Stacey and I got a break from the land of Jack the other day. Her parents were up here and we skipped out between feedings to check on Bellingham’s newest brewpub. The Chuckanut Brewery and Kitchen opened up a week or so ago and has been the source of much acclaim from Kevin, Myke, Smooth and the crew. So we though we’d go see what the fuss was all about.

The beer was pretty good. Much different from the Boundary Bay style that has had a death-grip on B-ham beer drinkers for years now. So if you aren’t a fan of Boundary, you will be pleased. I’m not against Boundary Beers at all, but I do like a break from the place now and again. The menu was a little disappointing. They essentially copied the same style of food that Boundary has (they even have a yam “burrito” to match the yam “enchiladas” of Boundary). While I understand wanting to copy a successful existing plan, I would really have liked it if Bellingham had gotten a brewpub with a fryer. Burgers, fries, and wings need to be served at brewpubs. The atmosphere was decent. But the place is going to take some time before it has the proper amount of lived-in comfort to it. Perhaps some more goofy crap on the walls.

Also, in case anyone cares, I was able to order the previously blogged about “Anchor Porter” through the Bellingham Food Co-Op. The price wasn’t cheap, but it was cheaper than buying a 4 six packs locally of the other Anchor beers. That stuff is good, but expensive.

Finally, I headed out to the Whatcom County Plantation Gun Range the other day. I have recently taken possession of the Fathersroot .22 Winchester and 20 gauge side by side. I don’t do much with guns since I’m not a hunter or a marksman. But knowing how to be safe with and comfortable around guns is a really important thing for kids to grow up with. Yeah, we’ve got a long time before Jack is going to even be touching a gun. But teaching starts early if you want kids to really know something. And the first part of teaching is knowing how to do something yourself. Since it had been, oh, a decade since I had gone shooting last, I figured that I’d spend some time getting comfortable firing a weapon. I’m a better shot with the .22 than I thought I would be (at a wimpy 50yds but with low-tech iron sights). However, I am fairly bad at shooting trap hitting only 4 out of 25 pigeons. Though switching to #8 shot (I was using #6 = less shot int he air) and having someone else fire the pigeons would probably help.