Local Guides World
Joshua Daily
5 reviews on 1 places
The Dude abides...
Wrapping up a trip to Bloomington with Keg Grove was a great end point to a day trip. A coworker who used to live in Bloomington suggested this place and since they had fruity beer, it took no convincing Emily to swing by there with me.
We walked in and it was packed. There was a retirement party going on that kept the single bartender busy with not just them but also slinging drinks behind the bar. We didn't have to wait too long to grab my beer and Emily's flight. We took a seat over by the sweet The Big Lebowski beer tanks.
That's right, the beer tanks had Donny, Walter and The Dude from The Big Lebowski on it. I included a photo of the tanks below. I'm not a diehard fan of the movie but I can appreciate this homage for what it is.
After being a bit let down at Lil Beaver Brewery, Keg Grove hit it home. The beers we ordered were exactly was we expected them to taste like based on their names. Mine was a Holey Jeans (blueberry wheat) and Emily's flight was Holey Jeans, Cotton Dress Pants (peach wheat), Keg Grove Cream Ale, and Cupcheck (pilsner). Emily and I really liked the Holey Jeans and she especially liked the Cotton Dress.
Since I was driving, I stuck to just the one beer but Emily grabbed a coozie, a 16 oz. Cotton Dress, we both grabbed some stickers and a magnet and headed outside. While she was enjoying her last beer before we left, it started pouring down. Everyone booked it inside but we stood under the canopy to avoid the loud crowd inside.
My only issue with Keg Grove was the single bartender. Not sure if it was busier than normal but for a Friday and a retirement party booking the upstairs area, I feel like they should've had two working. But I will say that the one working was very peppy and was slinging drinks without seemingly stressing out.
Until next time Donny, Walter and The Dude.
Wrapping up a trip to Bloomington with Keg Grove was a great end point to a day trip. A coworker who used to live in Bloomington suggested this place and since they had fruity beer, it took no convincing Emily to swing by there with me.
We walked in and it was packed. There was a retirement party going on that kept the single bartender busy with not just them but also slinging drinks behind the bar. We didn't have to wait too long to grab my beer and Emily's flight. We took a seat over by the sweet The Big Lebowski beer tanks.
That's right, the beer tanks had Donny, Walter and The Dude from The Big Lebowski on it. I included a photo of the tanks below. I'm not a diehard fan of the movie but I can appreciate this homage for what it is.
After being a bit let down at Lil Beaver Brewery, Keg Grove hit it home. The beers we ordered were exactly was we expected them to taste like based on their names. Mine was a Holey Jeans (blueberry wheat) and Emily's flight was Holey Jeans, Cotton Dress Pants (peach wheat), Keg Grove Cream Ale, and Cupcheck (pilsner). Emily and I really liked the Holey Jeans and she especially liked the Cotton Dress.
Since I was driving, I stuck to just the one beer but Emily grabbed a coozie, a 16 oz. Cotton Dress, we both grabbed some stickers and a magnet and headed outside. While she was enjoying her last beer before we left, it started pouring down. Everyone booked it inside but we stood under the canopy to avoid the loud crowd inside.
My only issue with Keg Grove was the single bartender. Not sure if it was busier than normal but for a Friday and a retirement party booking the upstairs area, I feel like they should've had two working. But I will say that the one working was very peppy and was slinging drinks without seemingly stressing out.
Until next time Donny, Walter and The Dude.
Everyone loves a lil beaver...
This place has been on my list for years since I first heard of it. The name alone was enough for me to go and check it out. Emily and I made plans to come here on a day we both had off and both were in the mood for beers.
We ordered our drinks and took a seat inside. There is a back patio/beer garden where you can enjoy the weather but we just got done walking around outside and needed to cool down. Plus it smelled like rain was coming based on how the air smelled.
I ordered their Kolsch due to it being a favorite of mine and they are relatively hard to find. I was excited to get it and Emily was excited to try a flight of beers herself. While we sat there and discussed our beers, we both came to the conclusion that we weren't exactly digging our beers. My Kolsch tasted almost acidic like a cider than a bitterness of a Kolsch. Maybe that's basing it off the Canoe Paddler (R.I.P) by Leinenkugel but I was expecting a deeper heavier taste than a lighter cider. It was good in its own right but when expecting something else, it was the smallest of let downs.
