The Bummer Summer (but at least there's beer)

THIS IS A STOLEN PICTURE.  I ADMIT IT.
But, damn, if it ain't too funny not to steal.

Summer rages on and so does Covid-19.  Geez, enough already!!

8/1 - I got my order of bite-size Pearson's Salted Nut Rolls today from Amazon!  These little historic Midwestern candies (circa 1933) are all the rage with craft brewers evidently, so I had to try some.  They are terrific!  I can't wait to kick back with a couple and a good beer, and hopefully also find some of the many craft beers inspired by these little tasties as well! 

Much thanks to my beer pal, Nate, for being my courier into Nashville today to pick up some craft beer I had ordered online.  First he stopped at Proper Saki (he's was going there anyway) and picked up a couple bomber bottles for me and some frozen handmade dumplings that are awesome.  Next, he headed to West Nashville to our newest brewery in the area, Bold Patriot Brewing, to pick up a few of their wares for himself and me after I told him I had placed an order there also.  We met at Homegrown Taproom in Donelson and had a couple pints and did the exchange.  While at Homegrown (where Ashlee also met me for dinner) I had an OK draft of Voodoo Ranger 1985 IPA (I was expecting more hops, less citrus) from New Belgium Brewing (CO); and then a better (and more hoppy) Cryo double IPA from Hi-Wire Brewing over in Asheville, NC.

8/2 - Well, we got hockey back today for real (sort of) today and the NBA as well last week, but watching them play in empty arenas sure is weird.  The Nashville Predators started their march to The Stanley Cup today with a 5-game series with the Arizona Coyotes.  The dropped this first game 4-3 after getting behind early and fighting back.  Hopefully they get it in gear quicker from here on out.  While enjoying the early afternoon game I cracked open my first of three 16 oz. crowler cans from Bold Patriot Brewing over in West Nashville.  It was their very tasty Tun Tavern brown ale.

I finished off the other two crowler pint cans from Bold Patriot Brewing while in and out of the pool the rest of the day.  This cool can wrap pic above is of their Nathan Hale white stout which was outstanding.  I closed the day with their Revolution IPA which was hoppy and smooth.  Welcome to the area, Bold Patriot Brewing, I can't wait to try more of your fare!
 

I had more success than the Preds today as I placed 103 out of 3000 (yep, 3000) in a turbo free-roll on Global Poker while watching their hockey game.  It earned me an $11 buy-in for a future tournament.

8/3 - I am happy to report that Gladiator Brewing is reopening in Clarksville this weekend!  I contributed to a GoFundMe campaign for these guys back in May, so I feel I had at least a small part in helping this happen.  Now I just got to get back to C-ville for a visit and to actually try some of their beer! 

8/5 - I decided to give a little back and entered this $100 online charity poker tournament tonight.  Some poker pros and celebrities are playing as well, so I thought it would be fun.  The structure was crap, so I flamed out after about an hour, but it was fun and interesting.

I cracked open a bomber bottle of Umami Brut pale ale from Proper Sake for the special occasion and it lasted longer than I did in the tournament!  Good thing it was delicious!  Cheers to Miracle Flights and the great work they are doing! 

8/6 - Happy IPA Day!!!  Can't no Covid-19 take this day away from us!!  In honor of this special day I cracked open a bomber bottle of Total Kumori Nigori IPA from Proper Sake here in Nashville and it was outstandingly juicy and hoppy.  

More promises of movie theaters opening back up this month.  We shall see.  Until then...let's keep on streaming...

The Tax Collector  - I used to think Shia LaBeouf was one of the biggest wastes of acting space there was, but he's really made a comeback taking on some interesting and quirky roles lately with this sinister bad-ass co-starring role; the interesting and sweet film, The Peanut Butter Falcon; and his brave autobiographical film, Honey Boy, playing the role of his own nut-so father.

Staten Island Summer - a silly and raunchy SNL-based teen summer flick from back in 2015 that's pretty funny, but somehow I missed it all these years.  Bit of a Caddyshack rip-off too, but watchable.  I rented it off Amazon Prime.

Teen Spirit - Not typically my kind of movie, but I like the star, Elle Fanning, a lot.  Ah, who am I kidding, both Fanning sisters do something for me (dirty old man thoughts), because they are both so beautiful (screen grab from the film in photo above) and so talented.  Turns out it was also a very solid movie with great performances by the entire cast and an excellent story.  

