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| Share your beer...not your opinions. |
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10/1 - My best and long-time friend, Craig, was dropped off by his wife, Alison, today at my house and I left work early and we headed toward Sparta where we were planning to play some bar trivia hosted by Craig's son, Ryan, at a golf course sports bar there tonight. Alison headed on to Cookeville to do some shopping with Ryan who lives there, and we planned to all meet back up in Sparta tonight. Craig and I took the long and scenic way to Sparta via Highway 70 which passes through Smithville, the hope of The Burlap Room Beer Garden which happens to be right in the middle of the huge Bert Driver Nursey. It was a fantastic day to sit outside and enjoy a brew. I chose the Bluegrass Jubilee from Calfkiller Brewing over in Sparta itself. It's listed as a golden ale, but it sure has a fruit-based look to it out in the golden rays of the sun. It was great with a nice light lemony finish. |
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After checking into our sweet little AirBnB two-bedroom apartment in downtown Sparta, we walked (yes, it was that close) to Happy Trails Brewing for some more imbibing. We both got flights to start with and while HTBC has a ton of guest taps and cans to choose from, I wanted to stick with their creations. I started with (second to left) the tasty and light Tropical Storm Hefeweizen. Next up was their (far right) flagship IPA called Screw the Canoe 2.0 which was outstanding. The Negan Cherry Chocolate Brown ale (far left) was probably my favorite of the group and was a limited run and themed for their own trivia night focused on "The Walking Dead" TV series (more on that later). I finished with their Bella Caffe Coffee Stout which I thought was a little weak despite being described as having two blends of rich coffee added in the brewing process. We sat out on the back porch and enjoyed our brews at a table made out of old hiking trial signs. Man, I love this place! |
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| I got a couple of milestone badges on UNTAPPD with today's check-ins including this Riding Steady one celebrating 500 different beers with an ABV lower than 5%...of course, that means 2,500+ heavy weights! I also nabbed a badge for 100 brown ales checked in as well. |
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The Chubby Donkey is a food truck that has also taken up a permanent corner residence inside Happy Trails Brewing as well. I had their Cuban burrito stuffed full of pulled pork and ham and it was fantastic. I did have a guest can of beer with my dinner. I chose the very good Contact High Juiced American pale wheat ale from 4 Hands Brewing (St. Louis). |
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Well, after meeting up with Al and Ryan back over at the apartment, we took a short drive over to the golf course sports bar only to find out they had cancelled Ryan's trivia night...hey, thanks for telling him beforehand...jerks...we turned right around and left without giving them a dime of patronage and headed straight back to Happy Trails Brewing again who we remembered were having their own in-house trivia. We did OK with a 3rd place finish out of six teams considering none of us watched the last few season of TWD. I enjoyed another "guest can" while playing. It was the delightfully light Emergency Drinking Beer - Peach Blend from Wild Heaven Brewing (Atlanta). |
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Our AirBnB two-bedroom apartment in downtown Sparta was roomy and sparkling clean. It had a few odd little quirks (we sure won't forget the bathroom door with a six-gap underneath it...wtf?), but it was quiet and we had a pleasant night there. I really liked the cool tin ceiling in my bedroom. |
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10/2 - Our other reason for coming to Sparta was to take a day off from work and go see a waterfall or two. It's been about 30 years since Craig and I hiked to and photographed a waterfall together after going to scores of them in college and afterwards. It was a beautiful day to start again! We chose our first destination as nearby Lost Creek Falls. While I visited this beauty fairly recently on my own for the first time, Craig and Al had never been here, so I was happy to make another visit. Plus, there's always another way to see and photograph this beauty. It was another beautiful day and although the water level was a little low, it was still a beautiful sight and we even had the place to ourselves for a little while before anyone else showed up.
