aN E-ND: The Final Two Conquered! Along with 57 Years on this Planet!

 

Hey, a law is a law!  Cheers! 

4/18 - My epic Birthday Trip started today!!  I took an early flight to Denver to start one of my most ambitious road trips ever encompassing 6 western states in a 1,700-mile+ loop.

I can't start any trip without a beer, so before I got out of Colorado, I made a stop at Parts and Labor Brewing in Sterling.   Very cool place.  This brew pub is set up in an old Cadillac dealership building (hence the name).  I had their nice Rantallion Red IPA and a tasty Thai salad with chicken for lunch.  I finished with their super-smooth Slowhand Nitro Stout.

State # 49 checked off the list! Hello, Nebraska! My rental car was this sweet, little gas-sipping Buick Encore that was a very comfy ride.   I got a great deal on it renting blind thru Hotwire.com from Dollar Rent-A-Car.  

My first Nebraska point of interest was the famous and historic, Chimney Rock National Historic Site.  I had this beautifully, quiet place all to myself during my visit this afternoon.  This stubborn piece of rock was a clear marker for settlers heading west thru Nebraska on the Oregon Trial in early America.  I am sure it was sacred to the Native Americans in this area as well (aka "Elk Penis").

Next up was Carhenge which I learned about thru AtlasObscura.com (thanks, as always, folks!).  This is a one-man odyssey of Plains art started back in 1987, and it is truly a modern wonder.  The wind was biting cold on my (again) solo stop here with no one else around and the gift shop not opening until later in the spring/summer, so I didn't stay long to explore beyond this center piece, but definitely got the feel for it. 

The miles kept rolling as did Day 1 as a Nebraska sunset shown in my somewhat dirty rearview mirror.  I, of course, cranked up "Nebraska" by Bruce Springsteen to help the flat-land miles go by. 
 
"They declared me unfit to live
Said into that great void my soul'd be hurled
They want to know why I did what I did
Sir, I guess there's just a meanness in this world"
- THE BOSS 

Another great help to pass the time and miles was an audio version of my favorite book of all time, "Watership Down" with the fantastic narrator, Peter Capaldi.   At 17 and a half hours long, I needed every minute of the adventures of Fiver, BigWig, Kee-har and Hazel-rah!! 

My first overnight stop was in Valentine, Nebraska, at The Niobrara Lodge.  Nothing fancy, but clean and quiet in this decent-sized town that I chose as a jumping off point for the only two waterfalls in Nebraska that I know of which are nearby.  I will see them tomorrow.  But tonight, it's beer-thirty!  I dropped by the Bolo Beer Company here in town.  It's small and cozy and the barkeep was friendly.  I started with their cleverly named Alpacalips IPA which was solid.  I finished with The Waggle Scottish Ale that I thought was very good.  

4/19 - Snake River Falls - yes, it's a waterfall in flat-ass Nebraska, and a pretty nice one at that with a strong volume of water rushing over a 54' wide ledge.  The neatest thing about this place is that it is located on a private sportsmen's club property, and they allow the public to view the falls from a safe distance and only ask for a dollar per visitor to help with upkeep.  They got two bucks from me because this is a special one in my waterfall collection, and I really appreciated the access.   

OK, Nebraska, now you're just showing off...Smith Falls State Park is at the end of a rather rough dirt/gravel road.  I am very glad it was a dry, sunny day.  I had this enchanting place ALL TO MYSELF this morning, never seeing another soul driving in or out or walking the half-mile or so to the base of the falls and back.  This 76' delicate drop is quite amazing to see in person and even better than I expected.   Another cool aspect to the experience is that you have to cross the national scenic Niobrara River (hence my hotel name from last night) to get to the falls whose stream runs into the river and to do so you cross the historic and repurposed Verdigre Bridge (1910).

Hello, again, South Dakota!  Most of my drive through the entirety of mid-South Dakota was fairly dull with all the interesting stuff farther west which Ashlee and I had seen some of a few years back, but once I got on Highway 73 North, some of the iconic Badlands topography popped up for me to see and enjoy.  What a cool little stretch of knobs and needles of white rock springing out of the seemingly endless green pastures.   

Nearing the North Dakota border is the Hugh Glass Memorial at the end of a dead-end road seemingly in the middle of nowhere just like what the man himself had to endure.  And since The Reckoning is one of my favorite films in the last ten years, this was a must-stop and must-see.  Thanks again, AtlasObscura.com.  The force of the wind to get this shot was something to remember in terms of endurance.  Wow!   But, otherwise, I could not have asked for better weather for incredible landscape vistas and thus, photography, in every state I encountered.  

Even closer to the border in the little town of Lemmon, South Dakota, that have a Petrified Wood Park.  And I don't mean just some little corner park, this their main city park encompassing an entire city block and it is chocked full of the stuff that they have around here by the ton.  It sure was tempting to find me a hammer!!  But I didn't.  

