MAY your beers always be fresh and craft-brewed

MAY THE FOURTH BE WITH YOU!!

5/6 - I have been wanting to see Avengers: Endgame again, and thanks to my buddy, Wayne, we found an interesting way to do that, and yet add to the experience even more.

 4DX is a brand-new movie format (at least to Nashville) now available at the Opry Mills Theaters where you go beyond the 3D visuals and actually feel movement, vibrations, weather elements, and even smells, choreographed with the movie's action.   Ashlee and I experienced this once before at the WWII Museum in New Orleans for a short historical narrative and loved it, but I wasn't sure about a 3-hour epic.   And, it's dang pricey!  But, hey, let's give it a whirl!

The experience was fun, but a little distracting to be honest.  The jerky movements of the seats made you laugh at times in the film when it was serious and "weather" you kept the water on or not at your seat, you were getting hit by some  spray including during fight scenes to imitate blood spattering...gross.  I don't seeing us doing this again unless it's a repeat we wanna see again like tonight.  Not sure this fad will last for Hollywood movies to be honest...

Beforehand, I stopped at Homegrown Taproom for dinner and a couple brews and found someone had made a larger doorway there thanks to their giant pick-up truck's ass...OK, they've gotten big enough I think!  They were still open for business, just not on Mondays, which I forgot about, so I had to move on.  My little miscalculation actually helped me discover a pretty good new-to-me place.  I stopped by Scoreboard Bar and Grill on Music Valley Drive near Opry Mills after seeing they had a  pretty good beer list on UNTAPPD.  Their food was surprisingly good and there was no smoking which I really liked.  I had a bottle of the decent Lombardi Golden Ale from Sand Creek Brewing  (WI) with my meal.  Sand Creek was a new brewery for me to try and earned me a new Brewery Pioneer Badge for 245 different breweries checked in on UNTAPPD.  Salute!!   

5/8 -  I went solo tonight to catch a showing of True Grit for its 50th Anniversary, and the first time for me seeing it on the big screen at the Hollywood 27 Theaters (recliners!).   Despite the fact that it looks like John Wayne was an old racist prick, the movie is still a classic although I actually think I like the sequel, Rooster Cogburn and the Lady, even better. 

I stopped by the Black Abbey Brewing Company beforehand for a few brews.  I started with their terrific Corsair Ms. Adventure Barrel-Aged Special Belgian dubbel.  Next up was my favorite of the visit, their outstanding 5 Points With Lemon and Lime Peel (Cask Conditioned).  5 Points is their flagship IPA which I have had before, but this is a whole new ballgame!  I ended with a nice pilsner called the SMaSH Pils II that is a second collaboration with Hi-Wire Brewing out of Asheville, NC.  The interesting photo above is a shadow pic I took of their glass front door to the taproom reflecting onto a large cooler inside the brewery at sunset.  I went black and white for artistic effect.

5/16 - My pal, Wayne, and I attended John Wick 3 - Parabellum Opening Night tonight at the Hollywood 27 Theaters in Nashville (recliners!).  This awesome fan-art poster above by Eileen Steinbach, is better than anything Hollywood has produced.  Beforehand, I stopped by the fairly new Jackalope Brewing location in Wedgewood known as The Ranch for a few brews:  

  

My first pint at Jackalope was their whopping 8.8% ABV doppelbock called Gator.  This German-born American was impressed and can't recall ever seeing a German-style beer with that much ABV punch.  We just do it better here!  What better brew to earn me a badge on UNTAPPD in honor of American Craft Beer Week.  Cheers!

.  Next up was a Jackalope pint was their red IPA called I Like It, I Love It which I did very much.   I hit an UNTAPPD milestone with this one as my 300th beer checked in with a high IBU level.  Salute to the hops!!

I ended with their low-gravity (but high quality) English bitter they call Leyak since I needed to drive a short distance to the movie theater.  Three great beers for eleven bucks!  THIS IS WHY AMERICA IS GREAT!!  