 Speaking of return visits, it's been four years since I visited Calfkiller Brewing last and then the couldn't serve pints on site. Well, now they can!! I had a pint of their excellent flagship Grass Roots Ale which I have had before, but never out on their sweet deck area relaxing in this beautiful spot on the Calfkiller River. Can't wait to come back! Cheers! |
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We headed toward Cookeville next and had a late lunch at 37 Cedar Restaurant and Bar which was quite good. I had a pint of the outstanding Peanut Butter Stout from Red Silo Brewing which is just across the street. |
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We closed out our day at a repeat for both of us. Craig and I have been to lovely Waterloo Falls north of Cookeville many, many years ago, so it was nice to return together. It's always been on private property, but now it's newest owners have made it into a wedding venue/event center with daily access available. This will be helpful since we also scouted a return ASAP to see nearby Mill Creek Falls upstream from Waterloo which neither of us have been to before. It was great seeing my old friend in some of our old haunts while discovering a few new ones as well. Can't wait to do it again!! |
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With 10 % of the rest of my big poker win from last month on Global and a couple of smaller first-place chops on Poker Stars recently, I gave $50 today to Poker Gives, the charity set up by the late-great, Mike Sexton. |
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10/3 - I watched some "football" today on television as UT with a sparse Covid-19 crowd at giant Neyland Stadium rolled over Missouri to move into the Top 15 in the nation. I also watched Nashville SC score a 0-0 tie at New England to gain an important point on the road. If the playoffs started today in the MLS, they would be in. This will be an important month for both squads. During the games I cracked open a couple libations as well. I enjoyed the crisp BFB Pilsner from Blackberry Farm Brewery (Maryville, TN) and a gift bottle of the decent Wooden Cask American Wheat ale from Wooden Cask Brewing (KY) from my pal, Craig. He also has a craft beer delivery service, so we swapped a few duplicates with each other. (pic courtesy of allfortennessee.com) |
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10/4 - I did a lot of work around the house today and rewarded myself with a pint can from my Beer Drop order that came this month. I had the incredibly good honey-based Bee Bop De Miel farmhouse ale from Bruz Beers (Denver). This was a limited Covid-19 run for them, so I feel lucky to have gotten to try it. |
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It's been a Milestone Weekend for me on UNTAPPD as I also earned a badge for a 100 different farmhouse ale/saisons checked in. All hail, Belgium!! |
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10/7 - I scored another final table on Global Poker tonight despite taking a rash of bad beats throughout the tournament. I wound up finishing second out of 225 players and turned my $11 investment into over $300 in profit! |
10/9 - Thanks to a dirt cheap Southwest airfare to Milwaukee, I decided to weather the Covid-19 storm and take a long-weekend solo trip up north to visit some of northern Wisconsin and "the Yoop" - the Upper Peninsula of Michigan which locals there consider the 51st state. There are tons of waterfalls in this region, not to mention breweries galore, and a big ol' lake we call Superior, but the Native Americans called Gitche Gumee (thanks Gordon Lightfoot). And with Great Lakes come great lighthouses!
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To steal a line from "That 70's Show" intro song..."Hello, Wisconsin!!" My first stop after heading due north from the MKE airport was 3 Sheeps Brewing in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, on the western shores of Lake Michigan. My first Wisconsin beer was the excellent Armchair Quarterback amber lager (photo above). My second beer here tasted like Froot Loops! It was the outstanding Lemongrass Pilsner. Looking back, this was probably my favorite brewery of the whole trip. |
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My Nissan Sentra rental car was not my first choice from the available cars at Hertz, but it served me well throughout the trip. I would go on to log in over 1,100 miles on this baby! |
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Since there was no food at the brewery disappointingly, I had to settle for some fast food for lunch. And since there seemed to be a Culver's on every exit, I hit one for some cheese curds on the go and continued north. Oh, yah, they were pretty good, you betcha! |
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Probably the biggest disappointment from this crappy year of Covid-19 was the cancellation of our G.A.M.E. tickets to see the Titans and the Packers play at historic Lambeau Field in Green Bay. I still got to visit it here in 2020, but obviously, it's just not the same...but at least it was warm!! |
