stop was right around the corner at the Old North Church.  Built in 1723, it is Boston’s oldest standing church.  Though the steeple has been rebuilt several times, it is today as tall and white against a blue sky as it would have been 225 years ago.  A

small museum continues the tale.

In 1775, Boston was built on a neck of land completely surrounded by water.    If the British sealed off the neck, an express rider would be trapped.

The answer was to send the message across the river by light.  Revere planned for the church sexton, Robert Newman, to hang lanterns in the Old North, which offered the highest steeple in the city.  The code was one lantern if the British were leaving for Lexington by land, two if by sea.   

About 10 p.m., with two lanterns dimly glowing across the water and the moon rising, Revere had himself rowed across the Charles River, directly under the guns of an English ship.  On the other side, associates tipped off by the lanterns provided him with a swift New England saddlebred horse named Brown Beauty, and he set off for Lexington.

A hurry of hoofs in a village street,

A shape in the moonlight, a bulk in the dark,

And beneath, from the pebbles, in passing, a spark

Struck out by a steed flying fearless and fleet;

That was all!  And yet, through the gloom and the light,

The fate of a nation was riding that night.

A sea of suburbia has settled around Boston into what was once farm country with stone walls and twisting dirt lanes.  There is no point retracing the exact route of Paul Revere; it’s easier to follow the Concord Turnpike and head directly to Lexington.  
It was here, at the Hancock-Clarke House, that Paul Revere finally arrived at midnight, his horse’s flanks coated with sweat and blood.  A sergeant guarding the house told him to stop making noise, there were people sleeping.

“Noise!”  Revere shouted.  “You’ll have noise enough before long. The Regulars are coming out!”              

This was as close as he ever came to the famous, “The British are coming!” Actually, that would have been an insane thing to say.  In 1775, everyone in Massachusetts was British. 

The Hancock-Clarke House, Lexington

The pretty yellow house where Hancock and Adams were staying has been preserved with furnishings and portraits owned by the Hancock family.  Of particular interest are exhibits from the coming battle, which include William Diamond’s drum -- the very instrument the young man beat to call the militia to Lexington Green.

         Just a five-minute walk away, Lexington Green is a traditional New England town center, surrounded by white houses and churches.  On the edge of the green is the Buckman Tavern.  It was here that Revere “refreshid” himself (no doubt with a tankard of ale) before setting off yet again, this time to spread the alarm to Concord.  The Buckman Tavern is also where the militia gathered to ward off the cold night waiting for the arrival of the British.

Buckman Tavern

You can stand in this same room today, and look out the window toward the green, trying to imagine what it was like in the pale light of an April morning for a group of minute men to see 700 of the world’s finest troops in their bright red coats as they marched into town. 

       Revere, by this time, was racing for Concord.  Long stretches of the road have been preserved as Minute Man National Historical  Park.  Lined with stonewalls and an occasional 18^th Century building or tavern, it’s a wonderful walk where little has changed since 1775.

Battle Road in Minute Man National Historical Park looks like it did in 1775.

Revere’s luck finally ran out when on the pitchblack road he galloped into a party of British cavalry.  An English officer clapped a pistol to his head and threatened to “blow his brains out."   There is a historic marker that indicates the site of his capture. 

But for the British it was too late.  Revere had warned Lexington and his companion riders William Dawes and Dr. Samuel Prescott (left out of the poem because their names are harder to rhyme) got through to Concord.  When the red coats finally arrived in Lexington, there was an small band of minute men waiting for them.

You know the rest.  In the books you have read,

How the British Regulars fired and fled, --

How the farmers gave them ball for ball,

From behind each fence and farm-yard wall.

Depiction of the battle at the Bloody Angle, Minute Man National Historical Park

What happened in the next few hours changed the world.   On Lexington Green, as the redcoats and armed rebels faced each other, someone fired a shot, and the tired British soldiers began shooting, killing eight colonists before they could be ordered to stop.  The redcoats marched on to Concord, but enraged minute men followed, and at the North Bridge, the rebels fired back.  The British began a

Lexington Green

long retreat to Boston, with minute men sniping at them from behind every tree and stonewall.

By nightfall 273 of the King’s troops were killed, wounded or missing, along with 95 casualties among the colonialists.  It is impossible to overestimate the shocking effect the high casualties of this battle had on both sides.  In today’s U.S. population, it would be the equivalent of 30,000 troops killed or wounded in a single day. 

