Nashville Part Two

Crystal has been talking a about visiting her family in Nashville for two years now. Between week long trips to the beach every summer and my desire not to spend large portions of time with small children in cars, we had not made it out yet. This summer Crystal and her cousin made a plan and last week we set out to do it.

Friday morning we woke up and got out to the Adventure Science Center after breakfast. A science museum jam packed on every floor with kids activities. A giant representation of the digestive system, moon walks, mazes and at it's center, a tower that you can climb while learning new things on every floor. I think I had as much fun as the kids. Before dinner that evening we went out to Centennial Park and walked around the lake in the shadow of the Parthenon. Before we left for Nashville I got two recommendations. Visit the Grand Ole Opry and see the Parthenon. We missed out on the former sadly, but the latter was a pretty cool sight.

Saturday morning took both of our families out to Radnor Lake State Park for a hike. On the way into the parking lot we got to see a ranger with a hawk on his arm. Pretty cool way to start the nature walk. On the trail we saw 5-6 deer and listened in as the forest canopy played a tune for us when it started to rain. When the rain finally broke though we decided babies are not at their happiest when soaked. So we headed for lunch at Hattie B's Hot Chicken. Apparently hot chicken is a Nashville jam that has blown up in recent years. As far as I could tell it was just fried chicken with loads of heat, but that heat came with tons of flavor and juicy chicken. Where do I sign Richmond up for that?

Saturday evening we kissed the babes good night, said farewell and good luck to the baby sitter and took off to a concert. Modern Pop Six generation country is not my thing, but I can at behind some folk and/or bluegrass once in a while. Old Crow Medicine Show scratched that itch perfectly. We took two vans with drivers to a show in the woods with 8 other couples. Kid-less and without fear of a DUI we pregamed the hell out of the van and grassy parking lot. By the time we got into the show we were all floating on a sea of alcohol infused Caucasian dancing that I am pretty sure made the event 10 times cooler. We only had two bad cases of throwin' up in the van and in our household two nasty hangovers the next day.

Sunday morning sadly found me with one of  hangovers and I was all teed up to drive 10 hours home. We bid our host fond farewells, promised to visit soon and went for breakfast. Crystal surprised me with the best gift a girl could ask for. Letting me sleep for the first leg to Knoxville. When I woke up refreshed and more human I kicked into drive mode and hauled butt back to Richmond.

Beer Notes
I've been tracking ever beer I drink in 2013 for my end of the year Annual Report. On the trip I tried 13 new craft beers and did so while consuming 23 pints. We made almost daily trips to a shop called Craft Brewed that I wish we had here in Richmond and highly recommend for a sample of Tennessee's finest brews.

Nashville Part One

Crystal has been talking a about visiting her family in Nashville for two years now. Between week long trips to the beach every summer and my desire not to spend large portions of time with small children in cars, we had not made it out yet. This summer Crystal and her cousin made a plan and last week we set out to do it.

Tuesday morning we were all ready to haul the kids 9-ish hours West in one hell or high water road trip. Then we found out one of the young ones we were going to visit had a fever. We called an audible and decided to break the trip up into two days. The first leg of Tuesday we spent at Virginia Safari Park, a zoo off of 81 that was surprisingly awesome. We walked around and fed the animals, grabbed a bite to eat and then drove our car through a path that brought us face to face with all kinds of beast. At one point we were pinned in on three sides by zebras, a lama spit on my window and we found out Crystal is legit afraid of ostriches. It was a fantastic time.

We picked up from the park and legged it down to Grandfather Mountain in Linville, NC. At the top we stepped out to a chilly 61° F afternoon. It was great for a short hike across a one mile high hanging bridge and over the top to an amazing view. After the mountain we found a hotel, beer and grabbed a bite to eat by the pool.

Wednesday morning we got up to find out the fever had broken.We had complementary breakfast at the hotel and got out on the road toward Knoxville. At noon we pulled into the city center and had lunch in the Knoxville Market Square. A great spot to relax, get a bite and take a quick stroll through a sculpture garden. Back at the car we only had three hours left to Nashville. When we pulled into the music city we got warm greetings from our family and spent time catching up.

After putting the young ones to bed, the adults went out for a night on the town. We started by celebrating our host birthday at Lockeland Table in East Nashville. It was great and very similar to the Blue Goat in Richmond. Post dinner we went to Broadway and jumped around to a few honky-tonks. I provide the wiki link because I honest had no idea what they were before we saw them. It was a blast.

Thursday we woke up and helped Crystal's cousin and her husband get out the door to work before taking Kaden and his cousin out to Riverfront Landing. A park right next to where the Titans play. It over looks the river and has a water play area and climbing walls for the kids. The boys played for hours while Crystal and I lounged in the shade with Ward. Later that evening we had an early dinner in and later on tried to teach our host how to play Pandemic after too many beers and wine.