Hot Rod - another asinine SNL-based comedy from way back in 2007 that had a few laughs in it, but overall pretty weak.  Quit trying to make this some modern cult classic, folks...because it's not.  At least it was streaming free on Amazon Prime, but I would NEVER watch it again...hence, not a cult classic.

Sticking with the SNL theme, longtime alum, Jason Sudekis, stars in "Ted Lasso"  - a new comedy series I started watching on Apple TV+ this month.  It's pretty funny and has a great cast.

All this damn Covid is turning me into....

A very bad guy (i.e. my new Bane mask)

A guy everyone thinks is bad, but he's really good ( i.e. my new Mandalorian mask)

A guy who used to be really bad, but he was brainwashed and now he's good again (i.e. my new Winter Soldier mask)

8/7 - Day Off Day!! I headed east again today in my rented Nissan Rogue and put some miles on it as I headed to western Knoxville to check out Orange Hat Brewing.  How did they know I wanted a Philly cheese-steak today?? Not only was their beer outstanding, but the newish facility is super nice and they had the Steak Me Home Tonight food truck on site!  Score!!   I started with their excellent Ball Camp (nitro) pale ale and finished with their NEIPA Orange Sweet Nothin' (photo above) that is one of the best citrus-based IPA's that I've ever had.  Definitely, coming back here any chance I get! 

Here's a close-up of the beautiful Orange Hat Brewing logo that was on their coasters, one of which I snagged, of course, for the beer Christmas tree.  Kinda kicking myself for not getting any of their sweet swag, but I have so much....maybe next time...

My next stop was unplanned other than wanting to cruise through "The Secret City" of Oak Ridge, TN, where The Manhattan Project took place during WWII unbeknownst to the world and most of the U.S.  The quirky and definitely not a secret Crafter's Brew Beer Garden in downtown Oak Ridge was a great find.  I had a pint of tasty Recluse brown ale from Elkmont Exchange, a nearby Knoxville brewpub, outside in the heat with a big fan blowing right on me and only one other dude nearby.  Wish I could've stayed longer! 

Heading back east I stopped at one of my favorite places, Ozone Falls, but this time took my first look at it from down below the brink.  It's a stunning view and even though the summer drought had the falls slighter than usual, it was still a beauty.  I thought about swimming below the falls, but with the water down the pool didn't go directly under the falls and their were some loud young folk already there ahead of me.  Some other time maybe.

My last stop before home was at Red Silo Brewing in Cookeville where they had erected their new...yep...red silo.  This is a relatively new feature and looks great out in their garden area.  They had a dude playing guitar and singing underneath it creating a pretty neat stage.  I enjoyed a few songs and sipped on a dandy Red Oak Roasters Coffee Cream Ale draft before easing on home.  Just another great day off!! 

8/8 - Ashlee and I headed out today for an overnight trip to the north Georgia for some freshwater snorkeling in the Conasauga River just over the state line back in Tennessee.  It was a lot of fun and we stayed at an AirBnb in nearby Dalton, Georgia, afterwards.  We had plans to eat dinner at a different brewery/restaurant in downtown Dalton, but when walked up and saw how busy it was with a lot of people not wearing masks, and a big Trump-supporter sign in the window, we moved on quickly.  Yeck!  As we searched for somewhere else to eat I suggested we stop by the much smaller Dalton Brewing Company for a beer while we did our research.  These guys were following CDC guidelines regarding Covid and were only open for take-out orders.  Fortunately, "take-out" also meant you could drink out on the streets in downtown Dalton.  Nice!!  I had their excellent Pineapple Seven NEIPA at a table out on the street in front of the place and also had a sip of Ashlee's lovely Saison.  I ordered their solid Brown ale to go and walked with it around the corner to Baja Coop where we had a tasty dinner of burrito bowls.  Thanks for the great beer and cool UNTAPPD badge, DBC! 

I got a couple of four-packs from Dalton Brewing to go as well and enjoyed a pint can of their nice Miss Resaca Beach Blonde Bombshell blonde ale with a great twilight view looking north into the North Georgia mountains from our AirBnB stable suite at nearby Walnut Hill Farm.

