Yes the smell will say it all on when you walk into the first tent... not even in Collage did I find old beer smell in the air while hits of urine or vomit on the floor both meeting up in my face. The worse part was it was a KID family event. Hell nooooo it was not based on gross sofas and smell. "Mandolorian event" more like grossalorian for Jabba the hut. No thank you, first and last. Negative star for you. ------so states the angry pepper read more

The backyard playground and bouncy houses are DANGEROUS. There is no professional moderation and the bouncy house flipped over. Not safe, not moderated = hospital visit. It was chaotic and overwhelming!! read more

Something for everyone at Shipgarten with great beers, friendly staff, and a lot of events and activities. Outside they have a large play area for kids, dog park, corn hole area, and a number of other games and activities. Inside they have comfortable coaches, 2 large screen TVs (really 4 TVs combined) along with a number of other TVs nicely spaced throughout the inside making this perfect for sporting events like March Madness, college or NFL football, or the upcoming World Cup. Food options were your standard pub fare - bratwursts, pizza, pretzels, and other munchies. They have a number of activities including family friendly weekend afternoon activities like free magic shows and face painting. Evenings transitioned more towards the grown crowd. It's a short walk from the McLean metro. One drawback was limited parking options. We'll be back! read more

Shipgarten - Beer Gardens Near Me - Mclean, Virginia

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A super playground for adults (and sometimes children). Really close to the metro and a popular after work spot for Mitre and Capital One people. I used to live around here, and it was a good after work spot. The drinks aren't amazing but you mainly come here for Happy Hours. The mango frozen alcohol drink is ok, but it's not very sweet. They also offer a mini food hall with different food. I got a sushi burrito that wasn't worth nearly $20 for such a small amount. I wouldn't come here often except for work. They also have a lot of family friendly events, and they market themselves as a community space with drinks, so that's cool. read more

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This is a bar for people with children. I'm not a huge fan of that type of establishment. I love breweries, but this isn't really a brewery. There are a bunch of tents on a rocky hill. There was what I thought was a kids area with a bounce house, but then there was a guy making balloon animals inside another tent. It felt like this place was trying to be too many things. They have a nice beer selection, but the bartender almost charged me for two drinks when I only got one. Also, for so many beers, you'd think there would be a few bartenders. I think there were two. It felt disorganized, even though I ordered my own food on a screen. My hotdog tasted like freezer burn.:: The parking is offsite unless you want to pay for valet. I ended up walking back to my car, which I didn't mind because it was light out. I wouldn't recommend this place. read more

Shipgarten - Wine selection - Beer Gardens Near Me - Mclean, Virginia

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Terrible place to bring your dogs, awful service & gross food - we were in the dog park area with the door closed behind us. Staff was cleaning the area and when he left, he left BOTH the dog park doors OPEN. The dogs ran out and went towards the road. Thankfully we were able to catch them but when we brought the issue to the staff's attention they shrugged their shoulders and said what do you want us to do. No apologies or effort to make it up on their end. They laughed in our faces and said "see you next time" -- safe to say this was my first and last time ever spending any money here here and will be very vocal about warning others not to bring their dogs here cus they clearly do not care about pet safety! :( read more