50th State!! DING! DING!!  Hello, North Dakota!  What better way to start my visit to my last state visited in The Union than by seeing the largest scrap-metal iron sculpture in the world!   Yep, "Geese in Flight" is the start of another one-man art odyssey even larger than Carhenge and known as "The Enchanted Highway." I actually did not get to experience all of the art on "The Enchanted Highway" due to fading daylight, the need to keep moving, and a bit of a navigational error on my part, but I got the gist of it and it's pretty dang amazing.  Well done, sir!  Keep up the good work!! 

One of my few surprise finds along the way was Phat Fish Brewing Company in the cool little college town of Dickinson, North Dakota.  I was ready for dinner to when I found this place and their peppery cheese curd "appetizer" was enormous and delicious.  Beer-wise, I started with their fantastic (and award-winning) Jalapeno Honey Blonde Ale which I can now say in hindsight was the BEST BEER OF THE TRIP.  It was amazing.  I finished with their solid Pipelayer IPA.  I wish I could have had more beer at this fun place and also in hindsight maybe have stayed the night nearby, but I still had an hour or so to my hotel for the night, so I forged on.   

My regret for not staying the night back in Dickinson was put away quickly once I checked into the Rough Rider Hotel in Medora, North Dakota near the Theodore Roosevelt National Park's southern entrance.  Now this hotel and town feel like the real old west!  There were mule deer grazing near the main street!  This was the nicest hotel I stayed at during my trip.  My room even had its own Teddy Bear!   

4/20 - Happy 57th Birthday to me!!  And welcome to the Theodore Roosevelt National Park - South Unit.  It also happens to be the start of National Park Week today, so FREE ADMISSION!!  This big guy in the photo above welcomed me early into my drive into the park.  I also saw tons of prairie dogs, antelope, mule deer and feral horses throughout the park.  

The badlands of TRNP have a beauty and starkness of their own.  

I moved on west into Montana (that's state # 5 for this trip if you're counting) after my national park visit and my first stop was just across the border at St. Peter's Catholic Church in Wibaux.  This amazing structure, covered in volcanic rock (aka scoria), was built in 1895, but the unusual exterior was added in 1938 in an idea by the pastor there at that time.  Thanks again for the heads-up on this one, AtlasObscura.com! 

Eastern Montana is fairly flat and monotonous similar to its bordering states to the east.  And staying tonight in Miles City was not because it's a picturesque place.  It's just a working town and the Miles City Hotel and Suites is just an interstate hotel, but again was clean and quiet.  The main reason I picked Miles City for my birthday night stay was the fact they do have TWO BREWERIES and Tiltwurks Brewery and Casino was my first stop.  

I got my 10th Birthday Brew Badge on UNTAPPD with the check-in of Tiltwurk's very nice Bang Back Blueberry Wheat beer.  I followed that with their excellent Reply IPA and a yummy fried beef appetizer.  The pinball machine decor was pretty cool, but Montana's idea of a "casino" is a few slot machines stuck in a corner.  Let's just say, there are lots of "casinos" in Miles City.  

My next stop was the tiny Otium Brewing where I started with their excellent red ale caleld Alewife.  I followed that with an interesting pairing of their solid Ora stout with a shot of nitro coffee also brewed there (photo above).  It was tasty and a nice pick-me-up!   These guys also won my buy-a-hat lottery since theirs actually reads that they are located in Montana.  

With a not lot else to do in this town and the casinos being a joke, I jumped in and won a small tournament on Global Poker vs. 11 other players for 700% ROI.  Happy Birthday to me!  I also bought me another present (besides the Otium hat).  A beautiful large chunk of petrified wood from an antique mall in town that I actually wound up chipping some of it off as presents to a couple of my friends and my dog-walker client.  

I tried to get another couple regional craft beers at a promising looking beer bar in town tonight, but they had had an issue with their taps and weren't serving tonight.  Bummer.  So instead, I headed out of the city lights about 20 miles to catch some of the night sky.  Light pollution is real, folks!  Even with an almost full moon, I was able to see with my naked eye the International Space Station orbit by and it was clear enough to even capture it on my phone camera.  Amazing!!  

4/21 - On south to Wyoming, that's six states touched on this epic road trip!   Flat, fairly uninteresting landscape continued and I detoured a bit for lunch at Blacktooth Brewing in Casper. Casper looked to be a pretty cool town and they actually have a nice bunch of craft breweries, but BBC was the only one open on Sundays.    Come to find out they didn't have food here, but some decent beer.  I started with their excellent Scotch ale called Cattle Kate.  I finished with a bit of a disappointing DIPA called California Transplant that just didn't have the hoppiness I was expecting. 
I was given advice to have lunch nearby at Wyoming's Rib and Chop House and it was good advice!  I choose the excellent steak and eggs off their brunch menu and washed it down with a very good Outlaw Amber ale from Ten Sleep (WY) Brewing.  

