Of Backroads, Beers, Buddies and Bube's

It was planned as a simple overnight motorcycle run to Lititz, PA located in the Amish country. We couldn't even agree on how to pronounce the name of the destination. Maria and Lou used what was probably the correct pronunciation: LIT-itz. Our fearless leader, the gentlemanly and genteel Paul opted for the (absolutely inane) Leh-Tease, because he's never used a profane word in his life, despite knowing every curse word in his native Hungarian. Gross bastards like Ron and I pronounced it Leh-TITZ, with heavy and totally unnecessary emphasis on the last syllable.

The same problem arose when we traveled to Mt. Joy's famous pub with the underground caverns known as Bube's. Only Paul chose to call it Boo-BAYZE. The rest of us chose Boobies. There were no such disagreements, however, over pronunciations of Lancaster Brewing, Bulls Head and General Sutter's (in Le-TITZ) or Stoudt's in Adamstown on the way home.

There's just something so "'Merica" about the PA countryside, with its farms, fields, silos and endless green, fertile vistas. And passing an occasional horse-drawn Amish buggy made it even better. Our mission was to ride some excellent PA backroads, sample some excellent beer, and spend some time with great buds. At trip's end, we all agreed that it was MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.

But here's an account of the PBBC's Excellent Adventure. It's lengthy, so pace yourself, just as I'd advise you to do while drinking beer.

Part 1--Lancaster Brewing

Our first stop was around 1 PM at Lancaster Brewing's facility in Lancaster. Big, airy, rustic and busy--and loaded with an exceptional array of feminine pulchritude as waitstaff, the place offered some really good beers and some outstanding food in Brobdingnagian (the opposite of Lilliputian) portions. My beer-soaked fish and chips came out with a perfectly prepared piece of cod that was at least a foot long. Had I been on four wheels instead of two, I'd have definitely asked for a doggie bag, but after a few hours in the sun inside a black saddlebag, even excellent cod loses some of its appeal.

Lancaster's 5.5% Oktoberfest was delicious and nicely balanced, but with an appropriate tilt toward those five malts. Maria, a Harley rider, opted for a 7.6% Hop Hog IPA, which she loved; and Ron surely wasn't messing around. He ordered a 9.0% Boss Hog Double IPA. Lancaster has quite a rep--and deservedly so-- for its excellent Milk Stout, but we all enjoyed the flavor of the Double Chocolate Milk Stout.

We also enjoyed meeting and chatting with our server Lindsey (right), who owns her own bakery called Lindsey Loo's Sweet Treats. She was both friendly and efficient, and she was kind enough to introduce us to the Executive Chef of Lancaster Brewing--Kristen Lyle. Just as friendly as Lindsey, Kristen was also generous. She demanded that we sample her "Smoked Tomato Salsa," (she concassés the tomatoes, you know) and brought us out a platter topped with it. She also showered us with her "General Tso's" Cauliflower. Honest to God, if she had brought those dishes out first, none of us would have eaten anything else.

We probably would have stayed to enjoy the pub and its friendly ambience, but we had to get to Akron, PA to secure our rooms at the Spiderman Motel. More about that later.

The General Sutter/ Bulls Head Public House--Le-TITZ.

After securing our four-star accommodations, we headed for Le-TITZ--directly to the General Sutter Inn and the Bulls Head Public House. We got a table immediately, despite there being quite a crowd. I'm not going to claim my business card had anything to do with it, but it was a prime table.

While the rest of us--including Maria-- ordered manly brews like Bear Republic Racer X and Jack's Abby Porter, one of us found his pleasure in a beer called Lindemann's Framboise. Loosely translated, framboise means mangina. And he took quite a bit of good natured ribbing with typical good humor because of his preference. He shall remain nameless (but it wasn't Ron, Lou or me.)

The Bull's Head is a true English pub with fourteen beers on tap and two on cask, and protocol requires that you walk up to the bar and order for yourself. It's very neat inside with a massive, imported black mahogany back bar that was eventually transported to its current location after 100 years. Intricately carved and expertly crafted, I was sure it had a century of stories it could tell. The wall bric-a-brac alone was fascinating, and the entire labyrinthine complex, which includes the adjacent General Sutter Inn, was strongly, classically British.

There were also medals hanging on the wall in long, belt-like strips. Some were longer than others. The story we got was that they represented awards given to bulls for the various sizes of their, um, most prominent features, and I don't think it was their heads. Clearly, none of those award-winners drank Lindemann's Framboise.

But though we thoroughly enjoyed our visit and would have loved to linger longer, we had to move on to our dinner destination over in Mt. Joy--Bube's. We paid a visit to the downstairs loo, met a lovely young lady named Pearl who permanently occupies the men's room, and bade the Bulls Head (which, based upon the awards), may need renaming, goodbye.

