I-P-A RIVER

8/17 - My six-pack of the limited-edition Spiderman cans (and box) from Bero Brewing arrived while I was gone. No autographed can from Tom Holland unfortunately. The zero ABV beer was OK, but nothing to get excited about.

Additional Note: I did get a nice shout-out on the 8/31/26 episode of "Movie Mike's Movie Podcast" from the host, Mike Deestro, for an email I sent him about these beers since he's a big Spiderman fan.

My monthly BeerBox.com order arrived today also, and for the first time it has three repeat-for-me beers in it. Oh well, when you top 6K check-ins of unique craft beers, the chances increase for that, I guess. Still, some great stuff in here though. Cheers!

I went to see the new action/sci-fi flick, The End of Oak Street, tonight at the Regal Theaters in Mt. Juliet (discount Tuesday!). Even though I said I would wait and see it this weekend with friends, I just couldn't (in JJ Abrams - producer - I trust). Sadly, I was pretty disappointed in it. Great story idea, but some of the acting was just awful and despite it being a fantastical tale, a couple of things that happened in the plot were just stupidly unreal. Too bad. I had a lot of hope for this one.

I snuck a beer in that was so much better than the movie. It was a can from my recent BeerBox order. It was the very good Working for the Weekend DIPA from Spiteful Brewing (Chicago).

8/19 - I dropped $150 (mostly recent poker winnings - see below) today on a legacy brick to be placed at the new Titans stadium in honor of our G.A.M.E. trips over the last 18 years. I am proud of these trips despite the fact that my co-founder and I are sadly no longer friends. And the fact that the Titans have been pretty awful over those years. I've put a lot of time and money into this mostly woeful team, but the experiences have all been memorable and worthy of recognition. Now I can't wait to see it in person when the new stadium opens next year!

Despite what the picture above shows, I actually chopped our local PokerStars tournament tonight for a nice 300%+ ROI. I also cashed in the weekly Wednesday night tournament on ClubGG, so the total helped mostly pay for the G.A.M.E. brick at the new Titans stadium that I ordered earlier today (see above).

8/22 - I thought about skipping this one, but I did want to see the # 1 team in the MLS at home vs. Columbus. I was going to just buy a ticket, but then my pal, Nate, said his wife decided not to go tonight, so I took her seat. And I am so glad I did! I thought I had made a mistake when we were down 2-1 with time expiring in the second half. But we had 6 minutes of extra time and only needed two of them to get two goals and to get the win 3-2!!!! Unbelievable!!! What a team we've got here! We also broke an MLS record tonight by recording 49 points through just 21 games!

We parked for free at Broadcast Brewing and I had a couple of new-to-me ones of theirs. First up was their very nice take on a Kentucky common historical beer called Common Channel. I finished with their outstanding spiced beer called Speculoos Shortwave which was served with a Biscoff coffee for dipping. Delicious!

8/23 - My favorite new can art and brewery logo was on this very good pale ale called Hopular Kid from Alter Brewing (IL). Note how you can read "Alter" upside down as well in the brewery name. Pretty cool. I had this one in the pool this afternoon. I also had a really good Lounge Lager pint can from Maplewood Brewing (Chicago). Both of these were from my latest BeerBox order.

I also started another easy cat-sitting gig this evening at the $2 million dollar lake house for a few days. I also had some cat drop-ins at the house in Geers Place again over this long weekend.

And at the lake house tonight I got another 1st place (chop) on our local PokerStars tournament for another nice ROI of 340+%. I used most of those winnings to buy a couple new $30 Cumberland U hats at CVS the next day.

8/24 - I had a remote workday today and decided to have lunch at Cedar City Brewing to take advantage of my monthly free flight as a Mug Club member. One of the tasters in my flight was their new Lemon Hefe. I had their burger of the month to eat which included fried bologna on it = winner!!

8/25 - Autumn work travel starts today! It was a long day of (dirty) windshield time as I was way up in East Tennessee but came back late to stay at the lake house overnight because I just can't lose this sweet cat-sitting gig.