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Family-friendly casual outdoor biergarten to lounge around and grab some food and drinks with kiddos and dogs (yes - there's a small enclosed dog park!) There's plenty of outdoor space with rows of picnic tables, moon bounce, and a couple of small playgrounds. There are themed events catered to young adults on different days of the week and a party-like atmosphere with hookahs at night. We enjoyed the Oktoberfest with a variety of 30 beers between the 2 tents. The free family-friendly events are typically on Sundays. I really enjoyed the Halloween trick or treat for both kids (candy) and adults (samples of beer and cider). The small petting zoo with alpacas, rattlesnake, lizards, and bunny was fun for the kiddos and the 2 minute timer per family kept things organized! The moon bouncer and playground are a bit run-down. The ordering is a bit confusing as there are 2 tents, the large main tent in the center is primarily drinks with beer and cocktails while the other tent on the side has a wider selection of drinks and food that you can order from a kiosk. You can use QR code as well. It takes some time to get used to. I enjoyed the dry Shipgarten cider and the sweeter Cobbler Mountain Cinnamon Cider (bold cinnamon flavor!). The mixture of both ciders was a great balance! The Mule cocktails are on the sweeter side and tasty. Of the cocktails, the Expresso Martini and Mango Mojito were the best, I wasn't a big fan of the regular Mojito or Mango Margarita. The food isn't very good, it's like baseball stadium food, mostly reheated frozen bar food. Tyson's Biergarten - Go for the fries, and skip the Latke pancake, pretzel, and the loaded fries. The Potato Cake was a lukewarm frozen hash brown while the jumbo pretzel was very dense and flavorless, notch below stadium pretzels. The loaded fries was disgusting with processed beer cheese, grilled onions, scallions, Keep it simple with just regular plain fries. Roll Bar - The Poke bowl was quite tasty and l loaded it up with crunchy toppings and a heap of veggies! The Wasabi and the Sriracha Mayo had a spicy kick and preferred the house-made Teriyaki sauce. While I was tempted to order the Sushirito, I'm glad I got the Poke Bowl, great bang for my buck! Waffles and Taco - Hubby enjoyed the Chicken Taco in a hard-shell taco. The taco bowl is underwhelming and bare bones. I asked for some nachos, black beans, and rice upon request which balanced out the bowl. There's no parking on site. There's a free parking lot below the hill, and shuttle buses run frequently every ~10 min or so. It's only a 10 min walk up the hill to Shipgarten, good to get some exercise before the drink/food frenzy begins! While the playground is a bit worn and the moon bounce collects debris and leaves and not the cleanest, the kids have fun (we give them a good bath when we come home!) Shipgarten is a great spot for groups and family-friendly (I just wish the food was better!). read more

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Yeah, this place stinks. Everywhere we went, there was an odd odor. One tent smelled like stale beer and dog pee. Another smelled like stale beer and vomit. The area near the bathrooms smell like sewage. The playground smelled like stale beer, dog pee, vomit and sewage. All in the shadows of the nicest buildings the military industrial complex has to offer. The food was not good. The beer was passable. But the smell is stuck in my nose. And I'm not going back here. read more

Great place for families or for happy hour. I'm giving 3 stars for a few reasons. We came for the Mardi Gras festival, but didn't see anything related to this. Luckily it was free. They do check IDs at the entrance. The parking was confusing and we had to follow the shuttle to the parking lot. Entrance and parking were free. There were so many signs up--hot drinks menu, special surprise bucket for ~$30, etc. but none of these items were available in either tent. There were some stools available at the smaller tent, but some of the staff were sitting at one of the windows. It looked a little run-down in some parts of the smaller tent. The customer service at the small bar area with food order/pick up was great. The bartender was very helpful in providing suggestions for drinks. The food orders were placed at the self-service screens and only in one tent. The pickup windows were available on either side. Some of the food was too pricey for what it was--below average bar food. We ended up ordering the following items: -Peche mel scaldis - this was a, refreshing drink and not very bubbly a little flat, but too much lip -Cuvee des Trolls - light, slightly bubbly -Boneless wings - basic wings -Create your own pizza - not much flavor, except from the cheese -Jalapeno Cheddar wurst platter with potato salad and potato pancakes - this was terrible TBH--tastes like cheap hot dogs from the grocery stores! Would I return? most likely not read more

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The only reason I am giving this place 2 stars instead of 1 is because all the workers were really nice. The beer was also not bad. But I was SO disappointed in the food. They were out of literally everything they advertised on their website. We chose this beer garden because it offered something different from the others--sushi, sausages, etc. In reality, all they had were fries, wings, and hot dogs. I felt gross when I was leaving. Otherwise, it had a fairly normal beer garden vibe. read more

