And to tolerate the people bitchin' about quarantine, and the people bitchin' about wearing masks, and the people making it political...and just people, pretty much...

So, Ashlee wants to go to Disney World for her birthday this month. Fine with me for two reasons: the new Star Wars area there, and the shit-load of beers available at the 2020 Taste of Epcot International Food and Wine (and Beer) Festival. So, hey, let's go to Disney!!

But until then...

9/2 - I went over to the Providence Theaters in Mt. Juliet this afternoon right after work and caught a showing of the new film, The Personal History of David Copperfield starring one of my favorite actors, Dev Patel, and a great supporting cast. Thanks, Regal Unlimited! It was a solid film and enjoyable. Thanks to the 4:30 PM starting time (and Covid-19), I was the only person in the theater making it super safe and an unexpected private screening. I stopped by Beer World at Providence Wine and Spirits beforehand, and picked up a variety four-pack for the upcoming holiday weekend, but snuck one in to the movies as well. I had the fruity and delicious Juice Bomb NEIPA from (new-to-me) Sloop Brewing (NY)

Ashlee was over in West Nashville again today working near Bold Patriot Brewing, so I asked her to please grab me another to-go order of three 12 oz. crowlers for the upcoming Labor Day Weekend. She complied. Thanks so much, baby!

9/3 - I made the final table on a small crazy pineapple poker tournament on Global tonight vs. 52 other players. I scored only one knockout and with my third place finish, it only netted about $40 in profit, but I will take it as woeful as I've been running lately.

During the game I also enjoyed the start of the second season of the anti-superhero series "The Boys" back on Amazon Prime. I admit it's a guilty pleasure with a ridiculous amount of gore and profanity...but, hey, so is the real world.

9/4 - My regular day off today was the start of nice 4-day weekend. Then I work one day and then it's off to Disney World! Tough life...

I went to the Hollywood 27 Theaters in Nashville to see the 2013 film 42 on the big screen in remembrance of Chadwick Bozeman, who we tragically lost to cancer recently. Great actor, great man, classic film about yet another great man. I forgot what a great performance Bozeman gave as well as Harrison Ford (this actually might be one of my favorites of his).

Ashlee took a half a day and met me in Nashville after the movie, so I killed a few minutes waiting on her over at Craft Brewed with a couple of draft pours. I started with the super smooth NVP (Nitro Series) porter from Breckingridge Brewing (CO), and then the surprisingly good (surprising to me because I don't care for the taste of tequila usually) Tequila Adios Pantelones (one of mine and Ashlee's favorite brews with tequila added from Rahr and Sons Brewing in Fort Worth, Texas, which we have visited earlier this year).

Ashlee showed me around the ultra-cool L & L Market Complex in West Nashville where she's been working from remotely recently, and which is also home to Bold Patriot Brewing of which she has gotten me a couple of deliveries. It was nice to see it in person and I had a tasty pour of their Red Coat Irish Red ale while were there. I am looking forward to a few more Bold Patriot libations in the pool this coming weekend!

9/5 - It was good to be back in Nashville again today and even better to back at the good ol' Picnic Tap at the Farmer's Market. I had bought a couple of their "beer bonds" when Covid-19 first hit and they were shut down, so it was nice to cash one in today on a very good Haze Lite NEIPA from nearby East Nashville Beer Works. Salute to being open and ALMOST back to normal. As I said on my UNTAPPD check, it was a beautiful day with the only haze being in my cup!

After running a few errands in Nashville including a stop at Tennessee Brew Works for a couple of half-growler fills I headed back and jumped in the pool for the rest of the day. I had wanted TBW's Patsy Clineapple IPA on draft, but they only had it in bottles, so I bought a 4-pack and sipped one on the way back home and then enjoyed it so much I had another one in the pool. Next up was a Monmouth NEIPA from Bold Patriot in a crowler can that was quite good also.

It's fantasy football time and I think I outdid myself this year (our 21st year to be exact!) as commissioner with this awesome Cameo.com greeting from long-time NFL and Cincinnati Bengal receiver (and fantasy football line-up stalwart for many years) TJ Houshmandzadeh below:

9/6 - It was another glorious pool-day and I started the afternoon of sun and fun off with another crowler can from Bold Patriot Brewing in Nashville. This was the excellent Columbus Single Hop IPA that went down fast and smooth. Ashlee's sister and her family came up to enjoy the pool and I split my two half-growlers I picked up at Tennessee Brew Works yesterday with my brother-in-law and craft-beer convert, Andy. We started with the Mango Price NEIPA that was juicy and refreshing. We followed that with my (big news!) favorite sour beer EVER! Their Key of Lime NEIPA is considered a sour and I thought it was great and had the perfect tartness of a slice of key lime pie. Well done, TBW! I finished the day with my last BPB crowler can of their Xtreme Kolsch that was very nice and very light.

