On Saturday, Ray and I participated in The Parkinson Council’s 8th Annual Walk for Parkinson’s in Philadelphia, along scenic Kelly Drive. As Team Betty—in honor of my grandmother Betty Ward who battled Parkinson’s for probably close to 20+ years—we raised $725 through the donations of friends and family, which will help with Parkinson’s research and education. We also were walking in support of our friend Alex Forte’s father, Michael Forte, who also has Parkinson Disease. According to the Council, a total of $131,902 was raised, which is more than 2008′s total. [Note: As of 6:30 AM 4/22, the total has climbed to $134,345.]

It was a beautiful morning, and Ray and I got to see Boathouse Row, as well as some sort of rowing competition—we even spotted the UD and Cornell women’s crews. We completed the 10 miles in 2.5 hours, and by the end we were seriously feeling it. All in all, we walked probably closer to 12 miles, because we spent the afternoon in the Fairmount neighborhood at The Belgian Cafe.

The Belgian Cafe is the brainchild of beer great Tom Peters, of Monk’s Cafe fame. As a treat for our hard work we had a leisurely lunch, beginning with a pint of Avery’s IPA for myself and Kira Wit for Ray. Both were wonderfully refreshing, and exactly what we needed after all that walking.

Since we weren’t quite ready to dig into lunch, we began with the pommes frites. It would be criminal to enter either The Belgian Cafe OR Monk’s Cafe and not order a basket of their frites, which are double fried, fresh cut fries served with Monk’s Cafe’s famous bourbon mayonnaise and The Belgian Cafe’s smoked ketchup for dipping. They were wondrous, and hit the spot.

We then placed our lunch order, which was the Brouwer burger for me (sauteed onions, mushrooms, and goat cheese) and the Delvaux burger for Ray (beer brined cheese and spicy sprouts). I ordered a bottle of Dr. Fritz’s 1809 Berliner Weiss, which was tart and refreshing, and Ray went a little more local with a pint of Philadelphia Brewing Co.’s Rowhouse Red. The burgers were delicious, and our beer selections provided to further pump the live back into us.

Since we just couldn’t resist one more round, I ordered a glass (most likely a 12 oz serving) of Dogfish Head’s Aprihop, a strong IPA brewed with apricots, and Ray had a glass of Avery’s IPA. Both were an excellent way to end our meal.

After paying the check, we limped down the street to the car and headed home. Though we were both sore as all hell, it was an accomplished soreness. I look forward to the walk next year, and hopefully by then I’ll have some better sneakers (and won’t be tromping about in my Doc Martens).

Craft Beer, Miscellany, Pubs Comments Off