There was no going back.  The American Revolution had begun.   And it had begun to a large extent because of Paul Revere.  His network of express riders were able to spread the message so well, that by the end of the day almost 4,000 militia had mobilized and fought in the battle, coming from as far as 20 miles away. 

So through the night rode Paul Revere;

And so through the night went his cry of alarm
To every Middlesex village and farm, --
A cry of defiance and not of fear,
A voice in the darkness, a knock at the door,
And a word that shall echo forevermore!

Longfellow's House where he wrote the poem, Cambridge MA

Strangely enough, Paul Revere’s role was forgotten for almost a century.    In 1862, during the bleak days of the Civil War, Longfellow was looking for a subject that would give the Union hope. He  

found his inspiration in the forgotten tale of a silversmith express rider.

Although the poem is a thrilling account of the ride, it is the closing that best captures why Paul Revere’s popularity has endured into the 21st century, and will probably do so forevermore.

 

For, borne on the night-wind of the Past,

Through all our history, to the last,

In the hour of darkness and peril and need,

The people will waken and listen to hear

The hurrying hoof-beats of that steed,

And the midnight message of Paul Revere.

Old State House on the Freedom Trail

IF YOU GO....
Best Book To Read First: Paul Revere’s Ride by David Hackett Fischer, Oxford University Press 1994, is the best account of the ride and the fighting at Lexington and Concord.  It reads like a novel with spies, daring escapes and bloody battles.

Freedom Trail, www.thefreedomtrail.org  This 2.5 mile long walk in downtown Boston connects 16 historic sites.  The walk is marked by either a series of red bricks or a painted red stripe down the sidewalk and is easy to follow as you move from the site of the Boston Common to the Boston Massacre and on to Bunker Hill.  An interesting stop is Granary Burying Ground, where Paul Revere, John Hancock and Sam Adams are laid to rest, and the Old State House, built in 1713.   Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market are two of the city’s biggest tourist stops, and are along the trail and worth a look.  Don’t assume everything interesting is on the trail – there’s many great things to see a block or two off.  The trail was laid out in the 1950s and many things have changed…but it’s a good start.



Tour group at Paul Revere's grave, Granary Burying Ground

Green Dragon Tavern, 11 Marshall Street, http://greendragonboston.com  The historic looking tavern today attracts a young crowd and has live music, but it is still worth a look and a beer.  Better for meals is to head next door to the Union Oyster House, www.unionoyserhouse.com, Opened in 1826, it claims to be America’s oldest restaurant and it’s certainly one of Boston’s most famous seafood houses.  It’s a huge, rambling place with lots of different rooms, creaking wood floorboards and plenty of atmosphere.  Sit at the unique circular raw bar on the main floor and watch them shuck your oysters and clams, or ask to be seated in the Kennedy room (this was John F. Kennedy’s favorite Boston restaurant and there is a plaque at the booth where he often ate).  There are five Irish pubs adjacent or a short walk from Oyster House and this is one of Boston’s most popular streets of bars.

Union Oyster House

The Bell in Hand claims to be America’s oldest continuously operating pub, but it is in name only – the building is brand new.  If you want to go to a bar where Paul Revere actually drank, you have to go to the Warren Tavern in Charleston.  Paul, George and John (Revere, Washington and Hancock) all drank here.  It’s at the base of Bunker Hill and was the first building rebuilt after the British burned the town during the famous battle.  Worth a stop, but the interior is more local pub than historic site.

The Paul Revere House, 19 North Square,  www.paulreverehouse.org  It doesn’t look like much from the outside, but go through the gate there’s an interesting courtyard and the interior rooms are well worth the $3.50 entrance fee.   Some of the rooms have the original floorboards.

 

Lexington Green

Old North Church, 193 Salem Street,  Open every day from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.  www.oldnorth.com  It’s beautiful inside and out.  The Paul Revere statue is located in a park behind the church.  As you walk around Boston and Charleston, always keep an eye out for the church tower.  It was the highest building in Boston in 1775 (which is why it was picked for the signal lamps) and is still one of the most prominent buildings in the North End Italian district. The neighborhood is even better. There are five Italian bakeries within a musket shot, and dozens of Italian restaurants nearby.

