Let's Get Crafty

The Author takes a taste, or 12.

Approaching any situation with an open mind is tantamount to success in life. Life will often remind you of this fact. I was reminded of it recently, during a trip to Mexico.

We were vacationing in Cabo at the beginning of December. A fun family vacation, one of the many that my wife’s brother sets up. I love the place. It’s beautiful. The only drawback to the trip is that the flight is over five hours long. There was a time that you would be served a meal on such a flight, but not anymore. The cart came around only once. We got a drink and cookie, lucky us. Makes paying that extra $50 for the checked bag totally worth it. So, by the time we land in Cabo, wait for our luggage, wait for our rental car, and then drive to the resort, we are starved. Our villa isn’t ready yet, so we stow our luggage and head to one of the resorts restaurants for lunch.

I decide to have a beer with lunch. I know, big shock. They have the usual suspects listed: Corona, Tecate, Dos Equis, Modelo, etc. When given this list, I usually go with Dos Equis, the Modelo Negro, or the Modelo Especial. All three are good beers. I then spot a beer on the list that I do not recognize. It’s called Cabotella. And it’s brewed by Baja Brewing Company in Cabo San Lucas, which is right down the road from us. I knew that there was a brewery in Cabo, but my hopes were not high. It’s a craft brewery in Mexico. How good could it be? The Cabotella is a blonde ale. A blonde ale in the land of light lagers. I’m highly skeptical. My wife then points it out on the menu.

“Honey, they have a craft beer.”

“Yeah, I see it. “

“Are you going to get it?”

“I guess I should.”

Why not? Let’s get this over with. I remember getting excited that there was a craft brewery in St. Barts in the Caribbean when we went there. The beer was not worth writing about. This will probably be the same.

I order the beer.

When the waiter comes back with it, I’m surprised. It looks good. It has a very light blonde color to it and a good head. I take a drink. I’m amazed.

“Holy sh!t this beer is good! I mean it’s really firetrucking good!!”

I turn to tell my wife. She’s already looking at me. Evidently, I had vocalized my thoughts. And I didn’t say firetrucking.

“Inside voice.” She says, even though we are outside.

‘Sorry.”

“So, you like it?”

“It’s really good.” I reply. I leave out the expletives this time.

In fact, it’s perfect. This blonde ale hit every note. It’s simple and light, with a pale malt sweetness and a “biscuit” flavor.

I take another sip and stare at the beer. A perfect blonde ale in Mexico. I was still struggling with the reality of it. And I had hesitated to order it. How stupid of me. Life had just reminded me: I really need to be more open minded.

We decided to visit the brewery. A little research reveals that the owners are from Colorado, a craft beer mecca. No wonder the blonde ale was so good. The brewery is attached to a hotel called the Corazon Cabo Resort, right in Cabo San Lucas. The tasting room is a giant deck that overlooks the Bay of San Lucas. It’s a beautiful day and the view is stunning. Yachts, parasailers, and other boaters are visible all over the water.

We find a table and are mesmerized by the view when the waitress approaches. I tell her I’d like to do a beer tasting and ask her if they have flights of beers. She replies yes, then explains that it is comprised of 12 beers, all 4-ounce pours. Do the math; that’s 48 ounces of beer.

We’re there for lunch. It’s a bit early. Twenty years ago, young Tim would have accepted the challenge. But older Tim would need a long nap afterwards.

“Do you have any smaller flights? Four or six small pours?”

“No sir, only the 12 beers”

My wife chimes in that she will help me taste

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them. We get the giant flight. And an order of their Donkey Balls. I had to order them when I saw the name. They’re lightly fried chicken meatballs. And they are quite good.

We start tasting the beers. I notice that there are only 11. That’s fine with me. There is not a bad beer in the bunch. They have the Cabotella, of course. But I start with their Black Ale. It’s smooth and malty. A delightful beer. It ends up being my favorite. Along with their Pilsner, a light, crisp, and refreshing beer. It’s great for a hot Mexican day. And their very well done, hoppy, but not overly hoppy, Session IPA.

The view and the beers were both fantastic. What a great experience. It made for a wonderful afternoon. If you have never visited Cabo, I strongly suggest you do. Plan to go to Baja Brewing Company while you are there. It’s worth the time. Get the giant beer tasting and devour the Donkey Balls. There actually is great craft beer in Mexico. I’m so glad I tried it.

About the Author: Timothy Long is an educator, writer, consultant, and experienced restaurant operator. Email: tlong@belmarinnovations.com. Instagram and Twitter: @wvutimmy. Blog: What is that fly doing in my soup? whatflyinmysoup.com

I wrote about being in Cabo, so the expectation is that I would do a tequila recommendation. We did do a great tequila tasting while we were there. But it’s January here. And I’m not recommending a tequila in January. This month’s recommendation is the Knob Creek Single Barrel Reserve 9 year. It’s an easy drinking, high proof bourbon. The nose had a good amount of spice, with apple, brown sugar, and caramel. It’s sweet on the palate, but not overly so, with maple syrup, vanilla, and brown sugar. The finish is long with oak, cinnamon, and leather. It’s 120 proof, so be careful. But at $55 a bottle, it’s a real bargain.

