Erica and I took a little get-away trip to Kalamazoo, Michigan this weekend. We wanted to go to Bell's and try all their great beers straight from the source and Erica's been talking about wanting to try cross-country skiing. We lucked into a great Bed & Breakfast, the Kalamazoo House, based on just a Google Maps search of "where could we stay close to Bell's to walk home after drinking a bunch of beer." And at Bell's on Saturday night we lucked into a great band, Valentiger. And driving home, we un-lucked into a clumpy snowstorm, but we turned that frown upside-down by stopping at Wilson and getting in some last minute sledding (Erica's first!).

There are a few little things about the Bell's Eccentric Cafe that beer pilgrims like us probably should know, but don't seem to be noted on their website. The bar is cash-only, and right now their ATM is broken. You can get a tasting of six different beers (on an attractive Michigan-shaped tray) but they stop serving those at 8 pm—they do, however, have 12 oz. pours of all their beers. And the kitchen closes at 9 pm.

Erica is much more eloquent about the whole trip.