A Day to Explore

Wednesday - May 22nd - Hot and Humid

Yesterday after our SMART meeting, we decided to take in the sights.  I had done a little research on the computer and found that we were close to the Yuengling Brewery, so thought it would be great to tour the brewery.  We had thought of it once before, but found that I didn't have the necessary shoes to take the tour.  You must have closed shoes.  We plugged the address into our On Star and we were off.  We arrived at the Brewery 15 minutes prior to the beginning of the tour, just enough time to explore the gift shop/museum.

The tour was amazing, as it took us through the working Brewery, showing us how the "cereal" was cooked, how and when the hops were added.  The process of the beer being put into cans or bottles capped, and pasteurized, and packaged ready to be shipped.  So different to the many winery's that we have visited over the years.

We found it interesting that during Prohibition the Yuengling family made Ice Cream in a factory across from the Brewery.  What is the saying about lemons??

After we left the Brewery we ventured to a restaurant that Brion had told us about called Vito's, which features a coal fired oven.  Once again I had the address of the restaurant and our "lady" guided us to our destination.  Lou ordered French Onion Soup, which he thought needed some extra flavor and also a steak and cheese pizza.  He ate two pieces and we brought the rest of it home for dinner.  I ordered a small order of pasta with two meatballs with the thought in mind it seemed to specialize in Italian, this should be great.  It really lacked taste, perhaps I am critical, as I used a lot of fresh herbs in my sauce, and my own sauce is much better, so I was disappointed; however, the bread that was coal oven baked was delicious.

From there we drove up route 61 and went to Swatara State Forest and walked along a hiking path for a little while, enjoying the fresh air and the river.  All in all it was a wonderful day that we enjoyed and learned something new.

Our SMART group

    

The Yuengling Ice Cream Factory

Inside the Brewery

The Cereal Cooker

Looking Inside the Cereal Cooker

The Painted Murals on the Walls

The cans on the assembly line

The lids being placed on the cans

The cans going up to be to pasteurized 

Packaging 

The entrance to the Restaurant 

Decorations inside (note the piece of coal)

The beginning of our walking trail

The river

Lou