Finding you the nearest beer on the road.
I promised to give you a bit of a primer on making a custom Point of Interest (POI) file to avoid losing all those great places to get a beer and a sandwich, a hoagie or the best (fill in the blank). Making a POI file is almost like stuffing yourself during the holidays, there ain’t nothing to it. You can have up to four different sets of data:
• Latitude: Decimal format, positive for North, negative for South
• Longitude: Decimal format, Positive for North, negative for South
• Name: 1 to 2 lines of text (optional), but it helps to know where you’re going.
• Description: 1 to 4 lines of text (optional), but I want to know why I’m going.
Getting latitude and longitude for an individual address is surprisingly simple... Use Geocoder.US, Google Earth, do a Google search or just go to www.findlatitudeandlongitude.com. Input the data into a software package (e.g. Excel or Notepad) that can save a comma-separated values (CSV) file. Find the appropriate software to upload the fi le (for a Garmin unit, use Garmin’s POILoader) and just follow the instructions. I created a restaurant file to keep track of places I want to visit but the uses for a POI file are only limited by your imagination. Of course, if this seems like a bit of work, go to www.poi-factory.com and search for whatever category interests you. I found some readymade files of breweries and brewpubs in our neck of the woods. These are the ones that I tend to frequent on a semi-regular basis.
Best House Pizzeria (Baltimore Ave and 43rd Street) – Found this place by accident. I was at Clark Park Farmers’ Market and walked across the street. The pizza was good and they have a couple of coolers of very decent beer. There is a trolley stop literally at the front door. Septa can’t get much better than that.
The Six-Pack Store (Roosevelt Blvd and Tyson, Philadelphia)- They have a couple of coolers of solid beer. I never know what they have but I always find something interesting. I picked up a growler of Russian River’s Pliny the Younger there.
Trenton Road Take-Out. (1024 Trenton Road, Levittown) - A wall of coolers with a big selection of beer, good prices and hoagies to go. A bit out of the way but worth the drive if you’re anywhere in the general area.
Hulmeville Inn Take-Out (4 Trenton Rd, Hulmeville) - A small take-out shop but they consistently have a good selection and prices that are very reasonable. Stop in for dinner.