9/7 - We're having a good "case of the Mondays" today! The weather was perfect again today for this Labor Day spent mostly in the pool. I finished off the rest of my variety four-pack from Beer World at Providence Wine and Spirits. I started with a pint can of "breakfast" called The PastryArchy Belgian Waffle Cone brown ale from DuClaw Brewing (MD) and it was sweetly smooth and fantastic.
I moved on to thoughts of fall with a couple of Oktoberfest brews next. First up was the Ziegler (2020) festbier from MadTree Brewing up in Cincinnati (whom I have visited!). It was delicious. I concluded with the equally delightful Franz marzen beer from Rhinegeist Brewing also up in Cincy. With the hot weather and Oktoberfest beers in the pool, I came upon what I think is a great idea...what about a early Oktoberfest party on Labor Day at our pool? Can you imagine a live oom-pah band playing poolside?!?! I gotta seriously see if we can make this happen maybe next year!

9/9 - We flew down to Orlando today and headed immediately to Disney World. Here's my official first Disney beer! We were at Epcot today for the 2020 International Food and Wine Festival and I happened upon Hawaii's booth first and grabbed a small pour of the Pineapple Mana Wheat from Maui (HI) Brewing Company. It was clean and smooth on a humid day in central Florida.

Well, if you can't travel abroad due to the stupid corona-virus, what better place to earn your Beer of the World badges 10 and 11 than Epcot! I grabbed my Level 10 badge with my check-in of a Tusker Lager from Nairobi Brewing (Kenya). It was a macro-brew, but decent. I really loved my next domestic check in which was a tasty and interesting Violet Lemonade Ale shandy from Playalinda Brewing over in Titusville, FL.

The rain came heavy in the late afternoon, so we ducked into the Via Napoli Ristorante and Pizzeria for a pie and some brews. Somebody outside was really eyeing my beer flight! From left to right it was a Peroni Nastro Azzurro lager (Rome) which I am sure I've had at an Olive Garden somewhere in the past, but never checked it in on UNTAPPD.

The Menabrea Ambrata amber lager from a macro-brewery in Italy was next. A decent beer, but the big deal with it was that it was my 3000th unique beer checked in on UNTAPPD. No badge for 3K? Come on, UNTAPPD! The third beer in my Italian flight was a repeat, but it's been a while (3 years and in Japan of all places). The Larossa/Malto Brunito doppelbock was really solid for another macro-brew from Italy.
Back out at the festival, I finished the day with a light, but very refreshing, Raspberry Lemonade Cider from 3 Daughters Brewing over in St. Pete, Florida.

9/10 - Look at me having juice for breakfast at Star Wars: The Galaxy's Edge in Disney's Hollywood Studios Park. Yeah, right. That's not a moon, it's a space-station!! And that's not juice, it's a beer!! In fact, it's a Trandoshan Ale wheat beer from Concrete Beach Brewing in Miami, It's the official beer of the Galaxy's Edge and it was very good. And, yes, it really was for breakfast at Ronto Roasters.

"Let the Wookie win..."

a full-size Millennium Falcon...are you kidding me?

a full-size Imperial Walker...are you kidding me?

A beer at Oga Cantina's...are you kidding me? Well, yeah, I am. Because we couldn't get a reservation to get in since it's super-popular, but I did have their official beer, The Gold Squadron Lager right out in front! It's made for them by Blue Point Brewing (NY) and is pretty good.

A tap house at Disney?....are you kidding me? That's right! It's called the Base Line Tap House, but I think I would have called it the "Not now, kids! Daddy's drinkin'!! Tap House" But that's just me. Here I had a nice, smooth draft of 329 Lager from Golden Road Brewing (CA) while we waited on our dinner reservations. Why isn't there one of these tap houses in all four parks???

We had a fun and goofy dinner at The Sci-Fi Drive In Theater where you have your meal in a 50's convertible while watching cheesy old sci-fi movie clips on the big screen. I had a bottle of the solid Session Premium Lager from Full Sail Brewing (OR) with my burger and fries. I also had a couple sips of Ashlee's very good Orange Blossom Pilsner from Orange Blossom Brewing here in Orlando.

