I-P-A RIVER: JUNE-buggin'

With Covid-19 still creeping around, June 2020 has continued more of the same of the last three months or so with a few slight changes back to what we hope will be normalcy.

6/3 - I had another great day off today and decided to go east again and visit Fall Creek Falls State Park which I haven't been to in way too many years. Man, what a crown jewel of the Tennessee State Park System! I came for the waterfalls, of course, and they did not disappoint with all five (yes, five!) running well with the recent rainy weather. My first stop was the big daddy of them all and the park's namesake. I did get a different vantage point than ever before with my first hike ever down to the base of Fall Creek Falls. She is quite a stunner from any vantage point. The half-mile hike out was steep and tough, but I did it and was proud of myself.

A short drive and a short walk got me back to the overlook of Cane Creek Canyon where Cane Creek Falls (left) and the much thinner, but very pretty, Rockhouse Falls drop into a huge natural amphitheater and lake in awe-inspiring fashion.

Just upstream from Cane Creek Falls is pretty Cane Creek Cascades where I dipped my toes in the water and enjoyed the view and sounds up close. There were a good amount of people in the park, but not overly crowded by any means. The weather held out nicely for me also. I was impressed with all the upgrades and additions around the park that I saw. I look forward to coming back and staying a couple nights in one of their cabins in early November. Already booked it!

Last, but certainly, not least, was beautiful Piney Falls. I could only go as far as the overlook, as the trail going towards it (including a swinging bridge) was closed for repairs. I honestly don't remember seeing this waterfall before. I would surely have remembered it's unique shape which is different than most Highland Rim waterfalls and the brown sandstone cliffs to the right. I did have a black and white shot I remember that might be it, but, if so, it was a zoom-in of the top part of the falls and at a much higher water level. Either way, I was overjoyed to see it (again?) and can't wait to come back and get closer to the base.

A little more Piney Falls love in the video below:

Well, I got my fill of waterfalls for today, so it was time for some beer!! I stopped by Happy Trails Brewing in Sparta on my back west and went inside my first brewery in MONTHS! I did sit out on their back deck observing social distancing while I enjoyed their tasty HYOH hefeweizen and their rich and delicious South Cumberland Milk Stout. Cheers to breweries being open again!!

My next stop was Jig Head Brewing in Cookeville to fill a couple of half-growlers. I had time for a pint also and chose their decent Betty's Island Blonde ale (photo above). I stuck around a little longer and had a pint off their guest taps compliments of my UNTAPPD friend, Robert, who lives in the area and joined me briefly. It was an UNTAPPD repeat check-in, the excellent Midnight Summit milk stout from Highland Brewing over in Asheville, NC, but my first one on draft. More on the two growler fills I got this weekend when I open them around the pool.

6/5 - I cracked open my first half-growler from Jig Head Brewing in Cookeville - their Devil Ray Belgian tripel which was excellent - while floating in the pool after work this afternoon. For some reason, I got a lot of likes on Facebook for this rather generic photo above. I mean it was my first pic with a beer and actually floating in the pool, but I think people just like the idea of Friday-afternoon drinking! Ashlee helped with that first growler and also with my second half-growler from Jig Head Brewing in Cookeville, their very good Rio Fortuna light cerveza-style lager which went great with our south-of-the-border themed dinner that we enjoyed off the grill tonight on our patio.

6/6 - My baby and I stopped by TennFold Brewing in Donelson today. This was our first brewery visit together in a long time (and our first time inside this particular new brewery) thanks to the rotten pandemic crisis. The place was busy, and it was nice to see things sort of getting back to normal. I had their tasty Blessed Rains English IPA, and also had a few sips of Ashlee's choice, their very good Station 28 red ale. Cheers again to our official closest brewery to home!

6/7 - It was another great pool day today and we invited some friends over to enjoy it with us. My best beer pal, Nate, came and we did more beer-swapping like we did last weekend. My contributions were two half-growlers that I had picked up at TennFold the day before. First up was their brand new Irma Gersh German pilsner. I wasn't overly impressed with it, but we didn't throw it out either! Next was their much tastier American lager, A Feast With Friends.

