I-P-A RIVER: August 2018

WWND. What would Norm do?

8/1 - Nothing like starting a new month off with a good online poker score! I took down first place tonight in a Global Poker $10 deep stack tourney vs. 177 other players for a nifty $370 profit! I like the structure of this tourney and have played it a few times with no real success, so it was nice to get that monkey off my back in a big way.

8/2 - The winning streak continued tonight with a nice little second place finish in a crazy little $3 turbo tournament with 74 other people in it for a $50+ profit.

8/3 - Ashlee and I headed to Bryson City, North Carolina, today to hang out in the mountains for a long weekend. It was a 4-hour drive so I imbibed a bit as she drove. I had a pint of Napoleon Complex pale ale from Wicked Weed Brewing (Asheville, NC) which I got at a gas station and it was really good. I have had this one before earlier this year at a Preds playoff game in Bridgestone Arena, and I just love the can artwork. It's so pretty, in fact, the check-out girl didn't even realize it was a beer!

A real surprise to us was the fact that our route to Bryson City included the very famous "Tale of the Dragon" on TN Highway 129 that has 318 curves in just 11 miles. Our new Subaru Outback ate it up!!

At Deal's Gap on the TN/NC border and the official end of the Tail of the Dragon is this cool metal dragon sculpture.

Another great surprise find along the way is the amazingly beautiful and historic Tapoco Lodge and Tavern where we stopped for a brew with an incredible view of the Cheoah River rushing by. I had a delicious draft pint of Sweet Josie brown ale from Lonerider Brewing over in Raleigh, NC. We are already making plans to come back here and stay for birthday in April 2019.

Inside the awesome Tapoco Lodge, Robbinsville, NC.

We got to Bryson City in time to check into our sweet rental house on the edge of town and within walking distance to Mountain Layers Brewery to watch the sunset from their rooftop patio. Cheers! What a great day! While there I had their solid Silly Puppy Pale Ale (photo above), a taste of Ashlee's Whaddayear Wit that was pretty good and a What Three Words IPA that was decent. I finished the night off enjoying the rental house and watching some "Live PD" with our friends who joined us for the weekend. I cracked open a couple canned beers that I had brought to consume when we tubed in nearby Deep Creek tomorrow, but since a lot of rain lately made the creek at flood stage, tubing was out, but drinking beer is always in! I had a can of the excellent Fugli (2018) IPA from Oskar Blues (NC) Brewery and a Slap Fight IPA from Monday Night Brewing in Atlanta that was also very tasty.

8/4 - Even though we couldn't tube Deep Creek, we had a great Saturday in the Bryson City area and the beauty was everywhere if you just looked for it.

All the rain the week before also meant the waterfalls in the area were booming! This is Juney Whank Falls which flows into Deep Creek just inside the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and just a couple miles from our rental house.

Back at the rental house after our early hike and town exploration with a view of the mountains and the cool train caboose which was part of our rental house, I cracked open a couple more of the 4-pack variety can beers I brought from Lebanon Wine and Spirits. I had the very tasty Spotlight white IPA from Braxton Brewing (KY) and an underwhelming UFO Pineapple hefeweizen from Harpoon Brewery (Boston).

This afternoon we drove about 20 miles to the town of Sylva, NC, and saw the filming location of the train vs. bus scene from the classic 1993 film, The Fugitive. I tweeted the pic to a couple of the top editors with Collider.com that I listen to on a movie podcast who were talking about the film recently and this excellent non-CGI scene. They both responded fairly quickly and positively which was pretty cool. When we got back to Bryson City, I stopped in Nantahala Brewing Company and got a bomber bottle of their amazingly good Spearfinger Chocolate Stout that I consumed back at the rental house sitting around an outdoor fireplace listening to the tree-frogs chorus. Another great day in the mountains!

8/5 - It was time to head back home after a trip that was way too short. We did have a full day and good weather to get back, so we tackled The Tail of the Dragon again and stopped again at the Tapoco Lodge and Tavern for a brew, this time with all of our friends joining us. I had a light, but refreshing, Wayah Lager from Currahee Brewing over in Franklin, NC, at their stunning outdoor bar. Can't wait to come back here in April 2019! We stopped for lunch in Lenior City, TN, at a place call Aubrey's that had great food and some local beer on tap, so I had an Yee-Haw Eighty Scottish ale from Yee-Haw Brewing up in Johnson City, TN. I had this one before in a bottle way back in 2016 hanging out at our then-new pool.

8/6 - It was a 3-score night for me in online poker tonight with two final table finishes in small tournaments for a combined cash of over $100, plus earning a ticket to a future $50 tournament on Global Poker. I got fifth in a $3 tourney with 109 other players in it. I got second in another $3 turbo tourney with 101 other people in it. The $5 turbo satellite tourney had 74 other players in it with the top 13 getting tickets to any future $50 tournament on the site.
8/7 - Another final table tonight in a $3 tourney with a 5th place finish for a $30+ profit.

