Nine Days on the Road for the Love of the G.A.M.E.

PITTSBURGH BOUND!! 

10/28 - My friend, Houston, and I got an early start on this year's G.A.M.E. trip to Pittsburgh today as we drove up to Lexington for the UT at Kentucky game tonight.  Our first stop inside Kentucky was at the quirky and fun Paradise Point Marketplace for a late breakfast.   Our first G.A.M.E. sticker of the trip was also left behind.  
The night before we hung out on our patio in the mild temperatures and I enjoyed a pint can of the Two Pump Chump, a coffee porter from Angry Chair Brewing down in Tampa where Houston is living and that he brought to me as a gift.  Thanks, bud, it was tasty!   I also enjoyed a very good DIPA called Hop Excavator from Our Mutual Friend Brewing (Denver) from my own beer stash. 

We got a nice AirBnb close to the stadium and booked it a couple nights so we could do some Bourbon Trail on Sunday as well.   Before the game, we stopped by The Thoroughbred Restaurant (it's really just a bar) and had some excellent burgers, and I enjoyed a tasty West Sixth IPA (2023) from West Sixth Brewing here in Lexington.  
I also picked up a couple craft 4-packs at a local beer store here in Lexington called The Beer Trappe to enjoy tonight and throughout the trip.  First up was the hoppy and enjoyable pilsner called Speed Castle (2023) from 3 Floyds Brewing (IN), and the sweet, heavy, but solid Cookie Exchange Milk Stout from Great Lakes Brewing (Cleveland, OH).  

Houston found us a couple of great seats at Kroger (aka Commonwealth) Stadium (where neither of us had been before) for the game, and we were in good company as a large section of UT fans were in attendance and seated around us.   I was impressed to find at least one local craft beer on tap here, the fairly common, but enjoyable, Cougar Bait Blonde ale from Country Boy Brewing here in Lexington.  I've had it before, but it was nice to check it in here on UNTAPPD...hear that, Neyland Stadium?  I'm talking to YOU!!!  

The Vols held on to a nail-biting 33-27 win over the Wildcats to push their record to 6 and 2.   It was nice to get any kind of win on any day of a G.A.M.E. trip, because they just don't happen very often.   The 3-mile walk back (traffic sucked) to our AirBnb from the stadium through the foggy night was made a little easier with a W in our pocket and fairly mild temps again.  

10/29 -  We kicked around the idea of going back to Nashville for the Titans game today against the Falcons (and it was a big win for our boys under a rookie QB, Will Levis, from UK ironically), but we didn't want to have to repeat coming back up this way afterwards, so we decided to hit some of the nearby Bourbon Trail instead (this is not the first time the Bourbon Trail has factored in to a G.A.M.E. weekend either).   We slept in a bit and listened to the gentle rain coming down outside (just happy that it didn't come last night during our long walk back), and then fueled up for the day at the amazing Biscuit Belly where I got the massive Mama's Boy Biscuit which had fried chicken, a fried green tomato, roasted jalapeno pimento cheese and spicy pickles!! 

Houston, the whiskey thief! 
Our Bourbon Trail choices were a bit limited since some are closed on Sundays and several other popular ones had tours that were already sold out.   We settled on a small operation neither of us has been to before since they had openings for a tour and tasting.  It's called Whiskey Thief Distillery over in Frankfort, KY.   Now they make bourbon despite the moniker which is actually the name of the tool used to remove bourbon from barrels and which Houston is seen doing in the photo above. While the tour and tastings were short and sweet, the experience of being able to pour your own bottle right there at the distillery from barrels that won't be sold to the general public was pretty damn cool!  We both got a bottle of the 5 Year Rye at 131.9 proof (whooo!!), but I let a staff member pour mine since my poor eyesight and left-handedness would probably spell disaster and spillage of this pricey brown liquor!  

Our second and final tour and tasting was at the much larger, much fancier, Bulleit Distilling in Shelbyville, KY. The facility and tour are on a much grander scale and pretty enjoyable.  The tasting was interesting as well, and incorporated mood lighting and scent containers...OK?   Bulleit is distributed and known worldwide and their products must be selling well because this place is fancy!  