5/17 - I had day off today before flying out to south Florida tonight for a much-needed vacation to celebrate our 18th wedding anniversary.  It was a beautiful, sunny day, so after completing a few chores around the house, I hit the pool for some floating relaxation.  One of my "chores" was to zip over to Lebanon Wine and Spirits and grab a 3-beer-variety-pack to enjoy this afternoon.  First up was the very good Tailgate Lager from Tailgate Brewing here in Nashville.  I thought their state-shaped bar-code on the back of the can was pretty cool.
Next up was a bottle of golden ale from Abita Brewing (LA) cleverly called the SubtleTea.  It definitely was subtle and smooth and perfect for the pool.  

I ended my afternoon of relaxation with another golden ale this time in a can and this time from Victory Brewing (PA) called Summer Love...with these warm temps in late May, it was close enough for me! 

5/18 -  After a delayed flight the night before that squashed a plan I had of checking out a Ft. Lauderdale brewery near our airport hotel, we got up early today to grab our rental car back at the airport and head south thru the beautiful Florida Keys toward Key West.  A few stops were necessary along the way, of course...

Our first stop was the well-known Lorelei Restaurant and Cabana Bar in Islamorada for lunch and a brew.  We got a waterfront table, some fresh cracked conch, and, man, it was nice to be back in The Keys.  I have missed them so.  I had a draft pint of  Islamorada Ale (Citrus Ale) from the local Islamorada Beer Company (photo above, talk about a brew with a view).  This blonde ale was light and crisp and perfect for the steamy humid temps already here this far south.  I followed with a draft pint of the so-so Sandbar Sunday pale wheat ale also from IBC, but the view remained great! 

Our next stop was just a hop, skip and jump down the road to the historically famous Tiki Bar at Holiday Isle in Islamorada.  This place got the living shit kicked out of it back in 2017 by Hurricane Irma and was closed for almost a year before reopening.  We are glad to have been able to visit today, but regret missing the original (built in 1969) during all our previous visits.  I had a pint of the really interesting and tasty Iguana Bait Honey Hibiscus Kolsch from nearby Florida Keys Brewing.  I also got to toast my first-ever encounter with  manatees and two of the gentle giants were floating nearby at the docks next to the bar.  

Our next stop was at our beautiful hotel in Key West called The Marquesa.  After seeing that we had a fridge in our super-nice suite, we headed over to Publix for some snacks and libations for the days ahead.  I couldn't do a craft beer variety pack unfortunately like you can back at the one at home, so I opted for a four-pack of pint cans of the excellent Reef Donkey pale ale from Tampa Bay Brewing (FL) which I enjoyed back at our hotel pool.  I hit another UNTAPPD milestone with this check-in of a beer from 250 different breweries.  Salute!! 

5/19 - Happy Anniversary to my beautiful and awesome wife, Ashlee.  It's been a great 18 years (and then some) and here's to many, many more.  I do appreciate her tolerating my obsession with craft beer.  She's a fan herself although not to my degree.  Here's a great shot of my love from the bottom of an empty glass of  60 Minute IPA from Dogfish Head Brewing (DE) at the famous Key West dive bar, The Green Parrot today.  

This historically cool bar, The Green Parrot, was a great stop on a muggy day in Key West after a revisit to the awesome home of Ernest Hemingway nearby.  I also had a pint draft glass of Monkey Fist IPA from Shipyard Brewing (ME) which I am pretty sure I have had before, but never checked in on UNTAPPD while listening to some great live music.  

A cool view of the Key West Lighthouse from the upstairs wrap-around porch of the Hemingway House.  Key West at it's best!

We sought out a late lunch next at Garbo's Grill which serves amazing food from a tiny air-stream trailer.  In front of the trailer is Hank's Hair of the Dog Pub where I got one of my favorite beers of the trip, the Session IPA from Veza Sur Brewing in Miami.  I was so busy enjoying it that, in fact, I forgot to check in on UNTAPPD until days later...doh!!  

We tried a lot of new places on this trip to Key West, but we also visited a few former loves including the always-great, Blue Heaven, restaurant for dinner tonight.  I had a can of the decent Poolside kolsch from JDub's Brewing (Sarasota, FL) with my meal.