Hancock-Clarke House, Lexington contains furnishings and portraits owned by the Hancock and Clarke families and exhibits from the battle of Lexington.  36 Hancock Street, Lexington. www.lexingtonhistory.org

Buckman Tavern, across from Battle Green in Lexington, appears very much today like it did on the fateful morning in 1775.  www.lexingtonhistory.org



Old North Bridge, Concord

Minute Man National Historical  Park, preserves 900 acres of land over which the battles of Lexington and Concord were fought. They have done a spectacular job of preserving parts of the road along which the battle took place, and today you can hike or bike five miles of the Battle Road Trail.  It’s particularly nice from the Paul Revere Capture Site to the Minute Man Visitor Center, or from Hartwell Tavern to the Bloody Angle, scene of the most severe fighting.  Walking along the trail here is like strolling into an 18^th Century painting.  The North Bridge in Concord is another very pretty area with a nice trail. Www.nps.gov/mima/

Longfellow National Historic Site, preserves the home in which poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow lived from 1837 to 1882, including the time when he wrote his famous poem about Paul Revere.  George Washington was headquartered here for 16 months from 1775 to 1776.  Located in Cambridge at 105 Brattle St. 

USS Constitution.  Built in 1797, this is the oldest warship still floating in the world. The copper sheathing for the 54-gun frigate was done by Paul Revere, who dabbled in many metal trades including engraving and early dentistry.  Free tours let you stroll the two gun decks.  Next door is the Constitution Museum which has interactive displays on the great battles of “Old Ironsides,” as well as fun exhibits on how she was constructed and how a three-masted frigate was sailed.   Look for a new scrimshaw and cane to be added to the ship's Time Line exhibit.  They belonged to my great-grandfather, Charles Ball. The cane is dated:  July 4, 1841, Bay of Callao -- the day of a notorious party on board where the crew was allowed to get drunk to celebrate the Fourth and their imminent return home.  Certainly an event one of my relatives would think worthy of commemorating!    http://www.ussconstitutionmuseum.org/  

A Walking and Drinking Beer Tour of Denver -- the Mile High City



Denver brews more beer than any other city. Coors Brewery in nearby Golden is the largest single brewing site in the world and Denver’s annual Great American Beer Festival (GABF) is recognized by Guinness World Records as the largest beer celebration on the planet with a staggering 2,400 different beers available for tasting. 

It is estimated that more than 200 different beers are brewed in Denver every single day, giving The Mile High City its claim as the “Napa Valley of Beer.”



After tea, beer is the second most popular beverage on the planet and there are hundreds of different ways of making it. On a beer walking tour of Denver, you have the opportunity to choose from dozens of different craft beers, offering a wide variety of styles and ingredients. 

With so many choices, where do you take your first sip?  Here are two easy beer walking tours visiting a selection of downtown breweries.  Both tours start from Denver’s oldest and largest brewpub – the Wynkoop. 

Tour 1, LoDo to LoHi

Wyknoop Brewing Company, www.wynkoop.com, 18^th and Wynkoop Streets

Colorado’s first brewpub opened in 1988 and was founded by a group of young urban pioneers that included John Hickenlooper, who went on to serve as Mayor of Denver for seven years and is currently the Governor of Colorado (the first former brewer to be elected as a state governor since Sam Adams in 1794).  Today, the Wynkoop is the center of LoDo – Denver’s hip historic district where century old warehouses have been turned into more than 90 bars, brewpubs, restaurants and cafes. 

Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper (center in tie)

The Wynkoop’s architecture is typical of the neighborhood with hardwood floors, exposed brick walls covered with artwork and big open windows.  The second floor of the huge pub has 22 pool tables, while there is a popular comedy club in the basement.   There are always more than a dozen craft beers on tap.  The flagship beer (available in cans) is Railyard Ale, a smooth amber with the malty flavor of an Oktoberfest lager.  For a true Colorado experience, try  Patty’s Chile Beer, a German style lager made with chiles and smoked Ancho peppers. 

DIRECTIONS TO NEXT STOP:  Walk west on Wynkoop two blocks to the 16^th Street Mall, then turn left and walk seven blocks to Curtis.