Beer before whiskey - have no fear...isn't that how it goes?  All whiskey is beer first we learned on our Bulleit tour, but not the kind you want to drink.   As far as beer I wanted to drink, they had it at Pies and Pints back in Lexington where I had an excellent Atomic Amber ale from Apocalypse Brew Works over in Louisville, and then a solid Double Ghost Games DIPA from Ethereal Brewing here in Lexington.  I finished with the decent flagship IPA of Monnik Beer Company over in Louisville.  The "pie" part of this place was great too as their pizzas are top-notch!   

I had such a good buzz going I even thought Rupp Arena looked pretty in the rainy night.  As a Duke and UT basketball fan, that is pure blasphemy.  

Our final stop of the night was at Country Boy Brewing here in Lexington where I had their sensational Bumpkin Ale pumpkin beer.  Now if we can only find the Uber home....
...found it, he was in front, we were in back...when we got back to our AirBnb, I dug out a can of Country Boy's Nacho Bait Habanero Blonde Ale that I actually bought at Whiskey Thief Distilling earlier today.  It was spicy and full!!  

10/30 - After another nice sleep-in, we left the Bourbon Trail today in rainy weather and headed for the New River Gorge and another nice AirBnb in the small mountain town of Fayetteville, West Virginia, for a couple nights to explore the area. 

Our little house in Fayetteville, West Virginia, was cozy, yet roomy, as the weather turned cold all throughout the day.  We found some good Mexican food just around the corner from the house and settled in pretty early due to the rainy weather. 

Settling in early was fine with me as I found some regional craft beer at a gas station near the house and enjoyed a light and tasty Country Roads Pilsner (seems appropriate for West Virginia drinking) from Smoketown Brewing (MD) to watch NSC in their first MLS playoff game against Orlando City.  It was a disappointing 1-0 loss in the first game of a best of three series.  

Having some West Virginia craft-brewed beer earned me this new UNTAPPD badge after I checked in the very nice Almost Heaven Amber Ale from Mountain State Brewing over in Thomas, WV.  

10/31 - Happy Halloween from the New River Gorge National Park in West Virginia!!  We started our day with brunch at the unique little Cathedral Cafe - yep, it's a former church building.  I had a giant 3-egg omelet, but it was just late enough in the day to also order a solid Logger Lager Pils from Big Timber Brewing over in Elkins, WV.  Cheers and amen!! 

Another Bucket List item goes "CHECK!"  I've been wanting to see this engineering wonder for a very long time, and it did not disappoint.  The New River Gorge Bridge is the biggest in the western hemisphere at just over 3,000' in length.  Simply amazing.  

We missed the leaf-peeping peak by a week or two looks like, but the New River Gorge is draw-dropping in any season.  Wow! 

If you squint, you can see the second G.A.M.E. sticker of the trip on the guardrail underneath the massive New River Gorge Bridge.   

Nearby, but not in the national park, is Cathedral Falls which is the tallest waterfall in West Virginia, and today about one of the driest.  Not the best time of year to go chasing waterfalls I guess, but it gives me a reason to come back, and she's still a delicate beauty today.   AtlasObscura.com has published this picture of mine to alert future travelers about the risks of a drier than usual falls possibility if there hasn't been a lot of rainfall in the area.  Thanks, folks! 

Driving back from the slight disappointment that was Cathedral Falls, I did spy this pretty little jump on Laurel Creek, and Houston was kind enough to pull over and let me road-hike back a quarter mile or so and get a shot of it.   Thanks, buddy.  There's also a small drop above this one as well. 

We're back!  The food at Don Rizo Mexican Kitchen and Cantina in Fayetteville, WV, was so good (and so close to our house) that we hit it TWICE for dinner...and I'd go again right now if I could!! 

11/1 - Thanks to the always-interesting Atlas Obscura website for clueing me in on the only working lighthouse in West Virginia...yes, working, yes, West Virginia.  The story of its creation is almost as interesting as it is itself especially with a little dusting of snow that they got here at Summersville Lake just down the road from where we were staying last night (which got none).  I am proud to say this picture I took is on the AO website now as well!  

Our only other fun stop today as we pushed on into Pennsylvania so we could arrive in Pittsburgh by midafternoon, was breakfast back in Fayetteville at the Wood Iron Eatery where I had a giant, and tasty, breakfast burrito.  

