Thanks to another round of pandemic restrictions, November’s Sip Trips report is short on outings, relatively speaking. We did manage to squeeze in a few activities, though, as Mrs. Sip and I were both off on parental leaves for most of the month. Let’s get to the action:

To begin the month, we visited ABC Brewing, looking to try the company’s collaboration beers with Steel & Oak Brewing. These included the New West Coast Double IPA and WOW Small Hazy IPA. We also had a glass of the Achtung Berliner Weisse, an Île Sauvage Brewing guest tap, which was very good. For the road, we grabbed a bottle of the Aski Oci Saison to round out our stay.

That weekend, after a trying day where my vehicle broke down as I was trying to finally eat at Popeyes, Mrs. Sip and Cousin Sip helped me finally cross the restaurant off my list, picking up an epic meal of delicious Popcorn Shrimp, Chicken Sandwiches (regular and spicy) and very good fries. The Popcorn Shrimp were a particular revelation for me.

The next day, to officially celebrate the start of my seven-month parental leave, we attended a show at the House of Comedy in New Westminster. The show was great and provided some comic relief from the current world situation. I had a pair of Yellow Dog High Five Hazy IPA tall cans while there, which made the experience all the more enjoyable.

That week, following a visit to Vancouver’s Science World, we took the kids for lunch at Brewhall. There, we took advantage of their $14 Burger and Beer deal, ordering the Crispy Chicken Burger for me and Cheeseburger for Mrs. Sip, along with sides of Curly Fries and Dirty Cheesy Fries. Our beer selections were glasses of the Brewhall Hall Pass IPA and Brewhall/Superflux Days Like This DIPA. Our server also slipped us a taster of the Brewhall/Egan’s Seven One Oh Nine Whisky Barrel Aged Imperial Stout, which was made using Egan’s whiskey barrels, which have now been returned for the Irish whiskey maker to produce a special whiskey with.

We ended the month with a date night to celebrate the end of our joint time off on parental leave. During the summer, while participating in the weekly New Westminster Downtown Business Association scavenger hunts, I won a $50 gift card to Piva Modern Italian and Mrs. Sip and I decided this was the perfect time to finally cash the card in. We had a wonderful evening at the restaurant, arriving during happy hour and starting with sharing a plate of their Arancini. My beverages included the feature cocktail Whiskey Smash (Whiskey Mojito) and a pint of Steel & Oak Radiant Things Tropical Pale Ale, while Mrs. Sip had a trio of glasses of wine. For dinner, I went with the For Nonno Pizza, while Mrs. Sip had the Market Fish, which was a Seared Sable Fish. For dessert, we shared the Chocolate Lava Cake, while the server provided us with complimentary glasses of Rosé Bubbly.

Hopefully, the pandemic restrictions lighten sometime in December and definitely before Christmas, allowing families to get together for the holiday in some manner. This may be my only Christmas season off from work ever, so I hope we’re able to do some of the many annual activities the season usually offers.