Rock Bottom Brewery, www.rockbottom.com 16^th & Curtis Streets.   Today, Rock Bottom Brewery is a major chain with 37 breweries that produce 700 different craft beers that have won 125 medals.  But their brewery in Denver is the “mother ship,” the first brewery of the chain when it opened in 1990.  Rock Bottom has one of the best locations on the 16^th Street Mall, Denver’s mile-long pedestrian promenade.  There are 41 outdoor patios along the Mall, but the one at Rock Bottom is the largest and one of the most popular.  On summer weekends, bands play and hundreds of people gather to sip a craft beer on the patio under twinkling lights, as horse-drawn carriages clatter by.  The interior of the massive bar is built around towering glass windows displaying the brewing equipment.  It can be noisy, crowded and fun as the bar brings in an attractive crowd of young downtown office workers.  For a quieter experience, head to the back bar, which has pool tables and a staff that is knowledgeable about craft beer.   Rock Bottom features the standard IPAs, Red Ale, White Ale, Dark Ale and a Winter Tartan Ale, as well as the always popular local beer, Molly’s Titanic Brown Ale. The brewmaster at each pub creates specials, so check what’s on the current beer list, and especially look for the hand-pulled cask conditioned ales in the back room.

DIRECTIONS TO NEXT STOP:  Catch the free Mall bus at the corner of 16^th and Curtis and take it north to the final stop at the Light Rail station.  Walk back to 16^th Street and over the Millennium Bridge (easily identifiable by the tall white mast).  Continue straight through the Riverfront development and across Commons Park to a second pedestrian bridge over the South Platte River.  On the other side of the bridge, walk one block to Platte Street and turn right.  Denver Beer Company is on far side of the street.

Denver Beer Company, www.denverbeerco.com, 1695 Platte Street

Although relatively new, the Denver Beer Company is already becoming one of the city’s favorite tap rooms -- a place that really captures the laid back feeling of the Mile High City.  Located in a former auto garage, on warm days the “walls” of the pub literally roll up, making the whole building open air.  There’s an outdoor patio with picnic tables next to a space where different food trucks park every day. 

The Denver Beer Company serves only delicious homemade pretzels and beer, but you’re welcome to bring your own food or purchase food at the rotating food trucks.  Dogs are welcome too, and it’s a rare day when there aren’t at least a half dozen pups at the bar or on the patio.  Owners Charlie and Patrick began as home brewers and are dedicated to making the finest and most inventive beers in the city.  There are usually a dozen small batch beers on tap that rotate regularly.  Check the chalk board to see what’s available.  If Graham Cracker Porter is on tap, make that your choice.  It’s been described as “a campfire in a glass with notes of vanilla, smoked cedar and mulling spices.”  This is a neighborhood bar where people stop in after a bike ride or a run.  Even Denver Mayor Michael Hancock is a fan.  He helped Patrick and Charlie make a pumpkin ale here to kick off Denver Beer Fest in 2012.

DIRECTIONS TO NEXT STOP:  Turn right from the pub and in a half block, head west over a third pedestrian bridge, which crosses I-25.  Immediately on the other side of the bridge is the next stop.

Ale House at Amato’s, www.alehousedenver.com, 2501 16^th Street

After crossing the bridge, you’ve entered LoHi, one of Denver’s newest and fastest growing neighborhoods.  Amato’s is a great introduction to this hip section of town.  While no beer is brewed here, the restaurant is owned jointly by Wynkoop and Breckenridge breweries and features 42 craft beers on tap, including several rare and hard to find Colorado microbrews.  The staff is beer savy and will work with you to find the perfect selection, whether it’s light, hoppy, malty or complex (and your beer, of course, will be poured into the appropriate style glass).  The entire roof of the bar is an open air beer garden with outdoor fireplaces and sweeping views of downtown Denver.  It’s especially pretty at twilight when the sun sets over the visible Rocky Mountains to the west. 

 

Want a break from beer?  There are 30 wines to choose from, including Monkeyshine red and white, available here on tap, exclusively from the local Infinite Monkey Theorem Winery.  Or take a different break and walk two blocks uphill on 16^th until you see a 30-foot high milk can.  This is the legendary Little Man, where they produce hand-made, small batch ice cream, created with some of the finest local ingredients.  Relax with a triple scoop in their outdoor ice cream garden.  For those poor souls who have trouble with milk?  They sell a Lactaid pill for 50 cents!DIRECTIONS TO NEXT STOP: Exiting Amato’s, turn left and walk four blocks northeast along Central Street.

Prost Brewing, www.prostbrewing.com, 2540 19^th Street

As you would suspect, with a name like Prost, this new brewery specializes in traditional German beers… and they do everything traditionally, from serving the beer in appropriate German beer glasses to making it in authentic 72.5 barrel copper kettles from Germany.   The kettles were made in 1963 and used until two years ago by a 350-year old brewery in Germany. 

