ants MARCHing

Yeah, I said it!  And I'd say it again!! 

3/1 - I went to see The Batman First Premiere in IMAX at Opry Mills this evening.   Beforehand, I finished up work at the Homegrown Taproom where I had a few half-pint libations with my lunch.  I started with the Cryosphere (2021) IPA from Terrapin Brewing (GA) that was very good.  Next up was the even better Snake Handler Double IPA from Good People Brewing (AL).   I am pretty sure I've had this one before, but never checked it in on UNTAPPD for some reason.  My third choice was the solid Bow Echo Hazy IPA from WISEACRE Brewing (Memphis).  I finished with the so-so Mountain Water Citrus Splash fruit beer from Hi-Wire Brewing (Asheville, NC).  It was just about a seltzer in my opinion.   I thought the movie was fantastic and equal to or slightly better than The Dark Knight.  Robert Pattinson's take on The Caped Crusader was very well done. 

Paul Dano was great in this new film as The Riddler, and Joaquin Phoenix was solid and creepy
 in The Joker as well back in 2019, but there will never be another Batman villain like Heath Ledger's Joker from The Dark Knight.  

Strangely, the 3 PM scheduled showing of The Batman got moved to 7 PM without prior notice, so I suddenly had four hours to kill and didn't want to double-back home.  So, I decided to catch another film while I waited, and it was the surprisingly good Jockey over at the Regal Hollywood Theaters.  I also got an unexpected extra brew as I had time to stop by TennFold Brewing on the way back to Opry Mills and have a pint of their new (and tasty) Ridge and Valley stout. 

3/2 - I walked miles 3 and 4 of the day to and from The Cedar Tap for their happy hour this afternoon.  I started with the excellent NEIPA from Bearded Iris Brewing here in Nashville called Continuity (photo above).  I finished with the very good unfiltered kellerbeir pilsner called Killer Pils from East Nashville Brewing.  As you can see in the photo above still no Mug Club mugs (sigh). 

3/3 - It was just too pretty a day and too quiet at work for me not to get out and go somewhere to ease my ever-gnawing wanderlust.  So, I headed north into Kentucky to check out Falls of Rough. The Rough River was at more of a flood stage than I was expecting, so I may have to return sometime at a lower water level, but still an interesting visit.  It's kind of sad this cool place isn't being actively restored.  There's a golf club nearby, but they don't seem to be focusing on this historic part of the property very much. 

On my way back, I stopped at the fairly new Gasper Brewing in Bowling Green to do a little work and to try a couple of their libations.  I started with their pretty good Sally's Rock NEIPA.   I ended with their very nice Downtown Brown ale that had a tasty molasses finish.  I learned the brewery moniker comes from a nearby river name.  

3/5 - Wish I could be there for this one, but with an average ticket price over $5K, I must watch from the couch I guess the last game at Cameron Indoor Stadium for Coach K against the visiting UNC Tarholes (not a typo).   I enjoyed the game even though it was a stunning upset loss (wow! but at least they already had the ACC regular season title won) and the pre-game and post-game ceremonies and the College Game Day Show from Cameron as well today with a few brews from my recent Beer Drop Order.  First up was the good Habanero Hunny from High Hops Brewing (CO), although I could have used a little more burn.  I followed that with the solid Elevation Beer Company Pilsner who are also out of Colorado.
Plus, there was an NSC game on at the same time which I had to watch from my phone!  At that one ended in a frustrating 1-1 tie when we were clearly the better team. 

3/6 - I had a nice Dream Kolsch from The Black Abbey Brewing Company here in Nashville with my tasty dinner at the Stateside Kitchen restaurant tonight before seeing the excellent Broadway musical, "Dear Evan Hansen" with Ashlee and some friends. 

3/8 - I had lunch today in downtown Nashville at Pie Town Tacos with my old friend since kindergarten, Mick.   First time here and the food was great!  Afterwards, I worked some of the afternoon away at Tennessee Brew Works with a couple of libations including their boozy, but good Imperial Porter Aged in Tennessee Whiskey Barrels 2020 (photo above), and then their smooth and balanced Hopped and Devoted pale ale. 

3/9 - I took a walk (over 2 miles RT) late this afternoon up to The Cedar Tap for happy hour.  The Mug Club mugs are still MIA, but at least the beer isn't!  I started with a nice sweet tarty sour from Prairie Artisan Ales (OK) called Thai Delight. I ended with a great nitro version of the Chocolate Stout from Rogue Ales (OR).  