I love what they are doing here. Having kid-friendly Sunday events, a place for kids to play and outdoor places for adults to drink/eat. The food however, was really lackluster and poor quality, pricey as well. I had the beef schnitzel and fries, the beef was processed beef patty meat, not whole beef, and fries were meh, whole thing was just deep fried and charged $25 with sauerkraut. The wings were just fried with some old bay dusted. If they provide a better food experience, this would definitely be raised up. 5 stars for the idea, friendly staff, and space, and 1 star for the food. I don't drink anymore so I have to support them somehow, I wish they provided healthier options or at least higher quality options. Not just heavily-processed foods thrown into a fryer. read more

Here for kids NYE party. Magician is a no show. Let us know 15 minutes after the show was supposed to start. Offered a free kids drink for the inconvenience. Now, lets us know Rumi aka KPop is going to be 30 minutes late read more

If you are planning on coming here during FIFA, FORGET IT. The organizers seem to have zero idea how to organize anything. Prices to sit under a tent go from $200 to $300 to $500 for. All food prices are taped over and increased and somehow still undercooked. Hard pass read more

My coworkers came here for a team event yesterday evening and I was left disappointed by the overall vibes, food, and drinks here. I liked that it was technically outside but that we were kept warm and cozy by all the heaters, but that was the extent of my appreciation. The catered food we had was soggy and stale. The bulgogi skewers were dry and tough, so it was hard to eat. Every bite I took, I just hoped I didn't poke myself with the sharp point of the pick. The general tso chicken was alright. The sweet potato fries had the best flavor and sweetness, but soggy. The regular fries? Just skip them. Soggy and bland. There were a few other trays of food, but nothing spectacular. The hard cider I got was very boring and mid. My coworker's plastic cup was cracked on two occasions and her drink was leaking everywhere and making a mess. A few of my coworkers got the "white-mulled wine" specialty drink that they didn't end up enjoying. Overall, we all did not have a great experience at Shipgarten and I wouldn't come back on my own. read more

I went here for a private holiday party. Parking: there is a parking lot that is about 1/4 mile away with free shuttle service every 5-7 minutes. I believe there is also valet parking if you go right to the entrance. There are 2 main tents. The first one is where the main bar is located. They have a stage for bands and karaoke. They also have big tvs for games. A side tent is where you can get more drinks and order food. I think it's pretty pricey but you are in McLean/Tysons area which is expensive. The tents are heated so it's open year round. They do a restrooms in a fancy double wide trailer. There are games, kids play area and smaller tent that I haven't been in. Shipgarten host a lot of parties and events. They have something going on every weekend. It's a pretty laid back vibe but you will find some people dress to the nines. read more

The parking situation is a bit confusing at first, but once you figure it out it's no problem. The walk from the lot to the beer garden is easy, as long as it's daylight when you're trying to cross Old Meadow Rd. Otherwise, I wouldn't risk cars coming too quickly around the curve and I'd just wait for the shuttle. This is a great place to take the kids - not too many places around here have bounce houses with no fee to use. There's plenty of space for parents to watch the kids while still having a good time themselves. The menus are hard to track down. I searched online for ten minutes before giving up and decided I would just bookmark them this time since I've forgotten to every other time I've been here. The biggest negative is that it can get overwhelmingly busy and the beer prices are pretty steep but not advertised anywhere. read more

Shipgarten - Crinkly fries - Beer Gardens Near Me - Mclean, Virginia

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Went for a happy hour after work and even though we had reserved a couple tables it was pretty clear the bar was short staffed. The staff seemed very stressed and it was pretty clear they do not work well under pressure. We were ordering slushies since it was a very hot day and the servers seemed very annoyed especially sijce they were making them with a $20 Nutribullet lol. My slushie was mainly chunks of ice instead of a slushie consistency. The food also took a while to come out. We ordered a buffet of food and we waiting until all the food was out but by then the fries and tater tots were soggy and cold. The queso also looked a little questionable. It was also super hot under the tent with the sun despite having the fans on. Cant imagine how it would feel when its peak summer time. The bathrooms were the only air conditioned place read more

I hosted a friend's birthday party at ShipGarten and I couldn't have asked for a better experience. From start to finish, the staff was absolutely amazing. They made the entire planning process easy and stress-free, with clear, quick, and efficient communication every step of the way. They were incredibly accommodating. The food was great, my favorites were the funnel cake fries and the guacamole. The Cider was delicious!!! The venue itself is fantastic for hosting events, and I highly recommend ShipGarten for birthdays, gatherings, or any special occasion. One of the things I love most is that they also host dog-friendly events, which makes the place even more special! I had an amazing time and will absolutely be using ShipGarten for future events!!! read more

