After starting my trip two hours later than planned, I didn't think I'd make Prescott at all. By the time I decided I was going to make it, it became a race to get there before dark to get some photos. However, after the pint at the Jerome Brewery and the slalom through the mountains to get here, I was much less interested in photography than usual.
Pretending to be responsible, I'd only had one pint at the Jerome Brewery. I had ulterior motives, though. Besides the slalom of a road to Prescott, awaiting me in that pioneer town is the Prescott Brewing Company, holder of multiple gold medals for their own brews. Having eaten there before, I knew that those most excellent beverages could be paired with spectacular food. I opened with a pint of Petrified Porter, then had a taster of the Prescott Pale Ale, and a pint of Ponderosa IPA with my Mad Samoan Pizza (mozzarella, bacon, tomatoes, red and green bell peppers, pineapple.) I expected to eat half, but forgot that I hadn't eaten lunch, and breakfast had been at 7, so by 5:30 I was ready to eat. Two tiny slivers escaped until the next day when they met their doom.
The multi–award–winning Prescott Brewing Company is on the north side of the square, just behind us as we face the courthouse. To the west is Whiskey Row, which fails to live up to its pioneer name; there are barely six bars in the block south of the Brewing Company.
Heading back to Phoenix, I kept myself perked up with Loreena McKennitt's debut album "Elemental." She hadn't begun writing yet, so it's a compilation of ancient melodies and madrigals. What she was doing was performing; virtually every instrument is Loreena: harp, violin, keyboards, guitars, flutes. Despite her instrumental prowess, the tune which always has the greatest impact on me and is one of my overall favorites is her version of "She Moved Through the Fair" which she sings a capella. Gives me shivers every single time. It's a short album, so it got 2.5 plays. I'm okay with that.