Near where I was staying tonight in Wyoming are a couple of cool historic places associated with the Oregon Trail.  First up are these amazing 4- and 5' deep ruts (photo above) left in soft sandstone by countless wagons heading west along the Oregon Trail.   This is national historic site and another place I had all to myself during my visit. 

Nearby is Register Bluff where these same Oregon Trail passersby would carve their names into the soft sandstone.  Over the years others have carved their names here as well which diminishes the overall affect a bit, but I still saw carvings from as far back as 1872.  

I chose this area to stay my last night thanks to this sweet AirBnb I found near in Hartville, Wyoming.  Nice AirBnbs were kind of non-existent on the route that I took, so I was happy to at least snag one that I thought was really comfy and cool.  It is a private loft apartment with a huge deck and a hot tub as well.  The flooring seen in the photo above represents cattle brands throughout Wyoming.   

I had accumulated a few beers-to-go on my trip and enjoyed them tonight out on the deck of my AirBnb in mild, but cloudy weather.   First up were a couple (or three) Jenny Lake Lagers from Snake River Brewing over in Jackson, WY.  I picked up a six-pack of these at a liquor store during a gas stop on the way today.  They were smooth and tasty.  I left the other three for my host.  She thanked me for them.  Cheers!  Next up was a crowler pint can of Drowning Mountains IPA from Otium Brewing back in Miles City, MT.  It was very good.  I concluded with a crowler can that had rolled around in the back of the car for a few days (photo above):  The superb Boost Juice DIPA from Parts and Labor Brewing a thousand-plus miles ago in Sterling, CO.  
I had a fun, relaxing evening even though the cloud cover remained and blocked most stargazing as I had planned (glad I went out last night in Miles City).  I got to see the Preds play (and lose, unfortunately) in the Stanley Cup Playoffs and played a little online poker as well with more losses to report.   Oh well, at least the losses were ON VACATION IN WYOMING!! 

4/22- Sadly, I had to drive back to Denver today to fly home tonight, but I did have all day to get there!  I said goodbye to the great AirBnb and continued my trek south under sunny skies. 

My great AirBnb was stocked for breakfast, but I had it in mind to drive an hour or so and eat at the historic Chugwater Soda Fountain.  I had their giant breakfast burrito that keep me full for most of the day and a coffee-flavor shake as well made in their vintage soda fountain (the oldest operating one in Wyoming). 

My next stop was back in Colorado at the beautiful, gushing Boulder Falls.  As with many of my other stops I saw a few people coming in and out but had the falls to myself for a good amount of time.  Such a beauty!!    A perfect place to visit on Earth Day! 

I had some time to hit a "brewery or two-ery" (aren't I witty) on the way to the airport and started with the cooly-named, Liquid Mechanics Brewing in the Denver suburb of Lafayette.  Here I began with their West Coast Cartel (Beachwood) IPA.  It's a collaboration with Beachwood Brewing (CA) and it was excellent.  I finished up with their also impressive Skin and Bones pale ale.  

I had very nice view of some of still snow-covered Rockies on my drive around the northern outskirts of Denver.   I believe that's Long's Peak in the distance at 14K+ in elevation.  

My last stop before the airport was the very cool Something Brewing (clever name) in the Denver suburb of Brighton.  I started with their excellent NEIPA called By the Beard of Zeus, and finished with their solid Vienna-style lager called Godspeed. 

My flight home was smooth and uneventful.  A nice closure to one amazing trip!! 

And if you are keeping score, that's:  

1,900+ miles driven 
thru 6 states
with 8 craft breweries visited 
20 new-to-me craft brews consumed 
and 1 dead tumbleweed,,,

- yep, my only "road incident" was when a tumbleweed rolled out in front of my car (in Wyoming I think) and instead of getting caught under my car, it exploded into a thousand pieces.  Who knew?? 

SPRING-loaded and ready for action!

OK, I guess she's growing on me a little...Cheers, Tay-tay! 

3/1 - I kicked the month of March off with a walk up to Cedar City Brewing this afternoon where I had three of their new-to-be brews including the rich and tasty Schwarzbier, the Belgian-loving Cedar City Witbier, and finally, the light and decadent Blueberry Pilsner on nitro.  With an order of dry-rubbed wings, I was a happy man! 

3/2 - Ashlee wanted to do a little shopping today in the Antioch area, so I hung out with Sunny on the patio at Tailgate Brewery South in the swanky new Tanger Outlets there.  It was great weather, and the beers were solid.  I started with their nice, bready-tasting Lager Projekt: Oat Lager; next was their excellent Stoutanooga; and finally, their decent lager called Forklift Certified Gold.   

When I got home, I won a small NLCP tournament on Global Poker vs. 24 other players for an ROI of right at 1,100%!  

3/3 -I finally (I hated missing opening night) got to see the epic new film, Dune Part II in IMAX 70mm tonight at the Opry Mills Theaters with my pal, Toney.  The film was very good.  Not mind-blowing, but very good.    I'm going to give it another look in a few weeks.  