A full size...well, you get the idea...

9/11 - This badge was well-earned as we "roared" through The Animal Kingdom all day today and the only new beer I had was a Tiger lager made by the Heineken Asia-Pacific Division Macro-brewery. It was all-right, but it also got me my next Beer of the World Level 11 badge.

9/12 - Happy Birthday, Ashlee!! We were back at Epcot today for more drinking, food and fun at the 2020 Taste of Epcot International Food and Wine Festival. You could remove your mask at Disney if you were "actively drinking" and, brother, I was doing that! I continued sampling throughout the festival today with a nice Jasmine Draft lager (photo above) from Tsingtao, a macro-brewery in China; then a tasty Barbossa Black Lager from M.I.A. Beer Company (Miami) in the Brazil section; and then my favorite of the whole festival - an outstanding Apricot With Maple Syrup fruit beer from 81Bay Brewing (Tampa) in the Canadian section.

We had dinner at the Biegarten Restaurant in the Germany section and with our GIANT meal I also had this lovely German foursome flight. Three of the four were new check-ins and all were pretty good. From L to R it was the Beck's pilsner, the Warsteiner Dunkel (the repeat), the Konig Ludwig Weissbier Hell/Royal Bavarian Hefeweizen and finally the Schofferhofer Grapefruit radler.

9/13 - You know what the best thing about being in The First Order is...they have great beer! I had this customized T-shirt made today at a giftshop at The Magic Kingdom. Most folks put their last name as the squadron title, but not me! Cheers and PEW! PEW!

Before heading home, we had a great lunch in The Magic Kingdom at a cool little Jungle Cruise-themed restaurant called The Jungle Navigation Co. Ltd. Skipper Canteen. They had a couple of unique craft beers on the menu, so I had to have them to close out my goal of having at least one beer in each of the Disney theme parks. Mission: Accomplished! First up was the terrific Old Elephant Foot IPA from Tampa Bay Brewing (photo above). I finished up with a quite unique and tasty African-inspired Kungaloosh Spiced Excursion Ale from Concrete Beach Brewing over in Miami.
Thanks, Disney World, for all the fun and all the beer!!

9/14 - I celebrated the start of football that I actually care about today with my beloved Tennessee Titans on Monday Night Football on the road taking on the Denver Broncos. It was a BUTT-ugly win, BUTT it was a win! I cracked open my last specialty bottle from New Heights Brewing here in Nashville during the game and it was amazingly good. It was the W.L. Weller Barrel Aged Navel Gazer (2020) stout. TITAN UP!!

9/18 - I took a can of craft beer (thanks Kanga Cooler) from a variety four-pack I picked up this week at Beer World at Providence Wine and Liquor and enjoyed it as we (Ashlee at the wheel) drove through Tempo, a huge lights and music experience at the historic Nashville Speedway at The Fairgrounds. We even got to drive on the tracks! Cheers! It was a neon night for sure, so my choice of a Neon Daze IPA from recently risen-from-the-dead Mill Creek Brewing over in Nolensville made sense. It was hoppy and fantastic.

9/19 - I've sort of taken a break from online poker for a couple weeks after running bad for a while and getting a little burned out on it. But, today was a beautiful Saturday and a little too cool to get in the pool so I hung out on the patio and played a couple of my favorite deep-stack tournaments on Global Poker. I made the final table in the $11 one and wound up finishing sixth vs. 326 other players for a profit of $127! Since I was playing most of the afternoon, I was able to down the last three beers in my variety-pack from Providence Wine and Liquors as well. All three were solid and enjoyable. First up was a can of Hefewiezen from Blackhorse Brewery over in Knoxville. Next up was the Sun Bump, a wheat beer from Wiseacre Brewing in Memphis. Man, talk about covering the state from one end to the other! Last up was my favorite of the three, the excellent Coastal Love is a three-brewery collaboration NEIPA including Wicked Week and Green Man Brewing from Asheville, NC, and Broomtail Craft Brewing over in Wilmington, NC. Proceeds go to benefit the Foundation for the Carolinas. Salute!

