Austin, TX

It’s not often that I get to new places. When I’m on the NFL circuit, it’s usually the same places and the same hotels and there’s something nice about that familiarity however…every now & then…it’s nice to go someplace new. And this past weekend I was lucky enough to get to visit the current music hotbed of our country, Austin, TX. Having heard so much about this small capitol city (population 821,000 or so), I figured it would be a fun yet unassuming place. Well…I was right about the first thing…but the second? Well…

Day 1 in Austin was all work and no play. I was there to prepare for a basketball showdown between the Kansas Jayhawks and the Longhorns. The University of Texas is located here, with an enrollment of somewhere near 50,000 students. Apparently the weekend of this game was also the weekend that the students were to return to begin their classes after the holiday break. It is safe to say maybe THAT had something to do with the traffic that clogged I-35 pretty much the entire weekend? I dunno. Either way, traffic and the amount of people kept me from doing anything Friday night and my small group of friends and I ended up eating at Macaroni Grill for dinner. This, in turn, was not what I had planned when I had heard that I was coming to Austin!

The night after, following the game (Kansas won but the Longhorns had given them all they could handle!), my friends and I went out looking for some fun. For dinner, we ate at Evangeline Cafe, a small little cajun joint located outside of the city. I had the jambalaya and some fried pickles and someone ordered some fried gator bites. I had never tried gator. Needless to say, it tastes a lot like chicken after it’s been fried!

After chowing down, we headed into downtown to the Continental Club. Downstairs there were gonna be 3 bands performing that night, upstairs had Jimmie Vaughn, brother of Stevie Ray Vaughn. Considering the line that was waiting outside for Vaughn, we figured the downstairs jam was the way to go and paid our cover to see the Soulphonics, a band that touts themselves as “The Band That Time Forgot.” With a mix of classic 60′s garage rock and a little bit of soul, they cranked out about 10 songs before I had finished my first beer! Needless to say, the band earned their money despite the fact that I was already getting tired and needed to get moving (a 7am crewcall will do that to you).

From there we headed down to 6th Street and let me tell you…when it comes to partying? THIS is the place to be. With bars galore, bands in every crevice and people flooding the streets like Bourbon Street during Mardi Gras, Austin comes alive in this little area and the only comparison I can make is the famous New Orleans French Quarter…only cleaner! My friends and I picked a random place to have a drink and we weren’t disappointed. The Blind Pig Pub featured Ben Cina and his band jamming on the rooftop and I can say that I was probably one of the oldest people in the bar (except for my 3 friends who are MUCH older than me). Despite that, we had fun listening to the band, watching people play a much larger form of Jenga and just milling around the bar. Cina is a rising talent and I hope to hear something by him on the radio someday. For now, you should go check out his single, “Cold.” It’s a damn good tune and he rocked the house that night!

As you can probably imagine, I didn’t get the full effect of Austin simply because I was only there for a couple nights. What I CAN tell you is that I hope to get back there someday and the next time I hope I get more than just a night to explore. I have a feeling this little town has a LOT to offer and is probably one of those places where you are up til 6am and don’t even realize it until you find yourself sleeping in a booth at some 24 hour diner and the waitress is trying to get you to pay the bill but you’re so sleepy you can’t get up and…well…you know the drill.

Dublin, Ireland

Help Mom! I’m in Gaol! Or Jail. Whichever…

If I’m gonna work a college football game, why not make it one that’s happening in another country? Football in Ireland is soccer…but for one day, the Irish welcome home their American namesake college (Notre Dame) to play Navy in OUR version of football in the Emerald Isle Classic! I was offered the gig back in March and I’ve been looking forward to this week for months. Now that it’s here, I’m taking advantage of it! I arrived on Tuesday morning (my day off to get acclimated to the time difference), went to the hotel, took a quick shower and was off! I hopped on the DART system, went up to Pearse Street, wandered around Trinity College for a bit and hung out in a few of the parks in central Dublin. Then I bought a ticket on a Hop On, Hop Off bus and visited Dublin Castle, Temple Bar, St. Patrick’s Cathedral and Kilmainham Gaol. I then slept a bit on the bus, missing the Guinness Storehouse (which might have been a good thing) but hit a few stores on O’Connell Street before meeting friends for dinner and drinks (MORE Guinness PLEASE!).

Here are a few photos of my week…

Dublin Castle

St. Patrick’s Cathedral





Kilmainham Gaol



Having a pint in Temple Bar



This stuff is VERY popular!