3/10 - Despite gas being outrageously high right now, it was just too pretty an afternoon not to go waterfall chasing.  I ran up to just north of Cookeville to the beautiful Roaring River Falls.   How my waterfall pal, Craig, and I missed this beauty when we were back in college at Tech with it just four miles north of Waterloo Falls is beyond me.  And we found some obscure ones! And this one is right beside the road.  I may have interrupted two rednecks crackin' because they skedaddled quickly when I arrived.   I have put this one on my return list to fish as well.  It looks like a honey-hole for red-eye! I finished up work at Hix Farm Brewery back in Cookeville where I their nice NEIPA called Foggy Mountain Haze.  I finished up with their very good Dirt Sky Amber Ale.  

3/11 - With our Friday night plans for a concert squashed due to an incoming snow-front, we hunkered down at home, and I watched Duke in the ACC Tournament and played some online poker.  I also cracked one of my last remaining Beer Drop brews from last month.   It was a tasty can of Farmhouse Pale Ale from Oxbow Brewing (ME).  

3/12 - Ashlee and I attended the Farm to Tap Festival at Tailgate Brewing in West Nashville today.  Why is it so COLD!!!   Despite the unseasonably frigid temps and about 4 inches of snow overnight, we made it safely to the surprisingly crowded festival.  Despite the crowds, the beer sampling was easy and plentiful!  I had 14 unique tastings including six from new breweries to me.  In no certain order they went as:

Gin Botanical Gruit herbed ale - The Black Abbey (Nashville) - best of the fest! 
Cubano Coffee Brown ale - Alliance Brewing (Knoxville) - new to me! - very good
Memphis as Truck coffee stout - Memphis Made Brewing - solid 
Cat Nap NEIPA - Memphis Made - best (and only) IPA of the day 
Barrel Aged Stout - The Black Abbey - awesome! 
King Doug brown ale - Next Level Brewing (Knoxville) - new to me! - solidly good 
Place of Origin farmhouse ale - Harding House (Nashville) - very nice 
TN Strong Ale - Wanderlinger (Chattanooga) - decent 
Farm Hands light sweet potato ale - just a sip of Ashlee's - Harding House - OK
Coffee and Cigarettes coffee porter - Soul and Spirits (Memphis) - new to me - fantastic!
Smoke Stack rauchbier - Soul and Spirits - very good - gotta go see these folks!! 
Peaches and Cream Ale - sip of Ashlee's - Johnson City Brewing - new to me! - good
Strawberry Smoothie EPA - Johnson City - very good 
The Meaning of Life red ale - Asgard Brewing (Clarksville) - solidly good 

3/14 - After dropping Ashlee at the airport for an early work flight.  I decided to spend most of the day in Nashville with a few interesting stops while working mobile. First up was Third Man Records downtown.  Owned by Nashville guitar guru, Jack White, I wanted to give this place a look even though vinyl isn't my thing really.  It's a cool little shop with a focus on White's work, of course, and several artists under his record label.  It also has a listening room that might be cool to see a show in sometime in the future. 

Next up was a working lunch at 51 North Taphouse over in West Nashville.   I originally was going to try a new burger place nearby, but their craft beer list didn't look good enough to fight for a parking spot.  51 North always has a great list and albeit pricey the last time I was here, but it was worth the stop.  I got a 2 for 1 beer deal and my lunch of street tacos was excellent.  Brew-wise I started with the excellent Irish Stout from Hi-Wire Brewing (Asheville) since it's St. Patty's Week. Next up was the very good Hop Gusher IPA from Spindletap Brewing (Houston).  This is a new-to-me brewery entry into UNTAPPD as well.   I finished on a tart, but decent, note with the Frucht: Boysenberry (2021) wild ale from The Bruery Terreux (CA), another new-to-me brewery entry.   

I headed over to The Belcourt Theaters next to check out the Oscar-nominated shorts in animation, live action and documentary.   First up were the live shorts which were only showing this afternoon.  The animation and docs were later in the evening.   I got to say overall these live shorts were rather depressing as has been the case the last few times I've seen them.  Even the one I liked best, Please Hold, was rather grim overall.  I was excited to see Riz Ahmed in another one called The Long Goodbye, but it was brutally violent, and while he was great in it, I am not sure the message wasn't lost in all the savagery.  

In between shows at The Belcourt, I got a little exercise by walking over and checking out nearby Fannie Mae Dees Park aka Dragon Park.  The weather was beautiful, and the park was busy with activity.   I got back in time for the Animated Shorts and was promised they wouldn't overlap with the Short Docs showing afterward in another theater.  Well, they did overlap, and even worse, they were almost more depressing and weirder than the live action shorts!  Geez, people! The only one of any happy accord was Robin, Robin, which was clearly aimed at children.   My favorite was Affairs of the Art, but it was definitely not for everyone.  I was so pissed that I was told wrong about the overlap, that I didn't even stay for the rest of the Short Docs even though I had already bought a ticket, plus I just couldn't watch anymore sadness and weirdness.  Enough was enough. Time to head home. 

