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1/11/2014
~17 random individuals decided to spend their Saturday in the rain, thunder, and lightning for the first installment of the BREW Ruck.
0900 – Pre-Ruck meets at Heist Brewery. Four individuals in attendance. Ruck from Heist (final stop) back to the start point (~7mi)
1100 – Pre-Ruckers arrive at start point to meet remainder of the group. Coupons are distributed and we departed.
First Stop: The Olde Mecklenburg Brewery
We arrived at our first stop after 1.5 short miles; already soaking wet, and having embraced the suck. The rain poured what felt like buckets of water in such a short time. We figured out quick that mother nature was not cooperating with us. Most of us blamed Dora for the unfortunate weather conditions, but he blamed Cadre Bert.
We dropped our coupons, and went inside to enjoy bratwursts, fellowship, and brew. Olde Mecklenburg was kind enough to open their doors 30 minutes early for us, and we were highly appreciative.
Leaving Olde Mecklenburg, the rain and wind started to slow down a bit, and we continued towards South End and the warehouse district.
Second Stop: Triple C Brewery
We arrived at Triple C; wet, muddy, thirsty, and starting to feel the pain.
Triple C brewery has a great tasting room and beer garden. They were very accommodating of the group, and provided us with free chips to go with our delicious beverages.
At this point, the breweries were starting to fill with their regular customers who were wondering why we had arrived wet and with large backpacks and logs in tow. We attempted to explain our motives to people throughout the ruck, but some still couldn’t understand just why we would do this. Oh well, we marched on.
Third Stop: Rock Bottom Brewery
Rock Bottom is a nice restaurant in uptown Charlotte… Or maybe I should say WAS. The seventeen of us turned it into something that resembled a locker room. Water drained out of our clothing and rucks and there were puddles all over the floor. We offered to sit outside, but the waitress didn’t want to serve us out there – probably because it was cold and raining and you would be insane to be outside in that weather… This was a great stop, the food was delicious and the drinks were too. Make sure to tip your waitress extra for the mess… On the way out several of us were asked what we were up to. It was becoming increasingly easier to just explain “we’re nuts”, and move on.
Somewhere around 9th street and Brevard, The Hoff caught a glimpse of something that would change his life forever. His face lit up, and his eyes almost bulged out of his head….
There sat a part of a telephone pole on the sidewalk. This must be an old piece that broke off of an old pole and had been replaced. To any normal citizen, this was pure garbage. Probably waiting to be picked up by the city and taken to the landfill. To Hoff, this was like Christmas in January. The only words he could get out were “I own this bitch!” – referring to the fact that the pole ended up in the back of BTB’s truck and taken to our normal workout spot for safe keeping.
Not long after we picked up the pole, we came across a stopped train on North Davidson Street. Great photo op. I don’t think we need to get into much more than that, but the train provided some entertainment for about ten minutes before it started to move again.
We continued to move on.
Fourth Stop: NoDa Brewing Company
It was a long haul from Rock Bottom to NoDa, especially considering our new coupon. When we got to NoDa, the place was packed with normal people. We got a lot of stares.
NoDa brewery has some great brews, and we enjoyed our short time there. It was pretty crowded, and we were running behind due to trains and phone poles, so bottoms up and we moved out.
Fifth Stop: Heist Brewery
Our fifth and final stop was at the Heist Brewery in NoDa, and they had a huge table waiting for us. This place is fantastic! We all enjoyed the food and fellowship. Wives and families joined us, and it was a great time to sit and talk. We were pretty beat from the ruck, and this was our first true relaxation of the day. Knowing that there were no coupons waiting for us outside made this stop particularly enjoyable.
Total distance: ~ 9 Miles
This was definitely the most fun ruck we have had, and we WILL do this again. Next go-round, we are going to figure out a way to use this event to raise money for a charity. Let us know if you have any ideas to make BREW Ruck #002 even more successful than this one. Can’t wait to get back out with all of you!
Until next time,
The Hoff & BTB