8/9 - The North Georgia sunrise was even better this morning from Walnut Hill Farm.  We stopped in Chattanooga on our way home and had lunch at the high-end food court known as Market South.  I had a draft pint of the decent Wake Me Up Before You Coco porter from Five Wits Brewing there with my meal.  We got home in time for a little cooling off in the pool and I cracked open a can of Hawaii Five Ale, a very tasty five-fruit beer from DESTIHL Brewery (IL) that our friend, Emily, brought me.  

Now THAT is a onesie!  Our nephew, Matt, and his wife, Sherrae, just had a baby boy and when we saw this on their baby-shower list, we knew we had to get it for him.  Matt's a fan of IPAs like his old Uncle Rob.  It's just runs in the family I guess!! 

8/12 - Our new MLS team, Nashville SC, got their first-ever win tonight in Dallas by the score of 1-0!  While they've only played three games, they have been competitive in all of them with a smothering defense.  I cracked open a pint bottle of The Big Mexican lager that I picked up at Red Silo Brewing  in Cookeville last week to toast the victory and "The Big Ghanaian" David Accam, who scored the game winner late in the match.  The beer was excellent.  The win also broke a long home-winning streak for Dallas FC.

While watching the game I also had a pretty good run in online poker on Global finishing 31st out of 661 in a small buy-in with rebuys  and add-ons GOAT Series tournament that tripled my buy-in.  It wasn't a lot of dough, but it was a good feeling as I have been running extremely bad lately and have had to hiatus a bit from play.

8/13 - That's more like it!  I final-tabled and got 3rd overall in a quick little online Ante Up Turbo tournament vs. 39 other players on Global Poker this afternoon to turn my $11 entry fee into $60.  Ante Up is an interesting twist on NLHE and the strategy involved suits my style of play pretty well.  

8/15 - We were in Chattanooga for the day and Ashlee dropped me off at Naked River Brewing for lunch and a couple of brews while she did a little shopping.  I started with their Sexi Mexi cervaza lager including a lime wedge and it went down smooth and easy.  For some reason though, I got distracted and didn't even notice my glass was empty..

I really enjoyed this view as well at Naked River Brewing when my smoked baloney and cheddar cheese sandwich came out along with my second brew, their solid Yeti Player One session IPA.

Our next stop together was at the new-to-me Big Frog Brewery in Red Bank.  Shockingly, this place has been around 6 years according to the owner/brewer/barkeep.  How did I miss this?  I am so ashamed!!  Granted, it's a tiny place and easy to miss driving by, but it's a craft brewery??  That is so not me.  I must be slipping in my old age.  Well, I made up for lost time and pretty much had their entire nano-menu starting with a very good strong ale called the B.A.D. Otter Ale.  I had a sip of Ashlee's choice, the unique and tasty brown ale with pepper added called Otomi Aztec. Next up was their Walnut Street India Pale Ale that was solid.   I ended with probably my favorite of the bunch, the Rivercity BLACK IPA. 

8/16 - We got a last-minute invitation to go out on Center Hill Lake near Cookeville today on our friends, Wendy and Charly's, new-to-them pontoon boat.  The weather was perfect for some lake cruising, swimming, relaxing and, of course, craft beer consumption! I packed my Kanga cooler to the brim with goodies and headed east.  I started with a pint can of the tart-not-sour Currantly Puckered Berliner Weisse that I brought back from Dalton Brewing Company last weekend.  Next, I had another decent sour in a can called the Jellyfish Berliner Weisse from Atlanta Brewing (thanks, Emily!).  The best and biggest was last, however: an excellent crowler of Ladybug farmhouse ale from Orange Hat Brewing (photo above) that I brought home from Knoxville week before last.  I shared it with Ashlee and our friend, Wendy, who both gave it a solid thumbs-up as well.   

8/17 - I got second place in a small turbo crazy pineapple tournament today vs. 20 other people for a nice $50+ profit.