Weekend Review: Apr 27th & 28th

Every weekend there are new sights, sounds, and taste to consume. There are other sensory inputs that tickle my brain too, but saying there is stuff to feel sounds creepy. This is a weekly journal of my weekend endeavors. Enjoy!

Hardywood Twilight 4 Miler
Post 10k I have been lazy piece, not exercising, not stretching and subsisting on a diet of beer and sweet sweet pastries. As a preventative measure I signed myself up for a trillion events this Spring and Summer. The first of which was a 4 mile run out from Hardywood and back by way of the Fan. It was a fun run so the pressure to finish quick was only in my head and the reward afterwards was beer. Specifically the Twilight Weiss, brewed for the event. The whole thing was a blast, it seemed like all of Richmond was there, well except for the angry Richmonders on Broad St. That mess was blocked for an hour plus for the run.

Fort Harrison Loop
In preparation for my next event (Cap 2 Cap), I needed and still need cycling miles on my legs. Sunday morning Mike and I met at my place and spun our way out to Rocketts Landing to meet Whitt. From there we made our way East to Fort Harrison, where we turned around and crossed the river to Whitt's place for bottle fills and a cold beer (best idea ever). We departed Casa Clements and crossed the river again to head home. Less than a mile from my house, Mike and I were singing our victory hymnal when he hit a painted line that was not a painted line, but a 6 inch tall concrete strip. I watched as he tumbled in slow motion. His body fighting gravity at every turn and ultimately losing. It looked painfully, but hope the worst of it was scrapes and bruises. We limped our way back to my place for scones, beer and band-aids. Not a great way to end a good ride, but them's the breaks.

Problem & IamSu!

Mixtapes are the best. They are free, come out more frequently than full studio releases and are great exposure for new artist. For the past three weeks I've been listening to Problem and IamSu's Million Dollar Afro. It super heavy on the bass and features Juvenile of all people. Pretty dope all around and no barrier to entry. Give it a try.

Devils Backbone Mountain Cross

Saturday morning I saddled up early in Richmond and drove 90 minutes out to Nelson County, VA. The Devils Backbone event that I attended came in two flavors. 27 miles of brutal climbing or 65 miles of brutal climbing. For my first cyclo-cross event and first trip to the mountains I decided to go with half brutality. You know, ease into it a bit.

The course was a mix of pavement (17 miles), gravel (10 miles) and not a whole lot of actual cross. It was one big loop, there was no reason to dismount (I lost a bottle on a really bumpy downhill) and it wasn't an actual race as far as I could tell. What it ended up being was a lot of fun though. I road my normal setup, which usually feels out of place, but was perfect for this course. The hills mountains were ultra tough. Two 17%-20% grade climbs and a category 1 climb that was just shy of 6 miles of up. I ended up having to walk twice and wished for lower gear options both times, but the 28s (tires) were great for everything.

Afterward we (there were 8 of us) had a late lunch and beers at Devils Backbone. A well deserved meal and plenty of laughter and chatter. The tired drive home was not as pleasant, but a nap when I got there set the world right. If you asked me 4 miles in to the cat 1 climb if I would do it again next year I would have grunted and spit at you, but two days removed and I would sign up in a heart beat!

Weekend Review: Mar 2nd & 3rd

Every weekend there are new sights, sounds, and taste to consume. There are other sensory inputs that tickle my brain too, but saying there is stuff to feel sounds creepy. This is a weekly journal of my weekend endeavors. Enjoy!

Onitsuka Tiger Mexico 66
I know I am getting old. My kids have slowed me down by making me hell of busy and my hair is escaping from the top of my head at an alarming rate. When my two year old Asics gave up the ghost a month ago, I decided the best move was to just get the same exact shoe again. Cause I'm old. I couldn't find them anywhere online, granted I did not look very hard. So I had to pick out something new. Hence the kicks linked above. I dig them hard.

Bourbon Sidamo
Saturday was the celebration of Mike's birthday and of the release of Hardywood's bourbon barrel Sidamo coffee stout. Mike was kind enough to host the events in the same venue. We raised our glasses to the man of the hour, drank our fill of craft beer and munched on food truck treats.Where the regular coffee stout has a strong, but not over powering coffee flavor, the bourbon aged one makes room to mix coffee and bourbon. It is well matched blend that tasted delicious at 10.3 ABV.

Mailbox
Admittedly, when Ethan told me about a new mail app for iOS I turned up my nose. The Gmail app Google put out a while ago is pretty great. Clean and a more applicable interface than the built in "Mail" app from Apple. Mailbox also came with a cheap marketing trick in the form of a waiting list to use it. You can download the application, but it will throw you in a queue. I had 300,000 people in front of me. I buried the app on the back page of my phone, checked it once or twice and forgot about it.