Nate's generous contributions were a crowler of Southern Aroma Helles lager from Various Artists Brewing here in Nashville. I liked it a lot. Next up was a bottle of VABC's brand new barleywine called Newfangled Perspective. I haven't had a lot of barleywines (hence the UNTAPPD badge I earned pictured above) and they aren't my favorite style, obviously, but I really liked this one. One other VABC contribution was a crowler of Nashural Light lager which was solid on a hot, hot day. Nate also graced me with a crowler from TennFold Brewing that I almost got yesterday, their Business Hippie IPA that was great. I finished the long day with a last Nate gift, a can of double NEIPA from Trimtab Brewing (AL) called Seeds of Society. This one was great also, and needless to say, I had a great buzz for most of the afternoon and on into the night!! Thanks again, Nate, for the brews and the friendship.

6/9 -I finally got off a nasty slide in terms of online poker tonight with a first-place chop of a small 7-man tourney on PokerStars for $60+ in profit. I also went fairly deep in a larger tournament on Global Poker tonight as well to get my current bankroll on there back to even.

More movies rented while theaters remain closed due to Covid-19:

I rented The King of State Island off of Fandango Now (with a nice discount off the $19.99 price thanks to a Card Cash gift card). I really liked it. It's got a lot of heart and is also very funny.

I rented Never Rarely Sometimes Always off of Amazon. It's a teen pregnancy drama that is really powerful and very well-made.

I eagerly watched the new Spike Lee film, Da 5 Bloods, on Netflix the day it premiered. A lot of it was very timely to what's been going on in this country lately involving race (and basically has been going on since the USA was founded). The film itself was OK for a while, but then the story took a weird turn and had such a huge logic flaw I thought. (SPOILER ALERT: After finding their squad leader's bones and retrieving them to take home, one of the four steps on an old landmine and dies...AND THEY BURY HIM THERE IN THE JUNGLE??? WTF???) It was so bad, in fact, I lost complete interest and didn't even finish the film. Cool movie poster, bad movie. Sorry, Spike....glad I didn't pay anything for this one!

I rented the new film, The Quarry, off of our cable provider because it has one of my favorite actors in it, Michael Shannon. It was pretty good for a small, independent low-budget film, but the story itself kind of fell apart at the end I thought.

6/11 - I took down another PokerStars local tournament tonight vs. 11 other players for $85 in profit. I actually should have been the first one out, but hit a miracle 9 on the river vs. pocket kings for trips. I took that one lucky break and turned it into overall success.

6/12 - It was Friday night and I was ready for a libation after a long week, so I decided to crack open my recently purchased All Together junmai sake with hops that I bought from Proper Sake in Nashville last weekend. This special sake was brewed in collaboration and hundreds of other brewers across the nation to support the hospitality industry. Some of the proceeds from this sale would go directly to helping those folks during the Covid-19 crisis.

I could really smell the hops when I opened the bomber bottle of sake, but I sure couldn't taste them. Straight sake isn't a favorite of mine, so I decided to make a " WWII Axis of Evil" sake bomb by adding a German pilsner from Smith and Lentz Brewing also from Nashville. The results were a winner, unlike the Axis of Evil...thank goodness! Here's to you, Allied Forces!!

6/13 - We spent this Saturday in the pool because the weather was just too perfect to do anything else. I went and got a variety six-pack from Lebanon Wine and Spirits for the weekend, and loaded up the 3 coldest ones in my new Kanga (no-ice-needed) Cooler that I bought recently. It did a fine job with the excellent Double Homestyle DNEIPA from Bearded Iris Brewing here in Nashville. Followed by a can of very good Florida Man double IPA from Cigar City Brewing (Tampa). And rounding out the day with a can of the solid Fancy Papers NEIPA also from CCB.

6/14 - Yesterday was IPA Day around the pool, so today was to be Fruit-Beer Day to finish my variety six-pack from Lebanon Wine and Spirits. I started with a pretty good Cherry Leon lager from Hap and Harry's Brewing here in Nashville. Next up was the a-bit-too-sweet-for-me Peach Beerlini Radler from Left Hand Brewing (CO).

