Category: Travel – Where to Drink

From pub pedals on St. Augustine Beach to drinking abroad in Barcelona and Greece, learn about the Boozy Blondes’ favorite travel destinations and their recommendations where to visit!

Season 1, Travel - Where to Drink

Episode 013 | Booze Cruise Vol. 1

The Boozy Blondes

Listen here!

In this episode the Boozy Blondes get in vacation mode, sipping their official go-to cruise drinks, talking all things cruising. If you could consider cruising a sport, the girls would take first place every time. Chrissy is an old vet at the cruise game and taught Molly her ways – even though she has a long way to catch up to Chrissy’s experience, Molly is a quick learner and together the girls absolutely crush cruising.

The DOE and official go-to cruise drink is spiced rum and ginger beer. At home, the girls typically use Captain Morgan or Sailor Jerry’s for rum, but they are split on the ginger beer. Chrissy prefers Goya brand for its extra spice and Molly prefers Fever Tree or Q Mixers (because she doesn’t like flavor especially spice).

When on the cruises, the girls go with Kraken rum while the boys love Zacapa. On Chrissy’s group birthday cruise in 2019, the group was known as the Zacapa crew; all the bartenders knew that’s what the group was drinking when they’d walk up to the bars!

For years Molly was convinced she should never step foot on a cruise ship. Every time she was invited, and even times when she had them booked, something would happen that prevented her from going. Finally in 2018 the sun and the stars and the moon aligned, and her butt got on that ship. And she was hooked! “Cruise Molly” is the happiest person you will ever meet, and Chrissy was thrilled because her partner in crime would now scheme with her to get on even more cruises.

So even though the girls are obsessed and highly recommend cruising anytime you can, cruising is not for everyone. While the girls have avoided getting seasick, some people are more sensitive to that. Others feel claustrophobic being stuck on the ship. And there are stereotypes with cruising – the short weekend cruises are non-stop partying benders and the week-long cruises are full of old people. Just remember, it’s what YOU make it.

At time of recording, the girls have only ever cruised on Royal Caribbean (since then, Chrissy has cruised overseas on a different cruise line), and they love it. The following information applies to cruising on Royal Caribbean – the girls aren’t sure if the same rules apply on other cruise lines.

Most if not all cruise lines have a private island, and Royal Caribbean’s CocoCay has really upped its game over the years. In 2019, they opened the newly renovated island. They built a dock all the way to the ship so you no longer have to take a tender (those are not fun) and built cabanas, pools and a water park!

So as Boozy Blondes, the girls are huge fans of purchasing the drink package ahead of time – the deluxe beverage package which includes booze, of course. Before your cruise, watch the website for sales because it’s close to $100/day without any discounts. Having peace of mind when it comes to an all-inclusive experience makes the girls happy, as opposed to keeping track of how many drinks they’ve had and wondering what that final bill will look like at the end of the cruise. The drink package also works on the private island, so you don’t have to pay for your drinks individually there – there are exceptions, like the pineapple drinks. Those are not included. They are super sticky, but make great pictures!

The drink package includes bottled water, coffee, discounts on bottles of wine and tastings too! Speaking of wine, you are also allowed to bring two bottles per stateroom on board with you. Even if you purchase the drink package, it’s nice to have these bottles in your room for while you’re getting ready or relaxing on the balcony. #backupbooze

The girls put together some lists for you – including their favorite things about cruising, pro-tips, packing tips and general things you need to know.

Favorite things:

  1. The fact that you wake up in a new place every day
  2. Great for group trips – everyone does their own booking, can customize to their preferences
  3. It’s a choose your own adventure trip – so many options
  4. The themed parties (provided by ship or you plan one for your group)
  5. All the games – trivia, bingo, casino
  6. Live music
  7. Dinners – gluttonous but so fun and always delicious
  8. Drink package – the girls love getting boozy “for free” (they pay ahead of time, they know)

Pro tips:

  1. Watch for discounts online and purchase packages and excursions before you leave
  2. Bring 2 bottles of wine per stateroom on board
  3. Go to Windjammer in the AM – they sometimes have carts with mimosa and other drinks
  4. Make friends with your servers – they will take excellent care of you and customize your dining experience

Things to know:

  1. Tips/gratuity is included in price of cruise, but bring cash for servers and housekeeping for end of trip
  2. No irons in room – can get laundry service
  3. Some cruises come with drink packages and some offer different tiers
  4. You can reserve event space for private parties – and some rooms are free! Others you pay for with private bar and bartender
  5. For the drink package, all persons in stateroom must buy it if one person does
  6. You can get non-alcohol drink packages
  7. You can order water service to have bottles delivered to your room

Packing Tips:
(listen to Pack Like a Booze Traveler for more ideas)

  1. Inner tubes + bungees
  2. Special cruise cups (like the boozy blondes cups above)
  3. Plastic bags for wet clothes
  4. Dry erase boards
  5. Lanyard + hole punch
  6. Command or 3M hooks
  7. Pump hand soap

It’s always good to research your ports before you go. While the cruise line offers excursions, you can find some pretty awesome places on your own. The girls found Rip Ty’d in Nassau on their most recent cruise, and met Christine, the owner, while they were there. Watch for the Behind the Booze episode to launch later this year!

Do you have pro tips for the girls when it comes to cruising? Please share them in the comments!

Season 1, Travel - Where to Drink

Episode 009 | Keel & Curley Farm

The Boozy Blondes

Listen Here!

The Boozy Blondes dug out their boots, hats, overalls and plaid and spent the day down on the farm – Keel Farms…and Winery…and Brewery. Yes, so many fun things all on one piece of property! Quick background – Keel Farms was started by Joe Keel in 1981 across 10 acres in Plant City, Florida. In 2003 it transformed to a nursery for blueberries, and Joe used the end of year crop of blueberries to make wine. His first batch was 10 gallons.

By 2013 the farm expanded to 35 acres and regularly produced craft beers and ciders…along with the wine, of course. In 2018 Joe’s son Clay and his wife Carmen took over and focused on making the farm a family friendly, fun place to visit with dedication to sustainability and community.

The DOE is Dog Rose Crewing Company’s Lion’s Head Honey Sour, a 5.2% kettle sour with honey made by the bees posting up in the lion’s head at the Bridge of Lions in St. Augustine!

Keel Farms is definitely a destination, and the girls loved every minute spent on the farm. They happened to visit on Halloween, and there was a special event that day benefitting a big dog rescue. Because of its popularity the girls arrived right at 11am when it opened to try to get a table (they had called weeks prior to make a reservation, but they were already booked up – so, plan your trip well in advance). You know how important food is to the girls, and if they wanted to try a variety of ciders, wines and beers, they need to start with a good base!

Because of the special even, Keel Farms was offering the deal of a lifetime – at least it felt like the deal of a lifetime that day. If you said at the bar, for $10 you could get a bottomless flute. With your flute, you could try ANYTHING Keel Farms had on tap! This was a dream come true for the Boozy Blondes! (And Phil!) They tried almost everything on tap and both agreed the favorite was the seasonal pumpkin cider.

The food was delicious. They shared the fried gator tail as an appetizer, which had a surprisingly beautiful presentation! Rainer had the Cubano, Molly had the Wine Smash Burger and Phil & Chrissy split the Blue + Bleu Smash Burger.

After tasting until their hearts’ content, the girls got full sized pumpkin ciders and took off to explore the farm (and walk off those burgers). Keel Farms encourages guests to wander the property with a drink in hand, and the girls did just that. They had booked a tour, and Elizabeth was their tour guide. Full of dad jokes and an expert tractor driver, Elizabeth took the group through the production site and spent a little time with the Boozy Blondes following the tour (listen to her interview in this episode).

There is so much to do at Keel Farms, the girls want to go back as soon as they can. When they return, some must-dos include:

  1. Talk to Omar, head brewer
  2. Try Pecan Brown Ale
  3. Attend another event supporting the community
  4. Bring more friends
  5. Yoga in the vineyard
  6. Other tours (especially if Elizabeth is the tour guide)

Make sure to follow Keel & Curley Farms on its Facebook and Instagram pages to keep up with all the fun events they host throughout the year like trivia nights, live music, wine and flower arranging, charcuterie board making, 5k wine runs, etc.

As always, share your experience with the blondes! If you’ve been to Keel & Curley Farms, share your pictures and tell them about your experience through the Anchor app or in the comments below!

Resources and Ridiculousness, Season 1, Travel - Where to Drink

Episode 007 | Pack Like a Booze Traveler

The Boozy Blondes

Listen here!

Hotels have become a home away from home for the boozy blondes, so much so that they streamlined the packing process to ensure their stays include the comforts of home – throughout their stay at their home away from home. It’s got to be homey, right?

