FRANK+ASHE+CHAR = G.A.M.E. Weekend

It is G.A.M.E. Weekend again and while our Titans are about the most woeful offensive team I have seen in many years, we still manage to have a great time around the game itself.  We chose the Carolina Panthers game this season and headed to Charlotte, North Carolina via a couple other overnight stops in Frankfort, Kentucky, and Asheville, North Carolina also. 

10/30 - Ashlee and I picked up our pal, Jeremy, at the airport who was flying in from Salt Lake City, Utah, for the GAME Weekend.   We stopped at Homegrown Taproom for dinner and I had an excellent Vadose Zone stout from Hutton and Smith Brewing down in Chattanooga.  Later in evening back at home, I sipped on a pretty good Simpler Times Lager from Minhas Brewing (WI).  This was the first of a four-beer variety pack I got from Trader Joe's grocery store over in Green Hills last weekend.

10/31 -Four of our group of six going to see the Titans game, headed out early today due north to Kentucky to take in some of the famous Bourbon Trail.  Since my pal, Jeremy, came the farthest for this weekend, and loves bourbon, it only seemed right to include this area in the trip if possible.  Joining us were my good friends, Danny, from Brentwood, and Chris from Chattanooga.  

Our first stop was Willett Distillery for a light lunch and cocktails since they weren't having any tastings or tours that fit our schedule.  Even though this wasn't one our drinks in the video below, the bartender was cooking up some spooky concoctions for Halloween, and ours were excellent, especially the hot High Tea with bourbon.  

Our next stop was Woodford Reserve Distillery where we did get to a do nice tasting of their wares.  This place is really nice and their bourbon is fairly legendary.  The Double Oaked was my fave.

My favorite stop of the day was next at Castle and Key Distillery.  It's a fairly new distiller using a unique historic building and grounds.  Since their bourbon is still in the aging process, the could only offer gin and vodka after their brief tour, but it was good stuff mixed in a couple of very tasty cocktails. 

After checking in to our hotel in Frankfort, we traveled a short distance to  Buffalo Trace Distillery for their Ghost Tour.  I have done this one before, but it was pretty cool to do it again on Halloween.  

I even got a new brewery visit in while here in the land of bourbon, Sig Luscher Brewing was right around the corner from our hotel.  It was a cold walk as the temps dipped below freezing tonight, but the beer was just as cold inside and pretty darn good.  I started with a pint of their 1866 Lager (photo above) that was tasty.  Next was their Oktoberfest Lager which was equally solid.  This is a heritage brewery honoring the colorful character and brewer, Sigmund Luscher, who came from Switzerland in 1866 to Frankfort.

11/1 - We headed southeast toward Asheville, North Carolina, this morning where we were going to try out our first yurt glamping experience.  On the way, we took a nice detour to Cumberland Gap National Park.  The winding road up to the Pinnacle Overlook was worth it with this amazing view of three states( KY to the right, TN straight ahead and VA to the left).  We timed it good with weather too as the rain (or snow  up here at 2,220+ feet)  from the last couple days had moved on giving us miles and miles of visibility. 

We dipped back into Tennessee briefly and stopped for a lunch at the Frosty Mug in Harrogate. Despite the name, this little retro drive-in doesn't serve beer without the word root in front of it, but their food is fantastic.  Best Philly cheese-steak I have had in a good while! 

The yurts at Mountain Springs Cabins just outside Asheville, NC, were much cooler than I even expected.  Our group of six now, since my pals, Wayne and Charly, met us here coming in from Nashville, had plenty of room with both of these units and two private baths in the bathhouse next door.  There is a beautiful stream in the tree line behind them as well, and we were fortunate that the autumn color had arrived a little late this year here in the mountains.  We headed into Asheville for dinner at the Westville Pub/777 Brewery where I had the very nice All Sevens Porter with my tasty meal.

The inside of the yurts were cozy and spacious with plenty of beds to go around!

After dinner we stopped the awesome beer store in Asheville called Appalachian Vintner and picked up a good amount of craft beer to take back and enjoy at the campground deep into the night around a nice fire that was definitely needed as the temps dropped to around freezing again tonight.  I bought a six-pack of the Topwater blonde ale from Fonta Flora Brewery over in nearby Morganton, NC.  It was much hoppier than I was expecting, so I was much happier than I was expecting!  Danny gave me one of his six pack of Cocoa Bolo Coconut Brown ales from Burial Brewing in Asheville.  It was outstanding as well.  I also got a variety 4-pack that I will be taking care of over the next few weeks...stay tuned!!  

11/2 - We awoke to a very frosty morning and an interesting track on the back of Wayne's pickup truck.  Young bear perhaps snooping for food?  We think so although we couldn't find any other tracks.  There was also a garbage can knocked over nearby.  The guys said they also heard coyotes last night but not me (zzzzzz).  

