Back to Vegas and the WSOP!!

10/1 - I am trying to hold on to summer as long as I can!!   It's too cold to swim, but I did get a nice float in this afternoon and enjoyed another of my Beer Drop arrivals, a very nice and light Apricot Blonde from Dry Dock Brewing (CO).  Cheers to summer 2021 one last time!

10/4 - Feels like 81 degrees? Feels like time for another float and some online poker!!  Pool closes Friday, folks! I enjoyed another Beer Drop arrival with my float, a nice IPA called Hopped and Loaded from 105 West Brewing (CO). 

10/5 - Just after work today, I went to see Venom:  Let There Be Carnage in IMAX at Streets of Indian Lake Theaters up in Hendersonville.  Beforehand, I did some work in the mobile fashion, and had an early delicious dinner and a couple brews at one of my favorite places nearby, Blossom Thai and Cellar Door Craft Cavern.  I started with the marzen Oktoberfest from Bitburger Brewing (Germany) and it was a little underwhelming.  I ended with a great Pina Colada Snoball milkshake IPA from Urban South Brewing (New Orleans), but I felt like I was a couple months too late for it, since it's definitely a pool-side libation .  The movie sequel was a little silly like the first one, but tight and compact in its run-time, and fairly enjoyable. The MCU tie-in (spoiler alert) at the end credit was interesting for sure. 

I got to a final table tonight in the Crazy Pineapple nightly tournament on Global Poker. I finished second out of 42 vs. this guy who was one of the best players I've seen on here in a while.  I pocketed $70+ profit that went back into the bankroll as usual these days.  

Just two weeks until The Cedar Tap is open on the square here in Lebanon!!  Look at that beauty of a bar!! Can't wait to have a cold one at it! 

10/6 - I've been enjoying binging the wildly popular HBO-series, "The Sopranos" lately.  I guess I am the only one in America who hasn't seen it. So I was interested in seeing the new prequel film The Many Saints of Newark that came out recently. But I'm glad I watched it at home on HBO Max because it was just OK.  Not worth the big screen in my opinion.  It was cool that they got James Gandolfini's son to play the young Tony Soprano, but I thought his role was pretty bland overall.  

10/7 -  A shout-out to the Three Forks Marketplace in Watertown, the little-town grocery story with a nice craft beer selection.  I grabbed a six-pack of the tasty Yazoo Harvest Helles lagers there today after getting my hair cut.  I really appreciate a small independent grocery in a small town carrying local craft beer like these from nearby Yazoo Brewing up in Madison.    I enjoyed a couple of them in the pool this afternoon for the official last float of the season as we must close her up tomorrow.  See next summer, my love!  Cheers to another pool/beer year! 

10/8 - We went to see Will Hoge (who I consider the Springsteen of Nashville)  tonight on one his two nights at 3rd and Lindsley in downtown Nashville for a stop on his post-Covid-quarantine aptly-named Anywhere But My House Tour.  The show was awesome.  The food was meh, and the beer selection was limited.  The only one on the menu I had not had was a sour - ho hum - from nearby New Heights Brewing called the Ma Ma Ma Mimosa.  Ashlee thought it tasted like a mimosa.  So did I...if the orange juice was bad!!!  Yuck.  Not for me, but I choked it down anyway.  

10/11 - Day off pay off!!  Thanks, Columbus, for the day off, but I am Team: Native American, if we are choosing sides.    This is probably the first time I have had this federal holiday off, so I took advantage of it and the nice weather and headed east for some waterfall chasing and some craft beer sipping! This field of old classic cars just rusting away was my first stop out toward Jamestown.  What a shame they are going to pot like this, but a cool shot for me at least.  

My first destination was the beautiful Colditz Cove State Natural Area near Allardt, TN.   The crown jewel there is Northrup Falls which is a real beauty.  I can't for the life of me remember being here before, but I must have.  Anyway, it was an easy hike and a beauty of a waterfall.  I didn't go down to the base, but got some great shots at the brink and even waded in the cold water above the falls a little. 

Next up was Potter's Falls farther east near Wartburg.  I have definitely not been here before and what a shame because it's another great waterfall.  Note the rope-swing in the far distance. This would also be a great place to fish I think.  Probably full of red-eye rock bass!  Hard to believe this one is right by the road with no hiking required.  Just gotta dodge some graffiti with your pics, but overall not bad (including trash) given its easy proximity.  

Now it's time for some beer!!  Mondays are notorious for being closed days for breweries, so I didn't have a lot of choices.  I pulled into the lie that is The New Brewery in Kingston (not a brewery at all, just a beer joint with food).  It didn't look all that appealing for lunch, so I continued east into Knoxville for another visit to Orange Hat Brewing.  Well worth the few extra miles!!  I had two outstanding brews while there.  I started with their Oktberfest marzen called Schnitz and Giggles.  I finished with the unique and tasty apple-infused ale called the Apple-achian (photo above).  A perfect autumn duo! 

10/12 - My good pal, Danny, had a birthday today and we met him and his wife and some other friends at Amerigo Italian Restaurant in Cool Springs.  I knew the food would be good, but I was surprised what a decent craft beer list they had. I had a nice draft pint of the Mosey Lager from Avondale Brewing down in Birmingham, AL, with my shrimp scampi.  I also brought Danny a nice bomber bottle of beer from my visit to Orange Hat Brewing yesterday for his birthday present.  