In honor of this being Pride Month (and in preparation for our planned trip next week to Key West), I ended the day with my last can from the variety pack, a tart and refreshing Unithorn Key Lime Gose from Mayday Brewing down in Murfreesboro. Salute!

We also had a couple of guests over for dinner out on the patio tonight, and as a pre-meal libation, Ashlee made some Peach Beer Cocktails, They consisted of vodka, Lovebird fruit beer from Nashville's own Jackalope Brewing (a local favorite of ours) and fresh peaches from The Peach Truck. It was fantastic!

6/16 - Max Brook is my favorite author out there today. His "World War Z" novel is a masterpiece IMO and the all-star audio-book of it is probably my favorite piece of entertainment ever. He released a new book today about a Bigfoot massacre called "Devolution" and I snatched up a written digital copy as well as an audio version (again with a full cast) as soon as it was available. Can't wait!!
(Editor's note: Now I get to talk to the man! I just bought a ticket for a 2-minute online chat with Max as he signs a copy of his book for me next month and then they will mail it to me! Pretty cool!!)

I also pulled the trigger today on four seats to the Titans game at historic Lambeau Field in Green Bay just after Christmas. Fingers crossed that the NFL season isn't delayed or cancelled due to this Covid crap which just doesn't seem to be going away. Got my flight for a great price as well and my friends, Wayne and Danny, have already committed, so I think we found our G.A.M.E. trip this year!
(Editor's note: Sadly, these tickets later got cancelled due to Covid-19. No or few fans in the stands this season look like. What a pisser...)

6/17 - While I currently only have about $15 in poker winnings accumulated right now to give to charity, I was happy to give even more to two worthy causes today who are fighting for their lives in this Covid-19 pandemic. One local with a young, healthy dental hygienist here in Lebanon; and a young man over at Duke Medical Center needing to get a lung transplant. God speed to you both. Thanks to my wife, Ashlee, for letting me know about these two worthy causes.
(Editor's note: our local young lady is back at home as of 6/29/20!!)

Must have been some good karma come off today's earlier contributions as I was able to chop a 16-player tournament tonight on PokerStars three ways for a little over $100 in profit.

6/18 - I got my first bounty tournament win on Global Poker tonight. These bounty tournaments are new on the sit with half your buy-in set aside as a bounty for whomever takes you out.. I topped 107 other players with 13 bounties and turned my $5 investment into just under $90 in profit. I sure needed it to replenish my bankroll on here which has been taking a literal "beating" for a while.

I just love this hilarious photo. That's going to pretty much be me this summer during this pandemic (minus the ab muscles) playing on Global on my phone whenever possible!

6/19 - We had to swing up to Madison for a funeral home visit, so on the way back we stopped by TennFold Brewing in Donelson and picked up a couple of their new beer releases. The first one was an outstanding Vienna-style lager called Hillbilly Disco. I raise a glass of it tonight to my pal, Charly, who lost his dad recently. Hang in there, brother.

6/20 - I cracked the second TennFold crowler out at the pool today...of course. It was their India pale lager called Lassen Peak. Man, for the new kids on the block in Nashville craft brewing, these folks know what they are doing!! They are easily moving up in my local rankings! While sipping it, we got another visit from our new friend, Edgar Alan Doe. He/she is a playful little thing, full of energy and spirit and must feel pretty safe in our backyard to grow up in. Salute, little feller!!

6/21 -We masked up and bathed ourselves in hand sanitizer and flew down to Ft. Lauderdale today. We rented a car and were Key West bound for most of the week! Eff-you, Covid!! While we were waiting in line to get our rental car, I got online and ordered some craft beer for pick up at Florida Keys Brewing Company in Islamorada which is on our way to Key West.

Oh, those cut-ups at Florida Keys Brewing Company. We arrived in Islamorada, Florida, late this afternoon and my pre-ordered beer was waiting on me. Three four-pack pint cans to share with my brother-in-law, Andy, who I have converted to a craft beer snob. Speaking of Andy, he bought a sweet Yeti-style growler from FKBC that I am pretty jealous of. May have to get me one. I slipped a few cans in my new Kanaga Cooler and we rolled on south.