Our giant AirBnb house on bumpy and bricked Wynoka Street in the diverse neighborhood of Carrick on Pittsburgh's south side was three stories, old, and a bit weird (no bathroom on the main floor, wow!), but was affordable, clean, roomy and worked out pretty good for the six of us.

It's a quiet, working-class neighborhood, and we appreciated that and toasted it as often as we could!  I started this evening with a gift beer from my buddy, Chris, who gave me a pint can of the excellent Wicked Ex IPA from Big Wood Brewing (MN) that he picked up on a recent trip to Minneapolis.  Thanks, bud!  

Four of the six total G.A.M.E.rs were in town tonight and we headed (UBERed) to nearby Fat Head's Saloon where I had this bourbon flight that was pretty good and a couple of craft beers as well.  The Wet-Hopped Head Hunter IPA was said to be an award-winner, but I found it to be just OK.  It's made by the Fat Head's Brewery down in Ohio.  I found their Hop Marauder DIPA to be much better (and hoppier).  We did some more bar-hopping after dinner including a round of weird $5 "Stong Island" ice teas at Casey's Draft House (yep, no drafts, just this swill), and then finally another good craft beer at Dive Bar and Grille.  It was the excellent 18-Watt IPA from Singlecut Beersmiths (NY).

Back at the house I "unwrapped" another gift beer from Chris: the Cabin Daze NEIPA also from Big Wood Brewing.  It was quite good...and I was quite drunk...Thanks, Chris, and goodnight, Irene! 

11/2 - I should have known by the fancy sign that Pete's Beer Distribution near our AirBnb was going to be a bit of a bust.  No beer sold in supermarkets here, so it's dedicated beer stores instead.  There was not much craft beer at all here, and more about quantity than quality.  We settled on a 24-pack of Straub American Amber Lager from Straub Brewing, a regional brewery over in St. Marys, PA.  They weren't bad, and we killed all but one before leaving Pittsburgh. 
Joe and Danny were the last to arrive today and our full sixsome was here and ready for the game tonight.  Joe brought me a few gift craft beers as well.  My friends know me so well! I enjoyed the nice NEIPA called Lil' Dipper from Union Craft Brewing (Baltimore) in between Straubs. 

The only good thing about dinner tonight before the game was the self-serve beer wall at The Standard Market and Pint House.  I wasn't very hungry anyway (hungover), but the food and service were poor.  From the beer wall I had the decent Sunset Lager from Winding Path Brewing over in Dallastown, PA. 

It was gonna be a cold night for football at Acrisure Stadium (formerly Heinz Field), but no rain or snow and a revved-up crowd.  

Yep, "here we go!!"  Our first Thursday Night Football game on a G.A.M.E. trip!! 

Our seats were decent, high up in the north endzone and the Steeler fans were pleasant enough to us.  It was another close game (seems to be a trend for us on these trips), but the Steelers prevailed 20-16.  Not bad for a rookie QB in a hostile environment on the road.  Maybe Will Levis is our future. 

11/3 - With the game behind us, we had the weekend to explore the Pittsburgh area and take a few tours as well.  First up was a trip back to Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater for me.  None of the other guys had been here before except Joe as a kid of which he didn't remember much.  I am sure some of them had their doubts as we drove an hour from Pittsburgh out into the middle of nowhere for this, but the beautiful weather, the excellent tour and the Bucket List check-off of this historic and amazing place seemed to be worth it to everyone.   What a beautiful view and an ugly bunch! 

Beforehand, we grabbed some brunch at the Carson Street Deli which had an impressive craft beer list.  I enjoyed the NEIPA called Soft Top from Butler (PA) Brew Works with my excellent (and giant) BLT sandwich. 

The biggest change from my last visit here with Ashlee (ten years ago) was that photos are now allowed inside Fallingwater.  So cool! 

Here's an unobstructed view without all the chowderheads. 

We got back to Pittsburgh and headed to a walking downtown ghost/history tour tonight.  Pretty interesting stories and very mild weather as opposed to last night at the game. 

That's the old jail on the left and the courthouse on the right with The Bridge of Sighs connecting them.   

The Titans colors showing downtown sure were appreciated!! 