8/19 - Movie theaters are open again!!  Sort of.  I went to see the 1990 gangster classic, Goodfellas. at the Roxy Theaters here in Lebanon tonight with my work pal, Casey.  I never saw it on the big screen, so I was looking forward to it.  Mehh, it was OK.  Not as good I recall.  I still think Martin Scorsese is a bit overrated as a director..  I snuck in a beer too which was easy since Casey and I were about the only two people not only in this theater, but all the others as well.  I bought a variety three-pack at Lebanon Wine and Spirits before the show and enjoyed a can of Czech Pale Lager from Nashville's own Yazoo Brewing.  It went down smooth and easy.  

This month's Beer Drop order arrived today also and it includes an oatmeal stout, a German-style kolsch, a red IPA, an NEIPA and a saison.  So, hey, let's drink!  

Thanks so much to my awesome wife as she delivered me a 3-pack of draft-in-pint-cans from Bold Patriot Brewing over in West Nashville today.  She happened to be working in the same complex that they are located and was happy to oblige my request.  I have to make it out this place myself sometime!  More on these actual beers as I consume them in the near future.  Thanks to Redbubble.com artist, Quentin Jones, for the picture steal.  I will make sure and buy sticker of this design as a payback! 

8/20 - I chopped 2nd and 3rd place prize money tonight with two others in a small, but pricey, $38 knockout tournament on Poker Stars vs.13 others.  I also had one knockout and almost doubled my buy-in.  Not a big score, but still a tough survival scratch-out.  During the game I enjoyed on of my Bold Patriot Brewing draft cans that Ashlee picked up for me yesterday. I had the extremely tasty coffee stout called Timothy Murphy and also toasted the fact that this was Friday night to me since I am off work tomorrow!

8/21 - As I mentioned above I took my regular 9/9 day off today and since the weather was kind of iffy, I decided to stay closer to home.  I stopped first for lunch at the beautiful new Lost Paddy Irish Pub over on Spence Lane on this side of Nashville and had their "Best of Nashville" winning Lost Paddy Burger and it was deserving of all the accolades.  I also had a draft of the decent Nash Cruiser blonde ale with my meal from nearby Various Artists Brewing.
After lunch I stopped by TennFold Brewing for another quick pint.  I had their brand new and outstanding Poppy's Pale Lager.  Then it was on to the Hollywood 27 Theaters for my first Regal movie in a very long time.  I saw the modern classic western, Unforgiven, which I have to say isn't aging that well.  

After the movie I headed to East Nashville and found this cool new Dolly Parton mural near The Five Spot.  A little beauty after all the tornado ugliness back in March.

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I was in East Nashville specifically to check out the grand opening of the new Crazy Gnome Brewing where I met my beer pal, Nate, and we tried a few of their new libations. I started with a flight that included their Dunkel Geist, their Redhat Ale, their Hop and Squeeze IPA and their other IPA call It's Probably an Acronym (photo above).  The IPAs and the red ale were solid, but their dunkel was really, really good and smooth.  I finished with a pint of their farmhouse ale saison call Jenna Say Kwa which I have to say is one of the best Belgians I've ever had in the Nashville area.  Just another great brewery to add to the ever-growing Nashville crawl!! 

8/22 - I had a nice day of poker and pool today.  I did OK in the poker with a 33rd finish out of a huge field of 584 on Global Poker to more than double my $22 buy-in.  The beers I had were hit and miss with a couple more from Bold Patriot Brewing in West Nashville.  Their Lexington Citra IPA was solid, but the follow up, their Lord Baltimore Belgian Dubbel, was disappointing.  This is the first out of six different beers from Bold Patriot that I have been impressed with, so that's a pretty good record.  I finished the day out of the pool watching my two favorite MLS teams, Nashville and Atlanta, battle it out on the pitch with ATL UTD pulling off the 2-0 victory and snapping NSC's long run of scoreless defense against them.  I cracked open a tasty Cream Ale from Yazoo Brewing here in Nashville during the match.

8/23 - More pool and poker today, but with no good results in poker, but a solid day on the beer trail.  I started with this excellent Icelandic Lime and Juniper Pils from Einstok Brewing (Iceland).  I moved on to a pint can of Double Recessive Double Red IPA from Horse and Dragon Brewing (CO).  It was excellent and my first beer from this month's Beer Drop order.  I continued down my Beer Drop order with a can of Walking in Wonder saison from Woods Boss Brewing (Denver) that was really good, and finished with a pint can of tasty and refreshing kolsch called Bases Loaded from Jagged Mountain Brewing (Denver, has that hot lady head brewer, remember!)

