A baby... in a bar

The plan for today was to meet some friends for a group run through the Washington Duke trail (with Chad bundled up in the jogging stroller.)  The Washington Duke trail has some crazy hills, so it was going to be a real roller coaster for Chad (and a hard-core workout for the person pushing the stroller up the hills.)  Unfortunately, it rained all day long and the run didn't happen.  But a few of us still met at Fulsteam Brewery for some drinks and BBQ.
I know, you're probably all thinking that a baby doesn't belong in a bar.  Well, first of all, Chad is a toddler and that makes a big difference.  Just kidding.  When Fulsteam was first mentioned as the gathering place my immediate thought was Reese Witherspoon's line about having "a baby... in a bar" in Sweet Home Alabama.

I really didn't want to be the hick mom who brings a baby to bar.  Maybe that flies in Alabama, but remember, Chad is the Carolina pumpkin, and we've got a lot more class up here.
BUT Fulsteam is kind of a unique place and I've seen little kids there before so we gave it a try. Supposedly you can also rent the brewery out for children's birthday parties, as long as you bring your own food, because they are a dog-friendly establishment and therefore can't have a kitchen.  So the way it works is food trucks park outside, and you can buy your BBQ and bring it inside to eat at their orange picnic tables, along with your kids and dogs, and then they have entertainment and beers inside.  (Ummm, maybe I should take back what I said about Carolina having class??)
Anyway, shortly after we got there a few more toddler-aged kids showed up.  Chad would sometimes sit at the table with us and our friends, and would sometimes squirm to get down to get a better look at things around him.  And then A LOT of toddler kids showed up, along with some sort of mom's group, and there were toddlers running everywhere, and Chad thought this was just great and stared at them all, but wasn't really interested in making friends.  I guess he's shy.  He also got a kick out of meeting a dog, which I wasn't super happy about because, like most dogs, this one had teeth.  And a tongue, which he used to clean Chad's face of some stray crumbs.
The mom's group set up some sort of silent raffle in the back, and people were selling chili and cookies.  (Our group stuck to the BBQ food truck, and Chad enjoyed some pork, hush puppies and fried okra.)  There was supposed to be a musician playing at 4:00, but he didn't even start tuning his guitar until about 4:30, and then he played one song and took a break.  Not really sure what that was all about.  Chad happened to be taking his turn on the toy car on stage when the tuning took place, and was fascinated by it.

Sorry it's a little blurry.  It's a phone pic.

Now Chad can say he's been to a brewpub.  It was a good place to go on a rainy Sunday so it probably won't be the last time he goes there!  There was plenty of room to run around, and Andy has a ways to go before he drinks his way through the beer selection.