Samuel Adams Summer Ale®: The Meaning Of New England – Part One

By Kristen | Published May 25, 2010

Source: SamAdams.com

Sitting on the Shelter Harbor beach in Westerly Rhode Island drinking a Samuel Adams Summer Ale®,

I ponder a particular question as I have done many times in my life. What is it about New England that is both so uniquely American and yet so different from the rest of the country? Surely every part of the United States of America has its special beauty and fine local color, but New England is special in ways I think only New Englanders can truly appreciate. How so? Let us begin with the dawn of another beautiful New England Summer and a day trip to the enchanting little peninsula known as Cape Cod.

Source: Cape Cod Chamber Of Commerce

From the time Captain John Smith coined the term, New England, back in 1614, this little spur of land has held a lot of history and charm within its small borders for centuries. Once the domain for Native American tribes such as the Wampanoag, who helped to shape the ubiquitous American tradition known as Thanksgiving, “The Cape” (as it is called) now-a-days is home to such lovely little hamlets like Hyannis, Falmouth, Bourne, and Provincetown. With its sandy white beaches and its ferries to the magical Island of Martha’s Vineyard or the nautical islet of Nantucket, there sometimes is nothing finer than sitting outside a little seafood nook overlooking the water, dining on fried whole body clams and drinking a Sam Adams.

Which was exactly what my lovely angel of a wife, Stace (short for Stacey), and I were doing this very summer. We had spent the whole day touring the quaint little shops in Falmouth and Hyannis and now it was time to relax (as if we weren’t already doing that for most of the day) and enjoy a Samuel Adams Summer Ale®.

Do I ever love that beer in the summer! With its light citrus taste married to a zesty lemon flavor and topped off with a hint of pepper for a crisp, full-body beer drinking experience The Summer Ale reminds one of sitting on a tropical island, bathing in the resplendent sun. This beverage typifies the Cape Cod experience without even having left the mainland.

Later, I turn to her and asked, “Where to next Stace?”

“Martha’s Vineyard of course,” was her jovial reply.

Source: Martha's Vineyard Chamber of Commerce

The next day we departed from The Steamship Authority in Falmouth headed for Martha’s Vineyard. Now here is a true New England destination. Once the location for the first two Jaws movies (the original directed by Steven Spielberg), “the Vineyard” (as it is commonly referred to) is a great New England “port of call” to visit in the summer.

Stace and I landed in Oaks Bluff and proceeded to explore as much of the island in the short time we had there as we have done many times over the years. Fortunately for us we had friends staying on the island that offered to put us up for the night. We browsed the expensive shops, ate our fill of lobster rolls and clam cakes, enjoyed a dessert of the homemade Mad Martha’s ice cream, and finally made our way over to Edgartown to meet up with our friends.

Now lots can be said for the plethora of New England style restaurants on the Vineyard, but almost invariably most of them will carry on tap Samuel Adams Summer Ale. And when eating a local lobster (yes lobster again, I can’t help it) on the deck of one of these seaside taverns looking at the yachts coming and going in the marina, the only beverage that will do is a beer.

Even our friends were kicking back the Sam Summer Ale in sixteen and twenty-four ounce glasses long after the golden sun had dipped below the horizon and the night’s revels ubiquitously begun.

Of course New England isn’t always about the ocean, as some days later we embarked on the next leg in my wife’s and my odyssey, to Portsmouth New Hampshire.

Source: www.justinperry.net

Please come back next week to read Part Two of Samuel Adams Summer Ale®: The Meaning Of New England.

Nicholas Iandolo is a screenwriter and author. His recently published book Cut The Crap and WRITE THAT DAMN SCREENPLAY! is available on Amazon.com and for Apple’s iPad/iPhone. He can be reached at nick@tenthsphere.com. Visit www.tenthsphere.com to learn more about Nick and his writing.