5/20 - We signed up for an afternoon snorkeling trip today to the coral reefs out near the Sand Key Lighthouse.  It was a beautiful day on and in the water.  Before the boat left, we had a few minutes to kill and stepped into another former Key West love, the Waterfront Brewery, for a drink.  I had their pretty good light lager, Island Life, and a sip or two of Ashlee's good witbier called the Pudgy Pelican.

After our snorkeling trip, we had a late lunch at another historic Key West staple that we've actually never been to called Pepe's Cafe.  I had an awesomely fresh and tasty mahi-mahi fish sandwich along with a pint of Channel Marker session IPA from Islamorada Beer Company.

After resting up a bit, we headed back north before sunset to try and catch a glimpse of the endangered Key Deer on Big Pine Key.  We had a lot of success seeing several of the little beauties and from very close up.  We also had success in finding the notoriously hard-to-find No Name Pub at the end of Big Pine Key before the bridge to No Name Key (where we also saw more deer and a young couple catch a good-sized dogfish shark).  I had two pints of their signature No Name Pub Amber red ale along with some tasty pizza.   I had a weird feeling I was very close to a lot of money while drinking this brew...hmmmm.  

I took a late-night stroll a short distance from our hotel to check out the relatively-new Glitch Cafe and Game Room since it was our last night in Key West. The place is small, but pretty cool.  I had an excellent Sunrise City IPA from Sailfish Brewing (Fort Pierce, FL).  In my mind I poured a little out for The Porch, a great beer bar here in Key West that closed its door since my last visit.  Evidently one of the owners of The Porch opened this place which seems about right since they had a great list of beers on tap.

5/21 - We drove back north today to catch our evening flight home and made a few stops including a brief one at the  Florida Keys Brewing Company in Islamorada.  I had their tasty Run Aground Brown ale and admired some of their eclectic decorating including the cool sign above made of beer bottle caps.  I also toasted all the sea turtles on the mend at The Turtle Hospital in Marathon that we saw during our tour there earlier today.  Get well quick, fellas.  

5/25 - As we prepped for our Inflatathon 2019 Party tomorrow, I was also able to enjoy the pool and some brews around and in it while we worked.  I went to Mt. Juliet to grab some new-to-me growlers of beer for tomorrow and stopped by Publix also to get some "beer for the masses."  Along with some Miller Light (sorry to say) I also found an interesting 15-can-pack variety suitcase from Southern Tier Brewing (NY).  Of the five varieties I had only had one, so I grabbed it.  It was already cold, so I popped the first one as soon as I got back.  I started with their Lakeshore Fog IPA which was very good.  Next up was their Nu Juice IPA that was also outstanding.  The Live Session pale ale was bit of a let down after the first two, but still decent.  I finished with their fair-to-middlin' 8 Days A Week blonde ale.  

5/26 -   Just for the record, my wife posted this pic above first, so hold the angry feminist emails please.  Inflatathon 2019 was a ton of fun and as I mentioned above I got three growlers of new-to-me brews from Providence Wine and Spirits to enjoy during the festivities.  First up was Citra High IPA from Mad Tree Brewing (Cincinnati) and it was really good.  Next was the super-boozy and sweet (12.9% ABV!) Rye on Rye 6 from Boulevard Brewing (Kansas City).  The "6" signifies that the Templeton Rye Whiskey had been aged 6 years in the barrels that were used for this awesome concoction.  The finale was another IPA from Flying Tiger Brewing (LA) called Final Resting Place that was also damn good.   The growlers were very price, but the beers were all terrific.

Our friend, Nate, made it to the Inflatathon party and, as always, came bearing good craft brew gifts.  Thanks to him for sharing his growlers of  the Wallonia Woods saison and the Cordoba lager which are both from Nashville's newest (and closest to me!) craft brewery, Various Artists Brewing, over on Elm Hill Pike.  Both were tasty and unique.  I can't wait to visit these new kids on the block hopefully next week.  