Beforehand, we stopped by TennFold Brewing for dinner and a brew for me which consisted of their recent Valentine's Day inspired strawberry-brewed blonde ale called You're the Only Tenn-I-See that I thought was a little too sweet, but the grain-bowl with smoked chicken was spot-on as always! 

3/4 - It was just too nice a day not to go see a waterfall!  Sunny and I headed west today in search of Rattlesnake Falls over near Mt. Pleasant, TN, in Maury County, but found out disappointingly that what looks to be a brand-new house has been built in front of it and fenced off as private property.  Luckily, Still House Falls State Natural Area was close by, so even though it was a fairly recent repeat for me, it was still worth a look especially from the brink as shown in the photo above. 

On the way back, I stopped by Curio Brewing Company in Franklin and had their very nice (but pricey) porter called Hinge Ninja.  

Back at home tonight, I won a small bounty tournament on Global Poker vs. 9 other players with 6 knockouts for an ROI of right at 600%.

3/5 - I attended the Preds game tonight vs. the Montreal Canadiens and a sports industry networking/job fair at Bridgestone Arena beforehand.  The job fair turned out to be sort of a bust with long lines and very few jobs available beyond hourly-wage entry-level crap, so I skipped out of it early and went and drank instead.  I slipped over to City Tap and had a nice trio including the excellent double IPA called Artic Panzer Wolf from 3 Floyds Brewing (IN); then the solid dark lager called Beer to Drink When It's Cold Outside from Westbrook Brewing (SC); and finally, the decent, albeit a little sweet, Belgian tripel called Voodoo Love Child from Voodoo Brewing (PA).

After another bust in the raffle they had at the end of the job fair, I slipped back out of the arena and down to the Broadway Brewhouse Downtown for a couple more and some dinner.  The pale ale called So Fresh and So Green from Mikerphone Brewing (IL) and the Juicy Daze NEIPA from Mill Creek Brewing over in Nolensville were both excellent as was my chicken-finger basket meal.

The Preds blew a 2-0 lead at the end of the second period and then lost in OT 3-2 to close their winning streak at eight games.  Bummer, but the boys are still playing well at the right time.  

3/7 - Sunny and I drove up to Gallatin today and used a BOGO offer I had for Big Trouble Brewing Company.  There was no outside seating here (boo!), so Sunny had to wait in the car while I had their decent Old Dirty Blonde ale, and their solid blackberry-infused tart more than sour Berliner Weisse called Ram Jam. 

3/9 - Ashlee and I attended the SOLD OUT Lucero show at The Basement East tonight and stayed overnight close by at the very cool Waymore's Guest House Hotel which has become one of my favorite stay-cation locations.  Just before the show, we stopped into Smith and Lentz Brewing for a libation and I had their excellent New-England-style Sincerely, IPA. 

Before the show, we also met some friends at Pins Mechanical Company.  This was our first visit here.  What a fun place!  And they have a pretty good craft beer list.  Most of them were repeats on UNTAPPD for me including the excellent NEIPA called Hazy Jane except this time it was brewed by BrewDog USA up in Ohio instead of Scotland. Yep, I've been there!  

3/11 - I doubled my buy-in tonight with a 3rd place finish in my little local league on PokerStars vs. 10 other players.  I took some of my winnings and downloaded five new Lucero songs that I heard the other night at their SOLD OUT show.  Love those boys from Memphis!! 

3/12 - Who knew there was a "skunk rule" in college baseball??  I walked up and caught a little bit of the Cumberland Baseball Team taking on Milligan University from up in East Tennessee.  CU jumped out to a 6-0 lead with two 3-run dingers early, and then it was 7-zip when I left to walk up to Tenn Lakes Brewing for a beer.  I had their very nice Hefen Fantastic out on their patio in the beautiful spring weather.  By the time I got back to the game, the Phoenix were up 11-0 and the game had been called on the count of a mercy rule in the bottom of the 7th.  Yikes!  

Tonight (and on into early tomorrow) I made the final table of the GPC Micro Thunder Series Event # 4-L for real money.  I ended up getting 4th out of 694 players for a 4800% ROI! It was a mystery bounty tournament, and I got a few knockouts, but none of any big value.   Supposedly, I get some Global Poker swag for making the final table too, but we shall see.  I still haven't seen my alleged trophy I won back in January.  

3/14 - I won a small NLCP Tournament on Global Poker tonight vs. 14 other players for an ROI of over 600%

3/15 - I traveled down to Whitwell/Dunlap today to help my sister with the hard and sad task of having her dog, Cara, put to sleep due to numerous health conditions.  RIP, sweet girl.   I toasted the good girl at lunch at Sequatchie Valley Brewing with their solid Valley Latte Golden Stout.

Cagle Mountain on Hwy. 111 on my way back home was booming with wet-weather falls today thanks to a lot of rain overnight. 

I stopped in Sparta after the two roadside waterfall stops and had a brew at Happy Trails Brewing.  Their new Butter Pecan Brown Ale was just about perfectly sweet and smooth.   Their cute female brewer even served me herself!  