In between fairs today, I did have time to run up into SW Virginia into the Jefferson National Forest and check out Little Stony Falls. It was easy quick hike to the base of this beauty. And I do believe this is my first-ever Virginia waterfall visited which is surprising. There are evidently two more smaller unnamed falls downstream from this one, but I didn't have time to investigate today.
(Song companion: "See the World" by Brett Dennen)

I also had time to grab an early dinner at Uptown Cheesesteak Company in downtown Kingsport. My "works cheesesteak" was outstanding - maybe one of the best ones I've ever had! AND they have great craft beer too!! I started with a pint can of the excellent DIPA called Delusions of Grandeur from Xul Beer Company down in Knoxville. I finished with another pint can of Xul's, their Helles lager called Dizzy. I toasted the loss of the amazing Dolly Parton today with this one. RIP, sweet lady of Tennessee.

8/26 - It was back to East Tennessee today, but at least tonight I was staying overnight and that gave me a chance to go see my best bud, Craig, down in Burnsville, NC, tonight at the Birdfoot Taproom. Cool little place with a great beer list! Hanging over the bar is what I assume is an empty box for a "Godzilla 99-pack" of PBR (photo above). Pretty funny, and, yes, that have it...on draft! But instead, I started with a half-pint of the solid Island Hopper - Citra IPA from Pilot Brewing over in Charlotte. Then a full pint (at only 3.3 ABV) of the very nice English Dark Mild from Diatribe Brewing down in Asheville. I concluded with another half-pint of the Crusher Run Helles lager from Leveller Brewing in nearby Weaverville, NC.

I got back in time to my nice Fairfield Inn in Kingsport to chop the nightly local tournament on PokerStars vs. just four other people. I had it won outright until I got sucked out on at the river - pretty typical. Just a 180% ROI, but you take what you can get I guess.

8/27 - I had a full day of work in Johnson City today. Between fair times, I went back to Uptown Cheesesteak Company in downtown Kingsport for lunch. How could I not? The food and the craft beer choices are just too good! With my sandwich called "The Works" I started with a pint can of the decent lager from Xul Beer Company (Knoxville) called Awful Nice. I finished with a fantastic collaboration DIPA from Xul and Burial Beer Company called Over the Mountain and Through the Woods (since that's what that are from each other basically).
Back at the hotel tonight, I had some more good results in the local NLHE tournament on PokerStars vs. 6 other players. I took it down outright for a 280%+ ROI. I also made the final table in our Ante Up league on PokerStars playing limit razz which seems like a game with a lot of luck to me. Not so much skill. This was second final table this week with Ante Up as I came in 6th in the monthly NLHE tournament out of 21. Tonight's razz game had 16 people in it and I wound up getting 3rd.

8/28 - I drove back from Johnson City today after an early fair, I made a stop in Cookeville for lunch at Father Tom's Pub where I had a great grilled chicken house salad and a pint of the solid pale ale from Highland Brewing (Asheville) called Saint T's. I finished the audiobook that I bought called Sunrise on the Reaping which is a Hunger Games prequel that was OK, but kind of pointless since most readers already know the fate of the main character, Hamish Abernathy, anyway, but it passed the long hours on the road so that's good enough, I guess.

8/29 - We had a fun Saturday morning "hang" at the Nashville Zoo today for a behind the scenes look and feeding of Fern, the two-toed sloth. This was an early birthday present for Ashlee that I got her after her perked interest in the animals after our trip to Costa Rica earlier this year. We also had front-row tickets (thanks, Ashlee) to a Mat Kearney concert tonight to close out the day. In between, I took a float in the pool and enjoyed a can of White Lights, a wheat bear infused with apricots from Middle Brow Brewing (Chicago). This one came from my latest BeerBox.com order.

3/30 - My pal, Toney, and I went to see the new Ridley Scott post-apocalyptic flick, The Dog Stars, tonight at the AMC Theaters in Antioch. Toney's been bragging about how nice these theaters are so I thought I'd give it a look. And, yes, they are very nice, but the drive is a bit of a nag. I loved the book this movie is based on, so I was not sure how this adaptation was going to be, but Ridley's one of my favorite directors, so I was hopeful. It turned out to be fantastic! It followed the book very well, but with some added dimensions that I really thought were great. That's pretty rare when the movie is just a little better than the book.
Beforehand, I got some pool time in along with a cold can of the excellent Zombie Ice (2025) from 3 Floyds Brewing (IN). This was my last brew from my most recent BeerBox.com order.