When that brewery went out of business, the kettles were purchased and lovingly shipped to Denver, where they continue to make Weißbier - a Bavarian Hefeweizen, Altfränkisches Dunkel Bier - a dark amber lager, and Marzen - an Oktoberfest brew.  The flagship beer is Prost Pils, a crisp, pale and well hopped, gold colored brew capped with a dense white collar of foam.  It’s served in a tapered glass with a gold rim that will have you crying, “Prost!”  The Prost beer hall is decorated with authentic antique German beer signs and blue and white check Oktoberfest bunting and is filled with long communal tables.  Have a liter of beer, bite into an authentic German pretzel, and meet new friends as this LoHi neighborhood tap room.

DIRECTIONS:  Return to the Light Rail station the same way you came.  From here, you can catch the free shuttle to anywhere on the 16^th Street Mall.

Tour 2:  LoDo to RiNo

Wynkoop Brewing Company (see Tour 1).

DIRECTIONS TO NEXT STOP:  Exiting the bar, turn left, walk a 100 feet to Wynkoop Street and turn right.  Proceed one block to 20^th Street.

Denver Chop House, www.denverchophouse.com, 1735 19^th Street

Coors Field from LoDo's Bar & Grill

Built in an old brick Union Pacific railroad station, this is Denver’s most upscale brewery and one of the city’s top sports bars.  The Denver Avalanche team celebrated their Stanley Cup victory here; so did the Denver Bronocs after their Super Bowl win.  It has a clubby, dark wood feel with booths, old railroad photos and a long wood bar.  If you want to see Denver sports heroes relaxing, this is a good bet. 

There are usually up to 10 craft beers on tap.  While long on history and atmosphere, the Chop House is short on creative names for their beers, going with “Red Ale, “Pale Ale,” “Wheat beer,” etc.  But try the Wild Turkey Barrel Conditioned Stout, or any of their specials.   If you’re dreaming of a great Colorado steak and craft beer, this is your place.  There’s always a good crowd at the lively bar area.  If you’re flying out of Denver, there’s also a Denver Chop House with the same craft beers at Denver International Airport.

DIRECTIONS TO NEXT STOP:  Walk south on 19^th Street two blocks to Blake and turn left.

Falling Rock Tap House, www.fallingrocktaphouse.com/ , 1919 Blake

This is one of the great beer bars in America with 75 craft beers on tap, 130 beers in bottles, and a collection of 2,200 different beer bottles decorating the walls (most of which were drunk by owner and local beer legend Chris Black).  While no beers are brewed here, this is the place to talk craft beer. 

During the Great American Beer Festival, this is ground central for every top brewer in the nation. There’s a large outdoor patio that is popular when the Colorado Rockies are playing in nearby Coors Field, but the primary reason to visit is beer.  The bartenders are beer-knowledgeable and will help you find a good choice. The walls are decorated with historic beer signs and bottles.  Falling Rock is often crowded, noisy and fun and is one of the most popular of the 90 bars to be found in LoDo.

DIRECTIONS TO NEXT STOP:  Continue down Blake three blocks.

Breckenridge Colorado Craft, www.breckbrew.com/food/breckenridge-colorado-craft, 2200 Blake Street. 

Opened in 1992, this is one of Denver’s first brewpubs and features 32 American craft beers, including all those of Breckendridge Brewery as well as many other Colorado specialty beers, including some rare and hard to find.  There’s a large menu of American favorites and the staff knows their beer.  Breckenridge Brewery has been one of Colorado’s success stories.  Originally, Breck opened as the state’s third craft brewer in 1990 on Main Street in the ski town of Breckenridge, Colorado.  Today, there are five restaurants/pubs and you can purchase Breckenridge beers in 32 states.  This large, friendly and ideally situated pub (it’s across the street from Coors Field) was a LoDo institution before there was a LoDo (it opened before the ballpark did in 1995, in what was then considered the hinterlands of downtown).  Today, it is surrounded by bars and restaurants, but with its exposed brick walls and wood floors, Breckenridge Colorado Craft offers an essential Denver experience and the perfect stop before or after a Colorado Rockies game.

DIRECTIONS TO NEXT STOP:  Head south on 22^nd Street for three blocks to 2201 Arapahoe Street.

