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Did someone say it was BEER:30?? |
10/8 thru 10/27 - I started another three-night dog-sitting gig with some repeat huskies here in town, and then right after I started a two-week-plus dog-sitting gig in Murfreesboro for a cool thousand bucks!
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10/8 - I stopped by The Burlap Room Beer Garden in Smithville today after a work fair at in Cannon County. I had the rauchbier from nearby Calfkiller Brewing in Sparta called Smokey Treat. It was so good that a yellowjacket decided to partake as well (photo above). I didn't see him land in there before I took a swig, and he bounced off my lip!! Luckily, he was evidently too drunk to sting me!! 10/9 - I finally got a small NLCP tournament win on Global Poker tonight after a couple weeks of woeful bad beats, coolers and other insanity. I bested 18 other players for just over 800% ROI which only brought me about even for tonight, but it's a start. |
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10/10 - I had another workday trip to this side of Knoxville today for a transfer fair at the Harriman campus of Roane State. I had another pretty sweet ride from Enterprise this week in the form of this candy apple red Audi A4. Like the Benz last month, it's a nice car, but is it worth all the money? Nah!! |
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Afterwards, I couldn't find any craft beer options nearby or on the way home, so I opted to stop at Cumberland Mountain State Park. What a little beauty!! Can't believe I haven't been here before. And I should have brought my fishing pole because the beautiful bridge pictured above is traffic worthy and made of beautiful local Crab Orchard sandstone. It's also a dam that backs up Byrd Creek into a nice little lake with no motors allowed. Next time!! I did also stop at the Buc-ee's in Crossville for a couple delicious club melt sammies. One for me (on the work dime) and one for Ashlee because I'm a great husband! |
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I spent my last night in Husky Nation up north of town tonight - such sweeties!! |
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Well, look who's a Star Sitter on Rover now! I am sure they like all the money I am sending their way as well. |
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My "lucky huskies" helped me get a nice second place finish tonight in a field of 101 other players in a Global Poker Live tournament broadcasted on Twitch where I also got a shout-out for making the final table and getting second place from the host, West TN Cowboy. My ROI was over 1,300%!! That's more like it!! I gave more than 10% of my winnings to the Hurricane Helene damage fund for Hi-Wire Brewing over in Asheville that was devastated by the storm. |
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10/11 - I was back in Smith County today for another nearby fair for work, and then down to Murfreesboro for the first night of the long-term pet sitting gig there. But after work, a group of us stayed here and checked out the surprise soft opening of the East Nashville Beer Works - Wilson County. It was tremendous!! And so was the crowd!! A huge turnout!! My only new-to-me ENBW-WilCo beer was their lovely New Zealand style pilsner called the Whistle Wetter. I went ahead and joined their $125 "mug club for life" - I wonder about the value of the investment, but we shall see. |
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10/12 - The pool closes on Monday, but that gave us one last weekend this year to get some pool floatin' in. I dug into my last BeerBox.com order of the year and found a pint can of the delicious German-style märzen called Prostober from Obscurity Brewing (IL). 10/13 - Second verse, same as the first with the new-to-me pool float beers today being the nice märzen Oktoberfest from Surly Brewing Company (MN), and then I split the last belated Ashlee birthday beer from Johnson City Brewing, their outstanding Key Lime Cheesecake Sour. I made a final table on the gold coin (free money) side of the Main Event of the Maverick PLO Series on Global Poker tonight. It was six-handed with 127 other players, and I went out sixth, so not sure any swag is coming my way, but it's still a good accomplishment given the fact I am not very versed at PLO and kind of hate the game overall. |
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10/14 - REMOTE DAY!! I plan to make good use of my time in "The Boro" with some visits to various craft beer establishments here. First up today was Mr. Brews Taphouse which is just 3 miles from my sitter house and on "my side" of the interstate, so I decided to check it out this afternoon and work remote from there. Beautiful new establishment! I started with the excellent Pumpkin Ale from Whole Hog Brewing (WI), followed by the slightly tart NEIPA from TrimTab Brewing (AL) called Passion Wave. I concluded with nice and light kolsch from Common John Brewing down in Manchester called Happy Feelin's. The cheese curds were great. Looking forward to going back and trying one of their "burger bowls"...and more beer, of course! |
