Friday Foodstuffs: It's Beer... on a Battleship! The Only Thing Cooler Would Be...

…a T-Rex flying a jet fighter!!!

OK, here’s the thing: our son loves Calvin and Hobbes – and we still do as well. So finding a way to work that into a post was something I wanted to do for a while now. And it’s so very cool when your kids fall in love with something you treasure.

Beer is cool. And I am not talking about some kind of goofy marketing scheme that uses a shiny metallic train to bring snow-covered goodness to all (as if everyone would want that). No, beer is The Eternally Cool, the way  Marvin Gaye is, the way Miles Davis’ "Kind of Blue" is, or the way Marcello Mastroianni in 8 1/2 is… to me, anyway. They will always be hip and happening.

I feel that way about beer, because there’s always something new going on – whether it’s a microbrew pushing the envelope just a bit more and challenging us, or taking a classic style and making it seem new all over. Yeah, beer is cool.

And beer in South Jersey, which other than Flying Fish had been on the quiet side, is suddenly becoming hip and happening again. At least four new microbrews are getting ready to go live this year, and we are really excited about this. Looking forward to trying them all.

You know what’s also cool? Battleships. I know it’s not proper to some to glorify warfare – but you have to admit that seeing a big battleship with all the guns is an awesome site.

And when you can combine great beer with a battleship, it’s all kinds of cool. That is the setting for the annual Garden State Craft Brewers Guild Beer Festival, which is happening Saturday on the Battleship New Jersey in Camden. This is one of those rare moments where you can sample many of the microbrews from New Jersey in one shot. Jersey brews just keep on getting better, so it only stands to reason that this Beer Festival is only getting better as well.

Intrigued? Well, the festival goes from 1 to 5 p.m., and the cost for tickets is $45 a person.

How’s the rest of the weekend events shaping up? Thus-ly…

Ocean County

Saturday is seafood day at the Baymen’s Seafood & Music Festival at Tuckerton Seaport.

A little ways away...

Sunday is the beginning of Wildwood Restaurant Week, which will run to the 24th. And on Monday, it’s the start of Ocean City Restaurant Week.

Saturday is also a seafood day down in Cape May, with the Cape May Harbor Fest taking place.

And if you're a little more adventurous...

Yes, I know that Sunday is Father’s Day, and there will be oodles of eateries doing a Dad’s Day dinner special. I’m just going to pick out a few here to mention. Dads like wine and barbecue (I know…I’ve checked), and Coda Rossa in Landisville is having a Father’s Day Bar B Que Weekend Saturday and Sunday for $10 a person. Dads like good Mexican food, too, so a Father’s Day Buffet at Tortilla Press Cantina in Pennsauken on Sunday would work as well. And Dads also like walking around in their pajamas, so indulge in that by taking Dad to the Pop’s Pajama Party at The Pop Shop in Collingswood on Sunday.

And if you’re in the Woodstown area Saturday, there will be a barbecue at St. Joseph’s Parish Hal to help raise funds for Judy Baker, a single mom who is struggling with leukemia and the medical costs associated with it. The community in Woodstown have been so supportive of Judy; Sweet Tomatoes did a special fundraiser for Judy some months ago as well.

For the full listing of food event and news and South Jersey, check out our main Eating in South Jersey blog!