8/8 - I went and saw a screening of The Big Lebowski 20th Anniversary at the Thoroughbred Dine-In Theaters in Cool Springs tonight with my friends Brenda, Danny and Kyle. What a classic...but, that's just like my opinion, man. Beforehand, I just had enough time to stop by Mantra Artisan Ales in Franklin and have their IPA from the Mantra Humulus Project: Rethink, which was as hazy and as tasty as they come.

8/9 - Finally! A REAL craft beer bar in Wilson County once again!! (RIP, Wow Wingery and Lady Godiva Pub). I checked out Catch 22 last night in Mt. Juliet and was really impressed with the number of beers on tap, the food (their street tacos app was excellent) and the overall atmosphere of the place. I hope it does well. I will give it my patronage as often as I can. I started with a draft pint of The Hemperor HPA IPA from New Belgium Brewing (CO) that was good and hoppy. I finished with a decent Stammtisch German pilsner from Urban Chestnut Brewing (St. Louis). Afterwards I saw the ho-hum new film Meg at the Providence Theaters also in Mt. Juliet. I really enjoyed the audio book of this albeit far-fetched giant prehistoric shark story, but the special F/X on this one were pretty lackluster. If you're gonna have an outlandish story, at least get your CGI right.

8/10 - I took the afternoon off from work today and headed down to Murfreesboro to use my dying MoviePass account and check out the acclaimed film, Eighth Grade, at the AMC 16 Theaters there. I honestly thought it was a little slow and so-so despite all the critics loving it. Beforehand, I had lunch and a couple brews at the newly-opened Boombozz Craft Pizza and Taphouse also in Murfreesboro. I had the pretty decent Boombrew Barrel-Aged American Blonde Ale from Goodwood Brewing (Louisville) to start things off (far right in photo above). I followed that up with the OK Peche Et Creme blonde ale from Mantra Artisan Ales over in Franklin (left in photo above). I finished off with a small pour of the decent Brewer's Day Off gose which was more tart than sour and was a good chaser after my spicy and delicious chicken fajita pizza.

8/11 - Another solid score on Global Poker with a 3rd place finish in a rebuy tourney with 77 other folks where I turned $22 (one rebuy, no add-on) into over $175 in profit. Not bad while hanging around (and even in) the pool to complete this one on my phone!

8/12 - It was a beautiful night for an outdoor show at the Ascend Amphitheater and the trio of Lucinda Williams, Steve Earl and Dwight Yoakam (the "LSD" Tour) did just that. The sunset exploded over Music City as Earle and his Dukes blasted out the outlaw country that was not always accepted here, and still isn't as popular as the puke-inducing bro-country scene. I found two unique canned beers for the show and despite the steep price, they were both pretty good. I started with a pint can of Front Row golden ale from Starr Hill Brewery (VA) followed by another pint can of the dark-as-midnight Black Lager from Urban Chestnut Brewing (St. Louis).

8/14 - I got dragged shopping tonight with my wife, Ashlee, and her mom, Evelyn, but they made me an offer that I couldn't refuse. We had dinner beforehand at one of my favorite places, Homegrown Taproom, where I had the amazingly good philly mac-n-cheese. The dead soldier you see there was my first of four 8 oz. pours (Two-fer Tuesday!) that I had with dinner. First down the gullet was the excellent Entropic Theory IPA from MadTree Brewing (Cincinnati). My freebie to follow was the decent Southeast IPA from TailGate Brewing here in Nashville. I was surprised at the tartness of the next one I ordered, the Raspberry Truffle W-n-B imperial oatmeal stout from Terrapin Brewing (GA). It was decent, but I need a little more sweetness in my "dessert beers." My last freebie was a good Amber lager from Abita Brewing (LA).

8/15 - I went and saw the slow, but interesting Spike Lee film, BlacKKKlansman, tonight over at the Providence Theaters in Mt. Juliet. Beforehand, I had just enough time to down a delicious banana-heavy Uprisin' Hefeweizen from Hi-Wire Brewing (Asheville) at the new Catch 22 Gastropub in MJ.

8/16 - I took my usual two-week day off today so I could go watch the Titans scheduled practice with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. I started with a good breakfast at Waffle House, then actually meet a customer for work on my way to St. Thomas Sports Park for the late morning training camp. The rain held off for the most part while I was there and I got to see a lot including this sweet catch shown below from #22, Derrick Henry, who is such a big dude with such good hands.

Afterwards, I stopped by Craft Brewed and had a couple libations before catching a matinee of the silly animated film Teen Titans Go! To the Movies at Hollywood 27 while my MoviePass card still works.

The excellent and super-hoppy Stone 22nd Anniversary Anti-Matter Double IPA (from my still-favorite California craft brewer of them all) went down smooth and easy.

A little thin, but still flavorful, the No Chill milk stout from Prairie Artisan Ales (Tulsa, OK).

8/18 - I knocked a couple more regional waterfalls off the Must-See List today by going north into Macon County and the city of Lafayette, TN.

Pretty Union Camp Falls gets its name from back in the Civil War when Union Troops camped in the area.

