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4/20 - Happy Birthday to ME!!! Studio 54 ain't got nothin' on me!! It was a pretty ho-hum birthday compared to others since I had to work at my lame new job today. But we did go out to eat where I wanted to go at least and, yes, it was brewery! We headed over to TennFold Brewing over in Donelson for some cold ones and some of their amazing sandwiches which Ashlee hasn't had yet. I think she was impressed!! As we waited on our table I started with their smooth and easy Flat Pedal Golden Ale. |
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| I moved on to the Groovy Shade NEIPA that I thought was very solid. At the table, I finished with their impressive barleywine called That Big Feller Over There. Seven birthdays already on UNTAPPD...where does the time and the beer go.... |
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4/21 - Blasting off for Kennedy Space Center! When I found out there was a manned rocket launch set for my birthday week, I knew I had to try and get there and knock that experience off my bucket list. I got a plane ticket to Orlando, booked a sweet rental car (my own silver rocket in the photo above) thanks to my recent big poker win and booked a night at a hotel near the KSC. I was even able to get off from my new job despite only being there a couple weeks, most of which was training. And then I got an email that the launch had been scrubbed for 24 hours...hell with it...I am going anyway!! |
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After checking into my hotel, a decent Extended Stay America in nearby Titusville, I headed due east to catch the sunset on the ocean. The closest beach I found was Peacock Beach in Cape Canaveral and I headed that way dodging these beautiful birds on the way...guess I know where it got its name...they were everywhere including in the streets! |
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Activity at Peacock Beach was winding down as the sun set at my back, but I did capture this young fella taking a last walk in from the surf. The color rendition is nice, but there is something about this black and white version that I dig...album cover anyone? |
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As twilight faded. it was time for beer and I found it close by at the Florida Beer Company in Cape Canaveral. The place was a little quiet, but very nice. I started with their light and bright Blue O Blueberry Pilsner. They were getting ready to close for the night, so I finished up with their Hurricane Reef IPA that was solid. Interestingly, since the place was kind of quiet, the guy a few chairs down from me at the bar and I got to talking and come to find out he is a real-life Nomadlander. He retired from the Houston Fire Department back at the end of the 2020 and was now cruising the country in his RV. We've become Facebook friends, so it will be interesting to see his adventures hopefully. Cheers to you, Kevin! |
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Another craft brewery open an hour later and closer to my hotel was Bugnutty Brewing over in Cocoa. I started with their outstanding Dark Matter Nitro (photo above) black IPA. That coaster is gonna look good on my Beer Tree this Christmas! I shut these guys down as well and ended with an incredible Cocoa Village Spicy Lager. I mean wow! This Vienna-style lager was infused with three different kind of hot peppers at the perfect mix of fire and ice cold beer. Well done, sirs! |
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4/22 - The LAUNCH!!....has been delayed one day....doh!! Despite the delay of the launch, I did have a couple of good things going for me...it was a beautiful sunny day in Florida, and I had access to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex all day today with my launch ticket. So, I headed over and found a pretty crowded place...I might as well be at Disneyland with these lines!! But, it actually worked out pretty well as I had a fun half-day visit to this amazing place. Definitely need to come back with more time and planning. |
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The had awesome exhibits throughout the complex including this bad-ass Mars SUV prototype. Now that is some four-wheeling I could get into!1 |
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Just before the Atlantis Shuttle Experience, I was able to slip in an see a showing of the IMAX film, Journey to Space, which was very good. The most amazing thing I learned was that inflatables may be the key to a future of space travel....that's amazing! |
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The big reveal of the actual Atlantis Space Shuttle at the end of the presentation was my favorite part of my visit to the KSCVC. Being that close to his beauty with it's blast marks and wear and tear from flights in and out of space was purely amazing. |
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I made a tough decision as the day moved on. There was another IMAX movie I could wait for to play, but I had seen most everything to see otherwise without getting on a bus tour (which was sold out when I got there). So, I decided to climb in my own silver Mustang rocket, peel the top down, and do a little more COASTing here in sunny Florida. Plus, I knew I would be back here "dark" and early in the morning for the launch hopefully. |