After the tour, I had another Joe gift beer back at the house.  It was the solid NEIPA called Broken Heels from New Trail Brewing in Williamsport, PA (one of Joe's favorites).  Next was another couple more gift beers from Chris, the tasty Hipp Check IPA from Big Wood Brewing (MN) and a nice pilsner called The Dude Abides from Bad Dad Brewing (IN).   All these were enjoyed during an impromptu song party (mostly dirty ones) DJed by Houston that went late into the night. 

11/4 - We lost Joe today who had to head out, so the remaining five had another day to explore Pittsburgh.  We started with an Uber ride over to Mt. Washington for this great view of downtown.    

From the overlook, we could see (and hear) the FSU at Pitt college football game going on over at the Steelers stadium today along with the Goodyear Blimp.  The G.A.M.E. sticker here was not permanent for respectful reasons.  

The shot above this one of the Duquesne Incline was from inside one of the cars, so that's why the sticker was not on there permanently.  We have respect for historic things (circa 1877).  We rode down to the bottom and grabbed an Uber for our next stop.  

It was time to get our wiggle on with a Wigle Whiskey Distillery Tour.  While Wigle Whiskey is historic in Pittsburgh, this revived distillery is fairly young, as are their products which were pretty good, but not great.  The tour was fun and interesting at least.    

Our final stop of the day was for dinner and beers at the iconic Church Brew Works.  I have been here twice before: once with Ashlee and another time with Chris of this group as we did a last-minute trip here when the Predators were in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.  I sure don't remember the beer being so ho-hum here.  I had a flight of four and another pint and didn't really like any of them.  Wow!  At least the food and atmosphere are good.  I had some Buffalo sauce perogies that were great.   
Here's the disappointing beer list: 
Pious Monk Dunkel - taster
Celestial Gold pilsner - taster 
MMM - 3000th Batch black IPA - taster 
Holy Rakau NEIPA - taster 
What the Helles?!? lager - pint 

11/5 - We lost another couple group members today when Jeremy had to catch a very early flight back home, and Chris had to leave this morning for some family obligations on his way back to Indiana.  So before taking Danny back to the airport for a late afternoon flight, we decided to kill some time with a 30-minute drive south of Pittsburgh to the small town of Perryopolis to check out the kinda creepy house from The Silence of the Lambs where the serial killer, Buffalo Bill, lived and did some really weird shit.  Seems pleasant enough in the daytime! LOL.  You can also stay here overnight...hmmmm.   

Since neither Danny nor Houston had eaten at the long-time, fries-on-your-sandwich, Pittsburgh staple, Primanti Brothers, we decided to have lunch at one of their many locations as our last hurrah.  The food was OK, and their Primanti Bros Almost Famous Red Ale was pretty good.  It's made for them by North Country Brewing up in Slippery Rock (great town name!), PA.   

The drive back south to and thru Cincinnati was uneventful other that this nice sunset and the fact that Sunday Night Football was being held there (we could have done a total of five different football games on this trip!)

11/6 - We got back to Lebanon around lunch time and immediately dug into the amazing Burnt Almond Torte from Pittsburgh's premier bakery, Prantl's, which has been churning these babies out since 1966.  This was a specific request from Ashlee, and I was happy to oblige (and indulge)! 

It was another great G.A.M.E. trip.  

I can't wait for the next one!! 

Octo-Remember

10/1 - I saw the new sci-fi film, The Creator, again tonight with my pal, Toney, at the Roxy Theaters (recliners!) here in Lebanon since he couldn't make it last week to the IMAX early preview where I saw it for the first time (and got a copy of this cool poster).    The second time was just as great.  

I got in a pool float this afternoon as well and enjoyed a couple pint cans including the impressive DNEIPA called This World is Not Real from The Veil Brewing Company (Richmond, VA, and new to me); and then the sweet and light pilsner from Burlington (VT) Beer Company called Lighthouse.  Both of these came from the Mt. Juliet Beer Company. 

10/2 - I headed down to Dunlap to help out my nutty sister some today, and we had lunch at Sequatchie Valley Brewing where I had their ho-hum cream ale called Miss Fortune (ironically good name for this misfortune of a brew).  I expected better SVBC.  