Came here for their Oktoberfest Beer Olympics day and it was a lot of fun! Overall. 4.5 star experience for my group. They have a lot of outdoor space but also multiple covered tents which was great because it was raining. Shipgarten has lots of games including jenga, giant chess, checkers, and connect four. They ran a bunch of fun competitions including keg curling, stein hoisting, and jenga tower building. They also had live music going. We also loved the free facepainting that Shipgarten offered for the event. One complaint is that the beer samples were a little pricey ($3 for a small 2 or 3oz sample cup). Also the parking is very far, about a couple minutes drive away. Thankfully they run a free shuttle from their parking lot (navigate to Shipgarten Parking on Google Maps) and the shuttle hours are on their website. read more

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The ship garden is mid Everything is a long wait food, cotton candy, it's just small for the amount of people that go to it! They need to expanded or open a new location 45 min wait for food and another 45 mins wait for cotton candy is crazy. It's a mid spot. Don't go if you going for food takes way too long. Manly it's quick for drinks of course. read more

Decent outdoor/indoor pub. The vibes were very casual and laid back. Service was good. The beer was ok too. The best thing, however, was the view. read more

Shipgarten - Kozel - Beer Gardens Near Me - Mclean, Virginia

Outstanding band today. I knew every song. Excellent voices. Beer and crowd were great.

Honestly - I was between a 3 and 4 star review, if I could give a 3.5 that's probably where I'd land. Pros: - a cute area - a nice concept - plenty of options for drinks - good options for food - a cute dog park if you want to bring your furry friend - seem to have fun activities during the week/weekend (trivia, karaoke, etc.) Cons: - food is overpriced and is a bit confusing to figure out how to order/pick it up (you also can't order from your seat which is a bummer) - the parking situation is pretty rough (we ended up just walking far - steps I guess?) - I wish the grass was a bit more maintained/cut down (don't need no bug bites) read more

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Some good, some bad. Its a nice set up but the way its run is disappointing. First off, there was a big kid that we thought was the son of one of the employees that was playing VERY rough with very little kids on the inflatable slide. We watched for 2 hours as he was throwing small children down the slide, one of them came back crying and holding her arm. We couldn't let our kids play on it until he left. When he came back we had to remove our kids again For 2 hours, his parents never came to check on him. Also, this place charges 25%-30% more for a Budweiser than a micro brew. I have never seen Macro domestics at significantly higher prices than Micro brew. At one point I tried to order a beer from a bartender while she talked with another employees about their plans for later that night. I was just the three of us, very awkward while I stood there waiting for them to discuss their plans. Eventually the guy had to ask the bartender to let me order my beer. Over in the big tent, they had 3 registers but only one of them worked so the line was long and slow while 2 bartenders took turns sharing the one working register/computer. I doubt we will be back, its a shame, nice set up but very poor execution. read more

Such a fun and unique place! It's the perfect place for all ages. My daughter is a huge fan of the loaded french fries! read more

Shipgarten - Beer Gardens Near Me - Mclean, Virginia

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I went here for a birthday party a few weeks ago and the service was subpar. After waiting over a hour for a hookah, I kindly asked for a refund because I was leaving. The guy told me the transaction was voided, however I was still charged. I tried calling, but no one answers the phone. read more

Watch out, look out; interesting place ahead! I actually watched this business being built as for a time I worked in the building next to it. That being said I was interested to try it out. For those not familiar, it is comprised of a series of tents on a hilltop. There is extremely limited parking and most will have to take a shuttle. The restaurant is a series of basically food trucks under the tent. There are several options and they serve alcohol. The food was underwhelming for the price. Granted we were there at lunch, so perhaps dinner/happy hour might be a different story. It is popular with the happy hour crowd, however it just was not a place that I would go back to. It was worth checking out, if nothing more for the experience. read more