I celebrated the season three finale of "Yellowstone" tonight wishing it was cooler so I could start wearing my awesome new Dutton Ranch vest.  Patience.  Patience. And speaking of patience, it's going to take a lot of it to wait on Season 4 because WOW!  What a cliffhanger ending!!  Duttons shot and blown up all over the damn valley!!  Great job, Taylor Sheridan! 

8/24 - I went and saw an actual new movie tonight with a showing of Unhinged at Providence Theaters in Mt. Juliet.  Not really my kind of movie, but I do love Crowe and hell, movie theaters are open again!!  It wasn't great, and Crowe's a really fatty now who looks like he just wanted a paycheck.  It was private showing at least with not another soul in the theater.  

I think I would have rather seen a movie about my new favorite super-hero, Hopperella!!  I was going to sneak this IPA from this month's Beer Drop order into the movie, but had it in the pool instead  this afternoon before heading out.  It was excellent!  Now I just need a T-shirt from Odd 13 Brewing (CO).   

8/26 - Wow!  These two huge bucks were in our backyard last night.  I thought they were going to fight, but they were just paling around together.  Now all I need is "a beaver shot"....

8/27 - I was back over at Providence Theaters in Mt. Juliet tonight to catch a showing of the new comic book flick, The New Mutants.  The X-Men universe of movies have never been my favorite and this one's been in Development-Hell for a long time, so I went in with low expectations, but it was free at least (thanks Regal Unlimited!).   It turned out to be actually rather good.  Not as good, mind you, as the beer I snuck in:  my last can from this month's Beer Drop order was the Oatmeal Milk Stout from Finkel and Garf Brewing (Boulder, CO).  

8/29 - Ashlee and I rolled up to Watertown tonight to catch a showing of the new silly comedy "three-quel" called Bill and Ted Face the Music at the Startdust Drive-in Theater.  We haven't been up here in a while which is a shame because it's a great little place.  I snuck in a big bomber bottle of brew, of course, for the show.  It was the Experimental Series - Manhattan strong ale from New Heights Brewing in Nashville that I picked up a while back.  It was like the movie, a bit funky, but overall pretty satisfying.  It had been aged in a Knob Creek bourbon barrel from Kentucky with tart cherries and Manhattan cocktail inspired bitters.   

8/30 - After a long dry run, I finally got back to a final table on Global Poker (this has not been a great month on the virtual felt).  I wound finishing fourth out of 93 entrants.  It was a progressive bounty tournament, but with only four knockouts, I cleared just over $50 in profit.  Not a bonanza, but at least it was on the plus side. 
I enjoyed more poker in the pool with a bottle of Cumberland Cask Whiskey Barrel Aged Navel Gazer.  This flagship stout of New Heights Brewing here in Nashville was aged for 35 months  in a Cumberland Cask Tennessee straight whiskey barrel.  And it was smooth, rich and tasty.  I also toasted Nashville Soccer Club's first-ever win in Music City tonight over their expansion-team classmate, Inter Miami.  Congrats, boys!! 

8/31 - Now THIS is the way to end a month that started with the cloud of Covid-19 all over it!!  I finally got to see the new Christopher Nolan time-bending espionage film, Tenet, in early access IMAX tonight back at the Streets of Indian Lake Theaters in Hendersonville (hello, old friend!). It was a loopy story that lost me at times, but definitely kept me entertained.  I just can't decide if Nolan is a damn genius or a damn lunatic!  

    
And speaking of old friends, before the show, I stopped at my old haunt (man, it's been a while!), Blossom Thai and Cellar Door Craft Cavern in Hendersonville.  I had a couple of libations with my early dinner (their awesome beef jerky and sticky rice!) that included a pint of Modern Time/Stone Wizards and Gargoyles Hazy Coffee IPA that was fantastic.  What else would it be since it's a collaboration with my favorite brewery of them all (Stone in CA) and Modern Times Brewing (CA).   They were out of 16-ounce glasses so I got what I called " 12 oz. Chuck and his little brother" (photo above).  I closed out with a much smaller tulip-glass pour of the powerful (15.3 % ABV) and elusive 120 Minute IPA (2020) from Dogfish Head Brewing (DE).
It's good to be back!!