Emily ordered a flight of beers of what she thought sounded good and she was equally let down to some degree. I tried each of her drinks and based on what they should've been, I was feeling the same as her. All the beer wasn't bad but for what it said it was... it just tasted a bit off.
I will say that the bartenders were beyond great and friendly. They visited our table multiple times to make sure we were good on our drinks. The main seating area we were in was nice and I loved the various beaver artworks on the walls that were all based on famous images. My favorite being the Bernie Sanders sitting on a chair with mittens on.
I really dug the vibe of this place, the humor, the great customer service and overall aesthetics of the place. It was just a bit of a bummer that the beer was just... not hitting the right notes.
This won't stop me from ever coming back should I be in the area.
This place has been on my list for years since I first heard of it. The name alone was enough for me to go and check it out. Emily and I made plans to come here on a day we both had off and both were in the mood for beers.
We ordered our drinks and took a seat inside. There is a back patio/beer garden where you can enjoy the weather but we just got done walking around outside and needed to cool down. Plus it smelled like rain was coming based on how the air smelled.
I ordered their Kolsch due to it being a favorite of mine and they are relatively hard to find. I was excited to get it and Emily was excited to try a flight of beers herself. While we sat there and discussed our beers, we both came to the conclusion that we weren't exactly digging our beers. My Kolsch tasted almost acidic like a cider than a bitterness of a Kolsch. Maybe that's basing it off the Canoe Paddler (R.I.P) by Leinenkugel but I was expecting a deeper heavier taste than a lighter cider. It was good in its own right but when expecting something else, it was the smallest of let downs.
Emily ordered a flight of beers of what she thought sounded good and she was equally let down to some degree. I tried each of her drinks and based on what they should've been, I was feeling the same as her. All the beer wasn't bad but for what it said it was... it just tasted a bit off.
I will say that the bartenders were beyond great and friendly. They visited our table multiple times to make sure we were good on our drinks. The main seating area we were in was nice and I loved the various beaver artworks on the walls that were all based on famous images. My favorite being the Bernie Sanders sitting on a chair with mittens on.
I really dug the vibe of this place, the humor, the great customer service and overall aesthetics of the place. It was just a bit of a bummer that the beer was just... not hitting the right notes.
This won't stop me from ever coming back should I be in the area.
Review Date: May 27th, 2023
The West location was successfully defended.
Everyone in our group is nerdy as hell so it was only natural we stopped at a nerd store while visiting friends in Ohio.
This was a nice game store with plenty of options for whatever type of nerd you are. The offering of board games, card games, Magic cards, paints for minis and your everyday accessories was plentiful and fairly priced. The staff was very friendly as well considering the place was swarming with people for some tabletop campaigns that were going on.
Sadly, we were only here for 10 minutes before we booked it to the Asian festival… so I don’t have much to comment about this place. I will say that there is a store cat running around! I only briefly saw it before it slalomed between our legs and dipped into the back room. So, no photo of the majestic beast. 😦 but I did snag a game called Trash Pandas that I can’t wait to play someday.
If I lived in Columbus, this would be the place I would come for my gaming needs. It reminded me very much of the store I visit at home called Just For Fun. There is a second The Guardtower and I hope to visit the next time I am back in town. Apparently one is referred to as East Guardtower and this one as West. Not sure why but if you plan to visit one of the stores, don’t be surprised if you hear them referred to in that manner.
The West location was successfully defended.
Everyone in our group is nerdy as hell so it was only natural we stopped at a nerd store while visiting friends in Ohio.
This was a nice game store with plenty of options for whatever type of nerd you are. The offering of board games, card games, Magic cards, paints for minis and your everyday accessories was plentiful and fairly priced. The staff was very friendly as well considering the place was swarming with people for some tabletop campaigns that were going on.
Sadly, we were only here for 10 minutes before we booked it to the Asian festival… so I don’t have much to comment about this place. I will say that there is a store cat running around! I only briefly saw it before it slalomed between our legs and dipped into the back room. So, no photo of the majestic beast. 😦 but I did snag a game called Trash Pandas that I can’t wait to play someday.
If I lived in Columbus, this would be the place I would come for my gaming needs. It reminded me very much of the store I visit at home called Just For Fun. There is a second The Guardtower and I hope to visit the next time I am back in town. Apparently one is referred to as East Guardtower and this one as West. Not sure why but if you plan to visit one of the stores, don’t be surprised if you hear them referred to in that manner.