8/31 - I had a remote day today before heading back on the road tomorrow for work. The August edition of the Ante Up Poker Online Magazine dropped today too and I'm very happy with this particular column. It got talked up on the podcast too which is nice.

Page 1 of 3 - Three full pages again!

Page 2 of 3

Page 3 of 3 - I've been wanting to work my favorite quote of TR's into this column and it worked perfect on this month's topic.

9/1 - Zaddy in a Caddy headed to Chatty!

My much younger friend, Curtis, calls me "Zaddy" for some weird, funny reason, so that's where the little rhyme above comes from. I got an "upgrade" from a standard car at Enterprise Car Rentals this week to a luxury Cadillac CT4 350T sedan. It's OK, but not something I would buy.
In between fairs today I stopped by Sigler's/Alpha Brews on E. Brainerd Road and had a pint of the pretty solid white/wheat IPA called White Lightning made by Alpha Brews.

9/2 - I was still in the Chattanooga area today for work and started my new audiobook that I bought recently called Whalefall. This is another popular novels that's been made into a film to be released soon. So far, I am really liking it.

After a morning fair in Bledsoe County, I had time to stop by Monkey Town Brewing in Dayton and have a couple of beers. First up was their solid lager called Where's My Pizza? I finished with their surprisingly good (because I don't usually care for tequila) Vienna-style lager that had been aged in Gate 11 Distillery Agave Tequila barrels called Oak and Ember.

Tonight, during another school fair, I had my first fantasy football draft for the first of two teams I will be managing this season. I thought it went pretty well. Let's go team: Never Punt!!

9/3 - I had a long day at a big multi-school fair at Chattanooga State today, so with my free evening I decided to grab a couple brews at one of my favorite breweries here in the Scenic City, Tanasai Brewing Company. I started with their nice Kentucky common historical beer called Harvest Moon. I finished with their solid hefeweizen called Banana Hands. On my way out, Clint, the owner and sole brewer here showed me his sweet "new" ride out front in the parking lot. Don't cut him off in traffic, he's just installed a train horn in it!

9/4 - On the drive home from Chattanooga today, I had time to stop in for a quick beer at Happy Trails Brewing in Sparta. I had their very nice Lemon Gap Sour.

9/5 - I went to the UT home opener game today with my pal, Toney, vs. tiny Furman who was there mostly for the big check I assume. Before the game we stopped at Big Ed's Pizza in Oak Ridge which is sort of legendary. It's been around since 1972 and it's very old-school including the decor which included this ancient ABC Sports banner (photo above). They had an original ESPN banner also. The pizza was very good and hand made. They also have a great beer list! I started with the very good Juicy IPA from The Black Dog Brewhouse here in Knoxville (haven't been there yet, but it's on my list now for week after next when I am back up here for work!). I finished with the BDB's interesting and tasty Vanilla Milkshake Ale which is a wheat beer with lactose and vanilla added.

9/6 - I finally got to try the food at Stoke Haus Brewing in East Nashville today and it was off-the-rails good! My half of the plate pictured above was the perfect brisket and grilled corn on the cob. My accompanying beer was their Premium, an NEIPA which was solid. I also a few sips of Ashlee's very nice Shandy that they brew (top right in the picture above).

The new Nissan Stadium is coming along quickly with its sign up now and the translucent white roof as well (which you can't see from this angle of a drive-by shot I took of it today) as we left Stoke Haus Brewing.

9/7 - Labor Day was pretty quiet for us at home in the pool today. I didn't even have a beer which is odd. I did have an outright win tonight in the local PokerStars tournament vs. 6 other players and at least one rebuy for over 300% in ROI.

