Date: 2007-06-18
From: Microtel (Port Clinton)

To: Microtel (Port Clinton) Beero
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Yep, they are going nowhere, day number 3. The smell of Yuengling is in the air. Blazer likes to plan things. It is in his nature, he ran 3 plants for Lockheed-Martin, and they love plans. I on the other hand, generally go without. Especially, if I am hiking on the AT. We let Blazer make a plan as it keeps him happy. I do my best to mess it up, which in turn keeps me happy.        Why Blazer would let me make a plan, I have no idea. Bullfoon in 1999 let me be in charge once, and he ended up in a boat on Lake Erie, 250 miles away from the trail, wondering if he would drown. I think he would say I learn from my mistakes. Some people just have to learn for themselves.        Yesterday we had a zero day, where we hiked no where and did next to nothing. We will be calling today a beero. A zero day caused by the consumption of beer. We are visiting the oldest brewery in America. Yuengling is celebrating its 175th anniversary, and opening the cave, whatever that means.         Our ride is a fine young lady I met on myspace. I know what you are thinking. You can¢t just have people you meet on the internet pick you up. I disagree, as AT thru-hikers we constantly hop into stranger¢s cars, eat their food, and sleep in their houses. Sure she could be a he, but the question is, will he gives us a ride? As long as I don¢t see that 20/20 guy, it¢ll be OK. No, I was never lured into a van with candy when I was little, unless they had tootsie rolls or a basket of puppies. Just the same, Blazer says he¢ll watch from the window.        11am, and we trot down to the lobby. Tracey (myspace chick) shows up and hey, she doesn¢t have an axe. She runs Blazer and Fire Marshall to the post office. Then she takes Blazer, Backyard Boogie, and myself to Pottsville, home of Yuengling brewery.        We all head over for pizza at the hut. We then drive by the local prison which comes complete with a tower from medieval times. We show up at Yuengling and are early. We should have toured the prison first. Tracey seems happy enough to be stuck with three bearded and slightly smelly hikers.        Turns out Croc¢s are trendy everywhere, but the brewery. They give us shoes and feety pantyhose. I say ¢It will be just like when we dress up on Friday nights¢. Now the ladies helping us are looking unsure. The tour is free, my favorite. Our tour guide is loud and scares me. It¢s your typical brewery tour. The highlight was the hand dug caves. They were 150 feet underground, and used for storage. The spring also came down through them. Backyard¢s favorite part of the tour was getting Yuengled. Our two 8oz glasses of beer were served to us in a bar in the back. We pack out Yuengling stuff and Tracey drove us over to the post office.      We all thought about swimming, I think in Frackville PA¢s water supply. Blazer wasn¢t feeling that well, so we head in the general direction of home. It was then I see my happy place. As shining little Rita¢s Italian Ice stand. Tracey exclaimed, ¢Oh gelati¢s!¢ I wept. As in previous journals, you have learned I dearly love gelati¢s. A chick with gelati, well that¢s just crazy.      She dropped us off where we started. I¢d like to thank Tracey for dragging us all over the greater metropolitan area of Port Clinton. Not to mention, spending time with us even though she didn¢t really know us. I hope she enjoyed herself, as we were an odd group. We had quite a bit of drama the last day or two, and for once it wasn¢t me. Usually, we are a bit more fun, or at least more chatty. I would have like to do more, but sadly we leave tomorrow for the woods. Hiker is midnight is 9pm. We should wake bright and early, and try to beat the 95 degree heat, and the lightning I am sure will be chasing us by afternoon.       Anyway, for her trouble, I will grant the highly sought after, some say prestigious spot, on my top 24 myspace friends, if she¢s not already on there.      Another Yuengling tidbit is the government came and built a brick wall to block the caves during prohibition. The theory is with that done, they would be unable to make beer. The night prohibition ended, Yuengling delivered a case to the president of the United States. It takes 26-28 days to brew Yuengling, leaving a mystery to how it was done. Some say there were tunnels under their location, others say it was made at their ice cream factory across the street. I think it was made by elves in that tree where they make cookies, but people don¢t usually ask me my opinion.              Beach Bum caught up to us today. I also saw the most awful looking poison ivy on Stretch¢s leg, and will stop whining about mine. I took pictures.Blazer and I are watching the reality show (age of love) where they put older ladies against younger chicks, for the heart of a tennis player. Good stuff!