The DOE for this episode is Coppertail’s Rum Passionfruit Lime Sour, a fruited Berliner Weiss with passionfruit, lime, bittering herbs, and aged on Gambler’s Bay Spiced Rum-soaked oak staves.

In this episode the girls explain packing hacks to make your stay more comfortable. They’ve even included a list so you can score some of these overnight must-haves!

Some quick tips –

  1. Wine drinkers – grab the mini bottles. These don’t depend on bottle openers, and if you bring a regular sized bottle but don’t finish it (what? Is that a thing??), you don’t have to worry about transporting it back or dumping it if you’re getting on an airplane.
  2. Invest in a hot pot. Hotel room coffee makers are nasty. This handy device boils water in just a minute or two, and you can use this for instant coffee, tea, oatmeal, etc!
  3. Bring plastic cups with lids (as found on Amazon). These are perfect for roadies or in-room drinks. No one wants to drink out of the germy, dirty hotel room glasses (insert Rainer gag here).
  4. Obviously you need something to fill these cups so grab your favorite beer or liquor and mixer!

Listening to the episode before your next trip is sure to help you plan to make your stay more comfortable and make your future self very happy. A list of the travel must-haves can be found here.

Is there something the girls forgot? Share your travel must-haves and hacks in the comments below!

**Side note, during the episode the blondes questioned whether or not cabins have refrigerators on cruise ships. They do!

Season 1, Travel - Where to Drink

Episode 006 | Jax Ale Trail – Vol. 1: Lemonstreet Brewing, Tabula Rasa, Fishweir and Buchner’s Bierhalle

The Boozy Blondes

Listen here!

Just north of the blondes’ hometown of St. Augustine is the city of Jacksonville. Fun fact, Jacksonville is the largest city by landmass in the continental US. DUUUVAL! This means there is plenty of space for delicious breweries. Visiting them all would take a lot of time and dedication – two things the Boozy Blondes devote to research for their podcast!

Molly & Chrissy on the JAX Ale Trail

Jacksonville is home to the Jax Ale Trail – a collection of 22 breweries across the greater Jacksonville area. In this episode the blondes make it to 3 (plus a bonus German Speakeasy)! So looks like they will be devoting a lot more time to exploring the Jax Ale Trail! If the other 19 breweries are half as good and fun as these first three, the girls have a lot to look forward to!

The Jax Ale Trail passport can be picked up at any one of the 22 breweries and passport owners earn prizes as they collect stamps:

  • 4 stamps = a koozie
  • 8 stamps = a t-shirt
  • All 2 stamps = ??? It’s a surprise! The blondes really want to earn this one!

To earn your rewards, drop off your passport at the visitors center at 110 N Laura Street, Suite 120 in downtown Jacksonville.

The DOE is Chocolait from Fishweir Brewing – a barrel aged sour with chocolate and orange.

Lemonstreet Brewing Company

First stop on the Jax Ale Trail was Lemonstreet Brewing. It has such a great space! So many private spaces to hang out in. Gabe was the bartender (also Director of Sales for Lemonstreet) and served the girls a flight. The favorite was Pink Automation, a sour with pineapple, jalapeño and hibiscus. The food truck on site was To Be Frank serving delicious hot dogs!

Next stop was Tabula Rasa, not far away. Corey was the bartender here serving the girls a flight. Owner Ryan gave the girls the “cider” to try called Thorin Appleshild. Technically it’s not a cider – brewing cider requires a different license in Florida because it’s considered to be in the same category as wine. Each state is different, for example in PA, ciders are considered to be in the beer category. 🤷‍♀️ Regardless it was delicious! It is an ale brewed with apple cider and finished in bourbon barrels for 5 months.

Tabula Rasa

Tabula Rasa has a beautiful outdoor area with fire pits and frisbee golf. They offer s’more kits and host open mic nights!

Th final stop on the Jax Ale Trail was Fishweir Brewing in the Murray Hill neighborhood. As sour lovers, the girls were thrilled to choose from so many options! Fishweir also offers Champagne drinks – Champagne + your choice of sour on tap. Fishweir has a light and airy welcoming feel and offers lots of events, including “Posture & Pints” on Sundays!