So is this band!

NOT as popular…

My office for the week

Stonehenge

While working in London, I had the opportunity to travel to a little spot where druids danced and sacrificed fair maidens in exchange for gold from aliens. Oooooor something like that. Whatever went down at Stonehenge in 2400 BC (approx), it had to have had SOME meaning because this unusual wonder is in the middle of nowhere. Literally. Nowehere. Located about 2 miles outside Amesbury, it sits in the middle of a giant field littered with goats and crops and you have to wonder how man (or woman, I won’t discriminate) managed to haul these 45 ton stones out to the middle of nowhere? It IS a mystery and it was fascinating to see in person. Here are some photos of my visit. I traveled with a friend on our wrestling crew and we met a new friend (who happened to be an airline stewardess) on the bus ride out to the site. I’d like to thank Kris and JC for making this trip a lot of fun on this beautiful, August day in England!

Shooting the “Heel”

Kris took a bite of Stonehenge

Yes it did!!!

Welcome To London (Olympics 2012)

I've been to London before, but this time will be even more special for me as I get the opportunity to work the 2012 Olympic games. I am one of 3 graphic ops stationed at the ExCeL Center on the east side of London working the wrestling events for the OBS. Obviously you can’t come to London without seeing some sights, so here are some highlights from this week’s trip! Pip pip, cheerio!

Olympic Village!

An Olympian is interviewed (but I dunno who she is…)

A view of Big Ben from The Eye

I ain’t no Superman!!!

Taking A Bite Of The Big Apple

Under the bright lights of the big city!

This year’s annual “We’re Over The Hill So Let’s Get Outta Dodge” reunion tour took us to New York City! Much like Seattle last year, there was plenty of food eaten (Little Italy will never be the same), lots of drinks…uh…drunken (Chaya can attest to THIS one) and many sites seen. Unlike last year, we couldn’t just up & walk wherever we wanted to go so we spent lots of time hailing cabs, riding in cabs and attempting to underpay cabbies (c’mon Tom…$1? Really?). Needless to say, we had a great time and I’m pretty sure Tom got a pretty good overview of what New York is all about (the man had NEVER been to NYC??? For shame!). Some of the stops this year included Yankees Stadium, MoMA, Broadway, Times Square, the 9/11 Memorial and Central Park. All of that in a little under 4 days? Absolutely!

Tom pondering the unique vision of the 9/11 Memorial

The famous Carnegie Deli! With sandwiches the size of …well…JT’s head!

Oh…and the cheesecake is kinda big also!

Tom was impressed with the size of Central Park

Chaya LOVED the cab rides!

The Statue of Liber…wait…DAMMIT JT’S HEAD!!!

“Alright! Knock it off!!!”

Okay! Okay! So his head couldn’t block EVERYTHING… 

“A Starry Night” at MoMA

“What? You don’t SEE the soccer player in that?”

JT was a “little” bit tired after viewing all of the beautiful 70′s art deco flower vases at MoMA

One is a Reds fan, the other’s a Yankees fan. Guess who won?

Yankees Stadium

New York has REALLY big buildings!

THE place for great food in Little Italy! Seriously…we ate there TWICE!

Men…and Woman…In Black

Chillaxin’ in Times Square

A New York Bloody Mary

The NY bartenders were NOT as amused with us as Sinead was in Seattle…

“Uh…guys? Can I borrow a $1?”

Spiderman: Turns On The Broadway Lights!

Before I get into this review, I have to admit a few things. Firstly, I am NOT a theater critic. Oh sure, I’ve seen my fill of musicals and performances ranging from “Cats” to “Wicked” to even seeing “Billy Elliott” when I was in London a few years ago (and it put me to sleep) but I would never consider myself a qualified critic.

Secondly, I am a huge fan of U2 AND comic books…so this show is a win-win for me. So, knowing now what you know, you can take this review with a grain of salt. So here it is…

For MY money, “Spiderman: Turn Off The Dark” is as entertaining a show on Broadway as any of the others for all of the reasons I stated above. It’s a show about a superhero…with a soundtrack by an awesome alternative rock band (that just came off one of the greatest money-making tours EVER) …and it’s a LOT like watching a science fiction, special effects laden movie (a la “Dick Tracy” mixed with “Spiderman”… oddly enough). There are MANY critics who have railed against this show, calling it non-Broadway like. Saying it’s incoherent and loud and obnoxious. They say it’s not up to par but I disagree. This is very MUCH what Broadway is now about. There are all kinds of shows near Times Square that serve a purpose. Some are serious drama, some are comedies (I saw “Spamalot” there a couple years ago and it was hysterical!), there are musicals and hipster art and on and on. So why not a musical about a superhero that is set in New York? It seems appropriate enough and, for me, it works! It’s funny and dramatic and I liked the soundtrack (didn’t love it though). I thought the art direction was awesome and the actors and actresses were great. All in all, I had a great time! And really, sometimes thats all I need when spending $100 to see a show in NYC. I just wanted to have a good time and Spiderman is definitely that!