Great Divide, www.greatdivide.com, 2201Arapahoe

Brian Dunn started Great Divide in 1994, working as the brewery’s only employee, brewing, bottling and selling the beer himself.  Today, it has expanded to 45 employees and is one of the most popular of Colorado’s craft beers, having won 15 medals at the Great American Beer Festival.  The brewery is located here, in an old brick dairy, as is the always crowded Tap Room, open Tues.-Sunday.  While they don’t serve food in the Tap Room, you can usually find some of the city’s best food trucks parked outside.  And then there’s the beer.  There are 17 beers on tap, available in samplers and served by people who know and love Great Divide beer.  Tours of the brewery are available at 3:00 pm and 4:00 pm Monday thru Friday. Saturday and Sunday tours take place between the hours of 2:30 and 5:00 pm, running regularly every 30 to 45 minutes.  No reservations are required.  Great Divide prides itself on exciting beer styles and an ever changing array of brews. Their signature beer is the one that boldly takes on the name of America’s greatest beer city – a Denver Pale Ale (DPA, as it is known to locals). 

DIRECTIONS TO LAST STOP:   Return down 22^nd for three blocks to Blake, turn right and walk two blocks to 24^th and Blake.

River North Brewery, www.rivernorthbrewery.com, 2401 Blake

Matt Hess, founder

Located at the tip of the River North neighborhood (RiNo for short), this is typical of the small breweries that are springing up all over Denver.  The tiny taproom has big windows and serves as a neighborhood pub, attacting locals mixed with beer aficionados from throughout the region.  No food is served, but restaurants and food trucks are nearby.  River North specializes in brewing Belgian-style ales and American style ales with a Belgian twist.  But the truth, as brewer Matt Hess admits, is they just brew the type of beer they like to drink. 

Whether you like Saison or a Belgian-style triple IPA, stop in and consult the chalk board to see what’s on tap.  You can also see the beer being made through windows overlooking the brewery.  Likely as not, the person pouring your beer could be one of the brewers, who will love talking to you about what’s fresh as he pours you a tray of samplers.  River North… like other small Denver brewers Renegade, Black Shirt, Hogshead, Del Norte, Strange, Crooked Stave and Golden City…offer an intimate tap room tasting experience that show why Denver is such a fascinating beer town.  Don’t be surprised to see the majority of the patrons ordering trays of four ounce samplers.  Always talk to the bartender about different styles of beers, and have them match a sample to your preference. 

For more information on beer and everything else in Denver:  www.visitdenver.com



Indianapolis is the Most Walkable -- and Drinkable -- City in the Midwest

Soldier & Sailor Monument

A lot of people were surprised when “Indiana-no-place,” was selected to host 2012 Super Bowl XLVI.   They were even more surprised when Indy hit it out of the ballpark, staging one of the best Super Bowls and greatest parties the world has known.  More than a million people celebrated on the streets of Indy, while the Super Bowl was watched by 111 million others across the U.S. - the largest audience in television history.

Well, no one should have been surprised.  The year before, Indiana swept the Great American Beer Festival, winning more prestigious beer medals than any other state.  Good beer makes anything possible.  But people who have never been to Indianapolis and assume it is just another dying, dull, rust and corn-belt Midwest city could not be more mistaken.  Indy is amazing, and getting better by the day. 

Indy’s very walkable downtown is green (with 350 acres of parks, rivers, tree-lined boulevards and canals); European (with impressive monuments and murals); trendy (with 300 restaurants and a national farm-to-table reputation); and artistic (with a unique pedestrian path that stretches across a state park, from a downtown zoo past world class history, art, and sports museums). 

And did I mention beer?  Locals Sun King and Upland lead a team of 64 Indiana breweries, and craft beer is supported by nearly every restaurant and bar in town.  It is the cleanest city you will ever see, with horizon-to-horizon vistas of green trees, while armadas of white clouds float overhead in majestic Midwestern corn-blue skies. 

Best of all are the people.  Eventually, Indy will be filled with hipster transplants and become the new Austin, Seattle, Portland or Denver, but right now Indy is home-base to a young, unpretentious crowd of locals who make no secret of the fact that they like good food (and lots of it), enjoy live music, partying, beer and fun.  Today, bikers and joggers are few and far between, but an enlightened city leadership is building miles of new bike trails (including the most innovative urban bike path in the nation).  With a new bike sharing program coming, Indy will soon lead the Midwest for their appreciation of the outdoors, health and recreation. 

