Mr. Sandman, bring me a dream.

Last night we cancelled pub quiz at the Globe so we could have the staff holiday party. We had it at the Three Floyds Brewing Company, where they recently opened a bar. Some of my pub quiz questions have been used in their pub quiz, too.

Back to the point- they are located in not-so-scenic Munster, Indiana. They make very good beer. Very. Good. Beer.

At 6:45 I headed over to the Globe to meet up with my roommate and have a pint before we hopped on the chartered bus to Munster. About 25 or so of us were there, mulling around, wishing Happy New Years, etc, etc. Small talk was rampant. I ordered my usual, a Guinness. It figures that the bus arrived just a few seconds after the manager refused to charge me for it, which figures. I downed half of it fairly quickly in anticipation of getting on the bus. The owners were taking their time, however, so I slowed down. Turns out one of the bartending temps was late and stuck in traffic.

Eventually, my pint, and the wait, was over. The owners started corralling people to the bus. I was the first one on.

I haven't been on a school bus in ages- probably since my senior year of high school, back in the day. I chatted briefly with the driver, then selected my seat- opposite the seat between the two tubs of beer. Close enough for comfort, not close enough to have to constantly pass beer back.

I quietly sat and enjoyed my first beer, then one of the owners sat next to me. He's one of my favorite people- which probably has something to do with the fact that he's Scottish, but I could be wrong. We chatted about his holiday, 3 weeks home and in Spain. He went to a pub quiz out there and was asking me questions from it. Someone stumped me by asking me to name the 7 Ancient Wonders of the World. I think we got up to 4 or 5 before we just gave up. I wound up downing 3 beers on the drive to Munster. It was the first time I had drank on a school bus since, well, junior year of high school.

We arrived in Munster in about an hour, piled off and into the bar. More accurately, we piled in to the bathrooms, then piled back into the bar. There are something like 12 different varieties of 3 Floyds beer. I only had about 4 of the different kinds, but one of them I'm certain to never forget: 3 Floyds Barley Wine. The keg they had found was 5 years old, and extremely strong. I muscled through a glass and switched back to something with less alcohol- Robert the Bruce Scotch Ale.

We partied. We ate. I got a tour of their facilities, a very fascinating little plant. Shots were poured, and avoided like the plague by me. People were sticking beer labels to each other's backs, and the Scot owner did a strip-tease on the flag pole. I can't wait for those pictures.

The bus ride back meant it was time to finish the beer in the tubs, so we set about that task with vigor. Somehow or another, I wound up at home at 12:30 and crashed.

I cannot stress how glad I was that I told my boss I was going to be late today. The extra 45 minutes of sleep I got has saved the day thus far.

I can't wait to get home and crawl in bed, though.