By the time I parked and made my way into Tap 42's expansive parking lot there were already hundreds of belligerent people fist pumping to the electronic sounds of DJ M2G and I could tell it was going to be a good night.
Tickets for beer and food cost $2 each. The cheapest beer on the menu was three tickets and some went as high as five. Yup, that's at least $6 for one beer. Luckily, there were some strong options on the menu like Magic Hat #9, Jai Alai IPA, Sea Dog Blueberry Wheat, Blue Point Toasted Lager, and special "rare tappings" like Tampa-based Cigar City Brewery's Puppy's Breath and White Oak.
As the night progressed, the crowd got so big it became impossible to take any decent pictures because almost every one captured a "deer-in-headlights" onlooker since we were packed in so tightly. I didn't see or hear of any free giveaways taking place like they had advertised, and the free samples were gone (I heard one brewer went through 4 kegs!) and packed up before 8:30 p.m., but no one seemed to care.
Having good beer, delicious food, and live music all in one place, where even the kids were welcome made for a great Saturday night, but as the event came to a close and everyone just sort of stood around shaking off the buzz and trying to figure out what to do next, my only thought was "How are all these people getting home?!" If the cops had set up a DUI checkpoint outside they would have exceeded their quota for the next year! Thankfully, they were nowhere to be seen and I proceeded home with extreme caution!
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