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