Good-bye Philadelphia, hello Amherst!

It's been over a year but I'm finally back after a long train ride! Amtrak is actually pretty nice and I liked being able to work on my laptop.

Thanks to all my Philly peeps for making my summer enjoyable and quite the memorable one.

Breakfast:

Kale, pineapple & mango smoothie (drank about four sips)

Dinner with Caitlin at High Horse, Amherst, MA:

Caitlin's Barrel Aged Biz: the Business* aged in Bulleit rye whiskey barrels (had a sip)
(It's very strong, but like the description says, very drinkable. The sharp coffee flavour quickly overpowers the heavy malt and generates a mild jolt, both in mind and tastebuds. I would cautiously drink this again.)
*The Business: Russian imperial coffee stout -  "Black as a moonless night. Rao's French roast coffee blasting through the rich dense malt. Surprisingly drinkable. Thus very dangerous." 

Libertine Porter: dry, roasty beer w/hints of coffee and chocolate
(The coffee and chocolate flavours are more subtle and this beer is a lot smoother than the Barrel Aged Biz. At about half the ABV of the former drink, this is much more do-able for me. Also paired quite nicely with my veggie burger.)

Bottomless fries (2, shared w/Caitlin)
(The burgers here come with bottomless fries, so in addition to the fries that came with my order, Catilin and I shared two refills. Yum.)

Caitlin's bacon & spinach flatbread: spinach under white sauce, caramelised onions, roasted mushrooms, candied bacon & Gruyere (ordered w/o the bacon)
(I had a bite of one piece without the mushrooms and onions and that bite totally sufficed. It's good if you like creamy, indulgent meals but that's just not what I crave. The white sauce was ultra-rich, so the spinach was much welcomed. I wouldn't eat more than a couple of bites of this, but Catilin seemed to really enjoy it!)

Veggie burger: brown rice, red lentils, mushrooms, vegetables & sunflower seed patty topped w/munster cheese & red onion relish
(My kind of meal. The patty was a bit on the bitter side but I liked the dense, grainy texture. I also enjoyed the brioche bun and on a whole, the veggie burger was pretty good. I really liked the contrasting flavours of the cheese and red onion relish. However, I've had better veggie burgers. I initially wanted the salmon burger but they ran out of fish that day.)

Our lovely dinner!

Late night chilling with the Stearns II Crew:

Sierra Nevada torpedo from John
(California always rocks.)

Drank a sip of Michael's mead
(This had a pleasant smell but tasted absolutely vile. Reminded me of medication.)