As I mentioned in my previous post, I discovered my passion craft beer, I met a great group of lady beer drinkers, and I started to date someone that made me even more interested in the local craft beer scene. I decided that I wanted to give bartending a try. More specifically, I wanted to be a beertender at a place that focuses on craft beer. Through Paul, I met another local craft beer bar owner, and one night after having one too many beers, I took a seat at his bar and basically demanded him to hire me.
I remember waking up the next day laughing to myself, thinking that he would never call, and I felt pretty embarrassed with how I acted. I was actually shocked when later that afternoon, he called me and asked if I could start that weekend. I quickly realized I liked bartending, but it was a job I could only do in the summer when I wasn’t already working 40 hours a week.
So that summer, I set out to find another job and ended up getting hired at a fun and unique bar/restaurant called Cloak and Blaster. Cloak and Blaster is a tabletop gaming bar and restaurant. You can eat, drink, and play one of their MANY board games at your table. They also have a lounge upstairs where you can play on different gaming systems. I’ll be honest; I felt a bit out of place here. I do not know anything about video games, and I didn’t get many of the references to certain shows/movies simply because they weren’t really my type of things I enjoyed watching, and because it is so close to our local University, everyone felt so much younger to me. What I lacked in gaming knowledge though I made up for in beer knowledge, and I really enjoyed learning new things while working there. They had various trivia nights, a week-long Harry Potter event, and many other special events throughout the summer.
After my summer was over, I decided I just wanted to go back to being the customer and enjoying beer from the other side of the bar. The craft beer scene in Orlando was finally starting to expand, and it felt like every week there was some event, grand opening, or celebration I could attend. In 2016 I was given a chance to attend the Great American Beer Festival in Denver, Colorado, with Kelly (from my previous post). We had an awesome time together, and I actually met so many other craft beer-loving people from all over the country! I cannot wait to attend this festival again and this time as a Colorado resident!
Towards the end of 2016, my life took quite the turn when I met my husband. We met on Tinder (yes, real relationships can happen on that app) and planned to meet at a local brewery (of course) for our first date. While on the date, we realized we had met before. In fact, we have met several times before at various bars/craft beer events. Realizing that I met someone who loves craft beer and the craft beer community just as much as I do made me happy. In 2018 we got married, and in 2019 we welcomed our son.
Being a wife and mom hasn’t slowed my passion for craft beer at all. Sure I don’t attend all the events anymore, I am all about day drinking now, and you aren’t going to see me at many bottle releases. However, my husband and son (safely and when he can) now join me on my adventures. We enjoy exploring new breweries together. My husband and I like to try the new beer while our son likes to soak in all the attention he gets from strangers who can’t resist a cute baby.
In a few short weeks, my family and I are moving to Colorado Springs, and I cannot wait to continue my craft beer adventure there.
