Episode 13: A Food Truck and Festival Filled Summer in Grafton

Get Away To Grafton

On this month’s episode of Get Away to Grafton, we prepare for a summer of outdoor food and drink with local experts. We’ll hear about the second ever Beer on the Bridge in Grafton, Grafton’s brand-new Traveling Food Truck Tour, and from the owners of local food truck, That Taco Guy. Let’s get started!

To begin, beer connoisseur and Grafton cheerleader Paul Alexander returns to Get Away to Grafton to talk about the second annual Beer on the Bridge tasting event. Paul, owner of 024 taproom in the Grafton Arts Mill, has always felt that Grafton is a city full of beer-lovers with no beer events. Last year, Paul organized the first ever Beer on the Bridge which was an enormous success. This year, Beer on the Bridge will take place Saturday, June 8th. General admission begins at 1pm until the festival closes at 5pm (VIP attendees can enter at 12pm). Like the name of the event suggests, the event takes place on the Bridge St. Bridge, just north of the Grafton Arts Mill. Paul’s event will boast nearly 100 beers from 35 breweries, live music from the Maple Blues Road Band, and food trucks. Tickets can be bought in advance or at the door. To purchase tickets in advance, you can visit the Chamber of Commerce Website, or pick them up in person at the 024 Taproom or the Bottle Shop of Grafton. General admission tickets cost $50 and designated drivers get in free, but if you’re feeling adventurous you can upgrade to a VIP ticket that allows early entrance to the event and access to a VIP area featuring three rare barrels to sample. All tickets include a 5oz sampling glass and unlimited sampling of all beers for the duration of the event. The inspiration for the event came from Grafton’s festival-friendly layout and the unique location of a waterfall-spanning bridge. Back again this year is Beer on the Bridge’s Homebrewing Competition! For a small fee, contestants can bring two samples of their homebrewed beer rated by local judges. The winner of the competition will have the opportunity to brew their recipe in the Fermentorium’s brewing system!

Next, Andrew Swafford of the Traveling Food Truck Series sits down with us to give us a sneak-peak of what to expect at Graton’s Traveling Food Truck Series. Nearly four years ago, Andrew began his food truck journey while organizing the Rockin’ Food Truck tour in Franklin. The event was so successful, the organizers approached the city of Oak Creek about organizing a similar event the following year. The support was outstanding, which lead to the concept of a traveling food truck tour that visits cities around south-east Wisconsin. Andrew says the tour has grown every year and will include an expanded tap-list for this years tour with unique taps and cans from local breweries. Live music, games, and activities for children will be featured in Grafton’s leg of the tour. You can follow the event at travelingfootrucktour.com, which will release a list of all the vendors closer to the event.

The Traveling Food Truck Tour will stop at Veteran’s Memorial Park in Grafton on the following dates:

• June 25th, 2019
• July 30th, 2019
• August 27th, 2019
• September 24th, 2019

Finally, Eli and Andrea Acosta join us to talk about the history of the “That Taco Guy” food truck, which will be featured during the Grafton Traveling Food Truck Tour. The venture began as a fun idea to stay busy during the weekend and make some extra money. The business was intended to be part-time gig based out of tents, but a great opportunity came up to purchase a food truck and it was full speed ahead. After the first event, it was clear that people loved the tacos. Eli and Andrea say they didn’t tell anyone the truck was