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It was time for some lunch and some brews and I found both right up the coast in the cool little town of New Smyrna Beach (where you can drive on the sand...but I did not). I did, however, watch people do it while perched on my stool looking out the window of the beach-front eatery, The Breakers, where I had some awesome grilled shrimp skewers and some perfectly-fried fish bites. I washed it all down with a draft pint of the incredibly good Jefficus Boubon Coffee Vanilla Oatmeal Stout from just up the road at Half Wall Brewery here in New Smyrna Beach. On the way out of town, I made a quick stop downtown at New Smyrna Beach Brewing and enjoyed a tall pint of their light and refreshing Pontoon Pilsner. I stopped with that one since I still had some driving to do. I was really impressed with this town and have already got Ashlee researching it as a possible retirement possibility for us. We shall see!! |
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Another area I really like just a bit farther north is Ponce Inlet and not just because they have the beautiful Ponce de Leon Inlet Lighthouse to visit. Man, what a beauty! Gotta come back here when I can tour it properly. I love this shot with the moon beside it. I have a very similar shot from Cana Island Lighthouse in Michigan. |
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After checking into my nice AirBnB private (and very affordable) room at a house near the KSC, I headed out to grab some dinner and some brews nearby. Playalinda Brewing has two locations in Titusville and the first one is also a pizza kitchen and there was a 45-minute wait just to sit at the bar...WTF? So, I headed to the other location called "The Hardware Store." Plenty of seating, good pork tacos and hellaciously good beer!! I started with the extremely good Playa Pale Ale (cask conditioned). My "dessert" was their amazingly good Key Lime Slice blonde ale (photo above) with whipped cream on the rim, of course. Man, what a taste sensation! The barkeep says it's incredible how much of this beer they sell and I believe him. |
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4/23 - The LAUNCH!!...for real this time!!
Video and pictures cannot do it justice, but, man, what a thrill! Well worth the time and effort to get here and see (and feel and hear) it happen in real time.
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I even got a sweet hat with the NASA SpaceX Falcon 9 Crew-2 mission patch on it to commemorate my attendance of the launch. It also has the 4 crew members' names who were aboard and the dragon symbolizes the Dragon Endeavor capsule they will take to the International Space Station for a 6-month stint to relieve Crew 1. The pre-dawn sky was so clear before launch that we actually saw the ISS go by in its orbit around the Earth. |
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I love how this screen grab of my video makes it look like sunrise over the Atlantic Ocean when in fact sunrise was not for another hour or so. The launch was from the famous Pad 39A from where everyone who has ever walked on the moon also took of from. Another unique aspect of this launch is that it's being done with reused first and second stage rockets. They will again be recovered and reused after this launch as well. |
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"My grubby halo, a vapor trail in the empty air..." - Pink Floyd "Learning to Fly" |
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OK, now this is the actual dawn and the signature left in the sky by the Falcon 9 Rocket. |
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I feel very fortunate to have witnessed this launch in person. I hope to do it again someday with even closer access...for more moolah, of course. But well worth it. Since the visitors complex didn't officially open for a couple hours, and the fact I had a plane to catch this afternoon, I decided to head on out back toward Orlando for the rest of my time here on the Space Coast. |
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I have never been to downtown Orlando, so I checked with good ol' AtlasObscura.com for some points of interest and the first one that grabbed my attention was beatnik writer Jack Kerouac's modest home where he spent his final years and wrote The Dharma Bums |
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I was impressed with all the lakes and green space in downtown Orlando. My favorite one which I walked around completely was Lake Eola (photo above). |
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My absolute favorite thing about Lake Eola is located in the NE corner of it called Persimmon Hollow Brewing! And they open at 8 AM because they serve breakfast. And if you ask nicely enough you can get a beer poured for you before 10 AM!! I started with their Sunshine Special honey beer that was really good. Next up was the Gypsy Hiker NEIPA (photo above) that was fantastic. And I love their motto on the pint glass. Nothing weirder than two beers before lunch!! |