Bube's Brewery--Mount Joy, PA.

You can't visit Le-TITZ without seeing Bube's. I had visited this classic pub about twelve years ago, when my eldest son was attending Elizabethtown College, and I thought my biker buddies would enjoy it. If you've never been to this place, you should visit at least once. The Catacombs are forty-five feet underground and were initially used to lager Alois Bube's beers. Very neat place to eat and/or quaff, but on a Saturday night, reservations are required.

We took the tour with a green haired girl named Autumn, which I thought was odd. I mean shouldn't she have had red, yellow, orange or brown hair? We took lots of pictures, drank some more good beer, used the men's and ladies' rooms interchangeably depending upon occupancy and ate good food. In fact, at first we were seated in a lovely outdoor patio I didn't know existed, but we moved inside after vampire mosquitoes took a shine to Australian--and only Australian-- blood.

At meal's end, we mounted our iron steeds and wended our way through the dark, fragrant Pennsylvania countryside to the Spiderman Motel. It was time to rest up for the next day, although Maria slept with one eye open after killing a large red arachnid above her bed. My own arachnid roommate was the length of my thumb, but he didn't bother me, apart from asking me to please close the bathroom door. And I was happy that the A/C and the TV worked. Hey, for $74, you never know what you're going to get.

The Tomato Pie Cafe, Lititz Springs Garden and the Cafe Chocolate --

Le TITZ

Trip Organizer Paul recommended breakfast at the Tomato Pie Cafe, and, as with everything else he does (except maybe for the framboise thing), he was right on target. Excellent food and early 1930's atmosphere in what once was probably a fabulous home, gave us the fuel to continue our expedition to see Le-TITZ on foot.

This place is highly recommended, and it was doing a well-deserved land-office business on a Sunday morning. Without going into too much detail, use the bathroom upstairs, as the downstairs one is, shall we say, "tight." I blinked my eyes and the shades went up. Oh, and, if you're interested a "Triple Flipped" egg is an omelet.

Directly across the street from the Tomato Pie Cafe is a really neat, serene little park called Lititz Springs Park. Lou and I marveled at the clarity of the pond water, where you could clearly see the bottom some four or five feet down. The pond was fed by a spring that burbled up from the ground a couple hundred yards away. The water current was so fast, that ducks who populate the park and flock to anyone who reaches in their pocket (for anything they think might be food) traveled at a high rate of speed just using the current. To get back, they chose to fly because swimming against the current was so difficult. Some regular visitors told us that the park was inundated up to three feet above ground level by recent storms. We'd have never known it, judging by the park's condition.

The huge, looming former Wilbur Chocolate Factory adjacent to the park is slated to become condos in the future, and the land behind it will be similarly developed. Unfortunately for us, the famous Wilbur Chocolates was closed on Sunday, so we had to amble down Main Street past some healthy-looking lasses doing yoga on the tree-shaded General Sutter Patio to the Cafe Chocolate for our respective cacao fixes.

Because that's what bad-ass biker types do. They sit out in front of candy shops enjoying chocolate-covered strawberries.

From there, it was on to one of Paul's fabulously planned backroads rides along sunsplashed , twisty roads that passed through verdant fields and through covered bridges. They also included tooling along shaded two-lane blacktop directly across the river from Three-Mile Island. The ride would end at our final trip destination in Adamstown, PA, (re-dubbed AdamstonTown) where we planned lunch.

Stoudt's Black Angus Restaurant--Adamstown, PA

If you're a beer lover, you already know the name Stoudt's. Carol and Ed have a few decades of good beermaking under their respective belts, including the fabulous 1860 IPA made expressly for McGillin's in Philly. So it was here that we'd make our final quaffs of the expedition.

Unsurprisingly, the beers were exceptional and the food was very good, and in that magnificent back room of Stoudt's, your eyes never tire of looking around--or up, at that MASSIVE chandelier. Of course, it's almost compulsory to sample every Oktoberfest you can, and Stoudt's was true to style. Ron and Maria each opted for Gearshifter IPA's and they were very happy with their choices.

There was the usual banter, jokes and chicanery at the lunch table (first day with the hook), and as always, a toast to each other as the trip came to a close. Our plan was to head towards home, stopping in about forty miles so Lou could gas up and we could say our final goodbyes and give handshakes and hugs.

But as Paul is fond of saying, "The best-laid plans of mice and men gang aft a-gley." And they waved their final goodbye to me as I, screened by other vehicles, shot past the exit they all took. But we all made it home safely, even if I had to ride through Muhlenburg--again.

It was a most special weekend with special people bound by their love of two-wheels, laughter and friendship.

And beer.

And Bube's.

Cheers!

The PubScout--since 1996

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