Again, having just returned from Mexico, I could have written about a Cuban cigar. But this month, let’s stick with one you can purchase here. The Rocky Patel CSWC Mareva starts out with notes of espresso, cedar, red pepper, and cocoa. As you smoke it, the espresso remains prominent with red pepper and cedar notes remaining as secondary tastes. The cocoa becomes a back taste. As the cigar finishes, it gets earthy with some light fruit notes. Enjoy.

This cigar, and many other fine cigars, are available at John Crouch Tobacconist at 215 King St. in Old Town Alexandria.

The fight to make the Martin Luther King Jr. birthday a holiday took 32 years, a lot of campaigning, and guest appearances including Stevie Wonder, Ted Kennedy, and the National Football League.

King’s birthday was finally approved as a federal holiday in 1983, and all 50 states made it a state government holiday by 2000.

Officially, King was born on January 15, 1929 in Atlanta. But the King holiday is marked every year on the third Monday in January.

The King Center in Atlanta has a detailed chronology of how the efforts, starting shortly after King’s death in 1968, paid off in the long run. It wasn’t an easy task for holiday supporters, who had to push hard in Congress to get the federal holiday created.

A second battle took place to get individual states to also recognize the holiday, with often emotional disagreements in two states.

Today, the King holiday serves multiple purposes: It honors the total legacy of King; focuses on the issue of civil rights; highlights the use of nonviolence to promote change; and calls people into public service.

The struggle to get the holiday recognized reflects all these topics, along with some interesting twists and turns along the way.

Representative John Conyers introduced the first motion to make King’s birthday a federal holiday in 1968, just four days after King’s assassination in Memphis. It took another 11 years to the federal holiday to come up for a vote on the House of Representative’s floor in 1979.

The bill needed a two-thirds majority to pass, but it fell five votes short with a 252-133 count, despite a strong organizational effort from the King Center, and support from Congress members and President Jimmy Carter.

The holiday’s supporters regrouped and intensified their efforts. Musician Stevie Wonder helped in 1981 by releasing the song “Happy Birthday” to promote the holiday. (He would later sing it at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial dedication in 2011).)

The King Center kept up its efforts. It organized a march on Washington that included an estimated 500,000 people. Coretta Scott King, along with Wonder, presented a petition signed by 6 million people to House leader Tip O’Neill.

The House took up the bill in 1983 and it passed by 53 votes. Democrats O’Neill and Jim Wright, along with Republicans Jack Kemp and Newt Gingrich, gave speeches supporting the King holiday.

But getting the bill passed in the Senate would be contentious. Senator Jesse Helms of North Carolina openly opposed it. At first, Helms introduced a filibuster, and then he presented a 400-page file that accused King of being a communist.

Senator Ted Kennedy criticized Helms and Senator Daniel Moynihan called the document “filth” and threw it on the Senate floor.

Despite Helms, the bill passed the Senate by 12 votes—even South Carolina Senator Strom Thurmond voted in favor of the King holiday.

President Ronald Reagan signed the bill in November 1983. The first federal King holiday was celebrated in 1986.

It took longer for the 50 states to adopt the holiday. By 1986, 17 states had already adopted it. But there was strong resistance in Arizona to passing a state holiday.

The fight between state legislators came to a head when the King holiday was put up for an Arizona voter referendum in November 1990.

At that point, entertainers had started boycotting the state in protest, and the National Football League threatened to move the 1993 Super Bowl from Tempe if the holiday was defeated at the polls.

The King holiday lost in a two-part voter referendum and the NFL made good on its threat, taking the Super Bowl to Southern California and costing the state an estimated $500 million in revenue.

Arizona voters approved the King holiday two years later.

There was also a fight in South Carolina over the holiday. It was one of the last states to approve a paid King holiday for state employees in 2000.

The state’s governor had tried to link the holiday to a commitment to allow the state house to fly the Confederate battle flag. Instead, he signed a bill that approved the King holiday along with a Confederate Memorial Day celebrated in May.

Above, The March on Washington was held in Washington, D.C., on August 28, 1963. The purpose of the march was to advocate for the civil and economic rights of African Americans. At the march, final speaker Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., standing in front of the Lincoln Memorial, delivered his historic "I Have a Dream" speech in which he called for an end to racism.

Credit: National Constitution Center President Reagan and the Signing Ceremony for Martin Luther King Holiday Legislation in November 1983 Left, The Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial is located in West Potomac Park next to the National Mall. The memorial covers four acres and includes the Stone of Hope, a granite statue of Civil Rights Movement leader Martin Luther King Jr. carved by sculptor Lei Yixin.

Publishers Note: Our thanks to Annie Stone at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, PA for granting us permission to publish this piece from their blog – constitutioncenter.org - in print.