Nashville, Day 2

We woke up to the disappointing news that the trolley tours were still canceled. But at least the temperature is up into the twenties which is pretty much what I would call tanning whether right about now. I did 30 minutes in the gym and then got breakfast in the downstairs lobby. The breakfast spread is pretty impressive with seasoned scrambled eggs, sausage links, waffles, breakfast potatoes, vanilla yogurt, berry compote, varieties of fruit, breads cereals, and pastries. I guess if anything the orange juice could have been better but then again, I'm used to being disappointed by orange juice, kind of like I am women.

But anyway, that aside, we went to the African American music museum, and for $25, I was really impressed. It had separate halls for jazz, blues, R and B, gospel, and hip hop. And it was so interactive, there were multiple places to create your own hip hop groove, sing with a local choir, participate in a battle rap, produce a track. But one of the best things was going by different eras and being able to take songs and add them to an online playlist which was saved on a provided wristband. And then all those songs are getting emailed to me. So it's an amazing way to find new music and learn how one artist influenced another artist. We spent 2 hours there and I could have easily spent a 3rd discovering more music.

Getting hungry after 2 hours in the museum, we headed literally to the upstairs of the same building to Assembly food hall. I've always been a fan of food halls, at least the ones that are of good quality. And this is one of the best I've ever been to. We went to Prince's, which is the original Nashville hot fried chicken. 4 medium tenders and they were perfect for me but a little too hot for mom. Thank goodness for the white bread, pickles, blue cheese, and honey mustard. We even had a little bit of sushi afterwards, not my usual thing, but after all the barbecue and fried chicken I've had, I needed a come down. And they have a free refill coke station in the hall, although after my second cherry Coke, I was ready for a gallon of water. I still don't know why they didn't have any iced tea or lemonade at those stations. Excellent variety of food, clean floors, places to plug in your phone, a good amount of space to walk around, multiple TVs. What a cool addition to downtown Nashville.

One of my favorite things about downtown Nashville is how close so many things are together. The museum was downstairs from the food hall, which is right across the street from the Ryman Auditorium which is right behind the beginning of Honky Tonk highway, which is loaded with all kinds of great live music venues.

There's also a lot of premium shopping at the site too. I went into an Ariat store and I actually bought a pair of boots. They're the most I've ever spent on shoes. But they're low cut with the look of a dark brown cowboy boot; I guess they're really weathered work boots. Mom called them haggard so I'm calling them my Merles. Oh and the store offered free phone charging, very cool!

We made one stop in Nudies to hear some music and have a drink. I tried the Bearded Iris homestyle IPA, a fantastic balanced IPA that I hope will be available near where I live.

I knew we were going to Church of the City for Christmas Even service since one of our old pastors at Willow Creek is with this church now, although at a different location. Pastor Smallbone had an excellent message about the relevancy of Christmas and why it's worth celebrating.

Then came dinner at Merchant's, a Nashville staple on Broadway. I liked the old school feeling with the black and white wall tiles and the waiters and bartenders dressed in bowties. We split a Caesar salad to start, which was fine, that Parmesan was very well aged and freshly shaved. But the jambalaya that mom had was too tomatoey and came to our table lukewarm. We actually sent it back and got the shrimp and grits instead, which were much better. The server was very apologetic, not that it was his fault or anything.

I made out a little better with my entree; I had the sweet tea brined pork chop with mashed Yukon gold potatoes. Well seasoned and nicely cooked. I wonder how good it would have been if had been served with sweet potatoes instead. And I still think there should have been a vegetable served like green beans or asparagus. And sadly no bread was served.

Back to the room, it had been a long day and it was cooold.

Nashville, Day 1

I woke up at 3:15 in the morning and stumbled my way out of the apartment around 4:15. I had just finished my 30 minute drive and parked my car in the Norfolk airport garage and had started to step away from my car. And I realized I was only dragging my suitcase, I didn't have my backpack. I went back to my car with this sinking feeling, and sure enough, I realized I had left my backpack on the sofa at home.

So that meant I was traveling for 4 days with no books, no printed itinerary, no pen and paper, no tablet, but worst of all, no phone chargers...and my Samsung Galaxy 9 is not exactly known for its battery life at this point in its existence. Thankfully, mom had not left Raleigh yet and was able to bring an extra charger. I made my flight to DC with no real drama, I didn't even have somebody in front of me in the security line. It was the 1st time I have ever connected through DC Reagan and I really like the great hall which opens into each of the 5 individual concourses. The American flag is large, and there were several enormous Christmas trees displayed. I had about a 2 hour layover so I decided to get away from the terminal and go over to the chapel, which I don't believe I've ever done before in an airport. I found a small daily devotional book and I began reading it. All of a sudden a brown skinned guy in basketball clothes, maybe early to mid twenties, comes in. He immediately takes off his shoes and I know exactly what he's going to do. He gets a blanket from the corner, unfolds it, and lays it down and does the whole Muslim kneeling prayer ritual. I would guess he was out of there in about 3 minutes. And I thought to myself I admire his dedication and discipline but does he do this because he wants to, or because he is supposed to? It has nothing to do with judging another faith, but I am curious how different faiths affect people's mindsets.

I did give in and buy a pair of wired headphones just to have a little bit of sanity. But I have to admit I felt a little bit hollow, a little bit naked with no backpack on because it's an absolute staple when I travel.

So I headed over to my gate and I was 5th on the standby list out of 5 people which immediately gave me a bad feeling because I knew they were only about 4 or 5 open seats. As they were boarding the flight, I immediately dropped to 7 of 7, and now I really had a negative vibe about making this flight. But I guess these other folks either didn't get through security, their connections didn't work out, or they upgraded. Because the only 2 standbys that I know of that got on were number 5 and me. Last seat in first class, and I can testify that the morning screwdriver went down well. 