Review Date: October 14th, 2015
First impressions are hard to change…
If you live in Illinois at all, you know of the budget cuts, budget cuts, tax increases, budget cuts. Jubilee College State Park is one of those that has been hit by budget cuts. Decided to check this place and Jubilee Cafe out in the same day.
My first time there, I encountered a few areas that were closed due to inadequate staffing. So a lot of places have become overgrown and broken down. This state park is beautiful and it’s a shame that it is in such a bad shape. While looking up some info on it to write this short blog, it appears that after 3 years they finally have a (volunteer?) Park Ranger and a volunteer group to help clean the place up and make it usable.
Having never been here, I tried quite a few different places that I thought were openings to go hiking, but I really never could tell what was what since everything was overgrown. Now if this volunteer group is helping out and making the place a bit friendlier, I would love to go back and check it out again. Maybe even update this blog post. I just hope I don’t have to mark it ‘Closed’.
It fills me with such sorrow that beautiful recreational places like these are cut short on budgets and fall into disuse. I won’t get into politics, but I hope they figure something out and restore this park and all the other closed/understaffed to their rightful natural beauty.
First impressions are hard to change…
If you live in Illinois at all, you know of the budget cuts, budget cuts, tax increases, budget cuts. Jubilee College State Park is one of those that has been hit by budget cuts. Decided to check this place and Jubilee Cafe out in the same day.
My first time there, I encountered a few areas that were closed due to inadequate staffing. So a lot of places have become overgrown and broken down. This state park is beautiful and it’s a shame that it is in such a bad shape. While looking up some info on it to write this short blog, it appears that after 3 years they finally have a (volunteer?) Park Ranger and a volunteer group to help clean the place up and make it usable.
Having never been here, I tried quite a few different places that I thought were openings to go hiking, but I really never could tell what was what since everything was overgrown. Now if this volunteer group is helping out and making the place a bit friendlier, I would love to go back and check it out again. Maybe even update this blog post. I just hope I don’t have to mark it ‘Closed’.
It fills me with such sorrow that beautiful recreational places like these are cut short on budgets and fall into disuse. I won’t get into politics, but I hope they figure something out and restore this park and all the other closed/understaffed to their rightful natural beauty.
Review Date: March 2nd, 2012
A relaxing day at my first beach!
Not only was it my first beach, but it was my first time in the Gulf of Mexico. This was just one of the many stops in a crazy, but awesome Spring Break week with some great friends.
The weather was nice, but the Gulf was still cool from winter. So Jacob and I waded out and tried out best to enjoy the waves. Megan took the majority of the photos you’ll see below.
We enjoyed the beach for a few hours. I smuggled some mason jars onto the beach and filled them with sand, water and some shells found around where we were sitting. My dad still has some in his house and they still look pretty decent!
Aside from chilling on the beach and trying to play in the cold ocean, I wish I had more to say. Jacob told me that sharks can swim in water as shallow as 3′, so that made the rest of the time in the water rather fun. Kept quite an eye out for some sharks and luckily, we made it out safe and sound.
Florida has a ton of beaches. I would tell you to visit this one, but there has to be many to choose from! Especially in Panama City Beach, where we ended up later that week. So just hit up any beach and enjoy!
A relaxing day at my first beach!
Not only was it my first beach, but it was my first time in the Gulf of Mexico. This was just one of the many stops in a crazy, but awesome Spring Break week with some great friends.
The weather was nice, but the Gulf was still cool from winter. So Jacob and I waded out and tried out best to enjoy the waves. Megan took the majority of the photos you’ll see below.
We enjoyed the beach for a few hours. I smuggled some mason jars onto the beach and filled them with sand, water and some shells found around where we were sitting. My dad still has some in his house and they still look pretty decent!
Aside from chilling on the beach and trying to play in the cold ocean, I wish I had more to say. Jacob told me that sharks can swim in water as shallow as 3′, so that made the rest of the time in the water rather fun. Kept quite an eye out for some sharks and luckily, we made it out safe and sound.
Florida has a ton of beaches. I would tell you to visit this one, but there has to be many to choose from! Especially in Panama City Beach, where we ended up later that week. So just hit up any beach and enjoy!