Higgins Armory Museum: Ale and Mail

On September 25, 2010, a wonderful thing happened to me that I never could have imagined. No, it wasn't winning any lottery, nor some promotion at work, nor getting to jam out on stage with the boys from Aerosmith (yes, they are STILL touring). No, it was something more magnificent. The Higgins Armory Museum in Worcester, MA had their 10th Annual Festival of Ale!



As soon as I heard of this glorious event, I purchased a ticket. No friends asked to go, no checking on other plans, no thoughts of how much the tickets cost, just "thank you for your purchase." I was in. Alone, with someone else, I was in. Sweet.

So you all don't think I am some kind of lush or some LARP kid who has to talk up his killer alternate persona



I'm going to shed a little light on what the Higgins Armory means to me. When I was a sprout of about 5 years old, I picked up my first toy swords and went into my back yard to play. Oh what times I had. This naturally evolved into my obsession with action figures, when I learned you could exchange money for useless pieces of plastic, and had them ALL. My favorites were small toy metallic knights that could ONLY be purchased at rare times in very rare places. Higgins Armory was one of those spots (the other was the Keller House in NH).

So, as most good fathers will do, mine took me to Higgins bi-monthly to spend his hard earned cash on things I could potentially swallow and end my own life with.

Thanks pop!

My love for the sword, warriors, and all things martial grew exponentially every time and I knew Higgins would always be one of the most righteous places I could go to celebrate my nerd-dom without fear of reprisal. So yeah, I'm Old School.

When we arrived, my friend Brendan, a right and honorable gentleman with a taste for ale and adventure,

and myself, it was everything I had hoped. All 4 floors of this magnificent homage to steel were open to the public. The Great Hall was filled with beer (and weapon) connoisseurs and all the great breweries from Massachusetts and beyond were present.

Some of the All Stars included:







And many, many more.

Now, at this point in the story, I must give a word of advice. Whether it be purchasing swords, drinking at heavenly ale festivals, or anything that you enjoy, do it in moderation. This isn't the pulpit. This isn't my electronic soapbox. I'm saying that I have learned that moderation can be a great thing. No one gets too nuts. No one loses thousands. No one gets kicked out the Higgins Armory Ale Fest for trying to ride the fake horses or pull down the very real weapons on the walls or wear the real, and very expensive armor.



They make unforgettable memories:













Now, after all this, if you're still like, "Wow, these kids are huge dorks" (which is super cool of you for accepting people's diverse tastes), remember this thing was sold out, served beer all night, as much as we wanted, AND we were enjoying the event amongst fine people like our lady friend here.



What were you doing?

See you at Higgins in 2011!