As the plane descended through the dark gray clouds and began to see the greater Nashville area, it was pretty surprising to see it covered in a shallow blanket of white. It was 0ﾟ and very windy outside and there was so much bad weather going on that it took us 30 minutes to get from the runway to the gate. But mom's plane from Raleigh took over an hour to get from the runway to the gate so I guess we got a better deal. 

And the Nashville terminal is rather small but quite nice with multiple restaurants bars and live music options. There may not be a whole lot of places to sit, it definitely needs to be expanded but it's a good place if you're waiting on a delayed flight.

It took about a 1/2 hour for the luggage to come through, clearly this crew is not used to dealing with freezing weather. But there were no real issues aside from time, and then we got an Uber to drop our luggage off at the Hyatt house which is on the Southern part of downtown Nashville. And then we had the driver take us to lunch at Puckett's and we tipped the driver 15 bucks for it.

Puckett's is a pretty well known barbecue and Southern style restaurant located on Church St downtown. We ordered the whole farm which was a mixture of brisket, pulled pork, baby back ribs, a smoked half chicken, baked beans, skillet macaroni and cheese, and Cajun corn cake. That's not too bad for $35.

And then the Presley parfait with vanilla wafers, banana pudding, peanut butter mousse, and whipped cream. And it's served inside a Mason jar. Oh my goodness, was that ever indulgent. Definitely the best dessert I had on my trip.

Service was a little bit slow on a cold Friday afternoon when the restaurant was maybe 20 percent full, I didn't mind the food taking some time since it is BBQ. But the servers were a little slow on drink refills, and it took time just to get an extra glass of ice.

We then started walking down Broadway which is the Main Street in Nashville. I even went into a couple of boot shops to see if there was anything worth buying, but it's a little hard for me to imagine spending more than a $100 on a pair of shoes if they're not running shoes. I didn't wind up making a purchase, at least not yet.

Yet with the weather being so inclement, a lot of tourist attractions had already shut down for the day, which wasn't a good omen because we knew a lot of places would also be closed Christmas Eve as well as on Christmas Day. But the Johnny Cash museum was operating so we went there. I still remember the shivering cold walking through downtown Nashville on Christmas weekend, it was actually reminiscent of downtown Chicago. But it was a great museum, just because it was Cash and I give them credit for being open on a day when a lot of businesses shut down for the day. 

There were so many awesome artifacts such as guitars, family furniture, army discharge papers, Bibles, and plenty of Cash recordings to listen to. They even had a producer's exhibit where you can adjust the volume on different songs, messing with the vocals and the instruments to create the sound you want. Of course my headphones weren't working, which was pretty disappointing because I am a big fan of interactive museums. And I know nothing about producing music, but this is my opportunity to give it a try!

We headed out the door and back into the freezing cold; the wind was whipping in our faces and our cheeks were getting bright red. It was hard to walk more than five minutes without stepping inside for a reprieve. With the ice all over on the ground, it was not easy to make quick foot traction. I really tried to walk slow for mom, but I was dying to start running to escape the frigid atmosphere! But we got back to the hotel, huffing and puffing, and settled in. 

We made the choice to go to a Nashville Predators game since prices had been plummeting and I'm willing to bet the weather had something to do with it. Oh and the Bridgestone arena is only 3 or 4 blocks away from the hotel. The arena was really nice, very well laid out, very inviting. The one thing I didn't really like was they needed more escalators, I think they only have 2 in the whole building. I would also say the hot dog bun could have been a little fresher. But oh well. I did get my commemorative puck which I do for every single hockey game I go to. And the game was very tight and competitive, with the Colorado Avalanche winning in overtime 3 - 2.

As for the hotel room, it is nice but incredibly small, so much so that the way the lamp and night stands were set up in between mom's bed and my sofa bed, as I opened up the couch, I had to move the lamp out of the way and the nightstand all the way over next to her bed so there would be enough room for the sofa bed to fully open. We are incredibly tight on space, it almost feels like being in a hotel room in Europe or something. But at least we slept well.

New Jersey (from September)

I woke up at 4:15 AM to catch a 6 AM train from Williamsburg. Now I can't remember the last time I took this long of a trip on Amtrak so I figured I would get there about 45 minutes early to be on the safe side. I woke up at 4:15 AM to catch a 6 AM train from Williamsburg. Now I can't remember the last time I took this long of a trip on Amtrak so I figured I would get there about 45 minutes early to be on the safe side. I probably could have arrived 5 minutes before the train arrived and still would not have been a problem.

The total train ride took 7 hours. The sky changed from black to powder blue with not a cloud in sight. And it's amazing moving from the mid-Atlantic to the northeast. The smokestacks of Virginia to the small towns outside DC to the inlets of Delaware to Philly itself to industrial south Jersey. Not everything may have looked pretty, but I still admire how this country has so many distinct parts to it. 

Without a doubt, the last hour took the longest. But the ride was worth it to shock Jeremy. He never ever knew we were coming. Lots of hugs. Ten weeks of waiting was well worth it. 

 And the 1st place these 2 bozos took me to was a dispensary in Woodbridge. I know nothing about this stuff, I've never smoked a thing in my life.  Well aside from pork butt. And no I did not try anything. 

 We worked our way into downtown New Brunswick where there was a pep rally going on for a records football game on Saturday. Trying to find out a street parking space was next to impossible. But we settled in the deck and then walked down two blocks to the Tavern on George.

I really liked the Kane high head IPA. Very citrusy with a faint taste of hops. Eventually my father and his girlfriend showed up with their dog a shih tzu named Rummy. Very low maintenance and cool dog. Also Mark, Dom, and Pete joined as well. Gunny and his wife, unfortunately, got stranded in Chicago as their plane got delayed and they were rerouted from Newark to Laguardia.

 After 3 hours of eating drinking and laughing, I headed with my father over to the apartment where I immediately fell asleep for about an hour. We watched wrestling and a little bit of pathetic Mets baseball and I settled onto the sofa bed around 10 PM.

