The Heart of it All!

As I’m sure you all know, April is National Pecan Month. Tuesday was April Fool’s Day, tomorrow is Tell a Lie Day–I’m sure there’s a story there–and most importantly, the first week in April is National Read a Road Map Week. This is all according to a highly reputable website built in, like, 1998 that also advertises garden equipment.

But this whole map thing got me to thinking…about beer, mostly. I recently found a map that identifies all 101 currently operating breweries in Ohio. Despite the fact that I have spent 24 of my 32 years somewhere in Ohio, I am pretty miserable with Ohio geography. In my dotterage I’ve begun to study the map to stop confusing Mt. Gilead with Mt. Vernon. It makes me happy in that same old person way in which I enjoy the way a glass of red wine looks sitting next to a crusty boule of bread. Imagining the possibilities. So when I saw 101 dots on my little heart-shaped state, I started imagining.

Vandalia, Middle Bass, Hide-A-Way Hills. Kelleys Island, Buckeye Lake, Catawba Island. Where are these places and why haven’t I been there yet? (Perhaps because the first 18 years of being an Ohioan were spent plotting an escape. I’ve since gotten a tattoo that says “If found, please return to Ohio.) I recently discovered that Catawba Island, a place at which many inlanders vacation, is not an island at all! Oh the mysteries you hold from me, my sweet Heart of It All!

Of course, many of them are in some of my favorite big cities, Cleveland, Akron, and Cincinnati. I realize for non-Ohioans, these names may just conjure images of gritty inner cities, rubber-dense smog, and being too close to Kentucky (respectively), but in fact each of these cities has a lot to offer and goddamn but do they know how to brew a beer!

Thumbs up for Akron beer!

I recently attended Art & Ales, a small beer festival at the Akron Art Museum, and was blown away by breweries I had never heard of before. (They also had free perogies to sample, which I decided on the spot is the best food to pair with beer. Period.) It became clear as the evening progressed (well, and foggy) that I need to learn more about the breweries in my own backyard. It is time for a road trip.

And so, on this the week of road map reading, I’ve begun to study the Ohio Beer Map and plot my course. Reader, I urge you to pull out the map as well. You’ll find some of the best beer the next town over at a brew pub that doesn’t distribute. Take a long weekend and store a few empty growlers in the back seat. Have a good time and drink great beer.