What's happening in my world…
The Big Spring Jam is just around the corner. Huntsville, AL's downtown area is converted into a grand music festival with five stages distributed around downtown. It all starts September 23rd and runs through the weekend. This music festival is in its 13th year and is growing every year.
With five stages, the event attracts music for young and old alike. The performers include many national acts as well as local area bands.
As the festival nears, the brewers and entertainment have been finalized.
The organizers of the festival have indicated that 40 different beers will be available for tasting. The beer will be provided by the following brewers.
Anheuser-Busch Inc. (Cartersville Ga)
Widmer Brothers Brewing Company (Portland Or)
Redhook Ale Brewery (Woodinville Wa)
Abita Brewing Company (Abita Springs La)
Big River Grille & Brewing Works (Chattanooga Tn)
Blackstone Restaurant & Brewery (Nashville Tn)
Bosco's Nashville Brewing Company (Nashville Tn)
Boston Beer Company (Boston Ma)
Carolina Beer & Beverage Company (Mooresville Nc)
Dogwood Brewing Company (Atlanta Ga)
Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant (Atlanta Ga)
Moon River Brewing Company (Savannah Ga)
Ragtime Tavern, Seafood & Grill (Atlantic Beach Fl)
Red Oak Brewery (Greensboro Nc)
Rock Bottom Brewery Restaurant (Atlanta Ga)
Rocky River Brewing Company (Sevierville Tn)
Spoetzl Brewery (Shiner Tx)
Sweetwater Brewing Company (Atlanta Ga)
Terrapin Beer Company (Athens Ga)
Thomas Creek Brewery (Greenville Sc)
If memory servers me, I believe that Thomas Creek Brewery and Widmer Brothers Brewing Company are new this year. I am not sure about Ragtime Tavern which may have been present last year.
According to the festival site, The Rounders, The Lee Boys, The John Cowan Band, and BoDeans will performing at the festival.
The nice thing about this festival is that everything goes to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. There is nothing better supporting a cause by tasting some great beers.
I hit the iTunes to pickup some tunes for the weekend, because you have got to have some music to make any weekend great and especially a three weekend. I was in 70’s mood so I went straight to the Billboard Hot 100 for the 70's.
I pickup the following mix:
“Joy to the World” by Three Dog Night — Everyone will enjoy this classic tune.
“Love Is Like Oxygen” by Sweet
“Rikki Don't Lose That Number” by Steely Dan
“Long Cool Woman (In a Black Dress)” by The Hollies
“The Air That I Breathe” by The Hollies
“Hold Your Head Up” by Argent
“The Things We Do for Love” by 10cc
“Every 1's a Winner” by Hot Chocolate — This is Hot Chocolate's step into rock-n-roll.
“Hotel California” by the Eagles — This is the Eagles at there best.
Enjoy!
Karen and I have been laboring around the house like so many of our neighbors this weekend. There is nothing like a three day weekend to bring out the labor (or the to do list.)
Like any great three day weekend, you have to have some great eats! Karen and I picked up three slabs of baby back ribs. And, I am cooking them using one of Alton Brown's recipes for ribs from his “I'm Just Here for the Food”
The Huntsville Stars ends the home season on a win against the Chattanooga Lookouts! The game went by fast with no one scoring until the last two innings. Now, the two teams head back to Chattanooga for the last two game of the season. We have heard some of the Huntsville Star’s fans will be making the trip to see the games. It should a be great road trip with Chattanooga Lookout being situated in downtown Chattanooga near the Tennesse Aquarium and so much more.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
| Chattanooga | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 0 |
| Huntsville | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 1 |
Karen and I are catching the last home games for our local AA team. They will be closing the season out with a two game series against the Chattanooga Lookouts. The Stars have not been winning much this season, but they have improved greatly over the last few weeks. We enjoy the games a social event more than a sports events.
Given that today is Friday, we will be treated to fireworks! How much better could life be than fireworks, baseball, and cold draft beer?
If you want to be a true fan, you can hop on over to Amazon and pickup a Huntsville Stars Cap
I guess who could risk heckling by coming to the game in a Chattanooga Lookouts Cap
Update: The Huntsvilles Stars won 4 to 3 against the Chattanooga Lookouts.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Chattanooga 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 3 5 0 Huntsville 0 0 0 2 1 0 1 0 X 4 13 2
Karen and I finalized the hotel reservation at the Caribbean Beach. We had been holding out for the annual pass holder discounts which just came out. Our room will only cost $108/night that is saving us about 20%. We wanted to stay near Epcot. So, this should put us right near the action of the International Food and Wine Festival.
We have never stayed at the Caribbean Beach. We are looking forward to trying out the food at Shutter's at Old Port Royale
No trip would be complete without a guide book, I would suggust one like “The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World 2005
Only 10 days to go!
We want to take our bikes this year to the beer festival. Well, Karen's trailer hitch has arrived for her new car. It will be installed this weekend. Chattanooga is a beautiful area and riding our bikes will allow us to take in more of the city.
One place that I love to stop by is the Pickle Barrel. It is a cool shaped building and has great sandwiches and pickles, too. At night, they have bands. You can dine on the roof, but mid-day roof dining can be hot and muggy.
Karen and I booked our annual trip to the Epcot International Food and Wine Festival from October 29th through November 6th.
Karen and I truly in enjoy the International Food and Wine Festival. This year we are saving money by purchasing Premium Annual Pass that saddles two years. Purchasing our ticket this way will allow us to use one annual pass to go to two festivals and then we can skip a year. We will be able to purchase tickets every other year, but we will be able to go every year.
We will catch a night at the Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party which we think is great young and old alike. You get to trick-or-treat through the Magic Kingdom in your favorite costume if you like. It starts at 7:00 PM and goes to midnight. We will be doing this on October 30th.
Karen and I back from the last trip and setting our sights on the next which will be the Southern Brewers Festival.
It is schedules for September 10th, 2005.