3/15 - Dammit!!  I should have went to Knoxville today!  I talked myself out of a bachelor-day road trip east this morning because of the cloudy weather and then around 2 PM as I was returning from a nice stroll around town,  it was nothing but glorious sunshine!  Missed opportunity I guess.  Best I could do was hang out in the backyard and let the cats roam a little (guess they were happy I didn't go anywhere) and crack open a delicious and satisfying Urban Sombrero Mexican-style lager from Storm Peak Brewing (CO) which is the last of my unique beers from my last Beer Drop order.  I love all the ingredients detail on their cans! I've decided to skip my Beer Drop order this month and wait for the pool to be open next month for new brews to sip around (and hopefully in) it. 

3/16 - I walked up to The Cedar Tap for happy hour this afternoon and had a nice conversation with a guy named Curtis who is kind of new to the area but who loves craft beer about as much as I do.   While chatting I had the extremely good Irish red ale called Brian Boru from 3 Floyds Brewing (IN).  Named for the first high king of Ireland, it was a perfect brew for St. Patty's Week.  Next up was the hoppy and delicious Stonefly IPA V.11 (Galaxy, Mosaic, Simcoe).  On my walk back home through the Cumberland University campus, I checked out their new "Phoenix" mascot display.   Very nice as was the sunset and mild temps. 

After I got back home, I then headed up to Gallatin to a brand-new brewery there called Big Trouble Brewing (clever name) before picking Ashlee up at the airport coming back late from her work trip.  The place was a bit ho-hum and set up in an old restaurant looks like, but I will support them when I can, and I am sure it's a work in progress.  Their beer was solid at least.  I started with their very nice NEIPA called Lazy Crazy Hazy.  I finished with their light and refreshing Amiga Mexican lager.  I also stopped by Homegrown Taproom in Donelson with a little more time to kill and closed it down with a couple of good half-pints including the solid Oat Crisp pilsner from Southern Grist Brewing here in Nashville, and the befittingly-named and tasty Irish Goodbye red ale from The Black Abbey Brewing also here in Nashville.  

3/17 - Even though I wear it all year round.  With today actually being St. Patty's Day, it's a fine time to sport my cool hat from Stone Brewing out in California, since they are my favorite brewery of them all.  Green cheers to Stone and all the great craft breweries out there! 

3/18 - I went to see the new crime film, The Outfit at the Regal Hollywood Theaters in Nashville late this afternoon.  I stopped by The Black Abbey Brewing Company beforehand to finish up work and have a couple of their libations.  I started with their very good Wee Heavy Scotch ale.  I finished with their outstanding Barrel Aged Saint Reptar Irish dry stout.  Aged to perfection in Blue Note Bourbon (new to me) barrels.  The movie was a bit disappointing to me.  Looks like it was based on a play which I have no problem with, but a bit of the story was kind of eye-rolling in my opinion. 

3/19 - Well, with The Poker Barn burned to the ground, I scratched some live poker itching in Red Boiling Springs tonight.  My friend and former co-worker, Jon, invited me to play in his local group up north and I decided to give it a try.  The Coley's have a nice set-up in the basement of their home and it was a full house with 4 full tables going for the tournament.  I made it to the final seven on life support, but roared back to actually have a slight chip lead with five left when we decided to chop since it was already past midnight.  I cleared $680 in profit!!  That works for me!!  I brought a variety four-pack with me as well from Lebanon Wine and Spirits and they were as follows:  a pint can of Nashville's Bearded Iris Brewing's tasty double IPA Moon Ring w/ Strawberries; then I continued with Bearded Iris and their double IPAs with the very good Another Suggestion; coming up next was the coffee-heavy but enjoyable Scottish ale called Aggromaster from Three Floyds Brewing (IN);  finally I capped of the winning night with my favorite brewery, Stone Brewing (CA) and their new Stone Enjoy By 04.20.22 Hazy IPA (photo above).  Not my favorite of the Stone IPA's, but still good and, hey, it's got my birthday on it.

Since it was sort of on the way to the poker tournament, I stopped by Big Trouble Brewing in Gallatin again beforehand.  I am not crazy about their 80's-them logo, but their beer ain't half bad.  Today I tried their decent (more hops, please) IPA called Look Mom, I Did It.  I finished up with their nice brown ale called Doc Emmett that has a nice dark chocolate finish.  It was good to see the place much busier today than the other night also.  Good luck to these guys!   I will be back! 