If you have kids or just want to go and have a good time, consider “Spiderman: Turn Off The Dark.” And don’t listen to the critics. Just go watch, relax and be ready to duck! ‘Cause Spidey and the Green Goblin do some flybys! And THAT is pretty cool!

I didn’t take it but I WAS this close!

My seats were stage left, FRONT ROW?!?! Talk about being close!

New York Photos (Not Taken By Me)

“Starry Night” featured at MoMA

Having been to The Big Apple several times and written about it several times, I’m kinda waiting for my NEXT visit (in a few weeks with my high school buddies that traveled to Seattle with me last year!) to bust out another “NYC is awesome!” blog. But on this trip, I’ve run across some cool pictures NOT taken by me of this great city that I thought I would share. A majority of them came from NYC Department of Records that has recently posted a gazillion photos of old time NY. These are amazing photos and, unfortunately, everyone loves them so much that it crashed their server and now they are trying to get another one to handle the traffic.

Aaaanyhoo…here are some of the pictures that are simply amazing! There is so much history here and these pictures tell a story. In some cases, they’re not happy stories but they are stories that need to be told nevertheless…

A Quick Florida Vacation

The best part about spring break is my kids get to recharge their batteries and enjoy a little downtime from homework and school. The bad part? Spring break falls on a week during a little event called The Masters. This, in turn, is an issue because I make some pretty good bank working in Augusta, so for me to NOT work it would mean a pretty hefty financial loss. This year though, I was able to get to go on vacation for a couple days and enjoy some quality time with my family AND several of our friends and their kids! Needless to say, if you have kids and are looking for a good place to hang your hat for a few days, the Edgewater Condos in Miramar Beach ain’t a bad place to go. I only got to go for a couple days but managed to see the Kentucky Wildcats win the NCAA National Championship (which made my fellow Kentuckians very happy. I was rooting for the Buckeyes but Kansas knocked them off in the semifinal), got a case of sunburned feet AND enjoyed searching for seashells with Ava. All in all, it was 48 hours worth the trip. I set my phone/camera down (for the most part) so I could relax however I did take a couple pics and my friends sent me a couple from a luau they had later in the week that I was unable to attend that I HAD to share! Enjoy!

Boston, MA

Or…as they say it here…Baaaaahston. I have only been here a few times and this week, with the East Regional being played at the famed (and somewhat bland) Boston Garden, I had a chance to wander around with my co-worker and get a good tour of this historical city. If you are one to wander, like myself, you can follow the Freedom Trail, which is a red line that takes you to many historical sites. I look at this as nice way to keep everyone in line so that the locals don’t have to repeatedly point tourists in the direction of Paul Revere’s house.

As you can imagine, with Boston being one of our country’s oldest cities (it was founded in 1630), there is a unique combination of old and new. The downtown area has plenty of historical sites (the first schoolhouse in the country, the first courthouse in the country, the first tea party in the country, etc.)  mixed with many new places to visit, most which are brewpubs and Dunkin Donuts.

The top of The Old State House…site of the Boston Massacre. Aaaaand some big buildings.

If you like to eat, Boston is a great place to visit for the seafood. So much great crustacean & fish  here with crab shacks and high end restaurants that serve some delicious chowdah!, lobster & crab. One night, Erin and I wandered into The Barking Crab. We had some delicious crabcakes and Rockefeller oysters. Delicious!

Another great thing about Boston? Beer. Now I’m not a beer expert however, when you have a burial ground in the middle of downtown that has one of the most famous malsters ever? Then you KNOW the city is big on its beer! Of course, Sam Adams did other stuff also…but this ain’t a history lesson so…have a pint and go to Wikipedia for yourself!

Here lies dear old Sam...

We toasted in his honor.