5/30 - Tonight I attended Godzilla: King of the Monsters Opening Night at the Hollywood 27 Theaters (recliners!) in Nashville with my pal, Wayne.  And, yes, Ghidorah is my favorite monster, sorry, Zilla.  The movie was pretty good and I plan on seeing it again this weekend in the new wrap-around screen theater here at the Hollywood 27.
Before the show Ashlee (who dropped me off and went shopping while I was at the movie) and I stopped by The Black Abbey Brewing Company for a brew or two.  I started with the interesting-concept of their flagship IPA The 5 Points with Tequila Oak Chips (Cask Conditioned).  I thought the beer was good and smooth, but I neither tasted nor smelled any tequila or oak in the brew.  I finished with their excellent Irish Coffee Brown ale.   

If you hold it to your mouth IT IS the weekend! 

A Rousing Game of 52-YEAR Pick-Up

I have voices in my head, but don't get me wrong...we're good people...

It's my birthday month, time to mature and change my evils ways, right?  Nahh!

4/1 - I decided to take off a slow afternoon at work today and go check out the new film, Hotel Mumbai over at the Green Hills Theaters with its recliner seats since it was one of only two places that it was showing this week in Nashville.   It is a well-made, intense thriller that was hard to watch at times, but that I won't soon forget.  

4/4 - I was on my own tonight to catch opening night of  Shazam! at the Streets of Indian Lake Theaters in Hendersonville.  It was a very enjoyable movie.  It's nice to see DC getting its SHIZZam together as a movie studio.  Before the show, I had dinner and a couple craft brews at Growler USA a few doors down.    I started with a pretty good Powder white IPA from Rhinegeist Brewing (Cincinnati).  I finished with the juicy excellence of a Paradise Lost IPA from Southern Prohibition Brewing  (MS).  

4/5 - I had a good Friday night of online poker with a small win against 48 other players in a $5 Crazy Pineapple tournament for a $70+ profit, and then a 5th place finish in a larger $3 NLHE tournament vs. 123 other players for about $55 in profit.  

4/6 - I got this badge today even though National Beer Day is on 4/7.  At dinner in Chattanooga at a great Italian place called Il Primo that had a pretty primo beer list,  I had a solid On-Sight Alt from nearby Hutton and Smith Brewing. 

4/7 - Ashlee and I did celebrate National Beer Day today with a stop at Happy Trails Brewing in Sparta on our way back from Chattanooga.  She had the Pine Divine saison from the guest tap of nearby Calfkiller Brewing which I had a couple sips of and thought it was very good.  I chose Happy Trails' Twin Arches - Cappuccino Tiramisu brown ale that was outstanding.  This was Ashlee's first visit her and she was impressed.  

I got a cool early birthday present from my sister-in-law, Paige, today.  It's a great (and masculine) smelling candle housed in a cut beer bottle from Torched Products.  The label is theirs, but there are some Blackforest Lagers out there from different microbreweries according to UNTAPPD.  

4/9 - Tonight was the final Lebanon Poker Night for the season and it was a BIG ONE as my partner, Derek, and I held on to a slim 7-point lead for second place (which pays $2K) and we were 15 points behind first place which was probably going to very hard to overtake.  I got a variety 3-pack from Lebanon Wine and Spirits to help me through the night.   I started with a pint can of Mango Milkshake IPA from Honky Tonk Brewing over in Nashville.  It was light and tasty.  Next up was a dark and delicious bottle of Old Rasputin stout from North Coast Brewing (CA).  I have had this great beer before, but never checked it into UNTAPPD.  I finished with a so-so can of Can-O-Bliss Tropical IPA from Oskar Blue Brewing (CO and NC).
I never got my favorite hand last night, the above-shown pocket threes, which I have gotten for quads more than once live and many times online, but I did get quad sevens which won me a big pot over a full house!  I was maintaining a good stack and then I ran KK straight into AA for a nasty cooler to be knocked out in 5th.  Fortunately for us, my friend, John, who was right behind us in points got knocked out next and our seven-point lead held for the $2K second-place season win for me and Derek!  Congrats to my pal, Quintin, on his second time winning the league and going to Vegas again to represent us in the WSOP Main Event in July.

