Day 5: Down to the Local

Of course, no trip back home to the North-East would be complete without a visit (or two) to the local pub - purveyors of Sam Smiths, a local brewery from Tadcaster, Yorkshire whose beer i can actually get for a pretty reasonable price in Charleston (albeit in a bottle rather than draught). Anyway, sure enough my Dad and I went for a wander down there for a pint or two this evening to the Oak Tree - one of four Pubs in the village (okay, there are only two real pubs, but there is a hotel with bar and the village social club with bar so i count them as pubs in their own right). The first thing that struck me was just how nice it was to be back in a real pub - something that Charleston certainly lacks (hell, even Manchester has very few real pubs - they have mostly bars). And when the beer is £1.25 a pint (that's $2.25 in American), you can't go wrong.

Suffice to say, it went down smoothly. Not only was in great to have a pint of Sam Smiths on draught for a change, but it was also nice to have a pint of beer with a head - one thing that the US seems to be renowned for is giving you flat pints (not even real pints at that!) with a head on it that can barely stand up for a second before fizzling out. This was the good stuff indeed. On top of that, there is the friendly atmosphere where everyone in the room is familiar - and even if you don't know them that well, it doesn't matter 'cause you're all from the same village. That's the sort of thing i miss sometimes. Anyway, suffice to say, i think i'll be paying another visit before i hop over to my Mum's place in Scarborough. Long live the pub!!