A Sanctuary from the Heat

It's been hot.  As in, I worked up a sweat putting on make up this morning hot.  And worst of all, it's been humid.  Sweating is not at all helpful when it's this muggy out.  Instead of evaporation wicking away heat to leave you cooler and more comfortable, you're now just soaked in sweat in addition to still being hot.  This seems like a flawed adaptation to me... as if the entire human race got the whole sweating thing down and then called it a day and never developed a way to deal with heat when the air is too saturated with moisture for evaporation to work its magic.

I'm sure people from around the country (and the world) will tell me this is their normal, "it's not that hot" and to quit whining... but fantastic weather is precisely why I pay a premium in both taxes and the cost of living to live where I live and dammit, I'll whine about it because I can.

Anyway, to beat the heat (and extend the bacchanal debauchery that is Birthday Week), we headed down to the Stone Brewing Company's World Bistro & Gardens in Escondido for a brewery tour and to cool off with some deliciously hoppy IPAs.  And so I could get some shooting in... although photographic skill (like many other skills) deteriorates quickly once drinking is factored into the equation.  While the creativity in composition might have been there, the hold-the-camera-steady motor skill was totally not happening later in the afternoon.  Fortunately, I managed to get plenty of shots before succumbing to beers with ridiculously high ABVs.  And even better, I wasn't driving and had all afternoon to recover.  As it turns out, getting older means day drinking gets harder.

Beers I had today:
Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale
Arrogant Bastard Ale
Ruination IPA
Levitation Ale
RuinTen IPA - perhaps my new favorite, because it's hopped up like crazy, yet still pleasantly light, tropical, and citrusy, and a whopping 10.8% ABV.

Absolutely beautiful grounds

You would think there would be gargoyles all over the garden, but there were none.  In fact, in the entire place, I counted 3 and this was the only statue, which apparently they found at Lowe's.  Yes, normal people ask beer brewing & related questions during a brewery tour... having Wikipedia'd all of that already, I ask about the lack of gargoyles.

Beer, hanging out in bourbon & Bordeaux wine barrels and soaking up deliciousness

Taken with the iPhone.  I love me some hoppy goodness.  Hoppity hop hops.

Hours to Date: 17