4/11 - I was scheduled to see Hellboy at the Opry Mills IMAX Theater tonight, but since it was getting horrendous reviews, I changed my plans and saw The Best of Enemies instead at the Providence Theaters in Mt. Juliet since it was getting better reviews, and I love pretty much anything Sam Rockwell does as an actor.   It was a moving and awesome film based on an inspiring true story.  I definitely think I made the best choice!

Before the movie, I stopped by Catch 22 in Mt. Juliet for dinner and a few craft brews.   I started with the must-have Stone Enjoy by 04.20.19 IPA since 4/20 is coming soon, happens to be my birthday, and Stone Brewing (CA) is my favorite craft brewer of them all.  It was excellent, as expected.

I got a cool little badge on UNTAPPD on my second check-in, the fruity and light Dragons and YumYums pale ale from Dogfish Head Brewing (DE).  It was OK, but a little tart for my taste if I am drinking a pale ale.

4/13 - Ashlee and I attended the hilarious comedy show of John Crist today at The Ryman.  Before the show, we had a very early and very tasty dinner at City Tap around the corner.  They have a great beer list, so I opened  with avery juicy and delicious Tropic Flare New England IPA from Braxton Brewing (KY).  

My second beer at City Tap was Game of Thrones: For the Throne Belgian strong golden ale from Ommegang Brewing (NY).  It was decent and seemed like a timely choice since the final season of the epic show starts this weekend.  Too bad I don't have HBO anymore...

4/14 - We had a great Sunday Funday today that included our first visit to the new (and "controversial"...whatever) Kid Rock's BIG ASS Honky Tonk.  They have a nice rooftop bar and it was a beautiful day despite being very windy.  The band was killer and the beer list was decent.  I had a pretty good Hippies and Cowboys IPA from Tennessee Brew Works here in Nashville which seems an appropriate beer for this fine establishment.  

Our next Sunday Funday stop was the also fairly new Pearl Diver tiki bar over in East Nashville.  What a cool place!  Someone dropped some serious coin creating this swanky joint.  I had a can of Rec. League, a New England style pale ale from Harpoon Brewing (Boston) that was just OK.   The food was better, so we will definitely be back.
Our real dinner came next back over in Wilson County at the always-great Cherokee Steak House where my pal, Charly, snuck in a bomber bottle of Dragons Milk (2018) imperial stout that we passed off as dark red wine.  It went terrific with my giant NY strip!! 

4/18 - I had a day off today and headed up to Hendersonville for an early showing of Disneynature's Penguins in IMAX at the Streets of Indian Lake Theaters.  It was very good with some amazing footage, and it's good to know some of what I paid goes to helping preserve their way of life.  Before the movie, I stopped by Growler USA for lunch and a couple brews.  I started with a pint of the awesome Frothy Monkey Coffee white stout from TailGate Brewing here in Nashville.  It's the first "white stout" I have had from a local brewer where it looks like a pale ale or pilsner, but has the body and flavor of a stout.  I closed out with a small 5 oz. pour of Guns 'n' Rose' fruit beer from Oskar Blues Brewing (CO and NC).   It might as well be a cider....yawn...not impressed.  

2015 throwback pic from our trip to Wisconsin for my birthday and our stop at Potosi Brewing taken by my pal, Danny.

4/19 - We went to City Winery with some friends as a pre-birthday celebration for me and saw the vastly underrated, Martin Sexton, perform.  His show was amazing, as was the food, and I even had a new beer from their decent beer menu despite being a winery.   I had two pints of the light and refreshing Technicolor pilsner from Bearded Iris Brewing here in Nashville.   

4/20 - My best present I got this year for my birthday today was being allowed by my awesome wife, Ashlee, a chance to play some tournament poker over in Cherokee, North Carolina over the weekend.  I headed that way this morning and stopped in Knoxville for lunch and a couple craft brews.  This was my first visit to the popular and fairly new Abridged Beer Company.  These guys are doing it right and even have the approval of their neighbors, a church, to use their large parking lot during business hours....you gotta love Presbyterians!  I had their famous Abridge Burger for lunch and it was supremely good.  I started the libation list with a Toppy Rock, an outstanding New England IPA (pictured above).  Being big UT fans since they are in KnoxVegas, the beer name is pretty outstanding as well.  Next up was a supremely solid Maple Latte' Junct double stout..  I ended with their Pride of Bearden English bitter (nitro version) that was also very good.  Good thing they had the Preds on the TV so I could kill some time to let these beers wear off before continuing my drive.

