WESTERN G.A.M.E.(s)

It was time again for our annual Grown Ass Man Extravaganza (G.A.M.E.) Weekend to see the Tennessee Titans play on the road.  The 2017 trip was a bit of a shrunken version with it being scheduled so close to Christmas that a few of the regulars couldn't make it, so it wound up being just  me, Wayne and Danny.   We also added a new twist by not only adding a second destination but a second game as well with our newly beloved and rather successful Nashville Predators hockey team.  It was a whale of trip with nearly 6,000 miles of air travel logged and over 600 miles of car travel as well. 

12/15 - Our first destination was Calgary, Alberta, Canada to see the Predators take on the Flames.  Our flight from Nashville included a plane change in Newark, NJ, which provided a decent shot of a snowy Manhattan in the distance on approach to the airport.  

Our connection in Newark was actually delayed almost two hours due to the plane needing to be deiced.  I guess you definitely want these guys taking their time and doing this right.  The long 5-hour flight to Calgary otherwise went pretty well since we all three upgraded to business class for a little more leg room.  On the Air Canda flight to Calgary I had a decent pint can of  Original Organic Lager from Mill Street Brewing in Toronto (I also saw a Mill Street Brewing location in Calgary later on).

Obviously with the delay in Newark, we got to our hotel in Calgary near the airport rather late, but the restaurant there, the Tonic Kitchen and Bar, was still open and still serving food AND BEER.  My first official beer in Calgary was the IPA from the local Wild Rose Brewing.

When it comes to food and being in Canada, our group always seeks out  their delicious national dish of poutine ever since our Buffalo trip back in 2012.  This pic is actually our second helping of it on the trip, but we started with some of it at Tonic Kitchen and Bar as well.

12/16 - We were staying at the very cool Clique Hotel near the Calgary Airport since we had to get up very early on Sunday to make the Titans game.  This was actually a really nice place especially for an airport hotel.

Hot tubs on the roof + sunrise not until 8:30 AM = an early dip in 23 degree weather!
 Big thanks to Wayne for the photo.

Breakfast back in the  Tonic Kitchen and Bar was tasty and our somewhat grumpy waitress, Crystal, made us wait until 10 A.M. for me to create a "Canadian Shandy" with half 7-up, half Steam Whistle Pilsner from Steam Whistle Brewing in Toronto.  Wayne made me proud by drinking the other half of the shandy also.

With the whole day ahead of us before the game tonight, we Ubered into downtown and began our own city tour with stops at The Calgary Tower and the Peace Bridge as well as a bit of pub crawling at Trolley 5 Brewing, Cold Garden Brewing and Annex Ale Project.  We also had a sorta fancy dinner at the hip restaurant, Model Milk, just before the game. 

Our first stop was the iconic Calgary Tower.  We were very lucky with weather with temps being rather mild compared to usual and clear blue skies.

I call this one "The Canadian Float."

Stop # 2 was the ultra-cool Peace Bridge that spans the Bow River that snakes through downtown Calgary.

Our lunch stop (yep, poutine was ordered here - see photo above) was at Trolley 5 Restaurant and Brewing where I had a 5-beer sampler (as did Danny).  Mine included their core beers which were all solid:  The Conductor Beltline Lager,  First Crush White IPA, Derailed Pale Ale, High Five IPA (best of the bunch) and their Hey Porter. 

My favorite stop of the day (and my favorite beers of the day) was the funky, super-social and super-busy Cold Garden Beverage Company.  We had a great time here interacting with locals who were friendly throughout our visit to Calgary.  The place was very dog-friendly and I have never seen so many dogs in such a small place that were being so well-behaved.  I did another sampler flight here (as did Danny) of four very unique beers that included:  This Must Be the IPA, The All-Nighter Vanilla Cappuccino Porter (best of the bunch), the Cakeface Vienna lager and the Canadian Cereal Ale Vol. 1.  I also had a sip of Danny's tasty Red Smashed in Buffalo Jump ale and finished with a pint of The Fall of Sean Spicer Rye Oatmeal Hef. which I have to admit the name was better than the beer itself, but I again applaud the uniqueness of the concoction itself as well as it's hilarious moniker.

Our last stop on the impromptu Calgary Brewery Crawl was Annex Ale Project where I had a very good Posthuman IPA. Thanks to Wayne for finding this place because it was not on my original research list and also thanks to Wayne for being a good sport for going along to these places even though he is not a fan of beer.  But Wayne always makes the most of these visits.  In fact, he found an interesting ring someone left at Cold Garden and then spotted an amazing piece of art (Wonder Woman, of course) on the way from there to here.  

Breaking the law in Canada.  Photo by Wayne

Love this badge from UNTAPPD.  How did they know we were about to go watch some hockey, eh?

At  our tasty dinner at Model Milk Restaurant just before the game,  I had a decent Blindman River Session Ale IPA from Blindman Brewing here in Alberta. 

ON TO THE GAME!!

