NC and VA Beach trip

Morning, everyone. So we live in Indianapolis and my wife has business travel scheduled next week to Greensboro, NC. We decided on a whim that the kids and I will tag along and drive there. The plan is to stop at Sierra Nevada and Oskar Blues along the way. Anything else beercentric between Indy and Greensboro? Anything fun for the kids?

I used to live in Va Beach 10 years ago and obviously craft has blown up since then. We're going to head there after she's done with work. I plan on driving down around the Hampton Roads area (Norfolk, Chesapeake, Va Beach). Any good breweries or beers i need to keep an eye out for?

 

The plan thus far is to start driving towards Asheville on Tuesday. Definitely going to stop and have pints and lunch/dinner at Sierra Nevada. We'll also make it a point to stop at Wicked Weed Funkatorium because my wife is a big sour fan. I can't make a whole day of it because we'll still need to get to Greensboro. What's 1 more must stop in town that you guys would recommend?

We'll be in Greensboro from Wed - early Fri. I'll definitely be stopping at Bestway Grocery for bottles and having dinner at Sticks & Stones one night. Any other good spots for food and hydration?

Chesapeake/Va Beach will be a lot of catching up with friends and taking the kids to the beach even though I never cared for the beaches when I lived there. I'll make it a point to check out Reaver Beach and Ugly Boy since we'll stay in Chesapeake. Birch Bar sounds absolutely incredible but I can't see a scenario where my wife will let me go there as she drives around a city she's not familiar with.

 

Any chance they have pours of BA Sexual Chocolate on Wednesday or Thursday?

 

Any good places to get a good cup of cold brew coffee between Asheville and Va Beach?

 

Thus far:

Wicked Weed brewpub - great atmosphere. We drank downstairs outside and sampled 10 or so beers. There were some really good ones in there (Marina, Recurrant) but overall I was a little underwhelmed by the taplist. I did walk away having loved the Pernicious IPA moreso than Freak of Nature.

Sierra Nevada - My god! I've been to over 130 breweries and New Glarus has sat atop that list for 8 years now. I can definitely say Sierra Nevada tops them. I'm a Sierra Nevada beer fan but like New Glarus a fair deal more. But just the sheer size, the trails, the tours, the garden - absolutely amazing. Nothing mindblowing beer-wise but I was surprised by the barrel aged Raincheck. Lime in a stout doesn't sound appetizing but they made it work.

Wicked Weed Funkatorium - It was 8:30pm and my wife was beered out by this point. But the Funkatorium was 10 minutes from our hotel so I wasn't passing this up. Glad I didn't because the beers here made up for the somewhat letdown vibe I had at the brewpub. It was dark and quiet with a real focus on the sours. Definitely a place I'll be revisiting again. And I'm sure they'll welcome me back with the ridiculous amount of money I spent in the bottle shop. Best beer of the trip so far came from here which was the blueberry Myrtille sour. Amazing stuff.

Hops Burger Bar - Damn good burger. I'd say it was a top 10 burger all-time for me. Really good looking beer list but I had to restrain myself as I was dropping my wife at work afterwards. Tried a local gose by a brewery whose name I unfortunately can't remember. Also had Foothills Hoppyum IPA which wasn't bad at all. They had Birthday Bomb on tap but my beer guy is holding me a few bottles back home. Still would've loved to try it on tap.

Bestway Grocery - Incredible selection. Their beer guy was extremely inviting and helpful. Pointed me in the direction of several locals I wasn't aware of. Again, I spent some serious coin here and am not ashamed at all.

Sticks & Stones - Good pizza (not great) but the best vibe of anywhere we've been so far. Plenty of room and perfectly laid back. It must have been an off-night for the taplists (compared to what I've seen people mention from past visits) but holy shit was Jade IPA amazing. I didn't do my homework on that one as I see now that you guys are proud of it as you should be. Best IPA so far this week. I don't think of hops when people mention Carolina but that's changing. Give me Jade over anything hoppy 3 Floyds is pumping out.

Common Grounds - We went across the street for some coffee before heading to the hotel. This was a nice, quiet little spot. I got a delicious cold brew and had a pint of Gibb's Hundred ESB. I'm an ESB ***** and this was a pretty decent one. Would definitely stop back for a cold brew as not enough coffee shops are doing these right.

Foothill's Brewpub - Pretty standard brewpub. Nothing that really separates it from others but I will say our server was awesome. I didn't catch her name but she made it an enjoyable visit. Fresh Jade IPA on tap was a highlight. Also really liked their Mosaic IPA. Nothing else stood out besides BA Sexual Chocolate. Definitely an awesome beer with a huge chocolate fudge aroma/taste. They also still had bottles which left me happier than hell. Grabbed one of those and a couple bombers of Jade.

We're heading to Virginia Beach after the lady finishes things up at work on Friday. Just want to say thanks for all of the recommendations up to this point. You guys have a lot of cool shit going on here and I'll definitely be coming back. I'm hating myself for missing out on Burial considering how close it was to Funkatorium but it just gives me something else to look forward to next time. Cheers!