Girl Meets Festival: Hot Glass & Cold Beer
It was an early morning.
An early morning that started after a long night at the Historic Macon Design House Preview Party…. and would lead me to Americus, Georgia again. This small town that captured my heart not long ago would beckon me back.
This time, it was for their very first Hot Glass Cold Beer Festival. Again, Americus left me impressed! Let me tell y’all how, and come along for the ride….
We wrapped up soccer games with my kiddos and immediately hit the road south. Less than two hours, and I’m always impressed by this drive time considering that a day trip to Atlanta can take even longer. (Especially these days- good grief.)
The first thing we did once we got into town was to get a behind the scenes tour at The Windsor from Divya, one of the owners. There’s so much cool history behind this beautiful building- and we left with a new appreciation of Americus and how they made sure this hotel was preserved over time. So many careful details went into its construction, and at one point the hotel even served as dorms for the college in town. There was even the chance it could have been torn down, but the city had the foresight to not allow that.
Next was lunch- and I meant to check out a new spot like Monroe’s Hot Dogs… but I saw Little Brother’s and couldn’t resist getting the Mediterreanean flat bread. Again. And a mimosa. Or two.
Then we had to to hit up Cafe Campesino.
It’s a favorite even at home- where we make it in our own kitchen. It was so nice to walk in and be recognized from our last visit! Except this time it was just to get espresso and a lil bite to eat. As our barista advised, it was best to go ahead and have carbs to soak up what was to come.
Which was a lot of beer. A lot of it. And whiskey. A lot of it.
And then we got to meet people from 13th Colony! This was super awesome for me because I’ve been chatting with them over social media for a few years now. It’s always awesome to get to meet people from your favorite brands face to face 🙂
I found out that this particular festival was hosting the LARGEST gathering of mobile glass blowers ever! How cool – er, hot?- is that?!
My biggest regret was, honestly, that I missed out on the VIP passes. Those things sold out in a DAY- maybe even less than a day. And they came with these cool glasses, too. Kind of like these:
You got to use them for all the different pours and samples, which were quite generous, by the way.
After a lot of samples, things got hazy. I think we stopped by The 1800 Mexican Restaurant? Or maybe that was our last venture into Americus?
I do know we went back to our room at The Windsor- which, y’all, I stayed in a lot of hotels over the last couple of years for travel. Montreal, Chicago, Atlanta- many times, Savannah- many times, Jekyll Island…. and this hotel in Americus ranks right up there as being one of my favs. Even the Plains Inn, which we also stayed in during our last visit, was amazing. I’m just so totally charmed by this place! Anyways, we went back to our room to rest. Then to dinner at Rosemary & Thyme in the hotel.
I will never, ever say “no” to dessert in a cast iron skillet:
The thing that makes me sad about this trip is that there was so much I still wanted to see- and missed! For anyone who discounts small towns- just don’t. Even in sweet little Americus, Georgia I couldn’t manage to see everything in the two weekends that I visited.
We closed out our trip visiting Nicole and Tim at their cabin home, eating homemade biscuits and gravy, and enjoying the peacefulness around us.
It’s nice to be reminded that no matter your friends may go, they will always be there for you.
I know I can’t wait to get back.
Love to all y’all,
Molly
