I finally convinced a few friends to take a bike-train trip with me. It helped that the destination was one of the best breweries we had sampled at the American Craft Beer fest: Cape Ann Brewing Co!
We started off around 9:30 from jamaica plain, rode the 8 miles or so to North Station (under the Bruins/Celtics boston garden) to buy some coffee and catch our train to Beverly. We talked the entire ride and barely paid attention to both the nice marshy/coastal scenery, not to the ghastly industrial wastelands. From beverely, we took a wonderful path along the coast up to Gloucester, which is a pretty non-touristy fishing town. There are a few things to do there, but most people go to the beaches at Wingersheek or Rockport. But our goal was of a higher order: beer.
We decided we had a bit more time to ride, and were going to take a longer loop, but got a little lost, so we stopped earlier. It was a good thing because after 3 beers, we were running out of time to catch our return train. It was a beautiful, warm day, and the beer slowed us down a bit. The best option is definitely the Double IPA, but the Kolsch style Fisherman’s Ale was also tasty and refreshing. The food selection would have been great had we not just ridden so hard, but combined with some snacks we brought, we were set.
We had a great ride back, caught the train and finished the day with a nice BBQ with the families!
here’s the route we took both ways, with a few extra detours along the way, just to see and smell some ocean air!
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