0 stars if I could. This place is a SCAM. Beware of all advertised "events". Showed up at 12:45 for their "American Craft Beer and Bourbon Festival" advertising "40+ beer & cider samples from local breweries to choose from" When I arrived... they were still setting up tables. No one was there except the "manager" who had no idea what I was talking about. Finally found someone in charge of events who pulled out a sign that was advertising just 3 samples of bourbon for $30.... Yup that was what they wanted to pass off as a "festival". Immediately left, what a waste of time. read more

one of the worst bar experiences I've had in a long time. We paid a $45 cover between the three of us specifically for the hot festive drinks they advertised everywhere--glühwein, spiked cider, etc. Once inside, none of those drinks existed. Staff kept sending us back and forth between tents, and it became clear no one knew what was going on and the advertised items simply weren't available. What's worse is they acted like we were stupid for asking. Even basic German beers like Bitburger weren't recognized by the bartenders, which is baffling for a place calling itself a German bierhall. We decided to leave, and while waiting for our ride, a bouncer told us we couldn't sit on an empty couch because it required a $400 reservation. (All the couches were vacant, and the place was almost empty.) False advertising, untrained staff, and a completely disorganized operation. We walked in excited and walked out feeling scammed. read more

Shipgarten was a neat spot!! The official grand opening of this place hasn't actually happened yet. I've gone to Tyson's Biergarten in the past a few times and always enjoyed it. This is the same owners as I understood it, with a new location. First and foremost, there is NO PARKING. Of course this is a downside and makes it more inconvenient. There is a lot just a few mins down the road where you can park and get on a free shuttle over to the Biergarten. They told us they plan on getting valet soon too. It's right next to a lot of business buildings that are gated off, so no parking will likely ever be available right next to this location. Ironically, I think the coolest thing about this place IS it's location. The view of Tyson's from here just looks so neat - particularly at nighttime (which is when we went). Another really cool thing is that there are a bunch of different food places to order at in the shipping containers. I am assuming this is where the "ship" in "shipgarten" came from. We already had dinner before coming here, but the food options looked really good. I'd definitely like to try those out another time. There seems to be plenty of outdoor seating and even a whole jungle gym for kiddos - tbh I'm not a fan of kids at breweries but I also get it, so this was a smart decision on their part to install. It was a hot night, so I got a grapefruit raddler - which I expected would be light and refreshing. It had a low alcohol percentage but it honestly tasted like soda to me. It was way too sweet for my liking. I wasn't a fan, but I'd love to try the Oktoberfest beer options and other beers. My boyfriend got the Hefeweizen and I thought it was really good - tasted like banana and clove. I'm excited to see how this place does in the long run. I was sad when Tyson's Biergarten closed, so I'm happy to have it back up and running in a new style and location. read more

Shipgarten - Heifeweizen & Grapefruit Raddler - Beer Gardens Near Me - Mclean, Virginia

We had my daughter's 6th birthday at Shipgarten and it was awesome! The team was super easy to work with and really responsive. They made everything simple and stress-free. There was so much for the kids to do--on the day of the party they had a petting zoo, balloon maker, and tons of space to run around. The kids had a blast and the adults had a great time too. What I really appreciated was how laid-back and accommodating the staff was. We never felt rushed or pressured. It honestly made the whole day feel fun and easy. Would definitely recommend for anyone looking for a great spot to celebrate with kids! read more

I came out here for a Meet up group and had a great time. It was Thursday Karaoke night. The vibe was fun and the group was a blast. Lots of fun songs were sung and the food was great! You have to walk over to the food tent but it's just a few steps away. The bathrooms were clean and you had to walk out the tent for that also. They were like the bathrooms set up at festivals. Nice ones, not porta potties. There is a free shuttle that takes you back and forth to the parking lot and although I like to just pull up to a place, it wasn't that bad. I'll be going back for sure. It's a great place to go with friends. read more