Who you callin' an old-timer?  Oh wait, yeah, that's me...Cheers! 

I thought I was making great time and was looking forward to winding through the Smoky Mountains National Park from Galtinburg to Cherokee when I discovered the road was closed over the Newfound Gap due to high winds (and probably snow and ice which I saw on the trees at higher elevations).  So, I had to wind my way around Hwy 321 near Crosby, TN back to the interstate.  At least I found this beautiful cascade along the road their to ease my pain.

I made it to Cherokee, NC just in time to check into my hotel (more like motel...but at least the room was clean and quiet) and buy-in to the nightly deep-stack tournament at the World Series of Poker Circuit stop at the Harrah's Casino.

Despite the structure being horrible, I eked out a small cash-out for a 25th place finish which would pay for most of  the buy-in for tomorrow's target tournament.

4/21 - I celebrated Easter morning with my own kind of sunrise service at my own kind of church:  the Church of Nature.  I took a short drive from my hotel and then a short, but steep, hike just after sunrise  up to Mingo Falls.  My pal, Craig and I, visited and photographed this beauty many years ago, and I impressed myself by remembering the unique shape of the falls before seeming them again.  I was the only person at the falls when I visited this morning, and it was a lovely, religious experience.

At noon I sat down for my first-ever seniors poker tournament which wound up with an amazing 440 entrants (with re-entries).  I never rebought in and lasted to about 190th place before taking a terrible bad beat that knocked me out.  I really enjoyed the experience (up to the end) and will definitely try and play again when possible.  

No, thank YOU North Carolina craft beer!  

4/22 - I woke up to a gorgeous day today and was bummed I had to leave the beautiful mountains, poker and beer of North Carolina, but I shall return for all three!!  The road through the Smokies was opened back up at least, so I got a pleasant drive thru without much traffic this morning.  The leaves aren't even out on the higher elevations as this shot above from Newfound Gap shows, but it won't be long.  

Another great stop and overlook on the way home was Bee Rock in Monterey just off I-40.  I discovered this place for the first time just back in January of this year, but now it all it's spring glory, it's a whole new experience.

My third great view of the day was back home in our pool and the first float of the year and first beer to accompany that float.  I got a four-pack of the tasty Stateside Saison (Remastered; 2017) from Stillwater Artisanal Brewing (Brooklyn, NY) at a liquor and beer store in Cookeville called Happy Hour.  They had a great selection of craft beer, but no singles to make variety packs, so I got something I knew I could share with Ashlee who let me go on this great trip to start with.  Cheers, honey, and thanks! 

4/23 -  My pal Wayne is a Titans season-tickets holder and I was his plus-one tonight at a 2019 NFL Draft pre-party on the rooftop at The George Jones in downtown Nashville.  The free food was delicious and plentiful.  The event was hosted by voice of the Titans, Mike Keith, and the guest speaker was former UT player and current NFL analyst, Charles Davis, who we also met briefly before his time in the spotlight breaking down the upcoming draft here in Music City.  The view from the rooftop was stunning thanks to mild weather and clear skies with high clouds.  In the foreground of the photo above is press row for the draft which starts in a couple days.  Thanks again, Wayne, for the invite.  

We also got a couple free drink coupons with our entry ticket and some nice Titans/Draft swag including this koozie of mine holding a Yuengling Traditional Lager which I have actually never checked in on UNTAPPD.  I started with a local favorite of mine, the Bearwalker brown ale from Jackalope Brewing here in Nashville.  

After the party we walked a few blocks over to the east end of Broadway to see the epic 2019 NFL Draft stage that has been erected.  Note the tractor-trailer in the foreground for perspective of just how big the stage is.  

As we walked closer to the stage, one of my favorite things I spotted in the busy background were these huge Hatch Prints of several NFL teams.  That is SO NASHVILLE! 