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10/15 - I went to see the new movie about the ninety minutes before the first SNL broadcast 50 years ago called, unsurprisingly, Saturday Night, at the Malco Theaters in nearby Smyrna tonight (discount Tuesdays!). I thought it was a well-done flick with some great writing and good acting. I forgot they had comfy recliners here, and I actually had a private screening since no one else came in the theater. I had just enough time to stop by the nearby Casual Pint (hey, it's been a while!) and have a nice Oktoberfest (2024) märzen from Wiseacre Brewing over in Memphis beforehand. |
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10/16 - Even closer to my sitter house in Murfreesboro is Middle Ground Brewing which opens at 4 PM on most weekdays. Just in time for getting off work! I stopped in this evening for a couple, starting with their very nice Helles-style Live Laugh Lager (photo above), and then finishing with an interesting and very Belgian Patersbier - my first ever of this style of Trappist monk-made beer. |
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10/17 - I had to go to a college fair in Nashville tonight and drop Ashlee at airport on the way, so I had a bit of time to kill between those two events and decided to spend that time at the original M.L. Rose Beer and Burgers on 8th Avenue and take advantage of their 2-for-1 Happy Hour. I helped out struggling Asheville a little with a pint of the excellent Surf Wax IPA from Burial Beer Company up there. I finished with a pint of the solid Sexy Cowboy NE pale ale from New Heights Brewing here in Nashville. Earlier in the day I won a small buy-in NLH bounty tournament on Global Poker vs. 83 other players. I had 7 knockouts for a total ROI of over 2,200%!! |
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10/18 - After work today, I decided to check out another new-to-me, but long-time Murfreesboro craft beer distributor, Liquid Smoke, up on the pretty and lively square. Very cool place and the cigar smoking wasn't bad with the front door open and good ventilation. They have a great craft beer selection, although serving in plastic cups is kinda odd. First up was the smooth and easy-drinking DIPA from Naked River Brewing down in Chattanooga called West in Show. I finished with a timely and delicious Sweet Baby Pumpkin Spice Latte from DuClaw Brewing (NJ). |
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10/19 - I went to see Alabama at UT in Knoxville today thanks to my pal, Toney, who has season tickets, or actually more thanks to his wife, Lisa, for not wanting to go! I took my last brew from my last BeerBox order of the year with me and drank it as we walked to the stadium. It was a pint can of the excellent IPA called Bear's Choice (no Bama pun intended) from Tighthead Brewing (IL). Before the game, we stopped at Double Dogs Sports Bar for lunch where I had an excellent flank steak and huge stein of the solid Oktoberfest Märzen from Schulz Brau Brewing here in Knoxville. |
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After a woeful first half, the Vols roared back to life in the second half and secured an underdog 24-17 win over the higher-ranked Tide. On a craft beer note, I was glad to see Yee Haw Brewing having a presence at Neyland Stadium. While I didn't have any of their beer at the game, it was nice seeing that local craft beer is being served along with the usual mass-produced swill. |
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10/20 - I had to run back and forth to the house today and took Sunny with me since she likes to ride and probably misses home some. We stopped at Cedar Glade Brews back down in Murfreesboro on the way back since they allow dogs inside. I had their excellent ESB called Cotswold Morris and then their rather disappointing märzen (photo above with puddin' head) called Cedarfest. It just tasted a bit flat to me vs. some other great Oktoberfest brews I've had lately. |
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10/21 - REMOTE DAY!! I went by Jack Brown's Burgers and Brews on the Murfreesboro square for lunch today. With my tasty burger of the day (an awesome Southwestern style), I had a 10 oz. pour of the decadent (and pricey) Peanut Butter Hazelnut Caramel Chocolate Cake Stout from Hoppin' Frog Brewing (OH). It was worth the money! My first 5-star rating on UTAPPD in quite a while!! |