3/16 - I attended the NSC vs. Charlotte FC MLS game tonight at Geodis Park with my pal, Danny.  Beforehand, we met up at Fait La Force Brewing and had a couple pre-game libations.  I started with their very good Belgian blonde ale called Parlour Games and then finished with their solid Vienna lager called Spatial Acoustics which went very well with my dinner of excellent poutine from the New Berlin Food Truck outside.  The game was a nail-biting 2-1 win for the good guys with two beautiful header goals by NSC.   At the game, I had a repeat can of the serviceable Two Foot Cream Ale from Half Batch Brewing up in Hendersonville. 

3/17 - We celebrated St. Patty's Day today over at the M.L. Rose location in Providence in Mt. Juliet.  Their patio was open, so we could bring Sunny along too. We both had their signature Owl Lager dyed green for the day, and I also had a very nice Irish dry stout from Sullivan's Brewing (Ireland since 1702) called Black Marble.  Cheers!  

3/18 - After a rough day of bad beats and coolers, I got a small NLCP win tonight on Global Poker vs. 15 other players for an 800% ROI.  

3/19 - My pal, Toney, and I went to see the new music biopic, Bob Marley: One Love, at our local Roxy Theaters (recliners!) tonight.  I thought it a was pretty well-done film.  What a loss at such a young age for such a gifted musician and humanitarian.  I needed that recliner seat too after walking the 2 miles to the theater thanks to mild weather and the time change. 

3/20 - Sunny and I welcomed the first official day of spring today with a walk around some of Couchville Lake over in Long Hunter State Park in some very nice weather.   It's a great place and I like that no motorized boats can be on the lake, so it might be a good place to kayak in the future. 

Afterwards, we stopped by the patio at M.L. Rose at Providence in Mt. Juliet where they were celebrating the first day of spring with a free beer!  Yep, a free craft beer!  Thanks, MLR!  I chose their new ML Rose Melrose Hazy IPA made for them by Hi-Wire Brewing (Asheville). It was very good.  I made it a BOGO deal with the order of another hazy IPA called Juice Raptor from Monday Night Brewing (Atlanta).   I really enjoyed it's grapefruit-forward taste.  Cheers to springtime! 

3/21 - I played in my first-ever Ante-Up Patreon Game on PokerStars tonight.  "Ante Up" is a poker podcast that I have followed for a long time, and it now has a new owner and host, Joe Scales, who was also playing tonight.  He's been pretty kind to me in responding back to my inquiries and info that I have sent him regarding the podcast, so I decided to pony up the $10 a month to be a Patreon subscriber to help him out a little in his endeavors. 
As far as the tournament, I got 6th out 11 players when my pocket sevens ran into a flopped pair of queens.  It's a good structure and a fun time.  I will be playing again. 

Beforehand, I got an outstanding half-pound of fried catfish "nuggets" (they were bigger than that) from the Just Fish Food Truck for $10 as their contribution to the Wilson County Restaurant Week.  

3/22 - I got to attend another Finally Friday show at 3rd and Lindsley today which included performances by The Empty Pockets who are a tight band and very lively; Meg Gehman who sounded just like Melissa Etheridge and whose set I enjoyed the most, and Darrin Bradbury, an interestingly quirky storyteller playing now for a great cause to help the homeless.

Afterwards, I was going to do a short downtown brewery crawl, but opted to head back east while the traffic was reasonable and stopped by the Mt. Juliet Beer Company for a variety four-pack.  Then I got a call from my pal, Curtis, who I picked up at a tire shop in Lebanon while they were working on his car, and we went for a couple brews at Cedar City Brewing where I had their new and surprisingly delicious Low Key Jam Session IPA.

I made it back to The Poker Barn for some live action that tonight was a Deuces Wild NLHE tournament.   I took a threesome of craft beers with me that I bought earlier at the Mt. Juliet Beer Compay that included a very good cold IPA called BRRRRRR... from Fonta Flora Brewing (NC).  Next was a bit too much earthy-tasting (and correctly named) Dirty South Trail Ale from up Albright Grove Brewing in Knoxville.  I finished on a better note with a tasty London Lager from Barrique Brewing here in Nashville. 
  As far as the tournament goes, it was different and fun, but I busted out 11th out of 27 (and some rebuys which I did not) when my set of fours ran into a made wheel straight.   Same ol' shit, different night.  I just don't run very well here.  

3/23 - I went to see Dune 2 again in 70MM IMAX at the Opry Mills Theaters this afternoon with my friends, Danny and Brenda, who also wanted to see it again.  As suspected, I did enjoy this second showing more than the first which I can also say about the first film in the trilogy.  Now, I can't wait for the finale!  
Beforehand, we met up at the nearby Bavarian Beirhouse where I had a nice Original Munchner Marzen from Paulaner Brewery (Munich) with my tasty curry-wurst plate late lunch. 