On Saturday morning, it was a 7 mile run on the treadmill followed by a lot of scrambled eggs, thick bacon and rye toast. Nick and Mark picked me up and we headed to Coney Island to meet up with the rest of the Jets gang.

Did my first roller coaster

Cyclone was a thrill, but I didn't have a burning desire to do it again

Nick got a parking ticket, I gave him some cash to help

L and b spumoni garden

Remarkable pizza

Vanilla and pistachio gelato

Shopping at Dicks for merch with Iowa

Tailgating Sunday 

Pork roll egg and cheese

The hangar club

Jets get beat by Baltimore

Rutts hutt

Deep fried hot dogs

Getting wasted 

430 am train back home

Locked In?

 Damn I haven't posted anything in two months. I doubt anyone would care to notice anyway. 

I'm honestly too depressed and down to write anything of deep thought or anything brilliant that might change a life. I doubt I ever could. So WTF, let's just write a few points down. And maybe one day, I'll finish the travel posts from September that still aren't done in early November.

1. Sami Zayn/Uso is so freaking entertaining!

2. The Jets had a nice start to their season. 5-2 before that appalling loss to New England. With Buffalo coming up and road game in Foxboro, they could easily be .500 in a couple of weeks. If I had to guess, they will finish the season 8-9. Losing Breece Hall and Alijah Vera-Tucker is just too much for this offense to overcome.

3. I haven't even posted since the pathetic Mets choked away the NL East to that evil franchise in Atlanta and then lost the wild card series to San Diego. I never thought I could be so unexcited for Mets playoff baseball, but I had no juice for that series. None. Looking ahead, I would sign Brandon Nimmo and Edwin Diaz first and foremost. I don't think Jacob deGrom wants to be in New York. With that extra money, I would keep Chris Bassitt and Carlos Carrasco and sign one other starter in free agency. And the bullpen needs more help than I know what to do with. This team won over 100 games and yet it feels like they have to start all over just to be competitive in 2023.

4. As for the Knicks, well, they're just another team. Average, nothing more, nothing less.

5. I'm not ready to freak out on the Rangers, despite their lackluster start. But I don't think this team can overcome injuries, they do not have the cap space or depth to overcome them. And already, we've seen injuries to Filip Chytil, Ryan Lindgren, about 9 or 10 injuries to Vitali Kravtsov...it can get scary.

6. I'm still doing the YouTube stuff and that has taken priority over writing or just about anything else. I've passed 250 followers and we'll see how much it can grow. I'm just not comfortable going live because I don't know if I'm engaging enough or likable enough to keep dozens of people interested or entertained for an hour.

7. My mountain retreat was nice on Friday. Humpback Rocks was pretty challenging, but the views were pretty sweet. Of course, Crozet Pizza decided that day not to open till 3:30 and I had arrived at 11:30 am after 3 hours of hiking. Thanks for nothing guys, you'll never get my money. I did hit up 3 breweries and a winery in the afternoon. The Brewing Tree Oktoberfest was probably my favorite. Malty and full bodied, yet easy to drink. And they had hammocks. Beer + hammocks + mountain views = ultimate relaxation

8. Budgeting used to be fun. But thanks to the asshole occupying the White House who stole it from President Trump, it's becoming painful. Every time I go out, I wonder if I'm about to go freaking broke. I know it's my stupid paranoia, but then I get my car insurance bill or my fucking rent increase and I wonder how I'm even able to save money still.

9. Rao's is making frozen pizza now. I can't bear to buy one...it'll ruin me if I like it. And at $13 for a pizza that I could wipe out without blinking, it's probably not a wise investment. 

10. The Crawling Crab 5k was ruined for me. I trained 8 weeks for that stupid race. And then it got cancelled because our area got the remnants of Hurricane Ian. I had planned to sign up for the Norfolk Harborfest. Now, I have no interest. I'm still registered for the Shamrock 8k next March, but beyond that, I don't know what I'll do. My feet can only handle so much, and truth be told, I feel I look better when I'm doing my dumbbell circuits.

11. I used to really be a social butterfly. I was all about the next event, the next good time. I'm not that way anymore. I have been so hurt and let down by people. I'll go to places where I'm in a comfortable setting. But if there is the possibility of me feeling lonely or embarrassed, I'm out. I was reminded of that tonight. Square dance in a community center. I already was a little uneasy knowing my lack of ability to dance unless alcohol has been consumed. I struggled to find parking and by the time I was going to enter, the instructor was already barking orders. I knew I was not going to catch up and I'd look like a fool. So I did the only logical thing, I drove to Harris Teeter and spent $85.00 on groceries, and close to half of that was on alcohol. Maybe the years of rejection, deception, and bullshit have finally caught up to me. Maybe I'd almost rather be alone. But deep down, I know that's not healthy. I've been blessed in years passed with wonderful social groups. Now that I'm 40, that's over. I'm supposed to be married by now apparently. I shouldn't need friend groups. I guess I failed somewhere, because why else would I still be here in this apartment alone?

12. Thank God for music. It'll never turn away from me or reject me. I call on it, and it doesn't judge, it doesn't walk away, it is reliable and true. People will never be that way. Never.

13. I'm going to make enemies in my life. Why? Because I feel I have to stay true to my beliefs. If I don't have my integrity, I truly have nothing. 

14. Shipt is such a joke now. We lost Lidl and Harris Teeter delivery only orders. And yet they keep on hiring more and more people. I used to make $1,000 a month part time. Now I'm lucky to get $400. They got a deal in place now with Food Lion and yet it rarely comes up. Time for this company to fire a few shoppers who suck at it.

15. Midterm elections are in 3 days. Like any of it matters. The Democrats will still them anyway. And as long as the likes of Brandon are in office, we Americans will continue to suffer.

16. These Manscaped products are pretty unbelievable.

17. Apartment has new blinds and new windows. Pretty nice. Of course, my smoke alarm has been beeping for a full month and they still haven't come to fix that....

