Now that's what I call a Tuesday

I think I packed more fitness, fun, and work into yesterday than I've ever packed into a weekday. I woke up on my own at 5 am and immediately noticed how wonderfully unhumid the air was. Halleluiah, finally. Since I was awake anyway, I decided it would be the perfect morning for a long run. My running log was telling me it'd been awhile.

Running in air that didn't feel like hot pea soup was great. It was especially nice on the shady parts of the trail.

 I didn't have a specific pace or distance goal, which was good because my Garmin decided to have a freak out. I had to reset it, and then thought I hit start, but apparently didn't because it wasn't going for a couple miles. I think I did around 11 miles. 

After my shower I realized that I could still make it to early yoga. It is always hard to get myself to yoga after a longer run because I feel like I deserve to sit and do nothing, but I always feel so much better after I go.

Back at home I fired up the coffee maker and laptop and plowed through a bunch of coffee and work.

I loved the Maine Mead lavender mead at Mumford and Sons so much last weekend, that I was finally inspired to check out the brewery. My friend Breezy is on vacation this week, so we decided to go late yesterday to beat the weekend crowds. It was super cool and I learned a lot.




Maine Mead makes their Mead using a ratio of 4 parts water to 1 part Maine honey. They use a process developed in South Africa.

 Once it is mixed it goes into the plastic tank.






And then flows into the stainless steel pipes where it ferments for several weeks. There is active yeast that lives in the pipes. There were neat little portholes to look inside. The yeast colonizes on little chunks of ginger.

 Next we moved into the warehouse. After the mead comes out of the pipes it goes into larger containers where the flavor infusions are added. Flavors include blueberry, honey, and lavender. All the ingredients come from Maine. After 4-6 more, the mead is finally ready to be bottled. Bottling and labeling the mead is totally a manual process.

Next was the best part of every tour, tasting! We started with the dry mead, then tried blueberry, strawberry, semi-sweet, dry hopped, lavender, and the select. I liked everything, but really liked the fruity flavors.  They are sweet, but not overly sweet, and light. Perfect for hot summer days. We got a bottle of strawberry and a bottle of blueberry to take home.

After Maine Mead Works we headed to Bayside Bowl to meet my cousin Nathan. He is home for just few days between his summer job doing a bird census in New Mexico and heading to graduate school in Louisiana. He called yesterday morning to day he'd be in Portland for the night visiting a friend. We enjoyed a rousing game of Bocce out on the patio. I love places that have outdoor spaces where you can do things. It is so much more fun than just sitting around drinking.  I don't know what I am doing in this picture. I don't remember doing the chicken dance but that appears to be what I am doing.

Mid afternoon I was struck with a crazy craving for crabmeat Pad Thai from Pom's so I suggested it for dinner and luckily everyone agreed. This is seriously the best Pad Thai EVER. The fresh Maine crab adds an amazing sweet saltiness. I scarfed the whole thing in about 5 minutes.


Finally I headed home and did a few hours work while watching the Olympics. It was the last night of gymnastics :( What am I going to do with my nights now?

Have you ever had an unexpectedly fun weekday?