Release Parties

April 12, 2013

A fun spot in Sylva

Late afternoon and a walk through Sylva was the ticket.  Main Street in Sylva was quite busy earlier in the day when traffic moved at a crawl and parking spaces were a premium.  Main Street is one way facing the store fronts, the ‘other’ direction tours the back side of Main Street or the ‘warehouse’ and railroad line district. 

As we drove along the ‘other side’, I noticed a sandwich board sign that read “Release Party” and the musician in me said “CD release”.  We found a parking spot in a deserted business lot, it was after 5 PM, and started our walk.  The sandwich board was correct; it was a Release Party for a new brew.  This may become our micro-brewery tour of Western North Carolina.

Inside the brewery

Opting to tour the street first and sample the brewery’s goods later was a wise decision.  On the ‘front side’ of Main Street were interesting shops and cafés, mostly closed now; however, we did find a few shops to frequent.  The Consignment/Auction store was filled with treasures including the owner who was friendly and helpful.  Down the street we found Black Rock Outdoor’s shop, perfect as we both needed new treads for our feet… and we found exactly what we needed!  Best yet the items were on sale.

The perfect entry for a brewery!

Walk done we returned to the Gnometown Brewery, met Sylvia and her husband (the brewmasters), and sampled their wares.  

Sheryl - brewmaster and great hostess

As often happens, we began to chat with other clientele and discovered the wonderful bread they were eating was from German Bread Haus, a bakery where we had shopped in Ft. Lauderdale.  

Guenter & Bob - our new friends.

A bit more discussion revealed Guenter was from Lantana, FL which was our home for 11+ years!  We brought in the banjo and guitar to share a few tunes only to learn that Guenter books acts for the German-American club.  What started as a beer sampling turned into an audition.  

They loved our Florida Songs

After two hours of sharing tunes, conversation, meeting other guests including Joel who owns rental cabins and just retired from a 10 piece band it was time to head home.  As we left, Sheryl handed us a token of her appreciation, two Gnome glasses.  

Will we return?  

You betcha’.

Is this true?

Too much fun can be had at micro-breweries in western North Carolina.