Hoppy surprise

When we're on vacation, we have things planned a little. But we tend to go with the wind a little, too. So the other day, we were driving around the Enchanted Circle, just to see what it had to hold. I was really looking forward to seeing Elizabethtown, which is a ghost town. I've never seen one before. So we arrived to a sign that said, "SHUT". We drove in anyway, thinking it couldn't mean the ghost town was shut. I mean really, what kind of irony would that be? But the sign didn't lie. Apparently someone had bought the land and was now using it as storage for their junk. You could see the town, but it was now a storage shed for farm stuff. Even the old church appeared to now be lived in. Completely weird.

Disappointed, we got back in the car and drove a little further toward Eagles Nest, when I spotted a simple road sign that said, "Comanche Creek Brewing Company - 2 miles". I looked at Beerman and said, "Wanna go?" And he, of course, said, "Yes!" and turned the car around to follow the arrow. The sign said it was open on Wednesdays - Saturdays, noon - 6. Since it was Wednesday at 11:45, we figured we were just in time.

We drove down a dirt road for 2 miles, encountering (and photographing in disbelief) some hand-lettered signs along the way.

And both laughed out loud when we arrived.

The door opened as we drove in, and they were open as promised. We learned that this guy produces 3 types of beer, with a total of 7 barrels a year. Something I learned is a "nano brewery". Beerman, of course, had his American Beer Festival Judge sweatshirt on (I think everything he owns has some sort of logo on it), so there were some strange words like "phenolic" thrown out. We each had a flight, and found them all to be surprisingly tasty.

Experiences like these are what make vacations awesome. If you're ever near Eagles Nest, New Mexico, I highly recommend you stop in for a taste of your own.