18. I do like Life church as an online church. Granted the music is your typical overproduced stuff. Oversinging the words, too much production. But Pastor Craig gives good relatable messages. 

19. I went to the first Virginia Beach Seafood Festival in October. Had a great time there. Thankful for Yelp for getting me access to places like this. The seafood boil, the fish tacos, the crab dips, the jumbo shrimp and andouille sausage skewer, the orange crush drinks from Watermans. Good times!

20. I'd love to have a dog again. I just can't bear to leave one alone for 8-9 hours a day while I am at work.

Joe Nichols setlist

Brokenheartsville

Hard to Be Cool

The Impossible

Good Day For Living

Dance With the Girl

Big City

What Have You Got Planned Tonight Diana?

I've Got Friends That Do

I Want to Be Here Tonight

The Shape I'm In 

Screened In

Don't Rock the Jukebox

I'll Wait For You

She Only Smokes When She Drinks

When You Say Nothing At All

Size Matters (Someday)

What's a Guy Gotta Do?

Yeah

Gimme That Girl

Rooster 

A Country Boy Can Survive

Sunny and 75

Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off

The Blues Man

The End of August

Gosh I've been silent for a month on here. I don't know if many people would've noticed. But let's reflect a little on this month and look forward to the future. 

I knew I would be getting a rent increase.  With this disgrace of a White House administration, everything is going up in price except for hot dogs and rotisserie chickens at Costco. I can live with that, I plan to ask my job for a raise, which I don't think I've ever done before. My problem is they won't let me renew it for me than 3 months. It's always been 1 year and now I'm nervous they're going to jack it up again. I can't go back to my job and ask for two raises in 3 months, as stingy as they are. I guess I should just appreciate that while I've had to reduce the amount of money I'm saving, I can still fly find my Roth IRA and put money in another 401k and mutual funds. 

And while we're discussing work, we got through the August 29 start. Even though Jim had the nerve to quit in the middle of August, and there are still more people to get packaged, the worst seems to be behind us. We wound up getting 150 starts, and the admissions goal was 141.

But the pressure to get people packaged remains ferocious. Even people starting in January, the powers that be still want them financially packaged in 10 days. It's just a never ending cycle of unrealistic expectations while still trying to deliver great customer service. And some days, it's easier than others. 

It's not that I'm spending more really. Well taxes went up. Especially since I have to bail financially irresponsible people who passed their student loans over to me. But what's hard is the income has gone down. The delivery business has been cut in half. I used to make $1,000 a month doing Shipt and that was with gas costing half of what it does now. Now I'm lucky to pull in $500 a month. 

Actually let's move on. I'm not going to vent anymore in this post. So obviously, sports can't be a topic.

I'm attending Life Church online now and it's pretty good. Craig Groeschel is a very good speaker. And I like the current Peace of Mind series, which is focusing on anxiety, worry, and depression. The messages are a little more topical as opposed to simply preaching the Bible. But at the end of the day, changing lives is the most important thing and if this series can do that, I'm all in favor of that kind of church. 

I wish Adam Cole could go back to WWE.

Raid fly strips are a gift from God. Living in the woods with no hallway between outside and my apartment, it gets filled with flies. Sprays only do so much and the water traps I've used aren't effective.  The strips may be sticky and unsightly but they are effective. I've put up 3 throughout the apartment and each one has caught at least 30 in 3 weeks. 

I've been running 5 days a week for 3 weeks. I'm not really losing weight but I certainly feel better. Hips, knees, and calves are doing great. The balls of my feet are getting more calloused, but nothing that's inhibiting my training for the 5k in October. I know I'll do the Shamrock 8k in March but I'm not sure about doing anything between now and then. I think I will do the Norfolk Harbor run in November, but I'm not sure if it'll be the 5k, 10k, or both. 

I'm proud of my Youtube channel, NY Sports WickerMedia. I've worked my way up to 119 subscribers and it hasn't been easy to get there. But I'm going to keep posting content and grow this thing as much as I can. I'm proud for learning how to edit video, add music, includes subtitles... and I'm only going to get better with time. 

And as I write this, I'm traveling on a train from Williamsburg VA to Iselin NJ. I think I'm somewhere around Ashland, 90 minutes into a 7 hour odyssey. It'll be my first time back in Jersey in maybe 5 or 6 years. And I get to meet so many people from YouTube Jets shows, I get to meet some of my subscribers, and meet some people I subscribe to. 

There is the sense of youthful wonder and adventure inside of me. Often times, I suppress it. But when I'm doing this kind of traveling, when I'm getting back in touch with a part of my past, I feel closer to that boy who left New Jersey in 1997. And he had to go because his life was going nowhere. 

My car battery died Thursday morning. And I'm thankful for it. Why? Because if it happened just one day later, I would have missed my train. My friend Nick was right. Timing really is everything. 

Why Are Some Women So Vile

So I have been in a Dave Ramsey singles group for a couple of years now, but I've never really engaged myself and tried to interact. About three weeks ago, I saw a humorous post about parking rituals, so I decided to join in.

Before long, I started noticing a blonde lady from central Ohio, whose name I will not mention, but SF are her initials. And we began messaging that night. Messages turned into voice memos; voice memos turned into her giving me her phone number. 

The connection was immediate, she was a working nurse, I work at a medical college. Faith, money values, love of travel, enjoying great meals, extroverted personalities. Only two issues. She has two kids, 10 and 11, and she's 3 states away. I felt the odds were long, but I wanted to get to know her slowly and see if it was something to explore deeper.

The conversations never got sexual, but they could get flirtatious. We both wanted to take the getting to know you route. I asked her if I asked her out, what would she say, and she said yes. It hurt, because I wanted to have a fair chance. 