City Layout

The downtown was designed in 1820 by Alexander Ralston, an assistant to Pierre L’Enfant, the19^th Century “genius” who brought us endless traffic congestion and confusion in Washington D.C.   Indy uses the same city plan, a center circle with spokes of streets that radiate out, criss-crossing with traditional north-south streets, making the downtown area hopelessly confusing to a first time visitor.  But no worries.  It’s small enough, there are ample maps and signage everywhere, and once you learn a few high landmarks that poke up into the sky along the horizon, you can get anywhere. 

Indy is not Paris, and there are plenty of boring blocks for every great one.  But it is a wonderful city to stretch your legs, and from any downtown hotel you can soon be strolling beside a canal, river, park or monument.   Some things to do:

Bike The Indianapolis Cultural Trail   

This brand new, $63 million, 8-mile, circular bike trail links every major downtown attraction and neighborhood and is a great way to see the city.  Indy was planned in the 1800s with streets wide enough to turn a horse-drawn wagon.  In the 20^th Century, those wide streets were converted to one-way traffic, making it even easier to get out of town.  The result was that everyone fled to live in the suburbs and downtown Indy was a ghost town after five.  Today, enlightened city fathers have taken back one full lane of major downtown streets and turned them into bike paths.  Creative signage and patterns on the path make the Cultural Bike Path easy to follow.  Since the city is as flat as a cornfield, it’s easy to zip around by bike.  A bike share program is coming soon, but until then, there are convenient bike rentals at the City Market, an old 1821 gem of a brick warehouse.  With a huge open hall, iron railings along the second floor and lit by skylights, City Market is filled with stalls selling a variety of food and is a favorite lunch spot for locals.  There’s an excellent tap room on the second floor with 20 local beers; ask for a free Indiana Beer Passport.  It’s a guide to the state’s breweries and beers with room to add your own tasting notes.

City Market

See the Monuments 

Young farm boys from Indiana have been cannon fodder for America since the Civil War, volunteering – and dying – in astonishing numbers.   Indiana’s casualty rate in war is double the national average.  Some 75% of the Indiana men eligible for the army volunteered to fight in the Civil War, the second highest per capita rate of any state in the country.  

In tribute to these men, Indy has built more war monuments that any other city, and is second only to Washington DC in the total number of war memorials.   Unlike many decaying city war memorials, the ones in Indy are huge, impressive, and kept in immaculate condition.  The museums that go with them are a tad hokey and underfed, but the monuments are something else.  Leading is the Soldiers and Sailors Monument, a 284-foot tower that is the heart of the city, from which all spokes lead out.  You can climb 330 steps to the top or take a reasonably priced elevator for $2.  Everything about the monument is colossal.   This monument, nearly as high as the Statue of Liberty, honors soldiers of the Civil War and Spanish American War.  You can walk around its huge statues of soldiers and civilians or sit by its fountains many times and see something new each visit.  The Civil War museum in the basement could use some love, but buffs will enjoy it.

The Indiana War Memorial is a few blocks away and is a big, solid chunk of a memorial, with a basement military museum covering all wars from the Revolution on.  Indy’s truly horrifying war museum is also here, honoring the USS Indianapolis, the WWII ship immortalized in Jaws.  The ship was on a secret mission to deliver parts for the atomic bomb when it was sunk by a Japanese submarine.  No one knew it had gone down and there was no attempt to rescue survivors.  More than 900 men went into the water in the dark of night with nothing but lifejackets.  Only 300 survived – many of those lost were eaten by swarms of sharks that surrounded the survivors and forced them into ever increasingly smaller circles.  If you have trouble visualizing the horror of that, the museum has paintings to help.

Eat and Drink Indy Style

People in Indy like to eat…and why not?  This area that has always appreciated farm-to-table, local restaurants having long traditions with local farms. Portions can be outrageous, particularly anything with pork (pork tenderloin sandwiches are the city’s signature dish).  Some classics not to miss: 



Rathskeller

The Rathskeller is a rambling, huge, authentic old German restaurant with a long beer hall lined with dead animal heads and an outdoor beer garden filled with live bands.  Their wienershictizel is as good as any in Germany, and the portion was the size of a deflated basketball.  Their pretzels are just as large and tasty.  When there’s a band, the outdoor bar is filled with hundreds of young people.

St. Elmo Steak House is where all the celebrities who were in town for the Super Bowl had dinner. It’s a dark wood, clubby, men’s steak house, with a maze of different rooms and floors. They’re all cozy and Old World, particularly the main bar and the upstairs bar.  St. Elmo is known for their spicy shrimp cocktail; if you can’t afford dinner, at least stop in for one of those.