3/26 - I had a very early Southwest flight up to NYC today for a quick overnight trip to see my favorite singer of all time, Jim Cuddy (of Blue Rodeo), play the first of two solo shows at Joe's Pub in Manhattan. 

I wound up staying at the Washington Square Hotel in Greenwich Village which was just a short walk to the venue.  It's a historic hotel (i.e. 1902; i.e. tiny rooms), but I kind of liked it.  I mean The Stones and Bob Dylan stayed here!  The front facade was getting a facelift which is probably why I got such a decent price on the room.  They even let me check in when I arrived at 10 A.M. since there was a room ready.   Despite the work going on outside, my room was quiet, clean and all I needed.  That's the pretty lobby in the photo above.  So very cool.

The iconic Washington Square Arch was standing proud today under a beautiful sky (at least for a little while before getting completely cloudy, but no rain, thank goodness).   There was a dude playing piano near it which made for a pretty cool atmosphere.  Welcome back to NYC! 

I decided to just stay in "The Village" and just walk around during my stay instead of tackling the subway as I had first planned.  There was plenty to see (thanks to AtlasObscura.com) and drink (thanks to my UNTAPPD app) here.  I started with a big one:  the fairly new Stonewall National Monument commemorating the fight for gay rights in this country.  The famous Stonewall Inn bar is across the street from this small, but tasteful, area of national history. 

The official "narrowest building in NYC" was built in 1873 and was once owned by Cary Grant.  Its most recent price tag was $3 million despite only being 9' wide and 30' deep! 

The Greenwich Locksmiths Shop is the smallest numbered building in Manhattan at 125 square feet.  The artistic mosaics around the entrance are made of keys by the owner himself.   In business since 1968, it's a wonder it's still here among the high-priced development.  

Ok, enough history and walking, let's drink!!  A beer bar I've actually been to before here, The Blind Tiger, opened at 11 AM and I was their first customer!  I started with the excellent DIPA called Epitome from Carton Brewing (NJ) and moved on to their latest house beer, the IPA called Tiger Shark Skate Park, brewed for them by Kings County Brewing over in Brooklyn.  It was very good and went great with my excellent spicy smoked chicken grain bowl for lunch.  

They've been pouring them here since 1854 at McSorley's Old Ale House, so you know I had stop in for a belt.  I forgot they only take cash, so I was lucky to have enough on me to order a pint of "the dark" which came in two small half-pint glasses...ok?  "The dark" is the McSorley's Irish Black Lager which is made for them by macro-brewer Pabst down in San Antonio, but it's more about the ambiance and history here instead of the beer...which wasn't bad.  

I had researched that Brooklyn Brewing has a new location in The Village, so that was my next stop.  Cool little place and again I was their first customer looks like today (day-drinking on a Tuesday has its perks!).  I started with their solid pale ale called Climate Control and then ended with their very nice black IPA called The Dark Knight.   

 "...there are, like, thirty Ray's Pizzas. They all claim to be the original. But the real one's on 11th" - Santa Claus
"The yellow ones don't stop"  - Buddy the Elf 

My next great find was the lovely Loreley (heated, very nicely) German Restaurant and Beer Garden.  Again, one of the first on the patio out back and by the time I left it was filling up.  I started here with the lovely house Loreley Kolsch made for them by Kings County Brewing over in Brooklyn.   I finished with a so-so IPA called Braufactum Progusta made by German macro-brewer Radeburger Gruppe in Frankfurt.   I got a plate of their curry-wurst for dinner, but I have to give the nod to what's made here at Bavarian Bierhouse as being a little better. 

I changed nationalities next with a stop at an Irish pub called Slainte in hopes that I could see the Predators playing a little before I went to the show which didn't start until 930 (ah, NYC).   They did have the game on, but by the time I left the Preds were down 3-0 at home to Vegas (they came back to win incredibly in OT 5-4! That's 18 games in a row with at least a point!).  But despite the early woefulness from the Preds, I really enjoyed this beautiful bar where they had some Irish music playing in a booth and I had a nice conversation with a pretty young girl as well. Beer-wise, I started with the very nice New England pale ale called TV Party from Radiant Pig Craft Beers here in NYC.  I finished with a nice winter ale called Apres from nearby Torch and Crown Brewing. 

I had just enough time to slip into the very cool and very small Proletariat Beer Bar where I had the lovely Saison/farmhouse ale called Geodesic from Oxbow Brewing (ME).   

If you haven't been keeping count, that's 10 beers today before getting to Joe's Pub where I had to buy two more  (decent repeat Allagash Whites from the Allagash Brewery in Maine).  Let's just say I was feeling fine, but I kept it together pretty well.  Joe's Pub is part of the larger Public Theater collection of performance spaces housed in this beautiful building pictured above.  

I completely forgot I had a front-row seat!  What a deal!  Jim sounded and looked great and did several of my Blue Rodeo favorites.  My table mates were a nice family from Ottawa in town on vacation.   A bonus treat was that Jim's son, Devon, accompanied him on piano throughout the set.  Very cool! 