9/20 - Well, this was definitely worth the break! I entered another $22 deep-stack tournament today and hung out on the patio again in lovely weather to play it. And proceeded to rack up my biggest win EVER on Global Poker to date! I took down the whole damn thing!! Yep, I turned $22 into over $1,860!! It was a huge field of 456 other players and despite flopping these quad kings I got in the photo above, I really feel I won this one by just playing great poker. I actually got very few huge hands and only won a small pot with these quad kings. I was just in the zone picking off bluffs, putting out my own successful bluffs and playing position correctly and being very, very PATIENT from start to finish....

Here's the big win info posted for posterity. I already know who's getting the 10% of it (and yesterday's smaller score) for charity. More on that below. I do want to dedicate this win to the late, great Mike Sexton, a legend and icon in the poker world who we lost recently to cancer. Thanks for all the fun and excitement (and teaching), Mike, over the years watching you on The World Poker Tour.
"May all your cards be live and all your pots be monsters!!"

I also "won" a new, exclusive avatar on Global Poker with this tournament win. It actually sorta looks like me I guess, although I would rather it be holding a beer, of course. I hate to give up my old avatar, but if this one doesn't bring me luck I can always go back I guess.

9/21 - On the donation front: Based on my winnings over the weekend, I immediately made a $50 donation to the Seacrest Wolf Preserve down in Florida which has been ravaged by hurricanes and storms and needs help now. When I officially get my winnings in I will continue with donations to some other charities including Mike Sexton's Poker Gives organization.

9/22 - I traveled out to Opry Mills Theaters tonight to catch a showing of the new film, Infidel (thanks Regal Unlimited). I though it was decent. Maybe a little move-of-the weekish. I did have another private showing as the theaters and the mall were very quiet on a Covid Tuesday night. Before the show, I stopped by Homegrown Taproom for dinner and a couple of brews. With my tasty grilled cheese sandwich with grilled chicken added meal I had the multiple medal winner from Rogue Brewing (OR), the Hazelnut Brown Nectar brown ale. It was repeat for me on UTAPPD, but it's been a few years and it was worth it. So delicious! Next up was a newbie for me, the solid Peeper pale ale from the Maine Beer Company. I finished off with a freebie (thanks Two-fer Tuesday!), the great Gaelic Ale from Highland Brewing over in Asheville, NC, which I know I have had before, but never checked in on UNTAPPD.

9/23 - My Beer Drop Order for September arrived today and it looks like a good one. There's a pilsner, a coffee porter, a Belgian honey saison, an IPA (of course), and a lager. They went immediately in the fridge and 3 hours later I popped the Pick-Six amber lager from Resolute Brewing (CO) as I watched the Nashville Soccer Club take on D.C. United and played some online poker. The beer was tasty, NSC won 1-0, and I cashed in my poker tournament - that's a solid Wednesday night!

9/24 - Incredibly, it's the 40th Anniversary of The Empire Strikes Back, my favorite of the first three classic Star Wars films. I went to see it again tonight on the big screen at Providence Theaters. I took a pants-pocket beer in with me from my Beer Drop order. It was the

I sported my new 709 Legion patch to the show tonight. Looks like I was recruited by The Dark Side while at Disney. That figures...but like I said above...they have great beer!!

9/25 - I took my usual every-two-weeks day off today and spent most of it in Nashville since it was sort of a rainy day. My first stop was the awesome new Titans mural downtown at 6th and Korean Veterans Memorial. #TennesseeTough

I headed over to The Picnic Tap at the Nashville Farmer's Market next to use my last beer bond I bought back when they were closed during the pandemic. I chose the bright and tasty Pick Up Pils which is brewed specifically for The Picnic Tap by Honky Tonk Brewing here in Nashville. The beer went great with my Peruvian beef tacos I got from the food truck next door called what else, Two Peruvian Chefs in a Truck. They were terrific...but I should have gotten three of them!

It took me a while, but after lunch I headed over to Music Row and found the heart-shaped stone in the rock fence surrounding Starstruck Entertainment. Thanks to AtlasObscura.com for the local mini-scavenger hunt.

Next, I stopped on one of Nashville's oldest streets, Elliston Place, and checked out the brand new new "Rock Block" historical marker recently installed to celebrate this historic street and its iconic anchor, The Exit/In, that shows Nashville isn't just about country music.

I finished the afternoon seeing the new film, The Last Shift, at Opry Mills Theaters. I really wanted to like this movie, but couldn't get over the fact that Richard Jenkins' character was basically kind of a turd...maybe that was the point?