Ashlee does the driving most of the time, so I was free to crack open my first Florida Keys traveling beer heading south along the Overseas Highway. The FKBC's Resistant Strain Double Hibiscus Kolsch was smooth and tasty. A perfect start to the tropical week. Just for the record, I did officially start my "beercation" with a couple of Kalik Lagers at a place called Alabama Jack's up in Key Largo with my lunch. They were the best thing there because the food was ho-hum.

It was nice to see the ocean and earn this badge with times like they are. My next FKBC pint can was their Key Largo Lager. It was light and refreshing and went down quick!

We arrived in Key West an hour or so later and checked into our old, old friend, The Eden House (man, we got some great rates thanks to the pandemic). We kicked back and immediately relaxed and I cracked open my third pint can from FKBC, their terrific session IPA called (cleverly) Sunsessional.

6/22- Pool time!! The weather was hot and muggy (ahh, Key West) today and we camped out in the pool for most of the day. The night before we had made a supermarket run to the local Winn Dixie and I got a pretty darn good variety 6-pack of mostly regional canned craft beer there. I started the day with a decent Summadayze IPA from Darwin Brewing (Bradenton, FL). The best of the bunch (and quite possibly the entire trip) was the outstanding Islamorada Coconut Key Lime Ale from Islamorada (FL) Beer Company. I have yet to stop at this smaller microbrewery in Islamorada, but I think I need to!! I actually anticipated Ashlee liking this one, so I got two in my six-pack only giving me five unique beers. I am so generous, aren't I?? Oh yeah, she loved it.

Andy chipped in with a gift can of Key Lime Hibiscus Ale from Islamorada Beer Company also that he bought at Winn Dixie. It was light and fragrant and very good. He also cracked opened the aforementioned sweet growler from Florida Keys Brewing and shared his Queen of the South Vanilla Cream Ale that was extremely good.

I continued out of my variety six-pack with a can of Screamin' Reels IPA from Saltwater Brewery (Delray Beach, FL) that was OK. It was a little sour...as their flagship IPA I doubt that was intentional? I had planned to stop at three beers from my variety pack...but you know how plans go...next up was the solid Wild Night cream ale from Swamp Head Brewery (Gainesville, FL). This was an appropriate named beer because it became a "wild night" indeed as I proceeded to get snockered.

Besides the beers, I became fast friends with a guy from Louisvlle named Chris whose wife was not feeling great and he was kinda on his own. Chris was more than willing to go to the new tiki bar at The Eden House and get us complimentary drinks during happy hour. Vodka and me don't do well together. I had more than I needed. Let's just say that.

Despite my state of inebriation, I do remember we had dinner at a little place called Firefly (I don't remember getting there or leaving) and I had some of the best seafood gumbo I have ever had (sorry, NOLA). And damn wasn't it pretty too? This shot looks like it's out of a magazine! I remember the beer I had there with dinner there a lot less, but I gave it a good rating on UNTAPPD, so let's just say the Laces IPA from Wynwood Brewing (Miami) was solid.

6/23- Whew! No hangover! Thank goodness!! The drinking of anything but water was scaled back today as we headed north to Marathon, Florida, to try a snorkel tour to Sombrero Key Lighthouse Reef. There's no filter on that picture above. It was that friggin' blue! It was one of the best snorkeling experiences I have had and definitely the best in The Keys. My new friend, Chris, joined us and we cracked open a beer afterwards on the way back to Key West. I had my last variety six-pack can. The tart blonde ale called Easy Sport from Boulevard Brewing (Kansas City).

Back in Key West tonight, we had a rather ho-hum dinner (it was late and they were out of a few things, so maybe it was our fault), at a new BBQ place called The Dirty Pig. I did have a very impressive La Colada Coffee Porter from Biscayne Bay Brewing (Doral, FL) that uses Cuban coffee with my "barbeCuban" sandwich entree.