Me and Jim!!   Just two old farts reminiscing about meeting each other (yeah, he doesn't remember) down in Birmingham about 30 years ago!!   I also got to meet Devon briefly as well after the show.  What a wonderful surprise! 

The Washington Square Arch loses nothing in appeal when it gets dark. I even got a little Southern on the way back and stopped for some late-night chicken fingers at a Raising Cane's location nearby. What a beautiful, perfect day and night in The Big Apple! 

3/27 - I slept in and then had a little time to kill before my flight back from NYC, so I ambled up to The Grey Dog for brunch.  I was going to go the breakfast route until I saw they had a Philly cheesesteak wrap.  Yes, please!    It was excellent as was my pint of their house beer, the Grey Dog Michigan Lager made from the Grey Dog Brewery (USA? hmm, a bit suspect).  

I knocked out a few more Atlas Obscura locations before leaving The Village, none that were that particularly picture-worthy, but the oldest operating apothecary in America, C.O. Bigelow's, was kind of fun to look around in.   I even picked up this trio of scented salves as a gift for Ashlee.   They are known for these and have been selling then since opening back in 1838.  

3/28 - My buddy, Toney, and I went to opening night of the new monster flick, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, tonight at our local Roxy Theaters (recliners!).  I thought the movie was silly, but fun, as a monster movie should be.  The special effects were very good.   I walked the two miles to the movie theaters again since the weather was pleasant and even had a quick dinner at Alberto's Taqueria 2. Yep, tacos in a gas station - they are delicious, as is their elote en vaso! 

Earlier today I got a nice win on Global Poker vs. 166 other players in a turbo progressive bounty tournament with 10 knockouts for a total ROI of 3,600%!  I made the final table in another similar tournament later on as well.

As I walked to the movies this evening, I gave a homeless guy (and his dog) five dollars as a bit of payback for my poker success today. 

3/29 - Congrats to Duke and UT in advancing to The Elite Eight tonight!  Duke was an underdog to # 1 seed, Houston, and UT was a slight favorite as the # 2 seed over Creighton (# 3 seed).   If they both can win again on Sunday, they would face each other in the Final Four!  

Earlier today, Ashlee and I met our friends, Curtis and Kate, at Barcadia up on The Square for a tap takeover from Half Batch Brewing up in Hendersonville.  I got my walk in for the day by walking up and having Ashlee and Sunny meet me when outdoor seating was secured for them.   4 of the 5 Half Batch Pints that I had were repeats on UNTAPPD, but I did get to check in their new-to-me Half Batch Pils which was pretty good. 

3/31 - I decided to sneak in a couple beers from a variety four-pack I got at Mt. Juliet Beer Company the other day into Fall Creek Falls State Park for an Easter picnic we were having with Ashlee's sister and her family.   We also stopped by my favorite waterfall in the park, Piney Falls (photo above), which I now need to come back to since they've repaired the bridge down to the base  of the falls which I have not been to before.  The beers were both great.  First up was the Feel Feelings, a Helles lager from The Veil Brewing Company (VA), and then the nice brown ale from Fonta Flora Brewery (NC) called Bread Tree. 
The Elite Eight outcomes were not great as both UT and Duke lost their respective games.   Glad I didn't waste nice outdoor time watching them.   

4/1 - Today was my first paid dog-walking gig thru Rover!   This is Gus (l) and Dolly who I will be walking every day around lunch for the foreseeable future.    They live north of town here in Wilson County and their owner, Michelle, is very nice and has pretty much given me free reign over her house while I am there.  
Tomorrow, I look to have my first overnight stay with a couple of other dogs just up the road and I've got another standing overnight retainer with another older gentlemen here in town when needed.  Could this be my next career?  We shall see! 

4/2 -My second paid job on Rover started today with a couple of nights stayover with LaKoya (foreground) and Takoda, two beautiful and sweet Siberian huskies, owned by a lady just over the county line north of Lebanon who is away on a business trip.  

4/3 - I got a NLHE turbo bounty tournament win today on Global Poker with ten knockouts vs. 102 other players for an ROI of 2,500%!   I also got fourth in The Diesel nightly NLCP tournament for about 600% ROI.  

4/5 - I celebrated my first completed week of dog-walking with Mr. Gus (photo above) and Dolly today with a couple beers at Cedar City Brewing with my pal, Curtis.   First up was the excellent S.M.A.S.H. Alora Hop pale ale, followed by the crisp and tasty American Light Lager which is in their "Lake It Easy" line of brews. 

4/6 - I got up very early this morning (before dawn) to attend the Premier League Mornings Live broadcast from Nashville and Fan Fest downtown on Broadway.   It was pretty cool.  I got about 3 rows from the stage and even clapped former USMNT goalkeeper and now-broadcaster, Tim Howard, on his shoulder on his way to the stage.  His fellow broadcasters for this popular world-wide show also there were Rebecca Lowe, Robbie Mustoe and Robbie Earle, plus special guest, footballer, Daniel Sturridge. 