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Within a pooch-punt of the Lambeau Field is Beaver State Brewing, so I swung in for a brew or two with a view. First up in the photo above was the better-than-expected Figgy Figgy - Belgian Strong Ale w/Figs (Pilot Series). I finished here with a Grassy Place Hazy IPA that was as pretty in the afternoon sun as it was tasty. It certainly was nice to enjoy these brews outside in their cool little beer garden area instead of shivering in the December winds...I guess. |
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Sing together, everyone..."The circle of life!!" well at least for beer... |
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It was a long haul continuing north as I was staying just across the border in Michigan's Upper Peninsula in the town of Iron City. I made it in time to check out the Millie Hill Bat Sanctuary above the town, but I think the little buggers (1 million strong) had already headed south for the winter as I saw none emerge from the deep vertical iron mine shaft they occupy here. I still caught a nice sunset at least. |
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After checking in to my decent and affordable AmericINN Hotel, I headed over to 51st State Brewing nearby. I had their decent Octoberfest 2020 as my first YOOP brew followed by their more than decent State of Superior pale ale. I regret not going back and getting one of their nice warm-looking toboggan hats with their cool logo on it. Maybe next time... |
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10/10 - Today was my day to be an honorary Yooper as I dedicated the entire day to Michigan's UPper Peninsula aka the Yoop, aka the 51st state. |
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It was such a great view last night up on Millie Hill and it was so close to my hotel, I decided to run there for sunrise as well. I was rewarded with not only a beautiful morning, but a large doe checking me out. It was pretty cool to know it was just me and her up here this morning. |
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The view was magnificent as the fall colors were peaking throughout the Yoop and Wisconsin making for an excellent long weekend of photography. |
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It was a very long drive (longer than I first thought) to get to Bond Falls, but man, was it worth it. What a beauty. The sheer size of the drop of the Middle Branch of the Ontonagon River is hidden by trees as well as this is only maybe 3/4 of the entire breadth of it. |
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The long drive paid off doubly with nearby Agate Falls as my next stop. I had to climb down a pretty steep sloop to the banks of the same Middle Branch of the Ontonagon River for this shot, but it was worth it. While this waterfall is downstream from Bond Falls, it situated north of it. The old railroad trestle above it (that's now a walking trail) just adds to the allure of this beautiful place. Note the signature copper color of the river stones here. |
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It was up to the (as Kehaar from "Watership Down" calls it) "pig vater" next to the Yoop North Shore town of Marquette on mighty Lake Superior. Their Harbor Light (1865) is a beauty, and I was able to walk all around it, but liked this first shot from across the beach the best. |
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Marquette has a few breweries and I stopped by Drifa Brewing and had a pint of their excellent Walk of Shame brown ale. I spied with my little eye that they did pint crowlers to go also, so I decided to grab a couple more from them and keep moving. I cracked open their solid Bannockburn's Ghost porter as I continued eastward along the North Shore (photo above). I was actually scheduled to take a boat tour in the next town over, Munising, to view some of the Pictured Rocks National Seashore from the water, but the weather was not having it today, and the NWS put out a small craft warning thus cancelling the tour. The lake was churning for sure and with "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" spookily playing on my phone, I warily spied the horizon cautiously for the ghost ship that my beer was named after. There were also two young guys surfing here in wet suits and doing pretty well at it. Have at it, boys! |
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Look I love The Gulf as much as anyone, but you aren't seeing a beach with fall foliage there. Near this beach shot was tiny Scott Falls, but I didn't stop for a picture, but I did see it and can add it to the list. |
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Munising Falls was my next stop and it is part of the Pictured Rocks National Seashore near the town of the same name. A quick short walk and all that fall color. What's not to love! |