6/24- Man, what a great find! It was brutally hot today and touring around Key West was a little rough. To cool off and kill a little time while the rest of our group was doing something else, Ashlee and I checked out the Mellow Cafe and Gastropub on the Garrison Bight Harbor. I had read they had an impressive craft beer selection and they did! I had two outstanding New England-style IPAs along with some kick-ass fresh-catch mahi mahi tacos. First up was the Trail Haze session IPA from Sixpoint Brewery (NY) who continue to be in my Top 5 US microbreweries. I followed that with Contact Haze from the always-impressive Elysisan Brewing out of Seattle. We have definitely got to come back here!!

I gotta give a shout-out to a little artisan bakery here in Key West called Cole'z Peace that we've been coming to for a long time. Great pastries and some outstanding breakfast sandwiches! What they have also added since our last visit is an amazing import and craft beer section. The stuff is pricey, but I doubt you can find some of these beers anywhere else on the island. I bought a couple bottles to take back and have at the hotel, and I cracked my first one tonight. It was the Trappistes Rochefort 8 Belgian strong dark ale from the Abbey of Notre Dame de Saint-Remy (Belgium). The last time I had one of their beers was in friggin' Belgium itself! This one was strong and dark and very heavy, so it was a slow sippin' beer that I carried with me as a walking libation this afternoon around Key West. It was great! This will be as close as I get to an Iron Man medal, but I will take it!

On a much lighter note, I was surprised to see that a sunset cruise we booked this evening actually offered a complimentary craft beer that I had not had (or wanted...the usual macro-piss crap), The Cat 5 Key Lime Lager from Fordham and Dominion Brewing (DE) was decent and went down easy like a Key West sunset...so poetic, aren't I?

Ah, the majesty of a Key West sunset. Wait, what the?
Next time, FLOATING TIKI BAR SUNSET!!

6/25- Well, it was time to head north again. But we had a couple more nights up in Fort Lauderdale before getting on the big silver bird at least. We stopped by FKBC again and Andy got another growler fill This time he got the DH's Stone Iguana Imperial kolsch which he shared graciously, and it was very good. We sipped it in the car on our way back to the mainland.

Now that's going to set a pole and run an electric service, boys! I grabbed this shot on our way to another snorkeling tour out of Islamorada today on our way north. I sent it to my co-workers and got a few laughs. The snorkeling wasn't in as clear water as a few days ago down at Sombrero Key, but it was still a great ride and a fun time. We also didn't get to go to Alligator Key Lighthouse as I had hoped for and the video below is as close as we got. But maybe next time!

6/26- Beach, please!! We spent the day at the beach and hotel pool in Ft. Lauderdale today before flying out early tomorrow morning. I had planned to check out one or two nearby microbreweries, but Covid-19 has spiked again here in Florida and they are shutting down bars, so I figured I would just stay put. I was fortunate enough to find one new-to-me brew at a little deli/market next to our hotel. This can of Tropical Bay IPA from Biscayne Bay Brewing (Doral, FL) was smooth, cirtusy and tasty.

I also had my second bottle I bought at Cole'z Peace down in Key West. It was a wild ale called Roisin Dubh that was a collaboration between TRVE Brewing (Denver) and Jester King Brewery (Austin). It was rather sour (rose hips and Texas blueberries), but I actually liked it a lot. and it's the first "sour" beer I have given a rating above 4 on UNTAPPED. Good thing I like it too because this bitch was expensive!! I enjoyed it in the hotel room since it was a glass bottle and toasted our nice view.

We made it home without any incidents and hopefully without any exposure. With all these spikes in Covid-19 cases again, we may be in for another hunker-down session at home for a while.

I intentionally delayed my Beer Drop order this month since we were traveling during the regularly-scheduled week of its arrival. More on those beauties in the next blog entry.

6/28 - I barely, and I mean barely, made the final table in a big deep-stack Sunday tournament on Global Poker tonight. I got knocked out just as we got to nine players. With a huge field of 628 other players, I was able to turn my $22 investment into just over $147 of profit.

6/29 - Another cool little win on Global Poker tonight. I won a ticket for a future $22 tournament entry and it only cost me $1. While not a huge win monetarily, the real accomplishment is that it was a free-roll tournament with 1,113 other players and only the top 68 won a ticket. The dollar came from an add-on I did after the first break.