She even had a trip set for Mexico with her ex-boyfriend and the group was going to host a contest to see who would go with her. And the contest included this ridiculous questionnaire. There were questions from opinions on crocs to what your ex would say about you to favorite song to dance to. I was thinking to myself she should also be required ot answer the same questions and I will decide if she's a match for me! 

We spoke on the phone Sunday night for over an hour as she was on her way from Charleston SC to Ohio. No awkwardness, it was rather enjoyable. And then Monday afternoon, she messaged me that she doesn't have it in her to do distance again, she likes how we get along, but she wanted to be clear.

I said "Ok." I didn't want to get emotional or anything, so I kept it simple.

Later that night, I went through Facebook and I got to the People You May Know section. There was an attractive blonde I had seen a few times so I requested her, she happened to be a mutual friend. 

Then Wednesday afternoon came. Around 4:30, SF messaged me. I didn't have a chance to read every word. Because within 15 seconds of her sending it, she blocked me. But she accused me of going through her friend list and trying to add all her friends like I was a stalker. She called me not mature enough to handle the truth...and that was about all I was able to see. She did not ask what I was doing. Rather, she accused me, insulted me and reamed me. I immediately blocked her back.

I went right to the group admins and explained what happened. This guy asked me if I had been hacked. I realized what was going on. They were taking her side, probably because she is female, cute, perky, and outgoing. They wanted to know why I sent the friend request, like I had some ulterior motive. 

Although I tried retrieving her vile message to me, I couldn't. And she obviously wouldn't submit what she said to me over to the admins. So hopefully this is the end of it. I don't want to think about her, I just want to move on.

This will not break my heart. But it just breaks my faith even more that there are good women left in the world. I'm no pride advocate by any stretch, but after dealing with so much shit like this, I can almost almost almost understand why some men decide to try the gay route. 

I didn't deserve to be treated that way. Bottom line.

41

I'm about to begin year 41 on planet earth in 36 hours. I'm feeling a little down, I just have a few quick things to say. 

1. The loneliest feeling is to be surrounded by lots of people and feel as if you don't matter. 

2. I feel powerless to keep this country from going to hell. I miss having talk leaders who cared about our people first. They may not have been the nicest people ever, but they got the fing job done. 

3. I dread losing my mother one day. No one else has known me as long or as well. I can talk to get about things I can't with anyone else. But I'm thankful for the 4 plus decades we have so far, even though we fight more than I wish. 

4. If it wasn't for sad songs, I don't know how I'd cope with my hurt. I don't know if I can change as a man anymore. My habits seem to be my habits, good or bad. So I guess I will take the bandage on my disease. Won't cure it but I'll at least take the temporary cover up. 

5. At work, only our campus president knew it was my birthday. No one else knew or said anything. It's not that birthdays are that important. It's just that it means someone actually gives a damn. 

Sorry for the sad theme, but that's all I have in me tonight. 

If you are interested in my sports articles, it's nysportswickermedia.blogspot.com

Myrtle Beach Days, Part 2

On Sunday, which felt like a Saturday, I woke up and hit the gym to work my arms. It was good finally having access to 20 pound dumbbells for overhead tricep extensions, since my apartment complex still hasn't replaced the stolen 20s. Or the stolen 35s. Or the stolen 50s. Of course the air conditioning still wasn't working, so I was done after about 20 minutes. I then headed into the lobby for a breakfast of scrambled eggs, turkey sausage patties, and two mini waffles. And I made sure to bring the dark roast coffee up to mom while se was sleeping.

Our first destination was Mt. Atlanticus minotaur goff (not a typeo), one of the top rated courses on the Grand Strand. They have two 18 hole courses, we just had time for one and we went with the Minotaur course. The course really goes high, there are a lot of stairs to climb, but it has some nice waterfalls. It wasn't the hardest course, I was able to sink four holes-in one, it's more about the decorations than the actual golf itself.

After that, we went down south to Pawley's Island, where I first visited in 1997 with my high school to do mission work. Holy Cross Faith Memorial Episcopal church was building a larger church and we had to help clear the back baseball field. And we did that, though getting the batting cage out of the earth proved to be challenging. Also, there is a free medical clinic on site, and we assisted there too, we actually stayed on site for a full week.

And they have their new building now, well, it was new at the time, but I guess it has been up since 2000 so it's not exactly new now. But it was my first time attending service at Holy Cross inside their new building. 

Now I thought it was a biracial congregation, it was actually as white as South Dakota. The service was very liturgical, incredibly ritualistic. It wasn't quite experiencing Roman Catholicism again, but it felt like its first cousin with the Lord's prayer, kneeling, etc. The sermon was over in about 10-12 minutes; I would say 45 minutes of the service was hymns, prayers, and recitations of Scripture. I joined in everything except the prayers of the people, since I couldn't relate to the people in their congregation or the government officials of South Carolina. 

Then it was onto lunch at Local, a new restaurant located in the Hammock Island shops. It was kind of a gastropub, except they also serve brunch on the weekends. We started with their Sedona salad, with greens, chunky pico, grilled corn, avocado, carrot, black beans, shredded cheddar, fried tortilla strips, chipotle ranch, and we added pan-seared shrimp. The shrimp stole the show, nicely seasoned, and they tasted so fresh, that authentic Low country taste that you just can't find anywhere else. Great veggies too, I definitely salute the kitchen on this one.

Then we had their Sunday chicken, which was half a fried chicken. I asked for sides of their Peri Peri hot sauce and their ale honey mustard, and they delivered both in small metal ramekins. I could really taste the beer in the mustard. So from what I hear their batter for the chicken has pickle juice and beer in it. I can say this, the chicken was definitely juicy and that skin was quite crispy. If I had one criticism, I would I could have tasted more seasoning. When I eat bone in fried chicken, I want to taste some paprika, some cayenne, some garlic, not just the breading.

They did a great job on the sides. The Yukon gold mashed potatoes were creamy, simply seasoned, and very fluffy. The vinegar cole slaw was a great palate refresher, it was not mayo based, thankfully. I'm thinking there was a little cider vinegar in it.