9/8 - I started another busy week of college fairs today and while none required overnight stays, there was a lot of driving, so after finishing Whalefall (which was pretty good, not crazy about the ending - let's see how the movie version goes), I started the beautifully written 2013 novel, The Light Between Oceans. Based on its age, it was a bargain to buy. I just learned about it after seeing info about a film made from the book in 2018. I haven't seen it either, but it's on my list for sure. While beautiful written, it's an epically sad tale.

9/11 - I ended the hectic work week this afternoon near New Heights Brewing in Nashville today, so there was no way I wasn't stopping in and having a couple. I started with their nice IPA called Fist Bump. I ended with their pretty-colored (photo above) Blackberry Wheat that was very good. I toast with both of these in the remembrance of the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the USA. RIP all you victims and heroes.

Even though it's been open for a while now, I finally made it up on the roof tonight at Town Square Social overlooking the Lebanon Square. We had a drink with some friends, and they even had a beer I had not had, so I checked in an Unfiltered Wheat from The Black Abbey Brewing Company over in Nashville. Cheers to our little town for becoming at least a little hip!

9/12 - Happy Birthday, Ashlee!! (and Paige!). We had a fun day in Chattanooga today celebrating Ashlee and Paige's birthday. Our first stop per Ashlee's request was the awesome little Bleu Fox Cheese Shop in the revitalized Main Street area. We had some excellent blue cheesees and Ashlee had wine while I found out they have a nice craft beer selection. I chose the smooth and easy-drinking Hutton and Smith Mexican Lager from HLBC here in town. It also had some incredible can art (photo above).

9/13 - So, let me get this straight, NFL QB, Justin Herbert, has a super-hot girlfriend and her name is Morgan BEER?!?!? That seems unfair on so many levels!! I learned this fact while at Dream Country Brewing in Cookeville late this afternoon where I stopped for a couple of 10-ouncers on my way to Oak Ridge for early work tomorrow. I started with their nice English bitter called Puck and finished with their decent rye IPA called The Wolf in the Rye. They were having a quite-spirited Shakespeare table read downstairs while I was there with a large cast that seemed to be having a great (and loud) time.

9/14 - I was in the Knoxville area again for work today and after my one morning fair, I had the afternoon pretty much to myself. The weather was warm, but clear, so I headed toward the Smokies for few photo ops. After lunch at the very nice (and new to me) Black Dog Brewpub in Knoxville where I had a tasty Philly cheese sammy and tots with their very good IPA called Smells Like Hoppy Spirit.

My first photo stop was in Alcoa at the odd, but historic, Millennium Manor (1937) built by hand with local stone by a religious married couple of very slight build as a home that they thought would withstand Armageddon. It was saved from ruin years after the deaths of the couple and was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 2020.

I ambled on into The Great Smoky Mountains National Park next to check out The Sinks. This man-made waterfall was created when a logjam on The Little River was dynamited back in the late 1800's. I've been by here many times but don't recall stopping for a look until today.

It was just a gorgeous (albeit still hot) day in The Park. This is The Little River just upstream from The Sinks.

How could a return to Big Ed's Pizza not happen when it's less than a mile away from my hotel in Oak Ridge! A large Big Ed's Special should feed me for a day or two...maybe three? Thanks, CU, for letting me blow my entire food per diem today on this bad boy!

I finished the night at the hotel watching The Emmys (way to go, Sally Field!) and chopping our small local PokerStars tournament vs. 5 other players and collecting over 260% ROI.

9/15 - After a morning fair in Oneida, the nearby Big South Fork NRRA was calling my name this afternoon. I did some waterfall scouting in the area since it was too hot to hike and streamflow would be low this time of year anyway. I gathered some good intel for future visits and wound up at the Honey Creek Overlook of the Big South Fork of the Caney Fork River. Despite the heat, it was a glorious day to have this stunning overlook all to myself!

Back in Oak Ridge late this afternoon, I checked out new-to-me Atomic City Brewing. Odd little place, but with potential. I love their logo above, but they had zero merch that I saw. No indoor facilities and putt-putt golf was available, but, again, it's hotter than Hell's hinges today, so pass on that. I did have a pint of their very good and high ABV Tropical Fallout NEIPA while I was there.