Before the movie, I stopped at TennFold Brewing intending to have a quick brew, but then I spied their to-go cooler and decided I would rather have a beer during the movie. I bought a couple of large crowlers of their beer (more on those later), but since I couldn't sneak those in, I also grabbed a couple of 12 oz. cans that were actually products of Blackberry Farms Brewery over in Maryville, TN. I was able to get their BFB IPA to my seat with no problems, and it was hoppy and enjoyable. I thought this UNTAPPD badge was well-earned given all my stealth to obtain it. I even got a like on one of my theater check-ins on Twitter by Regal. During this pandemic times, I guess they are just happy I was there, illegal beer or not.

9/26 - Ashlee and I headed up into Kentucky today. We were spending the night via AirBnB at -Kenny's Cheese Farm in Austin, KY. Before checking in, we had lunch and some great beer at Yancey's Gastropub in nearby Glasgow, Kentucky. I started with their excellent Apron Leaf NEIPA (photo above). Their Dog Tail IPA was next, but it didn't do a lot for me. More hops, please!! Ashlee's did a flight and gave me a couple sips of her solid Shade Tree Wheat and outstanding Brittle Stem Stout. I will definitely keep this place in mind next time I am headed north to Louisville, etc.

Back at the farm, this little baby calf seems to be doing an impression of me with my half-growler of Big Burley Bourbon Barrel Imperial Stout beer from Yancey's. Man, was it good! I enjoyed it out on our porch overlooking the farm as the sun was setting on a beautiful Kentucky day. Cheers!!

9/27 - Back from Kentucky, I cracked open what will probably be the last pool beer of 2020. I could already only put my feet in because it was too cold to swim, but it still counts! From this month's Beer Drop order, I had a tasty can of Deciduous Coniferous IPA from Woods Boss Brewing (Denver). They call it a "both coast IPA" because it's got the piney tasty associated with West Coast IPAs combined with the juicy citrus taste of NEIPAs. Well done!

I closed out the day with a first-place chop of a 15-player tournament on Poker Stars with my regional group. I turned $25 into just over $100 for my efforts. I was chip-leader from almost the start with an amazing straight-flush flopped vs. a king-high flush and a full house both calling my all in river bet. It was a tough row to hoe from then on though as my cards dried up and I had a maniac to my left. He's actually who I chopped with and I could have probably beat him outright, but it was late and I was tired of playing, and of his bullshit, so he took the chop offer since we were deep and about even in chips after first refusing (geez, what a dick-head). In the background you will see I was also enjoying re-watching the excellent Netflix series, "Mindhunters." Oh, please give us a new season soon!!

9/28 - I was surprised today to see that three of my photos of Lost Creek Falls over near Sparta that I sent to a gal in a Facebook waterfall group a while back actually got used by WKRN News 2 for an online article about the increase in visitation at regional waterfalls during Covid-19. Sure, she spelled my name wrong, but that's par for the course with me.

https://www.wkrn.com/news-2-plus/lost-creek-falls-sees-massive-spike-in-visitors-amid-pandemic/?fbclid=IwAR3ZtZjaYCMKhx3_g0N3pLAFGw0693JrePH_iIVW-rJ7zjexlAxnsZ7ZDzQ

9/29 - I headed over to the Hollywood 27 Theaters in Nashville tonight intending to catch a showing of the 1977 classic film, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, on the big screen. That didn't work out as I was caught sneaking in from another movie that was free to me via Regal Unlimited. No way I'm paying $15 for an old movie just because it was a "Fathom Event" -- yeah, whatever! There were so few people in the theater, I guess I stood out. Oh well, I will be smarter next time. Before I got thrown out of the almost empty movie theater trying to watch a 23-year-old film (so stupid), I stopped by The Black Abbey Brewing Company for a beer. At least IT was worth the trip. This beauty pictured above was the Ad-yam Smoked Sweet Potato Saison that was very unique and very tasty!

See, now that's a funny way to handle an annoying situation. These guys at The Black Abbey continue to impress me with their creativity in and out of the brewery itself.

9/30 - I closed out the month on another positive online poker note. I once again chopped first place in a regional group tournament on Poker Stars. There were 14 players total in this turbo format game. I turned my $25 entry fee into $95 in profit.

On the charity front, after finally getting cleared on my first withdrawal from my big Global win early this month, I went ahead and gave the rest of my 10% of recent winnings again to the Seacrest Wolf Reserve by buying two nice sweatshirts for me and Ashlee that they were offering with all proceeds going to the organization.