Shipgarten is a very cute beer garden with a variety of food offerings. We came here for a Wednesday night trivia and had a lot of fun. There is both covered seating and a grassy lawn with picnic tables. We chose a picnic table with a good view of the trivia stage. The trivia was legitimately challenging and super fun! I did not try the beer, but my friends enjoyed some beers and ciders. I had a root beer soda that was delicious. For food, I ordered the black pepper meatballs with parmesan fries. The meatballs were fine, but the the fries were delicious! I enjoyed the food. I regret not trying a sushi burrito from the sushi bowl/roll stand. This beer garden is conveniently located by the McLean metro. I recommend checking out this spot! read more

Shipgarten - Black pepper meatballs - Beer Gardens Near Me - Mclean, Virginia

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Yesterday was my first time here. My cousin was one of the performers at Oktoberfest. The beers were great! I did not want to wait over an hour for food ( I over heard some one say it was an hour!). The Staff and security guards were all very friendly and just wanted everyone to have a great experience here. Plenty of seating and space for people to roam around and sit. Not all of the picnic benches have umbrellas though. There were a few birthday parties going on while we were there. Great place to celebrate. They have a bug tent with tvs and seating too. All in all, I would recommend this place to others. read more

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Not my scene but if you like clubs then you will love. Took us 30 min to even get our drinks.

What a great place to hang on a Saturday afternoon! Excellent selection of beverages. Beers (and not just 100 different IPA's), cider, frozen drinks, cocktails, and canned unusual drinks like soju yogurt cocktails. Diverse food options, but I love that there is one POS. So you can order whatever you want from one kiosk and they text you when it is ready. We enjoyed a salmon poke bowl over greens with fully customizable toppings and dressings, an avocado salad with a teriyaki dressing, and belgian waffle with nutella, bananas, and strawberries. All were delicious. Others have mentioned high food prices. I disagree. I did not think $15 for a poke bowl was unreasonable. The daytime weekend crowd leans into families, but I did not find this a problem. I'd expect the nighttime crowd to be more adult. True. The parking and shuttle bus is a bit of a PITA, but it is only a .5 mile walk from the lot if you are up for it. I also might like more covered areas. It was a HOT day and everyone was crowded into the covered tent area. The open areas are probably lovely in the fall or spring. read more

Shipgarten - Beer Gardens Near Me - Mclean, Virginia

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This place is kind of weird. Weirdly spread out, in an odd location where parking is tough, and the was really dirty. The bathrooms were nasty--basically port-o-potties--- and had water/pee all over the floor? The food was expensive and the menu is confusing. The only nice thing I guess is the playground for kids but it was kind of junky. Overall, wouldn't recommend and we won't be back. read more

We hosted my daughter's 14th birthday here. It was very easy to schedule and all the guests had a great time.

Great outdoor venue. They have an area for kids to play, an area for dogs to play and a lot of space for adults to just come and hang out. They have a nice variety of drinks and various food options for you to choose from. You're also able to start a tab and are able to add items from various parts of Shipgarten if you decide to order from a different tent. The service here is also top notch! read more

Shipgarten - Fries - Beer Gardens Near Me - Mclean, Virginia

A fun spot in McLean for a casual night outside of a bar! I used to visit the Biergarten back in the day before it closed down so I was excited for Shipgarten to open. I like the concept of 4 different shipping containers. I wish that you could order from your table and be served, rather than having to wait for your food and grab it but you do have the option to receive a text which is convenient. Overall, the food is good, not amazing, but good. The location is on top of a hill, they provide shuttle buses or you can walk up. They do let dogs ride in the shuttle and had treats for my dog when we went! I like their tents but I wish they had leveled out the areas with the picnic tables as they are slanted due to the hill. I like that they are pet friendly and do a variety of events all the time. Most recently, we visited for St. Patty's and they had various drink specials. In terms of the food: The sushi place has good poke, their sushi fries are okay (6/10). The Biergarten has good wings, brats, but last time I got their pretzel it was pretty dry. The Persian place - I was not a fan of their kabob at all. I've had plenty of good kabob in the area but this was not good. I did visit right when they opened so maybe it has improved. The waffles and taco place - I've only tried their matcha funnel fries and they were pretty good. Overall, it's a fun spot, drinks aren't too expensive and they will always have something to do. Views are also nice in the summer. read more

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