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10/22 - I gave myself the day off today and went fishing instead. I headed east up to Burgess Falls State Park and Falling Water River (home of the red-eye rock bass - at least it used to be). I only caught one small one (should of took a pic) and proceeded to lose about a half-dozen lures, but, hey, it still beats working! I enjoyed the view pictured above of Upper Burgess Falls and just wish I had access to that honey-hole at the base of it for fishing. I had lunch at Father Tom's Pub in nearby Cookeville where I had a pint of the excellent Thunderstruck Coffee Porter from Highland Brewing (Asheville) with my meal which consisted of a large house salad with blackened chicken. Yum!! I got a small buy-in NLCP tournament win tonight on Global Poker vs. 16 other players for an ROI of just over 700%! |
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I got my signature/favorite hand tonight - quad treys - in pot-limit Omaha - surprisingly for the first time ever in this game. But that's probably because I don't play it that much and kinda loathe it. I got 16th in a play-money tourney outta 172 players trying to make a final table of six for swag and a trophy...and I was done in by...yep, a set of threes. Figures. |
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10/23 - Tonight's Murfreesboro craft beer visit was to Deep South Growlers which I haven't been to in a while. And let's face it, this is the best place in Murfreesboro for craft beer. I think newcomer, Mr. Brews. could be argued better with their food options, but let's see if they are around as long as these guys have been. First up I had the excellent IPA called the International Pirate Ale (photo above) from Hub City Brewing in Jackson. I finished with an interesting Forager Honey Rye Ale from Crosstown Brewing also out in West Tennessee in big ol' Memphis. |
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10/24 - My pals, Toney, Casey and I went to opening night of the trilogy-ending Venom: The Last Dance tonight at the Roxy Theaters here in Lebanon (recliners!!). This hasn't been my overall favorite comic-book trifecta, but it's been decent, and I love Tom Hardy too much not to like it a bit more for that reason. This third (and final for Hardy evidently) installment was not bad, but nothing really memorable. |
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10/25 - I was invited down to East Nashville Beer Works - Wilson County by some friends after work today, so I forewent my planned Murfreesboro craft beer plans. I took Sunny with me, and she enjoyed their cool little dog park and I enjoyed a Beer Club Member jumbo pint of the Hell Naw Helles lager (photo above). I finished with their light and refreshing kolsch called Kold Style. |
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10/26 - My craft beer pal, Nate, met me at the house today and we walked to the 2nd Annual Cedar City Brewers Festival up on the Lebanon Square. My friends, Kate and Curtis, attended as well and we had a great time sampling a ton of craft beer. Lots of food available too. I had a very good Chicago dog. They even got a street blocked off on The Square and had a stage at the end of it with live music - a miracle of miracles!! The new-to-me list was long and is as follows: Zorro - Mexican lager - Marble Fox Brewing (Nashville) - 4 outta 5 Gourdgeous - pumpkin beer - Marble Fox BC - 4 outta 5 Fancy (This is Your One Chance) - fruited sour -Tenn Brew Works (Nashville) - 4 outta 5 Grisette -farmhouse ale - Catfish Brewing (new one outta Spring Hill, TN) - 3 outta 5 Juicy DIPA - Twister Copper Brewing (Mt. Pleasant, TN) - 4.25 outta 5 Chocolate Stout - Twister Copper - 4 outta 5 Midnight Charmer - Czech dark - Marble Fox - 4.25 outta 5 Honeydew Wheat - Cedar City Brewing (the hosts!) - 4 outta 5 Czech Premium Pale Lager - Hi-Wire Brewing (Asheville) - 4.25 outta 5 Black Abbey (Brewing) the Special Dubbel - Nashville - 4.25 outta 5 TI-21 Project (2024) - NEIPA - Common John Brewing (Manchester, TN) 4.25 outta 5 The Standard - traditional mead - The Skeptic Meadery (Mt. Juliet) - 4 outta 5 West Coast Lager - TennFold Brewing (Nashville) - 4.5 outta 5 (my festival winner) Premier Cedre Saison - Cedar Glade Brewing (Murfreesboro) - 3.25 outta 5 The Table - table beer - Calfkiller Brewing - Sparta, TN - 4.25 outta 5 Beet Watermelon Sour - Twisted Copper Brewing - most unique beer of the festival - opens with a beet taste, finishes with a watermelon taste - pretty amazing - 4.25 outta 5 and it my last night in Murfreesboro pet-sitting. I also had a short dog drop-in gig in Lebanon this weekend. Woof! Woof! Ching! Ching! |
Je$u$ wept!!
Sadly, this stint in Murfreesboro didn't give me a chance to say goodbye to long-time staple here, Mayday Brewing, who got bought out by the mega-church next door and will close for good next month. I will try and get down here before the closing date if possible.
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