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Tonight I went to see the new historically based crime thriller film, By Any Means, at the Oak Ridge Cinemark Theaters near my hotel. It was Tuesday Bargain Night, and the theaters were very nice and clean (yet in Lebanon we are stuck with the "rats nest"). The movie overall was pretty good.

9/16 - On my way back from a lunchroom visit a good distance west, I stopped at Tri-Dog Brewing Company in Harriman. This is another new-to-me craft brewery. I started with their very good black IPA called Baa Baa Black Sheep. I followed that with their so-so NEIPA called Lil' Bunny Foo-Foo that had a weird lingering aftertaste that I didn't enjoy. Still great to see another new brewery popping up in the region after Covid knocked several other ones out a few years back.

For lunch beforehand, I stopped at Father Tom's Pub in Cookeville where I had their awesome house salad with grilled salmon along with a couple of brews on my dime. I started with the excellent hazy pale ale called Gasoline Dreams from Monday Night Brewing (Atlanta and Nashville) and then a very nice Apple Pie Eliot Ness Amber Lager from Great Lakes Brewing (Cleveland) that's got me in the mood for fall for sure!

I finally had some great luck tonight while playing in a weekly poker tournament on ClubGG with my signature hand, pocket threes, turning quads and getting me paid off big as well.

Just a few hands later in the same tournament, the pocket threes hit again with a set that turned into a rivered full house and paying me off big-time again!

Those two big hands of pocket threes and some more pretty solid play on my part got me to the final table ultimately finishing in second. I had the tournament all but won when I lost a coin flip to my opponent who was down to under ten big blinds and from then on just could not gain the momentum back. Frustrating, but still my best finish on ClubGG so far vs. 81 other players with six knockouts and a whopping 1,200+% ROI!!

9/17 - After another morning fair, I drove down to Athens to spend the night for another early fair tomorrow morning. On the way to the hotel, I stopped by Bert's Hometown Grill and Pizzeria in Madisonville for lunch. Bert's is a long-time staple here, and my Philly cheesesteak and house-made chips were pretty good, but still not up to snuff to the Phillies I had in Kingsport recently. They are still the state reigning champs.

Look who's sneaking up the leader board in the Ante Up Patreon Poker Group on PokerStars thanks to three straight final tables in the last three games on there. Of course, it pretty much means nothing moneywise, but I still like the accomplishment.

9/18 - I had a lot of driving today as I had to go back to Lebanon after my morning fair in Athens to load up on supplies for next week, and then double back to Monterey again for a football tailgate fair tonight. But I had my old friends riding along with me: Will Patton reading James Lee Burke writing about Dave Robicheaux and Clete Purcell in the audiobook, Clete.

9/19 - My September monthly BeerBox.com order arrived today and it looks like a good batch (no sours, yay!!). Beforehand, I worked a little before a CU football game (OT!). After a little chilling in the fridge, I enjoyed the Xtra extra pale ale from Surly Brewing (Minneapolis) from the BeerBox order. I toasted our NSC team who keep on breaking records while racking up another home win (undefeated at Geodis this season) over Chicago that I enjoyed from the couch. This win also gave NSC the first earned spot in the playoffs this season.

9/20 - I drove back to Knoxville this afternoon for an early fair tomorrow morning. I had some extra time, so I went on past Knoxville to the small town of Pittman Center, TN, to check out the pretty Emert's Cove Covered Bridge right near the northeast end of The Smokies NP spanning the Middle Prong of the Little Pigeon River. Oddly, this bridge was actually built in 2000 in honor of a Revolutionary War settler here. But was there a covered bridge here before? Just not sure.

The post above reminded that I actually forgot to shout out the Sunshine Covered Bridge that I stumbled upon last week over in Townsend, TN, spanning the Little River. This one has a history of over 100 years but was saved and restored only back 2019.

9/21 - Knoxville for work,

9/22 - work travel and cat sitting

9/23 -

9/24 -

9/25 -

9/30 - LP at Brooklyn Bowl?

10/14 - Pet-sitting back in Mt. Juliet