RoadsideOnline

While sitting behind the dirty windshield today, I was thinking about Memorial Day. There was a news story about one of our local towns cancelling their annual parade. One of the reasons given was it wasn’t worth the cost due to the lack of participation, both of marchers and spectators.

It got me wondering as to why that would be. When I was a kid, two or three years ago, I can remember the parade in my home town of Southbridge as always being a pretty big deal. Both sides of Main Street would be lined with people, all waving flags and cheering as the veterans, the Police, the Fireman (still called them that back then), all branches of the Scouts and the Southbridge and Marianhill Bands marched by (the Colies didn’t have a band). But then things were different then. These were the years not long after World War II and Korea. The Viet Nam war was just beginning and one would still see veterans from the First World War. Veterans who had served were proud of the fact, and the town citizens were proud of them.

Mrs. Roadside samples the Honky Ale from the Alchemist, and favored it out of the ten styles on tap.

As the saying goes, "happy wife, happy life," so I always make sure I bring Mrs. Roadside to only the best brewpubs I can find. We discovered a great pub in downtown Waterbury, Vermont. The Alchemist features ten well-crafted brews on tap, and you can see here Mrs. Roadside savoring her favorite, the Honky Ale.

On this visit we took advantage of the more-than-reasonable sample offering — three ounces for a buck. The Alchemist serves up ten different ales, so for a cool ten spot, we shared thirty ounces of some of the best crafted ales around. Maybe you might not like a red ale, but if you do, this pub brews a nicely finished, well balanced version. 

Learn more about The Alchemist at their website. 

As any driver knows, when you spend too much time behind a windshield, especially a dirty one, you think about a whole bunch of different things, some important, some not so much. A couple of days ago, during a particularly long day behind the windshield I came up with these.

Have you ever seen those cell phone towers on the side of the highway that are disguised to look like trees? There is one along the Massachusetts Turnpike in Charlton. They are big, they are tall and they have what I guess are supposed to be branches on them, except instead of the branches being placed randomly, they are all in the same pattern, like an artificial Christmas tree. I honestly didn’t think they fooled anyone until one day I actually had one of my towing customers ask me what kind of tree that was. So being the ever helpful person I am I told her “It’s called a “Verizon Pine ma’am, they are indigenous to this area.”

A VW fanatic's loss is a barbecue fanatic's gain here in Stowe, Vermont. Drive up Vermont's famously scenic Route 100 and you'll come across the Carbecue outside of Snow's Deli and Market. 

The guys who keep the fires burning, Jeff and Mike, tell me they also operate in D.C., but they have no misgivings about taking rare Beetle bugs and turning them into eye-catching barbecue rigs. "My car makes more money than yours," Jeff told me on my visit today. 

I only had time to give the pulled pork a try, and I liked it. A lot. For seven bucks you get a nice healthy pile of wood smoked pork on a simple, soft hamburger bun, the way it should be done. I bristle at the places that put the pork on a bulky or Kaiser roll — too much bread! 

One bone of contention: The Carbecue offers a non-distinct supermarket brand of sauce for the sandwich. So, if you see these guys in your travels, hopefully you'll have some of your own sauce on hand. 

Learn more about Carbecue at their website.