As I mentioned before, this is the first official Nashville Predators road game we've ever attended on a G.A.M.E. weekend, even though Danny and I and his wife, Brenda, traveled to New York and Boston last year as a hybrid make-up trip for the Titans game in Miami we had to miss due to Hurricane Matthew.  (https://seerobsbeerblog.blogspot.com/2017/03/new-york-vs-boston-beer-wars-2017.html).

There were a good amount of Preds fans in attendance and we even made the predsnhl twitter feed.

 It was an exciting game for many reasons including the fact that we were in 1st place in the Western Conference when the game started,  the game was the feature event for Hockey Night in Canada (their version of Monday Night Football with a national broadcast) and we scored a resounding 2-0 shutout win to stay in 1st place in The West!!

We were able to get down on the glass before the game during warm ups and Wayne got this hilarious picture of  defenseman and alternate captain, Mattie Ekholm, hamming it up for us.

12/17 - Up at 3 AM, at the airport by 4 AM, leaving Calgary at 6 AM - are we dedicated...or just crazy?

We  flew Alaska Air to San Jose and had a connection in Seattle that went really smooth in terms of coming back into the U.S. and no flight delays on either leg.  In fact, we landed in San Jose ahead of schedule giving us more than a 2-hour window to check in to our hotel near the stadium and then get over there with more than an hour before the game started.

I had tasty can of Icy Bay IPA from Alaskan Brewing (Juneau) on the Alaska Air leg from Seattle to San Jose.

I got some great pics from the plane thanks to great weather once again.  I think this is Mt. Shasta in Northern California.

Another great shot of San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge.

We had a ton of fun before the game goofing around with tons of people wanting their picture with Wayne as Titans Santa.  Our family pic here was in the "Yahoo Fantasy Football Trophy Room" backdrop.

We had great seats for the game and the new Levi's Stadium is awesome, but  it was another tough and annoying loss for the Titans as the 49'ers kicked a game-winning field goal as time expired for a 25-23 final.   At the game I had an overpriced and underwhelming Alcatraz Amber red ale from San Francisco Brewing.

We drowned our sorrows in grease with a visit to In-N-Out Burger after the game.

12/18 - It was time to forget about the Titans loss and focus on Mother Nature instead today.  We slept in and waited for the San Francisco/San Jose rush hour to die down before taking our rental SUV deep into Nor Cal up Highway 101 several hours to the Humboldt Redwood State Park and the Avenue of the Giants.

It was a long drive, but well worth the effort.  This place is unbelievable.  (Thanks to Wayne for this perfectly framed photo.)

Now THAT is some perspective on just how big these redwoods are.  Thanks again to Wayne for the photo, but almost no photo does justice to actually standing at the base of these gigantic trees and looking up.  

We headed a bit farther north after dark to the town of Fortuna and Eel River Brewing for some dinner and beers, of course.  The food was outstanding and their beers were solid.  I only had the interesting Organic Tropical Sparkling Ale with dinner and a sip of Danny's heavy Conspiracy of Ravens imperial oatmeal stout.

The cabins we stayed in at Red Crest Resort along the Avenue of the Giants were clean, spacious and full of good amenities.  A couple more days here would have been fine with me.  

The two reasons I didn't have more beer at dinner were sitting in the fridge back at the cabin.  Earlier in the day I had bought a couple of Eel River Brewing bombers including their tasty Organic India Pale Ale and their super-citrusy Emerald Triangle IPA.

12/19 - Time to head south again with a turn off Highway 101 westward out to Highway 1, the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) for some ocean views (and brews).

I call this one the "TREE amigos."  Photo courtesy of Wayne's big, long arm.  It was tough to leave the beautiful redwoods this morning, but time waits for no man...let alone, three of them.

Sunrise along The Eel River.

The Avenue of the Giants.

Squeeze on in to the Shrine Drive-Thru Tree in Myers Flat. Thanks for the picture, Danny.

The amazingly beautiful northern California coast.  Hard to get to but worth the effort.

Just me, the ocean and the birds.  Thanks for  the photo Danny.

We had a tasty lunch and some brews at the North Coast Brewing Taproom.  I have liked these guys for a long time, so getting to stop here is definitely a check off the old Beer Bucket List.  With lunch I had the yummy Pranqster Belgian golden ale and the Le Merle saison which was excellent also.

As darkness and rainy weather started to close in we made a brief stop at the Arena Point Lighthouse where we were told rather rudely that the place was closed although the open gate seemed to say otherwise since we only wanted a quick look and a few pics.  This was our second not-so-nice encounter with Northern Californians today.  Maybe they should take a cue from the folks in Calgary about how to treat visitors spending time and money in their area...just sayin'....

12/20 - It was fly-home day and I finished my new-beers list with a free (drink coupon!) 12th of Never Ale from Lagunitas Brewing (CA) on our Southwest flight back to Nashville that connected through Las Vegas.

One last great pic from the plane just before landing in Las Vegas where we had some nasty turbulence coming in and going out of Sin City.    Otherwise, we got home safe and sound and added another great G.A.M.E. weekend to the history books!