The Winding Stairs Park and Cascade are right in the city limits of Lafayette and this picture does no justice to how beautiful and unique this place is. Definitely worth another visit for more in-depth exploration.

We met up with, Scott, an old work colleague and friend of Ashlee's who was in Nashville for work tonight and had dinner at the always-great Tansuo restaurant for some high-end Chinese food. They also have a good beer list and I started with a draft of Hitachino Nest White Ale from the Kiuchi Brewery (Japan). I have had this light and tasty beer before, but never checked it in on UNTAPPD. I finished with the so-so Lucky Budda lager from Lucky Drink Brewery (Australia) that came in this great bottle (photo above).

To finish the night off next door at The Mockingbird, I had a pint of Lilio'i Kepolo witbier from Avery Brewing (CO). Once again I liked the container more than the beer which had a few too many sour notes for me.

8/21 - I got to the final table and a decent 8th place finish in the huge nightly $7K Guaranteed rebuy on Global Poker tonight. I bought in for $5, added on for $5 and cleared $148 in profit. There were 543 other players along with rebuys.

8/22 - I finally got to see the new film, Alpha, tonight thanks to MoviePass at the Providence Theaters in Mt. Juliet. Fairly predictable, but a pretty good movie overall. I wanted to stop by Catch 22 beforehand for a beer, but I ran out of time.

8/23 - I went up to Hendersonville tonight to catch the film, Mile 22, with MoviePass at the theaters at the Streets of Indian Lake (recliners!). Despite the terrible reviews, I wanted to see it for myself because it was made by one of my favorite directors, Peter Berg. Don't always trust reviews! I thought it was a solid film that was very unpredictable and interestingly different from most action genre drivel you see these days. Beforehand, I stopped by Growler USA for a couple of brews and there was a rep there from Appalachian Mountain Brewery over in Boone, NC, whose products are now available in Tennessee. I got some sweet swag (photo above) and had two solid beers of theirs: the citrusy Long Leaf IPA and the fragrant Spoaty Oaty pale ale.

8/25 - Our friend, Rex, flew into town from Atlanta today for a weekend visit and since Ashlee has some other obligations most of the weekend, I became the primary tour guide. I did my best, and luckily Rex likes craft beer because you know any tour that I organize is going to involve some (OK, a lot!). Our first stop was New Heights Brewing where I had their Coconut Navel Gazer imperial stout which was good albeit a bit lacking in the overall coconut flavor that I was looking for. Since it was super-crowed at New Heights, we moved on to Smith and Lentz Brewing which was a little less crowded and we were able to get seats at the bar. I had their excellent Thunder Gun IPA.

We stayed in East Nashville for an early dinner just up the street at Nobles Kitchen and Beer Hall where I had pretty good Guaybere pale ale from Cigar City Brewing (Tampa), and an East Bank Citra IPA (my favorite of the day) from East Nashville Brewing. Our waitress at Nobles wore a shirt that pretty much described our day in Nashville (photo above).

After dinner, we ubered down to the Cumberland River to board the Pontoon Saloon for a 7 PM cruise. We had to dodge a lot of car and foot traffic to get to the boat as Taylor Swift was playing at the Titans stadium next door (that's where Ashlee was with our niece, Ella). It's BYOB on the Pontoon Saloon, so I stopped by Lebanon Wine and Spirits earlier in the day and got us a variety 6-pack with three new-to-me brews. First up was the solid Oktoberfest marzen from Cigar City Brewing (Tampa). Next up was the excellent Stone Idolatrous IPA from my still-favorite-of-them-all craft brewery, Stone Brewing (CA). We finished the fun cruise with beautiful weather with a tasty Icelandic Wee Heavy Scotch ale from Einstok Brewery (Iceland).

After the cruise, we met our friend, Brenda, at Opry Mills Mall for a late-night showing of the classic film, 2001: a space odyssey on its 50th anniversary re-release for the first time ever in IMAX. It was very cool seeing this ground-breaking film on the giant screen, but admittedly it's a little slow at times, and their might have been a little snoozing among us with full bellies and a lot of beer throughout the day.

8/26 - We took it a little slower today, and after sleeping in we headed to Homegrown Taproom for a late lunch where I had a couple new-to-me half-pints including the pretty good IPA from Starr Hill Brewing (VA) called The Hook. I finished with a tasty Zirkusfest marzen from Hi-Wire Brewing (Asheville, NC). After lunch we headed over to the unique Berry Hill neighborhood of Nashville to the House of Blues Recording Studios looking for a Dolly Parton mural We didn/t have any luck finding Dolly, but we did stumble upon this beautiful likeness (and makeshift shrine) of the recently-departed musical legend,Aretha Franklin which was a nice surprise. An even bigger surprise (at least for me) was when one of my favorite musical artists of all time, Steve Earle, came ambling out the front door of one of the little studios and we got to meet him.!! I even shook his hand, but in my dumbfoundedness, I forgot to get a picture with him. Dohh! The rain set in afterward washing out any more mural hunting, so I got Rex back to the airport for his short flight home. Come back anytime, Rex, but be prepared for more beer and more fun!