We had a manager and a chef come out to ask how the food was, which we really did appreciate. It's a staff that cares how they are doing and that matters to me. Great experience.

While mom was shopping for clothes, I got her a bottle of Eureka lemon olive oil because I knew she would appreciate it. The hammock shops don't have a lot of stores that would appeal to me as a guy but I'll always take time to relax in a single cotton hand woven hammock.

Then we went back to the hotel and I got ready to visit the satellite location of the Pro Football Hall of Fame at Broadway At the Beach. I put on my Jets t-shirt and back Jets baseball cap. I'm a die hard Jets fan, but I've never been to Canton to visit the actual Hall. So after paying about 25 bucks, I was able to enter a scaled down version. 

They have a couple of interesting exhibits including pioneers of the game, history of race in professional football, sports science, and single season records. They had a few interactive exhibits such as an instant replay booth where I got to watch plays and determine if the call on the field was correct or if it should be overturned. There were also hand prints of quarterbacks on footballs, Warren Moon, Jim Kelly, and Troy Aikman, as well as leg outlines from Jerome Bettis and Gilbert Brown. Suffice to say, my thighs are not quite that large.

But the highlight for me was the Super Bowl theater with player jerseys arranged in a semi circle, and the Lombardi trophy right in the middle of the room. The room would go dark and a film of NFL highlights played. It was easy to get entranced by the experience. They featured Joe Namath's Super Bowl jersey, which has a couple of holes in it now.

I checked the small merch store and they have t-shirts featuring various NFL team legends. They had a Jets version, so I bought four Jets legends shirts, which are exclusive to the Hall of Fame, for my local club that we will give away in raffle prizes. And the manager even gave me ten percent off! 

From what I was told, the Hall will remain in its current location until next July and then a decision will be made if they stay or not, it just depends on business. Hopefully, they will stay around for a long time.

I arrived at 3 pm on a Saturday and the line to get in was immense. Thankfully, I was able to score a seat at the bar. I ordered the Who's To Blame margarita on the rocks and with salt. It had Margaritaville Gold Tequila, Margaritaville Triple Sec and the house margarita blend. Well balanced, very refreshing, not too strong.

I really like how they have uniquely shaped tables, for instance there is a giant boat in the middle of the restaurant and they have a 5-person table at the mast of the boat. Super creative. And right near the center of the restaurant, there is a giant margarita bottle that repels from the ceiling at certain times and fills up an oversized blender.

While sipping on my drink, I could see the dark gray storm clouds forming in the distance, so I knew I had to head back to the room. It was about a ten minute walk, but I made it back inside just as the sprinkling was starting. Within five minutes, the sky opened up and a monsoon was under way.

After cleaning up, Mom and I headed for dinner at Umberto's at Barefoot Landing on the north side of Myrtle Beach. We arrived at 5 pm, right when they opened, and at least 30 tables had already been sat. I guess we went to a popular place!

This is a classic old style Italian restaurant, in that they feed you actual food before they even take your order. We started with a bowl of Italian beans with a little macaroni, not too bad. Then a basket of bread with salted butter. It reminded me of moderately crusty bread that I would have eaten on a sandwich at Primanti Brother's. I enjoyed the tomato, cucumber, and onion salad in a zesty Italian dressing with a lot of red wine vinegar and herbs. After that came the bowl of angel hair pasta in their sauce. We were a little disappointed with the taste of the sweeter marinara. It may have been from using carrot, in the mirepoix, or it may have been too much sugar. But it wasn't great sauce, I especially didn't like having that watery excess in the bottom of the bowl.

For entrees, we did an order of chicken eggplant parmesan, I really like having a combination of both and they obliged. I got two eggplant slices and one chicken breast topped with provolone and marinara. Chicken breast was a good size, cooked well, eggplant was fine, still crispy, not that greasy. The other entree was the Chicken Antonio with prosciutto, provolone, mushrooms and a lemon butter sauce. The dish was cooked well, but the overall product turned out dry without the lemon butter sauce.

Sadly we did not order the Bravo Franco, the meat extravaganza I described in a previous post, with a  strip steak, two pork chops, and sauteed peppers, onions, and mushrooms. Mom wasn't feeling it and I wasn't about to push her in that direction.

Of course, two tables away, I saw one guy digging into a couple of pork chops that must have been 2 inches thick. I began feeling the regrets. 

Is this the best Italian food I've ever had? It's not. But they gave us good service at a fair price and that does go a long way. Would I come back? Perhaps, but I would have to change my order to something more meat-centric. 

And we still haven't ordered a single dessert yet.

We were both a little fatigued after all that food as well as splitting a bottle of Pinot Noir. And the rain was picking up, so we headed back to the room. I think we both fell asleep, for a while. But around 8, I woke up. I wanted to head out and drink, but the rain had turned into a complete storm by this point. So I went down to the lobby, began writing the post you are reading, while gazing to the left where the front window of the hotel is to see if the rain was letting up. Close to an hour later, I'm still writing!

Epilogue:

I sat in the lobby for an hour before the rain let up enough where I walked the five minutes to the Carolina Ale House. I had a 22 oz Sweetwater 420 and a 16 oz Wicked Weed Pernicious. 

The next morning, we drove out to Wilmington, a town I never need to visit again, and made it back to Cary around 6 pm.

Myrtle Beach Days, Part 1

I haven't set foot in Myrtle Beach in maybe 15 years, but I probably went 3 or so times in about a ten year span. After our travel plans to Annapolis and Ocean City proved to be unaffordable, the Grand Strand stretch of South Carolina became a viable alternative and we were able to score two nights as a Fairfield Inn, one of which was free.