4/25 - Opening night of the NFL Draft in Nashville, be damned, my pal, Wayne, and I just had to be there for Opening Night of Avengers: Endgame in IMAX at Streets of Indian Lake Theaters in Hendersonville.  At three epic hours long, it was a great film and an amazing finish to a helluva run by the MCU.  Can't wait to see what they have in store for us next!  Before the show, we had dinner at Growler USA and with my terrific grilled chicken tacos I had a pint of the excellently smooth Slow Jam IPA from Rhinegeist Brewing (Cincinnati).  I also had a 5 oz. taster of the hilariously named double IPA Citra Ass Down from Against the Grain Brewing (Louisville) that was pretty good.   Thanks to Wayne for my dinner and brews as a late birthday present.  

4/26 - We did make it down for Day 2 of the 2019 NFL Draft in Nashville that has become quite the media phenomenon.  We broke attendance records with close to 600K over the three days.  

The "mystery" craft beer was pricey, but at least available, as a choice at the NFL Experience that was spread around Nissan Stadium.  

Mystery solved!  A can of The Rose blonde ale from Nashville's own Black Abbey Brewing was acquired.  Don't you think they should have served "draught" beer at "the draft?"

Titans OT, Taylor Lewan, was signing autographs, but I bet he'd rather being drinking beer...

The flying camera they had running up and down Broadway made for some cool TV shots as Music City showed off well to the world during the NFL Draft.  Before entering the fray of the huge crowds in front of the giant draft stage, we stopped in HQ Beercade for some snacks and beer and we were lucky to find immediate seating.  I had a good new-to-me IPA that I forgot to check-in (old people problems) and a light, but decent, Radler - Grapefruit and Blood Orange shandy from T.W. Pritchers' Brewing Company (San Francisco).  

We watched a majority of the second round of the 2019 NFL Draft with pretty good proximity to the stage.  It was a lot of fun and the crowds were jovial and polite to each other which was nice to experience.  Overall, it was one of the best times we've had in downtown Nashville in quite a while.  Oh, and TITAN UP!!  

4/27 - Incredibly, I talked Ashlee into driving 100 miles RT this afternoon to Hix Farm Brewery in Cookeville for a doughnuts and beer pairing.    Hix Farm is my favorite of the three breweries in Cookeville and when I saw they were pairing with doughnuts from the legendary Ralph's Donut Shop across the street, I knew I wanted to be there.  It was so worth the trip!!  The pairings were all excellent with the surprisingly best in our opinion being their Beer is My Weiss sour with Ralph's buttery chess square.  First up was their nice Corn Fed Cream Ale with a strawberry cake with cream doughnut.  They paired their solid Hix Tennessee Common (Kentucky Common) ale with a maple nut doughnut.  The finale was their excellent Papa's Peculiar Percolation coffee stout with a red velvet and cream doughnut.
We spent a little more time in Cookeville checking out an outdoor festival they were having and ended up at Father Tom's Pub where we split a giant burger for an early dinner and I had a half-pint of the really good Royal Quaff English Bitter from Calfkiller Brewing over in nearby Sparta.  

4/28 - I won a small crazy pineapple tournament tonight on Global Poker besting 38 other players and turning my $5 investment into almost $70.  I needed this for my confidence as I have been running pretty bad on here lately, and earlier tonight took a huge cooler to get knocked out of my WSOP online tourney very early in the going.  

4/29 - Ashlee did me another birthday-month favor and accompanied me tonight to a SOLD OUT Lucero Unplugged show at Acme Feed and Seed.  It took place on their private-events 3rd floor of which this was our first visit, and it's a great little venue.  They had a great opener, and Lucero's hour-long set was excellent.  I first saw these guys a couple years ago (see previous beer blog entry) open for Steve Earle, and have been intrigued with their sound, especially the unique gravelly voice of lead singer, Ben Nichols, ever since.   Before the show we had a tasty dinner downstairs, and I had a draft pint of the solid Jai Alai IPA from Cigar City Brewing (Tampa) which I have had before but never checked in on UNTAPPD.

Well, I do like continuous blood and love...