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After my morning brews, I walked around to the west side of Lake Eola Park to Heritage Square at the Orange County History Center where this cool work of art called "Global Convergence" is located. It represents an aquarium and the shoal bass in it were actually created by pressing real fish into dye. It lights up at night which I bet is even cooler. Thanks again, Atlas Obscura! Nearby I had a pretty good Philly cheesesteak sandwich for lunch at The Loading Zone, before heading to the airport for my flight home. A great bucket-list trip indeed! |
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4/23 - The second part of my birthday travel plans involved renting an adorable tiny house in The Retreat at Deer Lick Falls development atop Monteagle Mountain. This was a make-up trip from last year that got zapped by the pandemic. It was of keenest interest to me since this development of tiny homes centered around Deer Lick Falls, one of my favorites in the area and one I had not visited in over 30 years. |
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Ashlee picked me up from the airport after I flew back in from Orlando and we headed straight for Monteagle. She was kind enough to pack me a few brews of my craft beer stash at home for the weekend. Thanks, sweetie! I enjoyed this rich and tasty Mahogany Rush brown ale from Perrylodgic Brewing over in Paris, TN, as we relaxed inside our tiny home tonight. Thanks again to my best friend, Craig, for hooking me up with a good load of PBC brews recently. |
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4/24 - As we waited on a table for breakfast at Jim Oliver's Smokehouse today, I spied these two little beauties on a dusty shelf in the store attached to the restaurant. Talk about a couple of cool check-ins on UNTAPPD this would be!! Funny enough, they actually did re-release the World's Fair Beer back in 2017 for the 35th anniversary of the event in Knoxville. |
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If I couldn't drink craft beer for some reason (parish the thought!), I think I might get by with Sun Drop. This one's in a long-neck glass bottle...as God intended. I enjoyed it (them, I had two) with my breakfast at Jim Oliver's Smokehouse. (Editors note: In a sad ironic twist, Jim Oliver's restaurant burned to the ground just three days later. What a shame. All that memorabilia and history gone, not to mention an iconic Monteagle Mountain establishment that had been around since the 1960's. Guess I should have stolen those beer cans above as the thought crossed my mind, just so I could give them back to those folks today.) |
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Despite some rainy weather, we got just enough of a window today to hike down and back to the base of the amazing Deer Lick Falls. She's everything I remember and more. What a beauty! I thought this black and white version was just stunning. Others agree as I got over 100 likes after posting this same picture on a Facebook group devoted to waterfall lovers. |
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You can never start 'em too early! LOL! After our hike, I enjoyed a can of S.M.A.S.H. NEIPA from Perrylodgic Brewing back at our tiny house. Our foster kitten, Morris, seemed interested for a sniff, but that was about it. Too bad for him because it was delicious! |
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Man, I have forgotten how much The University of the South at Sewanee looks like Duke's campus. Sure makes me miss Duke Chapel and Cameron Indoor Stadium. We walked around the pretty campus after having a great dinner at The Mountain Goat Market. They always have some pretty unique craft beers there and with dinner I had the rich and heavy Dragon Stout FIRE from Desnoes and Geddes Brewing (Jamaica). Back at the tiny house on our last night there, I cracked open my last can from Perrylodgic Brewing, the surprisingly good Apricot Sour. It was more tart and no aftertaste, so I was content with it. I had stopped at a local liquor store on the way back and picked up a couple of pinch-hitters in case the sour was not to my liking. I only needed one of them to finish the night out. It was a pint can of the H.A.Z.Y. IPA from Sweetwater Brewing (Atlanta). This NEIPA was very good from one of longtime favorite regional breweries here in The South. |
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4/25 - We got back from Monteagle today, did a few things at the house, and then headed over to watch the Oscars with our friends, Danny and Brenda, and their place in Brentwood. I had a pint can on the way which was the last of my previous Beer Drop order (got another coming next week). It was the light and tasty Winter Tullekopp farmhouse ale from Varietal Beer Company (WA). Danny did not disappoint either by offering me an impressively good NEIPA from Goose Island Brewing (Chicago) called Lost Palate. I was happy to see Daniel Kaluuya grab and Oscar for his incredible performance in Judas and the Black Messiah...which I also thought should win best picture...but was not surprised when Nomadland took that prize. Good show despite the restrictions from the pandemic, but I sure am hoping for more normalcy this coming year. |
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