10/3 - My pal, Toney, is a teacher and has this week off for fall break, so I rented a car today off Turo that we split the cost on to take a little road trip.  Nothing fancy, just a nice Chevy Equinox to keep the miles off our cars as we headed toward West Tennessee with a few destinations to see.  First up was the Tina Turner Museum at the West Tennessee Delta Heritage Center in Brownsville, TN.  This is an impressive set of small, but well-done (and free!) museums including the one centered on "The Burner" herself set in the small schoolhouse she was educated in 20 miles or so away in the tiny town of Nutbush, TN.  They moved the entire building here and it now contains an impressive collection of her memorabilia.   The smaller structure to the left is the original home of Sleepy John Estes, a blues legend from Brownsville. 

Next, we headed back southeast toward the state line with Mississippi to the Civil War site of the Shiloh National Military Park. Next door to the military park Hagy's Catfish Hotel right on the Tennessee River and we were hungry for a late lunch.  Their famous signature plate is a bounty of four whole catfish still on the bone, but so perfectly fried, the meat just falls right off.  We were hungry no more!  Delicious! 

Shiloh is a massive park with an audio driving tour that lasts 3 hours!  We didn't have that much time, so we hit a few highlights in awe of the high-casualty, two-day battle that happened here in this sleepy little area. We also enjoyed the solitude of a very quiet weekday here in the park.  The size of the park, the free entry and the fact that the visitor center was closed for remodeling definitely makes this a place to revisit (and the fried catfish next door!).  

Our final stop before heading home was the natural bridge on the grounds of the Tennessee Fitness Spa in Waynesboro.  This site has been on my to-see list for a while now and is only open to the public on Sundays, but we got permission to see it today since we were in the area.  It's the only double-span bridge formation in the world.  My photo above is only showing one of the spans.  Pictures don't do this place justice.  What an amazing place!  The adjoining Ice Cave also carved out by water is very cool as well.  The spa looks like a nice place to hang out for a night or two as well, so I could definitely see a return here sometime.  

10/4 - I got in a final week with the pool open this year float today and enjoyed a pint can of the tasty Evening Rise lager from Northwoods Brewing (NH).  I love the label art on this one! 

10/6 - I went by and checked out the new Barcadia soft opening (formerly The Cedar Tap) today with my craft beer pal, Nate.  I love the idea of an arcade/bar especially since my favorite one in downtown Nashville (HQ Beercade - RIP) closed earlier this year.  But, I just don't know if it will make it here in Lebanon.   We shall see, I guess.    It was quiet before 5 PM when we arrived, but then folks started trickling in a few at a time, and by the time we left, and later on as we walked back by, the place was buzzing.  Their craft beer selection was better than I was expecting and pretty equal to the offerings they had as The Cedar Tap.  I started with a couple repeats:  a 10 oz. pour of the tasty Yosemite NEIPA from Living Waters Brewing here in Nashville, and the really good Dead Horse porter from Calfkiller Brewing over in Sparta.  It has been 8 years since I've had one of these according to UNTAPPD.  The only new-to-me beer I had was a surprisingly good sour called Peach Cobbler from Southern Grist Brewing here in Nashville.  And I put the high score (for now) on the Galaga game they have!  

The food menu at Barcadia was a little limited during this soft opening, so we ambled over to Cedar City Brewing for dinner and I had another of their very nice Feels Like '98 Orange Pilsner and their awesome dry-rub wings (of course). 

We went ahead and made it a full Lebanon craft beer crawl with a final stop at Tenn Lakes Brewing where Nate agreed with me that their quality of beer has improved.  I had their nice Oktoberfest.  

I also got in another quick pool-float that I was not expecting earlier this afternoon, but the temps were pretty warm.  I cracked open a pint can of the DIPA called It's Complicated Being a Wizard from Burlington (VT) Beer Company, but I was pretty disappointed in it and its sweet, not hoppy, taste.  

10/7 thru 10/13 - It was a bachelor week, a dog-sitting week, and a week of being a "pro poker player" for me as Ashlee was on a cruise with her sister and niece while I stayed home and saved her a thousand dollars in dog-sitting fees, and with no job to hold me back, I thought I would give a try at making some serious money in online poker tournaments. 

10/8 - Sunny and I went back to Cedars of Lebanon State Park today to get in a short 30-minute hike in the cool October weather today.  Despite it being a pretty Sunday, we only saw a few people on our walk.

I had some small success on the poker front today with a cash (finished 18th) in the big Sunday tournament on Global vs. 627 other players.  My ROI just under 400% and most importantly this will help pay for most of my other planned tournament buy-ins for the rest of the week.