St. Elmo's shrimp cocktail

Black Market is a gastro pub on the edge of downtown with a wonderful beer selection and a farm-to-table menu that changes regularly, depending on what’s fresh.  If there is perch on the menu, get it.  I’m not sure exactly what perch is (other than the most moist and delicious white fish I’ve ever eaten), but the room is hip and the beer list extensive, and you could transplant this restaurant to New York or San Francisco without missing a beat.

The Slippery Noodle Inn is Indiana’s oldest bar and a former hangout of gangster (and local hero) John Dillinger.  Dillinger allegedly shot holes in the back bar.  There are slugs in the bricks, and the bar staff will show them to you if you ask.  Although Dillinger was gunned down by the FBI in Chicago, he’s buried in Indy at the Crown Hill Cemetery. The Slippery Noodle is a downtown institution with live blues bands and a good late night stop.

Walk White River State Park

In 1834, Indy built the Central Canal to the White River with the hope that it would provide power and transportation to turn the young city into an industrial giant.  Fortunately, the canal silted up and was a complete failure.  Indy never became a manufacturing center like Detroit or Pittsburgh.   

Today, the canal has gone through a renaissance and is lined with pedestrian and bike paths.  It’s like the San Antonio Riverwalk, but without the bars and restaurants.  That’s too bad – maybe the bars will come someday, but it’s still a very pleasant walk, and the canal is connected to a beautiful 250-acre park that runs to the river.  Other trails wind along the White River with gorgeous skyline views in the background.  In this natural area, you can walk from city’s fine zoo to a minor-league baseball stadium or to a series of impressive museums. 

The zoo has a series of biomes that showcase everything from lions to dolphins.  It’s right downtown, which makes it unusual.  The Eiteljorg Museum is one of the nation’s finest museums of Native American and Western art.  It’s gorgeous, with big paintings by big name Western artists like Albert Bierstadt and Frederic Remington.  But while the paintings are big, the museum is just right -- small and manageable.

Next, door, the Indiana State Museum is a hodgepodge of natural and cultural history, but the big news is the Star Wars exhibit is coming here from May to September 2013, filled with costumes, artifacts and original models from the movies. 

Indiana Historical Society

There’s a NCAA Hall of Champions (for those who have forgiven the NCAA for the shameful way they treated Penn State) but for a truly bizarre experience, walk along the canal to the Indiana Historical Society.  The museum believes in the concept of living history and has hired actors to re-create scenes from the state’s past.  For their Prohibition exhibit, you enter a jail cell, where an attractive woman actor tells you she has just been arrested for “soliciting.”  Not that type of soliciting – she was trying to sell moonshine.  If role-playing with an attractive woman in a jail cell is your type of thing, the museum is a bargain at $6.50.  Hard to say what kids think of it, but you also encounter a policeman who takes your mug shot and a stern bible-pounding woman who will give you a hard time about drinking.  All in all, it was fun and I will never forget that Indiana did away with prohibition long before the U.S. government did. 

Visit a Museum

The Indianapolis Art Museum is a few miles from downtown, but worth the trip.  It’s one of the top 10 in the nation in terms of its collection, and it’s located on 100 acres of land that was formerly the estate of pharmaceutical king J.K. Lilly Jr.  That means there’s lots of money behind the museum, and it shows. There’s a bit of everything here, including an outdoor sculpture park, and lots of familiar paintings by big name artists.

Tour the Raceway

The Indy 500 is the biggest one-day sporting event in the world, drawing 400,000 people.  It’s a good thing/bad thing for Indy.  Certainly, if you like auto racing, this is the ultimate bucket list destination, and there’s plenty at the 2.5 mile track to see year-round including a racing hall of fame with many of the winning cars, expensive rides in race cars and pace cars around the track, and other tours and racing events.  However, if you have little interest in auto racing, the Indy 500 tends to overshadow everything else about this up and coming city, which has far more to offer than a racetrack.   It’s very easy to have an enjoyable weekend in Indy without ever going near anything to do with auto racing, except maybe having a beer or two with racing names.

IF YOU GO:   Most people will see Indy on a convention or sporting event.  They have an excellent set up with great hotels, restaurants and attractions all within walking distance.  It would also make a good add-on to a Kentucky Bourbon Trail trip.  Indy is two hours from Louisville and three hours from Lexington, so it makes a nice loop.  For info: . visitindy.com