It seemed appropriate that we chose to have breakfast at the local Asheville favorite, The Hungry Bear Cafe.  The food was awesome, and we felt very safe knowing there was a bear on guard duty outside.
We continued east after breakfast a couple hours to downtown Charlotte, North Carolina, and checked in to our Hilton hotel in walking distance of the Panthers home stadium.   To our surprise we learned it was also the Titans team hotel although, sadly, we didn't have any close encounters of the two-tone blue kind.

We headed out on foot in search of beer and found The Carolina Taphouse near our hotel.  Their beer selection was less than impressive so we had one and moved on.  I had their decent Papa Lou's pale ale made for them by Lonerider Brewing over in Raleigh.   We decided to Uber to a nearby local craft brewery called Birdsong Brewing.  Now THIS is what we were looking for!!  Great beer and a cool as hell place.  Their bird logo (photo above) is pretty cool too.  I started with their awesome Rich Girl Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Porter 2019.   I had a sip of Wayne's Windy Hills Hard Cider that they also make here.  It wasn't bad.  Charly gave me a sip of his Wake Up Coffee Vanilla Porter that was really good also. I was a little let down by my next selection, their Mexicali Stout.  I was expecting more of a jalapeno kick that was advertised.

We walked over to a where a local moonshine distiller was supposed to be only to find it was permanently closed (thanks a lot, Groupon).  Some friends that Ashlee and I made on a cruise a while back, John and Jessica Shurley, live here in Charlotte and met us at Birdsong Brewing.  When the moonshine place was a bust, the Shurleys came to the rescue with a suggestion to visit the awesome Old Mecklenberg Brauhaus and Biergarten and even gave a couple of us a ride in their convertible while the rest of us jumped in an Uber.  We didn't have a ton of time here which is too bad since it's such a cool place.  But I did have their top-notch Fat Boy Baltic Porter.

Gotta give a shout out to my old pal, Wayne, for downing a large pint of hefeweizen while at Old Mecklenberg Brewing.  Wayne's pretty anti-beer, but is always a good sport about visiting breweries with me.  Maybe he's starting to come around although he did complain it was too hoppy for him.  But, Wayne, it's a heff.  The hops you are tasting are in your head, not in your beer!!  

We had to get back across town to catch the new flick Terminator Dark Fate at the fancy Studio Movie Grill Epicenter back near our hotel.  It's a nice place where you can order tasty food to your seat as well as beer.  I had the Copper altbier from Old Mecklenberg.  The movie was OK, but kind of a repeat of the original and sequel.  What happened to creativity in Hollywood?
After the movie we stopped by World of Beer nearby and I ended the fun day with a Hot Pistol 2019 stout from NoDa Brewing here in Charlotte.  

11/3 - (Happy Birthday, Momma.  I miss you every day.)  Chris and I were the only ones willing to forgo the free hotel breakfast and check out Mert's nearby for a soul-food brunch.  I had their famous and awesome soul rolls (eggs rolls filled with collared greens, black-eyed peas, grilled chicken and season rice) as well as a side of perfectly-fried catfish.  For the record, it was reported that the hotel breakfast sucked.  Too bad, because Mert's only does brunch on the weekends.  

It was game-day so we walked toward the stadium and stopped by the Graham Street Pub and hung out on their rooftop for a bit enjoying the nice sunny skies and a few libations.  I had a couple really tasty drafts of Pumpkin Latte Blonde by Sycamore Brewing here in Charlotte.  

The weather was great, the Bank of America Stadium was nice, our seats were good...but our team stunk it up with a 30-20 loss that wasn't as close as the final score indicated.  It was a pleasure seeing Christian McCaffrey run all over us and I agree with the crowd chants of "MVP."  I had a tasty Captain James Jack Pilsner from Old Mecklenberg Brewing in a plastic bottle.  I was surprised they let me keep the bottle.  These babies could go flyin' in the wrong a-hole hands...i.e. Philly fans maybe?  

Good friends, good times and a back-assward team.  Whatcha gonna do?
We headed back over to World of Beer to drown our sorrows after the game and I had a tasty tropical IPA called Cruisin' Down the Street in My 6.4% from Amor Artis Brewing (SC).  

We had our final dinner of the trip together at Brazz Brazilian Steak House where my bottomless-pit friend, Charly, meant to make them hurt.  We all did a lot of damage, but Charly was the clear winner.  This wasn't the best Brazilian steak house around, but it is a good addition to our yearly trips.

11/4 - We had a  long drive home westward today.  Charly jumped on an early flight back to Nashville for work obligations.  Wayne headed out next with a stop in Johnson City to see relatives on his agenda.  The final four checked out a little later and we had a good breakfast at Holler and Dash, a regional breakfast chain with over the top biscuits. We dropped Jeremy off next at the airport for his flight back home to Salt Lake City later today.  Danny, Chris and I had an easy ride back with no issues.  We even got a stop in at Bee Rock Overlook in Monterey, TN, for another good view of the fall colors..

Our Hertz rental car, a nice Chevy Equinox, was a good pack-horse for us.  We logged in over 1,000 miles in it for this trip.  Can't wait for next year!!  Minnesota and Green Bay are our two front-runners!