A text from Ethan two weeks later let me know he got in. Which meant my time in the queue would be short lived. When I did get in I decided it was worth trying out. Turns out it solves a problem I hardly knew I had. I use my inbox first as a way to communicate and second as a make shift to do list. Always starring emails I need to take action on and leaving them in my inbox until I do. It means I sit at around 10-15 emails usually. Inbox zero is a rarity, only showing it's face once or twice a year when the stars align. Mailbox has changed that. I can send away to-do emails, to only return at a time of my choosing. I have been at inbox zero for a week and it is like a pressure lifted off my shoulders.

Weekend Review: Feb 2nd & 3rd

Every weekend there are new sights, sounds, and taste to consume. There are other sensory inputs that tickle my brain too, but saying there is stuff to feel sounds creepy. This is a weekly journal of my weekend endeavors. Enjoy!

White Chicken Chili
I had no real rooting interest in the Super Bowl yesterday. Apart from rooting that Ray Lewis not win another in the year he plans to retire and also that the 49ers not win six and tie the Steelers. Either way I lost, but I decided to dull that phantom pain with chili. It is a recipe that I have made at least ten times, it is Slow Carb friendly (see the link above) and taste good. The prep time to break down a whole rotisserie chicken is the only aversion I have to not make it more often. Sundays are for lounging about and cooking long/slow meals though. The chili was great and the game turned out to be not so bad either.

Hardywood Craft Brewery
Saturday night my brother and I went down to Hardywood to see my friend Mike and his band (RPG) play at their record release party. It was a kick ass show and a great venue for it. RPG killed it after debuting their new music video. Being there for the show reminded me just how far Hardywood has come in only a  year. They seem to keep making great business decisions while standing on the back of some of the best beer I have ever tasted.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
In third grade I owned all four ninja turtles, a slew of bad guys and my prize possession was the party van. Two decades later, my three year old ranks TMNT right behind Adventure Time in his favorites shows to watch. Thursday night he completed a long standing agreement that if he learned to write and sound out the alphabet unassisted he could pick out any big toy he wanted. He went with the shellraiser, a turtle van that puts my party van to shame. We spent an hour before bed Friday night assembling it and then having the door bust open for the turtles spill out to stomp the foot clan. It was great!

Weekend Review: Nov 24th & 25th

Every weekend there are new sights, sounds, and taste to consume. There are other sensory inputs that tickle my brain too, but saying there is stuff to feel sounds creepy. This is a weekly journal of my weekend endeavors. Enjoy!

Cthulhu
Chuck's birthday game night is becoming a bit of a tradition now that we have rolled dice for two years running. This year he picked Cthulhu in a modern setting. Two drug enforcement task force agents (Wayne and I) set against a synthetic drug slowly eating away at Chicago. There was only three of us at the table, but we had guest NPCs throughout the night. Two on an iPad in the center of the table via FaceTime and another answering questions as an informant via text message. It was a really fun way to get folks who could not attend in person involved. The game ended with the end of the world, as any good Cthulhu game should, but the real take away was more remote players at the table is a good thing.

Sweet Tooth
A recent lunch time conversation brought me to the conclusion that I value good writing and story over art. Art might get me in the door, but it soon becomes secondary to a good yarn. In the case of Sweet Tooth, I had heard the swell of praise from the internet, but had been put off by the art. Long weekends tend to exhaust media stock piles though. So Sunday I picked it up and devoured volume one and two. The story is fantastic, building interesting characters right out the gate and growing them at a quick pace. The setting and premise help to. A deadly virus has left the world in shambles and all children born post virus are animal hybrids (read: mutants). It is solid stuff.

Gingerbread Stout
What beer is worth waiting in line for on a chilly Wednesday afternoon? Hardywood Park's Gingerbread Stout. The right mix of locally grown ingredients and know how produce not just the finest beer in Richmond for my money, but also a bronze at the 2012 World Beer Cup. It is a sweet beer, but more of subtle taste of honey and ginger than the saccharin finish I hate about some sweet beers. I picked up a four pack of twenty twos Wednesday after 30 minute wait in line and they are gone already.

Micro Miners
I need more games like Kirby: Canvas Curse in my life. Not that Micro Miners provides that exact style of game play, but it sure does scratch a similar itch. The mechanic is simple. Drawing with your finger (or stylus) on a screen to manipulate an environment. Micro Miners presents lemmings style creatures in a vertically scrolling mine. You draw their path and they follow devouring any deposit of gold, silver or coal they come across. It is a simple concept, but gets difficult quickly as new miners are introduced and you are multitasking your way through the earth.