10/9 - Another walk today with Sunny.  This time we were at the Couchville Cedar Glade Natural Area over south of Mt. Juliet and we had the place to ourselves under a pretty cool looking sky. 
No progress in the poker world, but no big losses either, thanks to a few bounties and small cashes.

10/10 - Sunny and I went up to the Nature Conservancy owned, Taylor Hollow, today up in Sumner County, but just couldn't find a reasonable trailhead despite my being there before.  So, we just walked on the beautiful (and quiet - zero cars while we were there) Bear Carr Road that it's located off of.     On the way back, I stopped by Hartsville Taco Company and grabbed some excellent tacos for lunch.
The poker world was full of bad beats and coolers.  Nothing else to say.

10/11- I renewed my Cedar City Mug Club membership today for 2024.  I have been overall pretty happy with it, and there seem to even be some improvements for next year including new ceramic mugs including one with my name on it!  Cheers!  

Sunny and I conducted our daily walk today at a new place we saw yesterday on the drive to Taylor Hollow. It was the Lock 5 Wildlife Refuge on the Cumberland River north of Lebanon.   Overall, nothing that great.  Surprisingly, there was no clear access to the river that we could find.  But it's close to home and it's still "in nature" so we will probably put it in our rotation of places to visit for walks. 
I stopped by Publix for $5 sushi Wednesday for lunch and then traveled on toward Mt. Juliet to Breeden's Orchard to grab a bottle of the Coffee - Batch 001 mead from The Skeptic Meadery next door.  This is a very new local meadery and in fact, I got to add them to UNTAPPD.  I thought this one was very good with a nice coffee taste up front and then a sweet mild honey flavored finish.   Looking forward to trying more of their wares. 
Nothing good to report on the poker front unfortunately.  

10/12- Sunny and I chose the Stones River Battlefield in Murfreesboro for our walk today.  I've actually never been here before while passing it scores of times over the years.  I guess my recent visit to Shiloh has piqued my Civil War interest.  The walk from the visitors' center parking lot was great with a nice 30-minute loop through the fields and woods there.  I bet we come back here.

Afterwards. I stopped by the new Middle Ground Brewing Company for a BOGO offer then sent me recently.  I had to suck them down quick since Sunny had to wait in the car since dogs aren't allowed inside and they don't have a patio.  I had their Honey Ale and their Brown Ale and both were excellent.  Talked with the brewer briefly as well.  Told him he's doing a bang-up job and to keep it up! 

Our walk was in the late afternoon, so I skipped the big $22 poker tourney I've been playing at 4:45 with no success this week. Guess I will just stick to the small stuff and win my way back to bigger tournaments as before.  No "going pro" for me I guess...I just don't run good enough to shake the inevitable variance.  

10/13 - Today's walk was supposed to be at Larkspur Conservation Area which is also an interesting natural burial site.  Sunny and I spied this place on our jaunt to Taylor Hollow earlier this week.  In fact, it's just down the road from it and is also in conjunction with The Nature Conservancy. But there was something going on there when we pulled up, possibly a funeral, so we opted to wait until another day to visit.   We did find a small trail up into Taylor Hollow today and went about halfway up into it and then back out via the trickling creek (photo above). 

This afternoon Sunny and I stopped by Barcadia to meet our pal, Curtis, for a couple libations.  I had three drafts, but nothing I had not had before. 

I got home and got me a nice win in a NLCP bounty tournament on Global vs. 31 other players with nine knockouts for just over 1,200% ROI.  

10/14 - I attended the first-ever Cedar City Fall Beer Festival today out on a large lawn on Palmer Road here in Lebanon.  Look at us, getting our own beer festival!   My friends, Kate and Curtis, attended as well and we had a fun time and were kind of blown away at how organized and smooth everything went or a first-time event.  I was shocked at how many new-to-me beers there were on tap (I had 14) and even a new-to-me Tennessee brewery, Twisted Copper Brewing over in Mt. Pleasant.  I will have to put them on the must-visit list!   Here's a run-down of all the new-to-me tasters I had plus a simple 1-to-5-star rating of each:

Devil in a Sleepin' Bag - whiskey barrel stout - Five Wits Brewing (Chattanooga) ****
Choosing Peace - NEIPA - Yee-Haw Brewing (Johnson City) ****
Spooky Roots - pumpkin beer - Marrowbone Creek Brewing (Ashland City) ****
Contemplation Time - imperial red ale - Half Batch Brewing (Hendersonville) ****
Belgian Tripel - Twisted Copper Brewing (Mt. Pleasant) ****
Lyfelime - fruited sour - Panther Creek BC (Murfreesboro) ***
Soda Jerk Blueberry - milkshake IPA - Panther Creek ****
Lite Show - light lager - Five Wits - ****
The Darkness Callin' - black IPA - Common John BC - Manchester ****
Boat Anchor - dopplebock - Tenn Lakes BC - Lebanon ****
The Beacon - smoked beer - Calf Killer Brewing - Sparta ****
Amber Lager - Mayday Brewing - Murfreesboro ****
West Coast Double IPA - Twisted Copper Brewing ***
Marshmallow Citrus Mango Creamsicle Hill - fruited sour - Southern Grist BC - Nashville ****

One of my favorite local bands, Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors, opened for Darius Rucker at The Ascend Amphitheater in Nashville tonight

 and I was there with my pal, Curtis, who was using Ashlee's ticket.  Ashlee actually bought the tickets before checking her calendar and realizing she would be on a cruise today.  Oops!  Thanks, honey!   Drew and the boys were solid, but Darius really blew me away with the great show he put on.  His voice is as smooth and mellow as it ever was with Hootie and the Blowfish so long ago.  We got really lucky with our lawn tickets to find a great place to watch the show while leaning on a brand-new Chevy pick-up on display from Carl Black Chevrolet.  We even found lawn chairs in the back of it and used them (since no one else was) for half the show and watched the last two songs from the bed of the truck itself (since no one else was)!   Thanks Carl Black Chevrolet and thanks to the two cops who saw us getting out of the truck and didn't arrest us! LOL.  
Before the show, we parked free at the M.L. Rose Capitol View and had a couple brews before Ubering over to the show.  I had the excellent porter from Edmund's Oast Brewing (SC) called Leather Jacket and the terrific Stone Enjoy By 10.31.23 Hazy IPA from Stone Brewing (CA). 

10/15 - It was Curtis and I together again today and we decided to travel up to Hendersonville to check out the brand-new digs of Half Batch Brewing.  What a beautiful place!  Congrats, HBBC!  While there we played some dominoes, and I had a couple of their brews.  First up was the boozy Bonita 154 Belgian tripel that I am glad was only 10 ounces.   Their Hefeweizen was much more pleasurable to me.
Beforehand, we stopped on our way in Gallatin at Big Trouble Brewing since Curtis hadn't been there before.  I had their solid Irish dry Macho Man Stout and a tasty hot dog for lunch.  
Afterwards, we completed our trifecta of brewery visits with a stop at Yazoo Brewing over in Madison.  Curtis had not been to this location of Yazoo either.  I had their tasty Impy Hop Project # 3 DIPA. 

10/16 - Sunny and I took our daily walk today to the fifth place in the county that I found for us to put in our rotation to visit - the Sellars Farms State Archeological Site.  The mostly-grass pathways were quite wet from light rain and dew, but it was still a pleasant walk, and it gave life to this pretty little shot of water droplets on a spiderweb along the way. 

10/17 - I went to see the US Men's National Soccer Team in a friendly match vs. Ghana at Geodis Park in Nashville tonight with my pal, Toney, whose birthday is today, so I got him his ticket as a gift.  The game was a rout with the U.S. running away with it 4-0 in the first half including a penalty kick goal by my favorite player (and captain), Christain Pulisic, right in front of us!  The highlight of the second half was the excellent hot dog I had from Daddy's Dogs! Yum!! 

10/18 - I was asked to be a sub in the Lebanon WSOP Poker Group I used to be in tonight.  It was good to see the fellas again and meet a couple new guys, but I am definitely not missing much.  I finished fifth out of nine with a fairly card-dead night in between a few good hands.  I did enjoy three craft beers while there that started with the very good Gonerbrau Kveik Pilsner (photo above) from Memphis Made Brewing.  Next was the solid Mad Bishop Oktoberfest marzen from DuClaw Brewing (Baltimore).  And finally the light and interesting Lake James Rind light lager with touches of watermelon and lime. 