10/13 -  I wasn't planning on playing poker tonight in my Lebanon WSOP League, but my partner, Chip, couldn't make it, and I could definitely use some practice before heading to Vegas tomorrow.  I grabbed a three craft beers from Lebanon Wine and Spirits for the game, plus my last one from my most recent Beer Drop Order.  I started with a solid pilsner from Two Brothers Brewing (IL) called Twenty-Plus.  I celebrated fall with two pumpkin-based brews next.  The #Basic Pumpkin Ale 2021 from Tailgate Brewing here in nearby Nashville was anything but basic.  It was fantastic! I went with Tailgate's Pumpkin Spice Latte Milk Stout next and it was solid and very good as well.  I finished the night (with a lucky second place finish in poker thanks to a few suck-outs) with a tasty can of FivePine Chocolate Porter from Three Creeks Brewing (OR).

10/14 - We flew to Vegas after work today as I prepared for my return to the World Series of Poker.  While it's not the Main Event I will be playing in, it's still very exciting to get back to the felt and to the grind of live tournament poker! 

  Boobs and beers!  My kinda a slut, I mean slot, machine! Gotta love Vegas!  

10/15 - I actually worked from Vegas today, but I took a few "breaks" during the day and explored some of the craft beer options here at The Venetian where we stayed.  My lunch beer was at Yardbird Southern Table and Bar where I had an Atomic Duck IPA with my chicken biscuits! Both were tasty and filling! I followed that up with the impressive Chris Kael Impale'd Ale imperial brown.  Both were made by Able Baker Brewing here in Vegas.  

Happy Hour at Trustworthy Brewing in the Venetian's Grand Canal Shoppes (yep, that's a brewery in a shopping mall!  That's a first for me!  Gotta love Vegas!) was not until 3 PM, so that was my next "break" from work.   I had their solid flagship Trustworthy IPA and their very good NEIPA called Showroom Ready.  

After work (yeah, tough day), I checked out the Black Tap Craft Burgers and Beer.  $10 for a pint of beer. Yikes!  Gotta love Vegas...but it's tough on the wallet.  I started with a draft pint of the Silver Sage  Pale Ale from Pigeon Head Brewing up in Reno.  It was quite good at least.  I got a "bargain" canned beer next (at nine bucks a pop) and tried the I Love NV amber lager from Bad Beat Brewing over in Henderson.  It was OK, but let's get the "bad beats" out of the way now!!  

10/16 -  Let's play POKER!! I started the 2021 World Series of Poker $1,500 Monster Stack No Limit Hold 'Em Event # 30B today.   I pushed my starting stack of 50K to up over 120K and was doing well all day and through the dinner break.  I had made some great moves throughout the entire day including a huge double-up with a cleverly disguised full house.  Sadly, two coolers in a row did me in after dinner and late in the evening of Day 1.  In hindsight, I know now that should have got up and walked the first one off, but I didn't and stupidly overplayed my next top pair hand to a flopped two pair and I was gone.  It was a shock.  I had played some of my best live poker and could have easily coasted to Day 2.  You live and learn I guess, but, it sure is painful.  I did get to witness two live bracelet ceremonies which was quite inspiring.  So I know I will be back!! 

I drowned my sorrow in popcorn shrimp (make that popcorn and shrimp - so clever, so good!) and a  very nice Irish dry stout called Grim Reaver from 7Five Brewing here in Vegas back at the Yardbird Southern Table and Grill at The Venetian.  

10/17 - Well, with the day clear from the WSOP, I decided to check out a few of fave old Vegas haunts from years past.  I walked down to Pub 365 in the Tuscany Gardens Casino.  This is my favorite place in Vegas...or was.  No more free craft beer when you play video poker at the bar anymore.  Ho-hum.  At least the selection is still good and I got one of my three ordered beers free...not sure if that was a promotion or a mistake.  The wait-staff were woefully dull. And I lost $20 in video poker too.  But my beers in order were: 

The very good Black Eye P.A. from Banger Brewing here in Vegas.  

The also very good milkshake IPA called Hendertucky Horror Show from Lovelady Brewing over in Henderson.

And, finally, the solid Irish red ale called Rory's from Mason Ale Works (CA). 

The disappointments continued throughout the day as first I spied this craft-beer poser Gordon Ramsey restaurant/bar in Caesar's (photo above) near their poker room, but the menu was ho-hum with nothing of any originality.  Pass.  The daily poker tournaments at Caesar's used to be great too, but they are a shit-show now with ridiculous structures.  I somehow got to a final table and finished 8th...too bad they only paid 6...and I heard a deal being made for the bubble boy as I was leaving...
Hell, even my beloved lettuce wraps at The Yard House were different and not as good as they used to be.  Thanks for the farts all night. Their beer selection is still great, and I had a couple more good ones to finish out a rather disappointing day.  First up was the nice heffeweizen from Bad Beat Brewing over in Henderson called Bluffing Isn't Weisse (ha-ha, very punny). I finished on a very high note with probably the best beer of the trip:  The Dankster Double IPA from Lead Dog Brewing here in Vegas.  Need to visit those folks in person sometime. 

10/18 - Screw this town and its disappointments and overpriced beer...let's go watch Monday Night Football in Music City!!   I got a text from my pal, Toney, who had two tickets to tonight's game with our beloved Titans taking on the Buffalo Bills.  So, I changed my flight and headed west to head east.  My connection was in Orange County, CA, at the rather tiny Santa Ana - John Wayne Airport.  But, hey, at least I got to see the West Coast and the Pacific Ocean from my crappy middle seat on a totally booked flight.  

I usually don't post about films that I don't make a big effort to go see.  But the documentary, My Octopus Teacher, that I watched on the plane home today was so beautiful and and so stirring, I just had to give it a shout-out.  No wonder it won the Oscar.  Simply amazing.   

Lights, camera...action!!! Monday Night Football, baby!!! We made it to our seats just in time for kick-off and it turned into a classic!! 

Titans WIN!!!   Titans WIN!!!  Titans WIN!!!
Go home, Buffalo!!
You shoulda kicked the field goal!  Baaahahhhahhaa!
Finally, a good decision out of Vegas by me!!