If you like to walk (and you WILL need to walk after drinking all that beer), you can hike it around the Harborwalk. There you can get some pretty views of the Financial District and go for a quick swim in the Boston Harbor. The Harbor is where they had a famous tea party in 1773. Apparently the colonist decided they wanted more beer…NOT more tea so they chucked a bunch of tea bags it into the water there. That may…or may not be what happened. You can read about it here. And as far as the “swimming” in the Harbor? Just kidding about that. They frown on midnight skinny dipping here…(or so I hear)

Another fun thing to do in Boston? See dead people. This city has 3 hugely popular cemeteries (and I’m sure there are plenty more but we WERE following the red line here people…) that are the home for a lot of possible zombies. There are haunted tours and some of the headstones look to be hundreds of years old and the trees, with their withered branches, only add to the ambiance. Now…if only we coulda found Paul Revere’s headstone. Maybe I should have asked a local…

The Green Dragon Bar. Where MANY dead guys drank back in the day…

To sum up Boston…there’s plenty to do, lots to see, lots to eat and lots to drink. If you’re ever looking to get a good look at our country’s history but also want the comforts of our modern world, Boston is definitely worth the trip! Oh yeah…and go get a Boston Creme Pie at the place where it was originally made in 1856. “The Last Hurrah” at the Omni Parker Hotel is said to be that place. I have to say…it was okay but could have been a little creamier. But that’s just MY opinion…

My head is ALMOST as big as the jumbotron in the TD (Boston) Garden!!!

Daytona Beach & Golf World Village

This week I’m in St. Augustine, FL (or close to it) and I’m working at PGA Entertainment headquarters, which is nestled in the friendly confines of the World Golf Village and conveniently located somewhere between Jacksonville and St. Augustine. Since it’s in a place pretty much all to itself (very little to do, few restaurants, a grocery store, 2 gas stations), I’ve titled this area “Nowhere, FL.” I imagine this is similar to what Bristol, CT was like before ESPN moved there. Well…apparently they built this Golf World here thinking it might help the area to grow. So far, I don’t think that is happenin’. Anyway…I’ve been sick as a dog all week and I can’t recall EVER being sick like this on the road. Now I know I’ve had my back problems to deal with and that’s no fun & games either, but last night after work I went to get in my car and had these uncontrollable cold shakes that really freaked me out and then I went to lay down in my hotel room but couldn’t because it caused me to cough uncontrollably. So…I slept sitting on the little couch they have in my room and managed to get a few hours rest but it hasn’t been fun, that’s for sure.

All My Meds and Cold Stuff…

Aaaanyway…before I was stricken with the Sars, I managed to squeeze a quick trip to Daytona Beach to see my folks and have a delicious all-you-can-eat rib lunch with them at Sonny’s BBQ. It’s some good eatins over there at Sonny’s, so if you ever get a little hungry, I recommend it. Here are some photos of this week’s lovely trip to Nowhere, FL…

The Golf Hall Of Fame

The Caddy Shack

Where I Be Workin’ At

Steve & Chris Get Ready To Listen To Me Cough Some More…

South Bend, IN

Recently I had the chance to work in South Bend, IN. I really wasn’t expecting there to be much to do however I was pleasantly surprised that there is a lot of local flavor and plenty of photo-worthy places to see, especially on the campus where there were so many famous places to visit which included the Basilica of the Sacred Heart and the Grotto. Here are a few photos of my visit…

The Grotto

The Place Where “Rudy” Was Filmed (at sunset)

For dinner, I HIGHLY recommend J.W. Chen’s. For our visit, the owner, Jean, came over to our table and helped us pick our meals. She recommended some great selections and we picked 4 dishes and a couple of appetizers. For MY money, the spicy fish and the almond shrimp were awesome! But I can also recommend the spinach pork and the won ton soup! Excellent food and my co-workers and I were quite content with the entire meal…

Sari & Jean got along wonderfully!

If you’re not in the mood for asian cuisine, there is also Polito’s Pizzeria Restaurant. But I have to warn you…go there with an empty stomach because the portions are OUT OF CONTROL! Get a dish with the vodka sauce (which is unbelievable) and try the homemade salad dressing. The service there was also very good and our waitress was funny and easy to chat with. I can honestly say I probably gained 10 pounds on my 2 day trip to South Bend but it was deliciously worth it! Thanks to Sari & Phil for allowing me to join them on their “foody” dining experiences…

It may not LOOK it…but DAMN it’s good!!!