3/22 - Finally some good news from the Global Poker front! After a dismal couple months, I made a final table tonight in a $33 Super Deep Tourney with 235 other players in it.  I finished 4th for over $550 in profit!!  Damn, I was about to give up on this site.  Whewww!!! 

3/23 - I assembled quite a big group to go see heavy metal legends (and current Rock n Roll Hall of Fame nominees), Judas Priest, in Nashville tonight at the Municipal Auditorium.  It's their 50th year as a band, so five other "old" metal-heads and I gathered in Music City to see them.   Beforehand, some of us hung out at Von Elrod's Beer Hall and Kitchen for dinner and few libations.  I started with a draft pour of the very good double IPA from WISEACRE Brewing in Memphis called Puffel. Next up was can of the pretty good Bodega Run IPA from Brooklyn (NY) Brewing.  I finished up with a draft of the solid Vision pale ale from Rhinegeist Brewing up in Cincinnati. 
The show was very enjoyable.  Queensryche opened and sounded pretty good.  Their fill-in for Geoff Tate has some pipes of his own, that's for sure.  Priest was solid in sound and fury.  Lead singer, Rob Halford, at 70 years young, is pretty amazing.  He moves well on the stage and that screeching voice has not faltered after all these years.  The coolest part was during the four-song encore, they brought out original guitarist, Glenn Tipton, who's left full-time touring due to contracting Parkinson's Disease.  He fared well through all four heavy metal anthems.  Rock on, good sir, rock on! 

3/24 - I took a late afternoon stroll today and found myself at The Cedar Tap (shocking) where I cashed in my first Mug Club member punch card for a free pint.  I chose the surprisingly light and tart fruited Gose from Living Waters Brewing here in Nashville called Multnomah (also the name of one of my favorite waterfalls).  I finished up with another LWBC product:  their light and refreshing Vienna lager called Myra. When I got back, I had a beautiful sunset and spring was starting to bloom in our backyard (photo above) to enjoy. 

3/27 - More good news for Nashville on the craft beer front!  I will be looking forward to checking these places out in the near future.  As for today, I took an afternoon stroll over to Speedy Burrito for some lunch and then on up to The Cedar Tap for a couple of pints. I started with the very good DNEIPA from TrimTab Brewing (AL) called Terra Formosa. I closed out with the solid One Claw pale ale from Westbrook Brewing (SC).   

3/29 - It was Lebanon Poker Night for me, so I grabbed a variety four-pack from Lebanon Wine and Spirits to get me through the night.  First up was a very nice bottle of Battle Priest wild ale (photo above) from 3 Floyds Brewing (IN).  The next two were a little dated being winter/Christmas libations, but still tasty.  The holiday red ale from Rhinegeist Brewing (Cincinnati) called Dad was smooth and flavorful.  The bottle of holiday stout called Office Party from Abita Brewing (LA) was very good and packed with tasty spices.   I eked out a third-place finish with great cards at the start of the tournament for a little profit, but then a long draught of being card dead when it really counted down the stretch.  I saved my fourth bottle that I brought for a later/better occasion.  

3/30 - Well, I was going to be greedy and keep all of my recent live and online poker winnings since my bankroll had taken a bit of a hit over the previous couple of months, but then a great opportunity to give back to my high school alma mater came along and it seemed worth giving around 10% of my recent success ($100) to get a brick laid at the old stomping grounds and help raise funds for them.  For the record, my brick will read:

Rob Fulfer
Class of 1985
Live Deep - HDT

I also chipped in another ten bucks to get a collective brick set for our "Class of '85, The Wildest Class Alive!! "

Despite a lackluster 2-0 loss in Costa Rica tonight to not even the top Costa Rican squad, the US Men's National Team qualified for the World Cup after an 8-year drought.  I toasted the accomplishment with my fourth beer from last night's variety pack.  The KBS Hazelnut (2022) imperial stout from Founders Brewing (MI) was much smoother than the squad tonight.  See you in Qatar this fall, boys.  #USMNT #FIFAWORLDCUP #GETEMZIMM

3/31 - I went to opening night of the new comic book flick, Morbius, tonight at the local Roxy Theaters (recliners!) here in Lebanon.  I planned on seeing this one in IMAX next week, but it was nice to get an invitation to see it today with my pal, Casey, and his nephew, Colin.   I thought it was pretty good, but not really IMAX-worthy, so I am glad I saved a few bucks and saw it here.