Tuesday afternoon I had to get from Cape May, New Jersey to Lewes, Delaware. The choices were a very long circuitous drive, or to take the ferry. Being from the Pacific Northwest, I am used to ferries, they take millions of passengers annually on a myriad of routes across the Puget Sound.
I am also used to the ferries running frequently – which is not the case on a week day in May – as there are only six departures from Cape May, the last one (which I caught) being at six p.m.
It wasn’t like I had anywhere to go, so my four o’clock arrival gave me a couple of hours respite from driving.
Cape May has done a spectacular job at creating a positive ferry terminal experience. They offer event hosting, as well as live music several nights a week. For the adventurous – free putt-putt golf!
Being as I enjoy a tall cold beverage on occasion. I joined my host, Michael, at the outdoor bar. Numerous choices of local brews were available. As chance would have it, Michael explained to me Milton (near Lewes)is the home for one of the craft breweries – Dogfish Head. In a pole barn.
The brewery is located at #6 Cannery Village Center in Milton, Delaware and they have a brewpub at 320 Rehoboth Ave., in Rehoboth Beach. It turns out Dogfish Head Brewing began in 1995 as Delaware’s first legal distillery. For more information on the brewery visit: www.dogfish.com.
Now I had to chuckle at the chance I would be at a ferry terminal, in Cape May, New Jersey, and have my bar server tell me about a pole building brewery. He went on to say the Dogfish Head Brewery does regular tours and business has been so brisk, they have had to expand their pole building several times.
It turned out to be a wonderful day on the water from Cape May to Lewes. Along the journey I texted several times to my lovely bride (as it was our 14th wedding anniversary), jokingly telling her our ferry captain was Jonas Grumby (Google the name).
Now I got to thinking about the few pole building brewery projects I had been involved with over the decades. Yesterday afternoon, I was on the road towards Kitty Hawk, North Carolina when I drive by a huge pole building on the right. Home of – you guessed it – a brewery! The Weeping Radish Farm Brewery (www.weepingradish.com) is located on the Caratoke Highway near Grandy, NC.
I don’t know if the beer at Weeping Radish Farm Brewery is any good, but they have certainly had fun with the artwork on the end of their pole building!
