Let's Get Stone'd

Stone World Bistro, Escondido CA February 2012. Canon Rebel XT, 50mm f1.8 lens, Ilford HP5+ ISO 400

My defacto brochure photo. If you are a fan of Stone Brewing, this place is Mecca! Their restaurant is a bit on the pricey side, but there is a great deal of variety with their taps. This place also doubles as a distributor for many popular beers in So Cal, including Pliney the Elder.

Figueroa Mountain

Strange brews, after paying all of my dues, were awaiting me on my return drive towards the King's Road in Buelton, CA from my short and prosperous, and non haunted but kinda creepy, trip to La Purisima Concepcion.

I was turned on to this brewery in my travels in the upper reaches of California, when I stopped in Pismo Beach. I was searching for a taste of what the locals were offering. After a long and difficult choice of about three or four brands, I picked up a Hoppy Poppy IPA. The most important deciding factor was the label design. A good label can make or break a product, and it did for me that night.

Figueroa Mountain Brewery, a short drive off the main path, was an odd looking establishment. From the images below, one would believe that it is snug and deep in the middle of the wild, but in actuality, its smack in the middle of a suburban commercial center. The exterior was most reminiscent of Stone Brewery As was their seating area of their beer garden. Much more impressive than the winery right around the corner. Many changes have taken place since the most recent street views on Google Maps.

The inside  of the tasting room was incredible. It seemed to resemble a lodge of sorts. The bar area was designed to look like a building inside of a building.with galvanized corrugated steel sheeting and all. I was thoroughly impressed with the design of the interior. 

Here are the flights I tried from them. From left to right: Red Rock ESB, Danish Red Lager, Hurricane Deck DIPA, Stagecoach Stout.

They had a great lineup, and for the most part, they all tasted great. Some I liked more than others, and others I might have had my hopes set a bit too high. If you are ever in the Santa Barbara/San Luis Obispo area, I highly recommend a stop by this great establishment. They have great prices and Its incredibly easy to get to on your way to or from Solvang. Unless you happen to live in the area, then I imagine, you've been there a few times.

Figueroa Mountain Brewing Co. Website

Thanks for stopping by, and look for a continuation on my adventures on the El Camino Real.

More Fun From the Getty

If you want to know how I felt shooting these pictures, look at #2. That best describes it. The idea of this concept came about when I walked into the first building over at the Getty Center and saw the statues. I was very intrigued by how the shadows looked and how very different they were from the actual pose of the statue. I never really stopped to look at that before. I always looked at what was in front of me, not what was in front of me and then behind that.

What do you guys see in the shapes below?

Well, thanks for stopping by for my last of the Getty Center series. I'll be having a super duper Christmas edition probably on Sunday. Have a safe weekend, and don't get too irritated out there shopping.

Winter You Looking at? My First Trip to the Getty Part 2

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I realize we are still one whole week away from the winter solstice, and ironically the end of the world, but I just can't pass it up anymore. I mean its snowing everywhere but in Southern California for christ sake! But then again, that's the trade off for having nice weather all year long.

Today's set is geared more towards from the actual complex as opposed to any from the garden. I did take a few of the garden, but that's the major difference. I really should have taken the architecture tour. Also, you'll find that a few of these are already on my portfolio site Here. I apologize for sounding a bit like Loco with pushing my portfolio. I like it very much and Weebly made it ridiculously easy to setup.

Now when you look at these, you might think that I went in after hours hours or something because it is surprisingly empty. Believe it or not, I went in the middle of the day and it was CROWDED. Some of them took longer than others since I had to wait, but it all paid off in the end. Enjoy :-)