Mmmm booze

As you know, I'm fond of a tipple. So it's fortunate that I find myself in what must be the US's premiere city for alcoholism. There are several "micro-breweries" and a huge number of "brew-pubs" in town. The former make and distribute beer as well as selling direct; "micro" simply distinguishes them from the massive industrial operations of budweiser, coors etc. The brew-pubs knock together there own stuff and sell it in their own establishement. Each place seems to brew red and amber ales, an IPA, a porter and some lighter lager-like stuff. The red's are fairly close to bitter. Personally, I prefer the IPAs. There's a bar called Henry's downtown that sells about sixty beers on draft, which is fairly impressive. I'm not sure what you get for drinking the lot, but we'll find out if Swanny ever visits.

Then there's the wine: they make a lot of Pinot Noir around here; Rielsing and Pinot Gris are the popular white varietals. Over the river in Washington they make Merlot on the South-facing slopes. It's all pretty good though in my opinion a little over-priced. The supermarkets all stock an impressive range of wines, all slightly more expensive than in England. They seem to have everything you could ever want although the big Aussie brands are notable for their absence. You can even by port at 15 dollars a pop, so I'll be alright through the winter.

Yesterday we went house-hunting. Much to my surprise two of the homes we looked at were late Victorian and retained their original features: beautiful staircases and moldings, recessed sliding door panels, old gas lighting fittings (now converted to electric). The larger of the two even had a separate staircase at the back for the servants, which was a nice touch. We're not ready to buy yet, but it was great to see what was out there and what we could afford. I would say that property here is probably about 60% the price it is in Lewes, like for like.

Last night we went to the remake of the Manchurian Candidate. I've not seen the original -which is probably a good thing - but the film was pretty good: a well above-average thriller with some great acting and superb direction. 7/10