Restock The Fridge

Between all the bowl games and NFL playoffs and beer tastings and holidays and such I'd pretty much drained my usually solid collection of different beers so we hopped in the ride and headed to Missouri on Saturday. Temperatures were near the single digits so it was a pretty sure bet all I was going to do was lay around the house all day anyway and watch football, so what the heck.

One of the places we go is just north of Springdale, Arkansas as soon as you cross the Missouri border called MacaDoodles. It's an excellent store with a lot of great beer we can't get and their prices are great. They're a chain and they're opening a new one in Fayetteville, AR but it won't have the same selection, so it's only another 30 minutes on up to this store and well worth it. Here's a bit of what I picked up:

* Founders Breakfast Stout
* Founders Curmudgeon Old Ale
* Founders Backwards Bastard
* Laughing Dog The Dogfather
* Laughing Dog Alpha Dog
* Laughing Dog Dogzilla
* Lagunitas Cappuchino Stout
* Hebrew Jewbelation Bar Mitzvah Anniversary Edition
* O'Fallon Cherry Chocolate
* New Holland Ichobod
* Anchor Christmas Ale
* Ridgeway Reindeers Revolt Pint
* Ridgeway Pickled Santa Pint

... and some more, but I can't remember it all. I did escape with under $100 spent, so that's pretty good for me.


After leaving that little slice of beer heaven, we headed back down through snow flurries to Fayetteville for lunch at Hog Haus Brewing on Dixon Street. The building it's in is pretty awesome and I remember it being Ozark Brewing Co. but this was my first time to it since it's been Hog Haus Brewing. Lots of great woodwork and a beautiful interior adds to the good food and great selection of beer that they brew themselves. I had a Black Lager and a Java Porter and was very pleased with both. I'm going to have to get back up there and have more of their brews when I'm not having to drive a couple hundred miles immediately after.

I got back to Little Rock in time to get out to the arena and see Middle Tennessee blast Arkansas-Little Rock 66-52. The Trojans actually led at halftime but made only 14 f'n field goals the entire game! They're now 4-12 overall and 0-5 in conference. It's going to be a long season for us season ticket holders, but I'll still be there.

So Saturday consisted of about 450 miles of driving, a huge beer haul, excellent lunch, a college hoops blowout and the old faithful hot dog, nachos and beer at the arena. Good day. I also didn't feel as bad about laying on the couch all day on my lazy butt yesterday and watching football.

Should be another beer run next month though as we've probably got a tasting this coming weekend or next.

The Waiting Game

Why do people insist on talking so loud on their cellphones? In my 2 hours of sitting in the airport I've heard several conversations (1 side only of course) of most of the people in my area. Some of these fools are yelling into their cellphones. Annoying.

Anyway, our plane escape the frozen tundra that is Houston, TX apparently and is almost here. We'll be in Vegas a couple of hours later than we were scheduled I guess. Big deal.

Does every single woman in the state of Arkansas own those stupid looking Uggs now?

There is some rodeo thing going down in Vegas this weekend, as well as some NASCAR awards or something, and there are cowboy hats and boots all over this joint. Awesome.

One dude is drunk by the way. 2 hours in a bar was too much for him I guess. Could be interesting.

Friday Indeed

Well I'm off to Las Vegas again in about an hour. I'm looking forward to several days of gambling, drinking and basically anything else I feel like doing. I've also got to where I almost love the traveling part as much as the destination with all my gadgets. I sit around the airport reading, jacking around on the laptop and people watching, then get on the plane and watch movies or listen to music and read a book and sometimes I'm just in no hurry to get somewhere. I've got about 6,600 songs now on my iPod plus lots of other goodies like videos and shows. For this trip I added the Christmas In South Park specials from iTunes, featuring 7 episodes of awesomeness.

* Mr. Hankey the Christmas Poo
* Merry Christmas Charlie Manson
* A Very Crappy Christmas
* Mr. Hankey's Christmas Classics
* Red Sleigh Down
* It's Christmas in Canada
* Woodland Critter Christmas

So I'm sitting here actually looking forward to that little mini-marathon and next thing you know I'll have a cold beer in hand and less money in my pocket.

We're meeting up with some folks for happy hour when we get checked in then I'm going to try to get in the opening of the new Cabo Wabo restaurant. The grand opening is tonight and Sammy Hagar and pals are playing. I'm guessing tickets will be tough but we'll give it a run. Tomorrow is of course Metallica and Machine Head and I'll be betting on some college football (Florida vs 'Bama!) and the UFC fights tomorrow night.

In between all that, there will be lot of blackjack, roulette, craps and great food and beer. A typical Vegas weekend I guess. Beats sittin' home.