The crowd was huge even before dawn.  It must have continued to have strong attendance thru Sunday since I have now read that they broke attendance records here in Music City for their road trips and had 30,000 free ticket requests as well.   The Fan Fest was cool too with some fun things for fans including huge screens broadcasting the day's games, giveaways, team mascots, the Premier League Trophy in attendance as well as the Olympic Rings for photo ops. 
 
I headed home afterwards to do some yard work and watched the USWNT vs. Japan in the She Believes Cup semi-final which the US eked out a 2-1 win to move on the finals against Canada. 

Then it was back downtown to catch the NSC vs. Philadelphia game with Nate.  We did a little pre-game crawling with a stop at Cledis' for burgers and beers.  I had the Oklahoma Double and a pint of the excellent Stonefly Double IPA from Blackberry Farms Brewing up in Maryville.  Our next stop was Fait La Force Brewing for free game parking and a couple brews.  I had their new cold IPA called Behind the Balsams which was very good.   On the walk to the game, we swung by Jackalope Brewing where I had their boozy Baltic porter (aged in brandy barrels) called Mice and Men.    I even found a new-to-me beer at the game: the decent Music City Citrus Wheat from Fat Bottom Brewing here in Nashville. 
As for the game...well...we blew a 1-0 lead in the second half and wound up losing 2-1 with a Philly goal very late in the game.  So frustrating!!  But, overall, a great full day of soccer and brews!

4/7 - Hey, it's National Beer Day!  No badge from UNTAPPD? Man, that app is really starting to slip, but I still celebrated with a check-in of a can of Gay Beer - yep, that's what it's called.  It's a golden lager (pretty sour IMO) contract-brewed in Brooklyn, NY, and celebrating the LGBT community.  Cheers! 

4/8 - I got extremely lucky today and caught a brief part of almost full solar eclipse (we were supposed to get 95%) before it completely clouded over here in Lebanon for the rest of the event.  Too bad, but still a helluva shot for an iPhone I think! 

4/9 - My pal, Toney, and I went to see the new action film, Monkey Man, tonight at our local Roxy Theaters (recliners!) on a Bargain Tuesday ($6 movies!).  I thought the film was like John Wick, but with a soul and an actual story of substance behind all the action.  Well done, Dev Patel! 

4/11 - I got a NLHE turbo bounty tournament win today on Global Poker with six knockouts vs. 141 other players for an ROI of 2,300%!   I also got third in the next tournament of the same variety a couple hours later for some more positive ROI.   Then, a couple hours later I got another win on a small tournament vs. 9 other players for another decent ROI boost.   Next, I placed 6 out of 7 tickets given in a satellite worth 500%+ ROI vs. 26 other players. 

4/12 - I toasted another week of dog-walking, and the fact that the Preds have clinched a wildcard playoff spot despite being kind of written off at the start of the season with a new coach and some young players, this afternoon at Tenn Lakes Brewing with a couple of their new-to-me brews.  First up was the nice Mexican lager called Tenn Lago and then their decent Chipped Prop Pilsner.   Back at home, Ashlee's drinking cousins are staying with us for a couple nights, so I cracked open a pint can of the excellent tropical IPA called Lil Gushy from Decadent Ales (CT) as a welcome brew.  This was the start of a variety 4-pack I picked up at Mt. Juliet Beer Company yesterday.   

4/13 - In between party prepping today, I was able to enjoy a couple more brews from my variety pack from Mt. Juliet Beer Company outside in the lovely weather today.  First up was this pint can pictured above of Mosaic Pollen (good beer name for today's springtime snowstorm of pollen in the air).  It's a tasty pale ale from Tox Brewing Company (CT).  
I followed that one up with a Neural Glide NEIPA from Cerebral Brewing (Denver) as we sat around the Solo Stove with a nice fire tonight. 

4/14 - Today's is Letty's First Birthday Party and I had some new-to-me beers for the occasion.  First up was the very nice Brown Owl ESB from Northwoods Brewing (NH).  

With our unique backyard hibachi (I had the excellent steak and shrimp), I cracked open a solid IPA called Gasoline Rainbows V. 7 from Cerebral Brewing (Denver).  Next up was the very good DIPA called Over Zealous from Eredita Beer Company (CT).  I concluded with excellent IPA called Fugu Nelson from Tox Brewing (CT).  

4/16 - My pal, Toney, and I went to see the new "horror" flick, Civil War, tonight at our local Roxy Theaters (recliners!) on a Bargain Tuesday ($6 movies!).  I consider this a "horror" film because this shit could really happen.  I thought the film was quite disturbing, but a bit of a bait-and-switch IMO since there wasn't a scene in the movie like the cool movie poster above.   I walked the two miles to the movie theaters again since the weather was pleasant and even had another quick dinner at Alberto's Taqueria 2.   Yep, tacos in a gas station - they are delicious, as is their elote en vaso!