We began the drive down from Cary early on a Saturday morning, it took a little over three hours. On the way, we stopped at McDonald's so she could get coffee and there must have been 30 cars on line. It was in one of these tiny towns and I guess that's the place to hang out. No wonder the average weight of those people was about 285 pounds. Our initial destination was the Market Common, a brand new shopping area in Myrtle Beach, just south of the airport. There was a lot going on, a farmer's market, a classic car show, and a National Little League baseball tournament. They had restaurants such ass PF Chang's, the Brass Tap, Tupelo Honey, and Gordon Biersch Brewery. Mom was rather surprised to see such a nice area in the middle of Myrtle Beach.

Our first planned stop was Pedego bike rentals, I had arranged for us to take a guided tour on their electrics. It was actually my first time riding an electric in the USA; the only other time I had ridden one was in southern France. It was us, our guide, and one married couple, probably in their late 50's. After a tutorial, we began the electric bike ride through local neighborhoods, eventually getting to the pier at Myrtle Beach State Park.

During our break, I took a picture of the other couple. Turns out the guy we were riding with was a Jets season ticket holder for 20 years. And he said his kids love podcasts so I told him about NY Sports WickerMedia, Jets Chaos, Green Bean, etc. What were the odds?!

At one point, I was able to get my bike up to 20 MPH. Gotta love those throttles. They make the ride so much easier. It was $64 for a guided two hour ride, and it was well worth it. I'm not a fan of bike riding, but if I lived in an area conducive to bike riding, I would consider investing in an electric.

By 12:30 and after being awake for 7.5 hours, we were ready to go eat. I picked the Sea Captain's House, located right on the beach. And right next to the restaurant was a hotel that had a very high outdoor waterslide, it must be interesting for patrons sitting just 20 feet away from a bunch of screaming kids dripping water! 

We started with the fried oysters with remoulade, they were amazing. Sauce had the right amount of spice, the oysters were crispy and not greasy. For entrees, we had a broiled crab cake sandwich with fries and a salad of tomato, avocado, boiled and chilled shrimp, and fresh crab meat. Both were fantastic, the seafood was fresh, the produce was high quality. Of course, they came with a basket of hush puppies and a ramekin of honey butter. God, no wonder so many people in the south weigh so much. And major credit to the staff, they were friendly and food came out very promptly, so credit to the kitchen staff. Great place to visit when you're in the Grand Strand.

Then we checked into the Fairfield Inn. The location was great, a ten minute walk from Broadway At the Beach, a major entertainment complex that I'd visited a couple of times before. We also had a Brazilian steakhouse and Carolina Ale House right next door. I wish we could have done the Brazilian place but it doesn't make sense for Mom to go to an all you can eat establishment.

The hotel was fine, although the air conditioner was broken in the gym. I quickly figured out with 90 degree heat, I was not going to be doing much cardio. And no bar, but at least they had a free hot breakfast.

After about an hour of setting up, we drove thirty minutes south to Murrell's Inlet, where Mom really wanted to go. This area has about nine major restaurants, but they are all right next to each other on both sides of a two lane road. So the traffic gets a little crazy, as does the parking.

We went to the Claw House, I thought they had a great Happy Hour and the Yelp reviews impressed me. I ordered a couple of local draft beers and we ordered the crab nachos for $12, since all apps are 30% off from 4-7 pm every day. So these nachos are made up of fried wonton chips, lots of crab meat, a spicy cheddar cheese sauce, half an avocado, mango salsa, pico de gallo, and green onions. These nachos were piled super high, they are the type of nachos where you order them and other customers stare at them with their mouths gaped open. And the flavor was so great. The wontons were crispy, and a lighter tasting alternative to traditional tortilla chips. We had plenty of fresh crabmeat to go around, there was just a touch of heat from the cheddar sauce as well as a little jalapeno in the pico. And the combination of salsas were so flavorful and vibrant. And they looked beautiful with all the different colors, the orange of the mango, the green of the avocado, the pink of the crab, etc. If you're on the Grand Strand, you have to order these, especially if you have a hungry person with you.

Sadly, we were too full to order anything else! And were given very prompt and friendly service, this is definitely a place to visit. Of and they have a blonde bartender who is a school teacher except during the summer, when she bartends. And she was so engaging and funny.

We could have gone to the Carolina Opry for a Highwaymen tribute, but I guess we didn't want to spend the 55 bucks per ticket. So instead, we went to Crocodile Rocks, the dueling piano bar at Broadway At the Beach. It was ten bucks to get in and we grabbed two seats at the back bar, giving us a perfect view of the stage. I ordered a Jack and ginger and sat down for the show.

We were among the first people in the club when it opened at 7, but by 8, it became super loud and crowded. The chief culprits was the bachelor party, probably about 10 or 11 guys. And in addition to paying for requests, they also have a board called "3 Words Or Less." It starts at $1 and if you pay more than the amount on the board, you can request any message on the board that you want. And it turned into "Let's Go Brandon," "Hunter Eats Ass," "Hunter Eats Anal." Of course, I had no issue with the political aspect. Then it turned into messages about popping certain things and what should be done to other things in reference to certain women in the audience. The sexual stuff was a little more than I would've liked, but it  was adult humor and no one was getting hurt or anything. But sitting next to mom...yeah, that got a little awkward.

With the bar getting more and more crowded, we left around 9:30 pm.

Into the Best Month

And we have survived another June, praise God. I find it deliciously ironic that Roe vs Wade died during that particular month.

So I'm heading to South Carolina this weekend. I found a Pittsburgh-influenced Italian restaurant and their description includes the following:

"Our family style dining experience begins with an Italian beans and greens followed by our salad. Prior to your entrée, we also serve angel hair pasta in our homemade marinara sauce. If you have room, we also have a selection of made to order desserts such as cannoli’s and our family style Nina’s surprise."

Another menu item includes a 16 oz NY strip steak topped with two center cut pork chops smothered with mushrooms, peppers, and onions...

They didn't have to twist my arm!!