10/19 - I went to an opening day matinee of the new film Killers of the Flower Moon in IMAX at the Streets of Indian Lake Theaters in Hendersonville.  I have listened to the audio book this movie is based on and found that to be a little bland actually.  The film followed the book very well and thus I found it rather bland as well.  I just continue to not be the biggest fan of Martin Scorsese films. 

Beforehand, while in Hendersonville, I had lunch at Trattoria La Caverna (formerly the Blossom Thai and Cellar Door Craft Cavern) where I had their decent Italian fare for lunch (man, I really miss the Thai food however) along with a couple craft beers (at least their bar hasn't changed much) including a really nice Japanese rice lager called Konichiwa Beaches from Westbrook Brewing (SC), and then a strong, dark and bourbon-fueled imperial stout called The Coming Dark from Edmund's Oast Brewing (SC).  

And then coming home this happened...driving through a terrible storm, an old guy pulled out right into me on W. Main Street here in Lebanon and when I swerved to miss him (which I didn't), our Subaru Outback tipped over.  I was not hurt at all, and the Sue-bee did great in protecting me but sustained a lot of damage obviously.  (It was deemed totaled pretty quickly by our insurance company).  My luck seems to continue to run bad, but it could always certainly be worse.

10/22 - I enjoyed a couple of beers out on the patio today in the cool autumn weather and toasted UNTAPPD turning 13.  Salute!  First up was a bomber bottle of the funky, but enjoyable, Barrel Series Brett Fuit Blend (2016) farmhouse ale from Blackberry Farms Brewing up in Maryville, TN.  I picked up this bottle on my recent visit there a few months ago.  I finished up with an excellent pint can of the Bring It Home Helles lager from Soul and Spirits Brewing out in Memphis. 

10/23 - I went to see the $5 Mystery Movie at Regal Hollywood 24 Theaters tonight.  It turned out to be a ridiculous Christmas slasher movie called It's a Wonderful Knife (insert groan here).  Luckily, an actual movie worth watching, Dumb Money, was on a little later and I was able to slip in there and watch it while playing a freeroll on Global Poker where I got 18th out of 2,027 players and would have gone even deeper if my KK had not got cracked.   
Beforehand I went by the nearby Black Abbey Brewing Company and enjoyed a couple drafts including their smooth and light golden ale cleverly called Gold and Ale, and then a Raspberry Zinger Blonde ale that was pretty good as well. 

10/25 - The only good thing from the car accident was the $5 a day car rental we got:  this nicer than expected Chevy Malibu that I took into Nashville a couple nights ago and today to run some errands and stop by Cledis Burgers and Beer Garden where I had a very nice 16th State Lager from Common Law Brewing over in Spring Hill, and then a decent NEIPA called Wicked Smart from Baffin Brewing (MI). 

I don't report much on satellite wins on Global Poker since they aren't actual money, but they still count as evidence of quality play from me, I guess.  And I do pretty well in them overall.  So, today, here's a shout-out to an outright "win" of a satellite vs. 24 other people that netted me an ROI entry worth over 500%.  This one was also a value-added tournament since the guaranteed number of the tickets given out was more than what was paid in.  Overlay, oh yay! 

10/26 - Sunny and I finally got to take a walk/hike at the Larkspur Conservation area up near Taylor Hollow in Sumner County today and I have to say the "natural" graves there are pretty interesting and beautifully done.   What a pretty and spiritual place!  The autumn colors were a plus as well.

On the way back, we swung by Breeden's Orchard in Mt. Juliet and grabbed a new mead flavor from The Skeptic Meadery: Pump Spice - Batch 001.  It's another excellent product with a sweet start and a pumpkin spice finish.  I got to enter into UNTAPPD since someone else entered in Batch 002.  

10/27 - It was a bachelor (dog-sitter) afternoon and night for me as I dropped off Ashlee at the airport for a weekend trip, and then Sunny and I stopped by TennFold Brewing for lunch (their amazing grain bowl with salmon) and their new Superstitious Kolsch which was very good.  

My pal, Curtis, stopped by later and we had a few brews out on the patio in the Indian Summer mild temps of late October.  I started with excellent Eleanor (RIP, momma) porter from Pollyanna Brewing (IL) and then a decent DIPA from Hop Butcher for the World Brewing (Chicago) called Beef Dipped.