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With my boat ride cancelled, my best chance to see at least a little of the amazing sandstone cliffs along Lake Superior that make up Pictured Rocks National Seashore was the overlook at Miners Castle Point. This picture does no justice to what a magnificent place this is. A MUST return without a doubt. |
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I toasted my first visit to the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore with my second pint crowler from Drifia Brewing, the tasty Stellar Dendrite stout. I learned also that Drifa Brewing is a cooperative-owned brewery: the first in Michigan and one of only a dozen in the U.S. Cheers, fellas!! |
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Wagner Falls Scenic Site was my next quick stop and daylight was fading fast. It's maintained by the state, but not part of the PRNS. Another quick walk to a beautiful spot. |
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Alger Falls is a roadside cascade that was worth a stop and snap thanks to the dazzling fall colors. There's a "For Sale" here right now...just sayin'.... |
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Back in the town of Munising, I stopped in at By George Brewing for a couple of local libations. My first choice was their very good Annexation of Wetmore IPA. I drank it out on their open patio, but man was it getting cold as the sun went down. I finished up closer to their outdoor heater with the aptly-named and very tasty Campfire Confessional rauchbier. The color was just beautiful (photo above) as were their cool pint glasses. Speaking of confessionals...I stole both of my pint glasses. Sorry, it was just too easy and they were just so cool. Plus, I was egged on via text by my best friend, Craig, who is, of course, getting one of them. It was a LONG drive back to the hotel in the dark, but I made it without incident with a great day in The YOOP under my belt and in my memories. |
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10/11 - Today was head-south day and dedicated to Wisconsin. My original plan for today (and the reason I decided to come to this area in the first place) is that just back across the state line in northernmost Marinette County are a bevy of waterfalls. Not 20 minutes from my hotel were my first stop, the amazing Piers Gorge on the Menominee River. This series of small waterfalls and rapids looks like it's miles and miles from anything, and yet this view above was about a 5 minute walk from the parking lot. And while there was another car in the parking lot, I didn't see another soul while I was here. Simply stunning. |
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A few more miles down the road and a short hike later was Smalley Falls, a pretty, but hard to shoot easily, cascading chute of creek water. I, again, had the place to myself, and it was beautiful, but it was here that I came to a hard decision as well. First off, it was clouding up quickly and getting pretty chilly. Secondly, after doing my research earlier on this trip I came to a rather jaded conclusion...all the waterfalls in this area basically look the same and aren't very big or should I say...Smalley (sorry, bad pun). Look, after visiting and photographing nearly 400 waterfalls, I feel I have the right to be a little choosey. For example, the next waterfall just down the road is Long Slide Falls and that pretty much describes it...a bigger version of this one. There were maybe 10 more in this region with the same look, so I took a look at the weather for Wisconsin and decided to forgo the rest of these area waterfalls and head for sunnier skies and more interesting views in Door County, back past Green Bay and north into the "little finger" peninsula of Wisconsin. A friend of mine, Jared, who is very familiar with the area recommended it while I was in the area, so I figured I would give it a chance since it at least had a beautiful lighthouse I had seen online and with only one of those beauties photographed so far on this trip, it seemed right in terms of balance. Sorry, Marinette County, I hope to be back some day and visit a few more of your waterfalls. |
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Well it was a drive, but, man, Door County paid off big-time! The weather was great and the place couldn't have been more charming with lots of wineries, orchards, farmland, coastline on two sides. It's definitely a place I would like to bring Ashlee to and spend a few nights exploring even more. I continued north with Cana Island Lighthouse as my first goal to see. What happened next was one of those wonderful surprises that you will only encounter the more you get out there and explore...see the amazing video below... |
That's right! Cana ISLAND is just that, an island with no bridge to get to it. So why not just take a tractor wagon ride through the lake surf to get there!! What a hoot! Even my friend, Jared, hasn't done this because he said on his last visit the lake water was down enough that they could walk to this island. You just never know until you get out there, folks!!
