Christmas to Memphis

Last weekend, I ventured up to Memphis. My cousin got a job and moved there this year. He's originally from Kentucky so this way, I actually get to see him a little more. Now, we usually go up to Kentucky every Christmas, but this year I am unable to go. My family is actually on there way right now as I type. Me, I had some duties at work to perform that just couldn't wait, and before anybody gets mad about that. Before anybody says that I need to get my priorities straight and all. Well, you're probably right, but there was some stuff that I needed to get done while everybody else was gone. I'm in the IT biz and sometimes you just gotta do things when nobody else is there to mess stuff up.

Anyway, where was I in my story. That's right, I went to Memphis instead this year. That way I could at least see my cousin and his wife. Friday, we went to an Indian restaurant to eat. Nothing says Christmas like Indian food let me tell you. We took the leftovers and made a scrambled egg su fle (spelling?) the next morning. It was delicious. Saturday, we went to a BBQ place right next to Christian Brothers University. It was highly recommended by my cousin's and Memphis is supposed to be the place to go for BBQ. The place was called Central Barbeque. I had the pulled pork sandwich (my favorite BBQ dish) and greens. The BBQ was pretty good. I also had a new beer. It was called Ghost River. I had their Glacial Pale Ale and the Black Magic. They were both delicious. I highly recommend them.

Next up, we went to BB King's BBQ and Blues. They've got some BB King beer there. It was alright, not quite as good as the Ghost River. We listened to some music for a while, but then we left to wonder Beale Street. Now, I've been to Beale St. twice now since turning 21. And maybe I'm not giving it a fair shake, but so far, unimpressed. Maybe it's because I'm trying to compare it to Bourbon, but still I expect a little more. There was nothing going on in any bar. There might have been 30 people walking around total down the whole stretch. The bars all had 10 or 12 people maybe in them. It was vacant. I guarantee you that there were more people out and about here in Little Rock at the River Market than there were on Beale Street. We ended up just giving up and going home to watch Batman Begins.

The next day we went to Jim and Nick's BBQ. I got some kind of smoked ham plate again with greens. It was tasty, but nothing special, except for the sweet cornbread was delicious.

All in all this is what I concluded in my venture:
Beale St 0 in 2
Memphis BBQ: Great, but I have had plenty of BBQ here in the Natural State that's' just as good.
Ghost River Beer, Delicious.

Oh, and I got to see snow. It dusted Friday night.

Oh yeah again. I saw Tron. It's awesome, amazing. I wish that I could enjoy 3D movies, because this would be the movie to see in 3D.

Big Dam Weekend

Reporting live from the RiverMarket...

So tonight I must get to bed early. There's a lot to do tomorrow, but I decided to venture out to the river to see what festivities might be taking place tonight. Under the rivermarket pavilions, they are having some kind of Power 92 Jams Skate Party. Everybody is out there with their old school skates showing off some skills. Very unexpected.

Yesterday, I officially turned my apartment into a microbrewery. I've had a Belgian Ale fermented and bottled for a few weeks now. It should be ready any day now, and I plan on cracking one open tomorrow after the race. A few weeks ago, I picked up some muscadine from my friend's dad. He has a small vineyard bigger than 4 or 5 people's gardens. Well, I finally got around to crushing them up. I had to hurry up and do it or else my roommate was going to eat all 30 pounds of them (They taste like candy). My roommate and I actually ended up crushing them by hand. We found that just getting down in there was easier than using a potato smasher or any other method we could think of. Then, for the next step. I had no idea what to do next. I added too much water, forgot about the sugar, had to take some water and a few muscadine out, then put the sugar in. The end result looks like something that would turn into wine, but we can only hope.

I decided that while I was at it, I might as well put another batch of beer in the fermenter, so I went through that whole process. I started all of this at 7 PM and it was 1 AM before I had everything cleaned up. So now I have 5 gallons of beer and wine fermenting and 4 gallons of beer bottled and ready to go When I woke up this morning, our entire apartment complex smelled like a brewery. It was delicious.

Well, I better go. My friend just arrived back at my apartment. We've got to get up early tomorrow for the Big Dam Bridge 100 miler. I'm mostly prepared for it. If you live anywhere around Little Rock, North Little Rock, Maumelle, Mayflower, Conway, or Hwy 89 lookout tomorrow because a lot of cyclist are coming your way.

Alright, I've gotta go fix a flat. I just found it as I was heading out the door to the River. I hit a bad pothole Wednesday on the River Trail. I'm pretty sure it's the one on the North Little Rock trail down close to Dickey Stevens Ballpark. When I hit it, I figured it was going to cause a flat. At least I found it tonight and not tomorrow on my ride.