A great day in nearby northern New York as I hit both two recently opened good beer spots while also managing the Kingston St. Lawrence Vintage Base Ball Club to a double header victory in the Can-Am tournament. Lest I be charged with bigging myself up, be assured that it was a cheery and well played set of games but it is sure fun beating experienced players at their own game... in their country. We sang "God Save the Queen" and invited them to reconsider the revolution as they would be most welcome if they all returned to the Empire.

After, we had lunch at the Hop Spot, a beer bar with an interesting Quebec influenced menu. (See, I didn't reference basking in victory at all.) I had a Montreal Smoked Meat plate that I shared with my son and washed it down with a very tasty Troeg Sunshine Pils on tap. The plate had a stack of rye bread, a pile of thick cut smoked meat with a good fatty streak as well as a mess of creamy cole slaw and two pots of mustard. Famished after the greatest sports achievement of my life (and, frankly, many of yours... sorry) it hit the spot.

On the way out of town, I hit Bear World on highway 11 - the place I stopped at last April. The frigid walk in cooler was literally stunning on a day when the temperature before humidex was playing with 90F. And so was what was in there. Since April the stock has expanded greatly with Pretty Things, Six Point and Full Sail added to those beers listed at their site. Jack d'Or was $7.99. A lot of national craft bombers were coming in at $4.99. Full Sail Ltd 5 was $9.99 a six. Good prices and good selection with the assurance that the beers are held at about 40F throughout their stay in the shop. Not every beer store gives you that comfort.

And the day was topped off with a wave through at the border meaning the 40 bucks or so that my declared purchases should have been sent to the Crown, well, suffice it to say I was happy to keep the wallet shut. Another small victory.