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There she is, Cana Island Lighthouse (1869) and a what a beauty she is! After the great ride out here through the surf and the waves pounding the little island on all sides and the perfect weather, I knew I had made the right decision in coming here today. |
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This is one of my favorite shots of the entire trip as I spied the crescent moon alongside a zoom in of the Cana Island Lighthouse. Again, you never know what you are going to see unless you get out there and see it. Shout out to my IPhone camera for continuing to impress me. |
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They had a great display of things that had washed up on the shore of the Cana Island over the years and this old beer can caught my eye for some reason?? Wonder if I could count this as a check in...lol. I did check on UNTAPPD and they still make it...and it's a Pabst product, of course. Dang! I should have bought one at a gas station somewhere...next time... |
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Well, speaking of beer, I went back south a few miles to a place I spied on the way in located in the pretty town of Egg Harbor for lunch and a brew or two. At the Shipwrecked Brew Pub, the area's oldest and first microbrewery, I had the excellent pan-fried northern pike (Door County style with local cherry chutney). My first beer from them was the Wiscaaahnsin Pale Ale which was so-so. The name was better than the beer...very plain and unoriginal. I went half-pint to finish up and had the decently better Door County Cherry Wheat. |
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While at lunch I found out through online research that there is actually another lighthouse in the area, so I headed back north a bit to the west side of the peninsula to check out Eagle Bluff Lighthouse (1868) which is a part of the stunning Peninsula State Park. The day was drawing nigh and I had to commit to heading back south for a long drive to my hotel for the night near the Milwaukee airport, but before leaving this enchanting area, I did stop by One Barrel Brewing back in Egg Harbor and had one for the road. Their Willie Scotch ale is extremely good. This Madison-based brewery is giving ol' Shipwrecked Brewpub (almost across the street) some much-needed competition, and you could tell which one is winning because this place was packed. |
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I made it to my Best Western Plus hotel near the airport in Milwaukee just after dark and was pleased to see my room safely cleaned and waiting for me. We discovered Best Western Plus hotels on a trip to Canada a while back and while they aren't the fanciest places, they always seem to be a good value, clean and put the customer first. |
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10/12 - I got up early today with a full morning to explore in and around Milwaukee before my flight home. I started my day to the south of the city letting rush hour die down and checked out pretty Wind Point Lighthouse (1880). Despite the calm look in the picture, the place was, you guessed it, very windy and that made it pretty cold with a lot of fog hanging over Lake Michigan. But, man, she is a beauty and well worth a look. |
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Back in downtown Milwaukee, I enjoyed checking out the many pieces of sculpture art all along Wisconsin Avenue with this colorful piece called "Blob Monster" being my favorite. |
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Down on the foggy lakefront, the historic old North Point Water Tower (1874) took on a mystic look like something out of "The Lord of the Rings." |
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Here's the house that beer built. The gothic Pabst Mansion isn't open for tours right now (thanks, Covid-19), but I hope to come back someday and visit inside this fascinating structure built in 1892. |
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I tried to stalk my favorite Duke player of them all, Steve Wojciechowski, who is now the head coach at Marquette University, but to no avail. It was good seeing all the students wearing masks while walking the downtown streets from class to class. |
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I really enjoyed strolling by the Burnham Block of houses designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in the early 1900's way before the term "tiny house" was a thing. And you can also stay in a couple of them...yeah, I am SO COMING BACK!! |
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As the rain started to fall and my stomach started grumbling for lunch, I stumbled upon (with some online research) the Centraal Grand Cafe and Tappery- an Amsterdam/Holland-inspired beer bar with a huge selection. Since all local breweries were closed on a Monday, this was a great substitute. I had an excellent lunch of carne adobada tacos and enjoyed a small "tour" of local breweries via their "smaaks" of beer samplers including: the solid Oktoberfest from Third Space Brewing; the almost too sweet (I mean Sugar Daddy candy sweet) Stuff That Works imperial stout from Eagle Park Brewing; the lackluster Cream City Crema cream ale from MobCraft Beer; and finally, the best of the bunch, the hoppy and crisp Stop, Don't, Come Back pale lager from Hacienda Beer Company. |
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Beer inspiration is everywhere in Milwaukee. Even at the airport and even during this stupid pandemic. |
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My flight home was pretty smooth despite a little bit of stormy weather creeping around. I got this amazing picture of Lake Michigan from the air after taking off. It's incredible that cold fresh lake water can take on such a tropical sheen to it. |
Man, what a great trip. I can't wait to come back to this area. So for the record this trip was:
2 states
7 waterfalls
4 lighthouses
7 breweries
18 unique craft beers
and one happy and satisfied person...
Goddamn my liver when it's thirsty,
Goddamn my wallet when it's dry,
Too sober to sleep, but, honey,
I'm too drunk to cry.
- Justin Rutledge