Chrissy at Fishweir

With three stamps on their passports, the blondes decided to check out one more place. They had heard of a German Speakeasy located on the same street as Fishweir. They located Buchner’s Bierhalle after walking through Blackhat Vapor. Buchner’s is amazing; it’s like walking into a different world!

Buchner’s has an extensive menu including five different charcuterie boards! After a day full of drinking beer, the girls switched to wine and enjoyed a charcuterie board, giant soft pretzel and schnitzel – a great way to end the day in Jacksonville.

Boozy Blondes with Ryan in front of Buchner’s

Buchner’s has a large outdoor beer garden with long picnic tables and hosts numerous events throughout the year including an Oktoberfest celebration, of course! Ryan was the girls’ server and was fantastic – if you visit, ask for Ryan and tell him the Boozy Blondes sent you!

This biggest takeaway from the first leg of the Jax Ale Trail is to get recommendations from the bartenders. The girls enjoyed so many different beers they probably would not have tried otherwise. Molly would never go for a beer with spice (like the jalapeños in Pink Automation) and Chrissy shies away from ciders because they are typically super sweet (Tabula Rasa’s cider beer was not sweet).

Have you been to any of the breweries in the ale trail? Share with us – #jaxaletrail #onlyinjax

Stay tuned for our second leg! We will have earned our koozie after that!

Season 1, Travel - Where to Drink

Episode 003 | Pub Pedal: St. Augustine Craft Breweries: Bog, Dog Rose, Ancient City and Old Coast Ales

The Boozy Blondes

Listen here!

The Boozy Blondes explore their hometown breweries in St. Augustine, Florida, in this episode. St. Augustine is home to four craft breweries and the girls pedaled their bikes to all four – the best local breweries in St. Augsutine!

Boozy Blondes Outside of Bog

The DOE is Dream Pop from Bog Brewing Company. Dream Pop is a Farmhouse Ale aged 8 months in oak and finished on organic pink rose petals.

Our partner for this episode is Winc! Click here for a discount off your first order!

This first stop on the St. Augustine Craft Brewery Pub Pedal was Bog. The blondes split three beers here: Blueberry Lemon sour (5.5%), Mixed Culture Saison (6.7%) and Automatic Midnight (19.6 Imperial Stout). They arrived around lunchtime, and lucky for them, Tacos My Blessings is a permanent food truck behind Bog.

Boozy Blondes Outside of Dog Rose Brewing

From Bog the girls rode to Dog Rose Brewing Company where they enjoyed victory on the shuffleboard table while sharing a flight. Rhapsody in Red (American amber – 5.2%), Helles in a Bucket (bock – 7.9%), Bertha Brown Ale (brown ale – 6.3%) and Lions Head Honey Sour (sour – 5.2%). They say the honey in this beer came from bees in the lions head. The girls think this is a lion’s head from the Bridge of Lions in downtown St. Augustine, and found this reference from 2020.

Here the girls met Disco Witch Brewing owners Jeff and Shelly. Disco Witch is scheduled to open Spring 2022 in Yule, Florida. A grand opening celebration is scheduled in May!

Dog Rose opened in October of 2017 and was named one of the Top 20 Best New Breweries in the US by USA Today in 2020!

Ancient City Brewing Beers

The next stop for the blondes was Ancient City Brewing on Cathedral Place right downtown. This is the location of Ancient City’s tap house. Its brewhouse is west of town on Agricultural Center Drive by the St. Augustine outlets.

The girls had one beer each here – Chrissy had Augustine’s Orange Amber Ale (5.3%) and Molly ordered Ponce’s Pale Ale (5.2%). Ancient opened in May 2015.

For the final stop the girls pedaled hard over the Bridge of Lions to Old Coast Ales. Fun fact (that the girls learned too late), if you ride your bike to Old Coast, you earn 10% off your beer! Here Molly ordered the No A’postrophe (amber ale – 7.2%) and Chrissy was ordered the Static Haze (New England IPA – 6.4%).

Boozy Blondes at Old Coast Ales

Old Coast opened in February 2017 and is neighbors to Osprey Tacos. Tacos were ordered and Molly owes an apology to the blondes’ friend Elias. She blamed him in the episode for dropping the guacamole, which exploded everywhere, when really it was Phil! The girls do a lot of research (ahem, drink a lot) so they always have the boys and/or other friends around to keep an eye on them and clear up minor details later. 😉

These 4 breweries join forces during the holiday season. St. Augustine is known for the Nights of Lights, and these breweries started the Nights of Pints. During the Nights of Lights (typically from the end of November through January), you can purchase the Nights of Pints package at one of the four breweries which includes a t-shirt and punch card. The punch card is good for one free beer at each brewery!