Talking Seattle…Again…

Puget Sound

Oh…I know. I’ve written about Seattle time and time again (specifically here, here and here). But there IS something about this city that just does it for me. Don’t know if it’s the cooler but not freezing temperatures. Maybe I just like rain? Is it that everytime I come here I have a good time just walking around the city, finding fun shops and visiting some of the tourist traps that don’t really FEEL like tourist traps? Is it because I have friends in Seattle who welcome me everytime I visit? I don’t know. All I know is I love coming here and maybe if I lived here I would get tired of the rain and the traffic (which is kind of bad right now with viaduct construction) and the…well…I imagine there are other things I COULD get tired of but whatever. My point is…as a infrequent visitor (although I’ve been here 3 times this year. Once for a U2 concert, twice for NFL games.), I totally love coming to the Emerald City and I can’t wait until the next time I get to come back! Here are some photos of this week’s visit. As always, thanks Seattle for another great trip!

CenturyLink Field (aka The Clink) formerly Qwest Field

The Needle From Olympic Sculpture Park

“Father and Son” and the Sound

Hammering Man artwork on a cloudy day

Christmas In Seattle

Fish For Sale!

Leipers Fork, TN

If you are ever driving around in Nashville, TN and you’ve grown tired of Broadway and hanging out in the city, you could take a short drive to Leipers Fork. Located about 20 minutes from downtown and nestled in the middle of nowhere, Leipers Fork is the home of the famous Puckett’s Grocery. From what I could tell (and it was pretty dark when we arrived on a cool November Saturday night), the town is a little under a mile long and has a few places to eat, an antique store, an art gallery and a few other small businesses. It’s not a very large area but that’s probably the appeal for the rich & famous who litter the countryside here in the Nashville area.

For my trip, I went with a few work friends and ate appetizers at Puckett’s while watching a jazz band called “Storm Kings.” Then we slid over to the “Country Boy Restaurant” where we enjoyed some fried green tomatoes and the Elvis Pie, which is peanut butter with bananas deep fried and served with ice cream. Aaaaand that was my calorie intake for the week. Needless to say, Leipers Fork is a quaint little town and it’s not easy to find, but if you ever get the opportunity, you should drop by and take a few hours to hang around. You never know who you might see there…

This is about it…

Storm Kings at Puckett’s

Puckett’s

The Country Boy Restaurant

The Elvis Pie. Trust me…it’s good! And so healthy! (or not)

The OBX 2011 Summer Vacation Trip

North Carolina is such a beautiful place. Lots of beaches. Nice restaurants. Putt putt courses. More beaches. There’s not a lot to NOT like about the place so when a relative owns a home in Kill Devil Hills and offers up the keys for 5 days, ya GOTTA take it. So off we went with our bathing suits in hand and lots of sunscreen and we had a wonderful time. We laid in the sun, took a few naps, collected seashells, played a couple rounds of putt putt, went souvenir shopping. All the things people do when vacationing. The kids had a blast, Steph and I feel rested and now we are moving on with our summer (I’m working 27 of the next 31 days. Good times…). Here are some photo moments of our trip!

Barkley LOVED the ocean!

Ava, Uncle Wayne & Katie buried Christopher like the treasure he is…

2 Pretty ladies

Patrick & Katie came to visit!

Christopher got a hole-in-one at one of the putt putt courses!

A Little Mermaid

The Bodie Island Lighthouse

A Family Photo Moment

Thanks to Uncle Wayne and Aunt Anita for letting us vacation at their beach house and hopefully we can visit again someday soon!

Camden Yards & Tropicana Field

This year I was lucky enough to get to do an American League road trip with the Reds to 2 cities that I have been to often but have never seen their ballparks. With the N.L. playing the A.L. for only a few series a year, there are only so many places that I can get to every year and last year I worked games at Seattle & Oakland. This year, it was Baltimore & Tampa/St. Petersburg. Both stadiums have their own ambiance with Camden having a more traditional feel and Tropicana felt more modern. Here are a few pics of both stadiums. In my opinion, Camden isn’t as nice as AT&T Park in San Francisco or Safeco Field in Seattle, but it holds up as one of the best in Major League Baseball. Tropicana on the other hand? Well…it’s okay. It’s hard for domed stadiums because they feel so canned. But for being a domed stadium, I think it gets a bad rap. It has a museum, plenty of places to eat, a sting ray tank where you can pet the rays AND a carnival themed lower level. Can’t say they aren’t trying to make it an experience!

CAMDEN YARDS

TROPICANA FIELD

The Ray Tank in the outfield is kinda cool!