My weekend camping trips always include a visit to a local brewpub! Continuing my occasional series of posts about camping trips and brewpub visits…

Camping Trip: My annual Memorial Day Weekend camping trip to Point Lookout State Park in Southern Maryland.

Brewpub Visit: Ruddy Duck Seafood and Alehouse in Piney Point, Maryland.

We’ve been making the trip down to Point Lookout for camping and crabbing for many years, and a visit to the Ruddy Duck Brewery in Solomons has always been a highlight of the weekend. This year, I decided to check out Ruddy Duck’s other location on St. George’s Island. I am sooo glad I did. The alehouse is surrounded by water and offers amazing views — it’s definitely one of the best locations for a brewpub of any I’ve ever visited. And the beer and food were amazing too!

After perusing the beer menu…

I ordered the eight-beer sampler:

Rud Light, a low-carb light beer (3.7%)
Apricot Nouveau, a crisp gluten-free beer infused with apricot (4.8%)
Bloody Ruddy, an American IPA brewed with blood oranges (8.1%)
Numskull, an American Pale Ale (5.6%)
Clementine Wit, a traditional Belgian wheat brewed with clementines (5.5%)
Helles, a smooth Blonde Lager (5.0%)
Hammerhead Red, a smooth Amber Ale (6.0%)
IPA, a strong and tasty IPA (7.0%)

Favorite Beer: Bloody Ruddy! IPAs brewed with citrus and tropical fruit are all the rage right now, and I savored this citrusy IPA as I enjoyed the views from Piney Point, with the St. Mary’s River on one side of the alehouse, and the Potomac on the other.

I was most impressed with: Ummm, everything! The local craft beer was excellent, and with the Maryland final four lacrosse game on the TV in the spacious bar, the super-friendly service, the stepped-up pub grub like my Buffalo Shrimp, and the amazing location, this was an alehouse of dreams!

And oh by the way: I crossed a brewery off my to-do list with a six pack of Route 4 IPA from another Southern Maryland brewery, Calvert Brewing Company. Can’t wait to try more CBC brews and visit the tap room at the brewery in Upper Marlboro!

All in all, it was an awesome weekend of crabbing and beer-drinking, and the perfect way to kick-off the summer.

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