If you happen to be in St. Augustine and are visiting Bog, Dog Rose, Ancient City or Old Coast, let us know! Send us a message and let us know your favorite!

** Since we recorded this episode, Bog no longer allows pets inside. Please call the breweries before bringing Fido so you are aware of the most current rules.

Season 1, Travel - Where to Drink

Episode 002 | St. Pete Ale Trail: 3 Daughters Brewing, Green Bench and More!

The Boozy Blondes
Boozy Blondes & Crew in St. Pete

Listen here!

Pack your bags (and at least 70% of your friends) and join the Boozy Blondes as they explore the St. Pete beer scene! Saint Petersburg, Florida, is in Pinellas County which is home to 47 breweries! 17 of these are in St. Pete, and during this trip Chrissy and Molly made it to 6. Check out all the stops on the “Gulp Coast!”

The Drink of the Episode (DOE) is Beach Blonde Ale from 3 Daughters Brewing in St. Pete – perfect for the Boozy Blondes. Beach Blonde Ale is a blonde ale, light and refreshing, 5% ABV.

Fun fact – Chrissy celebrates her birthday twice every year. August 3rd and December 3rd. December 3rd is her actual birthday, but growing up in NEPA, winter birthdays are no fun. It’s typically gross weather, cold, maybe snowy. So she switched her birthday to August so she could celebrate in the summer with pool parties! The tradition stuck, and now (decades later) the blondes still celebrate big in August. All this to say, the St. Pete trip was in celebration of Chrissy’s birthday.

Boozy Blondes at The Hollander Hotel

They booked rooms at the Hollander Hotel, a historic boutique hotel in downtown St. Pete. The hotel has a beautiful pool area complete with private cabanas perfect for an afternoon birthday celebration. The Tap Room Bar & Grill is on site offering 21 beers on tap and craft cocktails. And the food is delicious! The girls enjoyed both brunch and dinner at the Tap Room.

Following an afternoon at the pool the blondes walked the short distance to Sea Salt for Happy Hour. Sea Salt offers drink and appetizer specials from 3pm to 6pm daily.

Saturday was pub crawl day! The Boozy Blondes set out to tackle as many breweries as possible out of the 17 in Saint Petersburg. First stop Right Around the Corner.

The Boozy Blondes and Crew Halloween 2016

Right Around the Corner is the perfect place for nostalgia and competition. From N64 to PlayStation, you can relive your glory days tearing up the track in Mario Kart as Princess Peach (if you’re Molly) or Wario (if you’re Chrissy). Who is your go-to character?

*Side bar, one of the best Halloweens ever, the blondes rounded up a group of friends, tied balloons to their beach cruisers and raced to downtown St. Augustine as the cast of Mario Kart! The Boozy Blondes love Mario Kart. Has anyone played Beerio Kart?

Chrissy on the Skee Ball court

Anyway, there is Skee Ball and Air Hockey, pinball, vending machines full of surprises and a great selection of craft beer. Molly had the Just Like Old Times (Berliner Weisse with lactose, vanilla and orange) and Chrissy enjoyed the Palmer Arnold (sour).

The next stop on the tour was 3 Daughters Brewing. This is a large operation and offers multiple event spaces for your group. The day the girls visited, 3 Daughters released two beers:  a peanut butter marshmallow blonde and mango habanero IPA.

After a flight and hot dog bites the girls moved on to Pinellas Ale Works (PAW). This brewery offers an extensive beer list. It’s a very pet friendly brewery and during happy hour $1 from each beer sold is donated to a local shelter.

Next stop was Avid Brew Company for “Christinas” and regular sized hot dogs. Christinas are half light lager or pale ale and half kombucha. Avid is a smaller brewery with a cute outdoor space.

The final stop was Green Bench and Webb’s City Cellar. They share a beer garden and Webb’s offers Mead. The girls tried all four of the local mead options on tap. Webb’s was closing down for an evening event so they hung out in the beer garden for a while – the boys got beers from Green Bench. *video of naming meads* So technically, the girls hit 6 stops on the Gulp Coast Craft Beer Trail. Green Bench and Webb’s each count individually. As of November 2021, the passport is now offered digitally so you can keep track of your stamps on your phone!