Summer Comes Around

While I don't really miss living in Chicago, they did know how to do their summers right. Every weekend, there was a different suburb that had a summer festival going on. Now never mind that it was basically the same festival with the same sponsors, mostly similar food vendors (I still can't forget the Genoa stand with the 10 inch Italian sausage sandwich cooked over charcoal that always seemed to show up). There would be a steady rotation of cover bands, maybe a local artist opening for them. I remember the band that only did Creedence songs, the band that only did Eagles songs, the band that blended jazz and rock together. 

Now, not so much. In Virginia, these things jut don't happen. There are some bands, but you may have to drive across the water or up to Williamsburg to find any music. There are events, it seems like most of them are alcohol based and to hear music, you have to actually go into a restaurant or bar, there's nothing on the streets or in parks, which is what I remember. Where did that all go?

I was considering going to a Pizzapalooza in downtown Newport News. Sounded great, but then I saw it was 4 slices for 40 bucks, including a boozed drink. I'm sorry, that's just terrible value in my mind. $25, maybe I would consider it. I'm leaning towards going to Redwood for their 3 year anniversary party for some of that special Wagyu smoked brisket.

It was fun going to two straight Norfolk Tides vs Syracuse Mets games. At least at the Norfolk stadium they cook those pretzels over a charcoal grill, the way they were meant to be prepared! It is an ok stadium, but it does feel a little generic after 30 years. The new scoreboards were much needed, they are far brighter than the previous ones had been.

And all this time I thought Roe vs Wade was about boat ownership...

Supreme Court, way to go! 

The Case for Corey Davis

As the 2022 season approaches, we as Jets fans start to wonder what players we can count on, which ones we hope will do well, and which ones we have little if any expectation for. I am rather alarmed to see that a lot of Jets fans place WR Corey Davis into the third category. They are already considering him a bust, some people are calling him the fifth WR on the roster behind Garrett Wilson, Elijah Moore, Denzel Mims, Braxton Berrios. 

My argument is not to say that Corey Davis is a #1 wide receiver on the level of a DeAndre Hopkins or Mike Evans or Stefon Diggs. But I'm going to make my case why he is a legitimate starting WR in the NFL and I also want to examine the criticisms of Corey Davis and see if they hold water. So let's get into it. 

Before coming to the Jets, Davis played four years with the Tennessee Titans and many of his key stats steadily increased during those years. 

2017: 9 games, 34 catches on 65 targets, 375 yards, 0 TD

2018: 16 games, 65 catches on 12 targets, 891 yards, 4 TD

2019: 15 games, 43 catches on 69 targets, 601 yards, 2 TD

2020: 14 games, 65 catches on 92 targets, 984 yards, 5 TD

Oh and his quarterbacks were Marcus Mariota, Blaine Gabbert, Ryan Tannehill. These are not exactly Aaron Rodgers or Patrick Mahomes or Russell Wilson. Then with rookie Zach Wilson as his quarterback, Davis quickly became the most trusted target as the young Jets offense, who was also coached by a rookie OC in Mike LaFleur, was trying to find some direction. Here is the stat line on Corey Davis' 2021 season.

2021: 9 games, 34 catches on 59 targets, 492 yards, 4 TD

So Davis played essentially half a season. If we project the stats, he was on pace for right around 1,000 yards and 8-9 touchdowns before getting hurt and missing the second half of the season. Keep in mind Wilson played far less effectively in the first half of the season as opposed to the second half of the season, when he did not turn the football over during the last five games of the Jets' season. And also, for the critics complaining Davis never had a 1,000 yard season, 984 is pretty, pretty close and 891 isn't exactly terrible.

1. He's overpaid

GM Joe Douglas made his first notable splash of the 2020 offseason by inking Davis to a 3 year, $37.5 million contract, so it's averaging to $12.5 million per year. Let's look at some other wide receivers making a similar amount of money.

Kenny Golladay, $18 million

Christian Kirk, $17 million

Courtland Sutton, $15.2 million

Robby Anderson, $14.75 million

Michael Gallup, $11.5 million

Curtis Samuel, $11 million

Nelson Agholor, $11 million

Looking at this list of names, nobody would call them a top level, elite WR. Golladay was considered the biggest bust of last year's free agency crop and fans around the league were aghast when Jacksonville paid Kirk $17 million per year. And 90 percent of Jets fans cringe at the thought of Robby Anderson coming back if the Panthers are dealing with a case of contract remorse. So $13 million or so for Davis doesn't seem all that outrageous in this context. Plus, if he doesn't have a great 2022 season, the Jets could choose to cut him and the dead cap hit would be only $667,000.

2. He drops the ball/he has stone hands

We hear this complaint as much as any other one about Corey Davis. Perhaps the most damaging play Davis had last season was a pivotal fumble against New England and some Jets fans never got over it. But let's look a little deeper at the drops. Specifically, let's review how many drops Davis had in his first five seasons and also the drop percentage.

2017: 0 drops

2018: 6 drops, 5.4%

2019: 4 drops, 5.8%

2020: 3 drops, 3.3%

2021: 5 drops, 8.5%

Look at that drop percentage. In 2020, Davis recorded a 3.3 drop percentage and this past year with the Jets, it jumped to 8.5%. Are we to believe that Corey Davis turned 26 years old and suddenly forgot how to catch a football? Maybe the way Zach Wilson threw the football led to Davis dropping the ball more and maybe it also has something to do with the Jets receivers dropping more passes than any other team in the league in 2021. 

And last year, the wide receivers who lead the NFL in dropped passes? Keenan Allen and Jamarr Chase, with 9 apiece. I doubt fans of the Chargers and Bengals first think of dropped passes with these two receivers.

3. He gets hurt too much!

Let's look at the injuries Davis has had.

2017: Hamstring, missed 5 games

2018: No injuries

2019: Hip, missed 1 game. Concussion, returned for the next game

2020: Thigh strain, missed 2 games

So Davis missed 8 games in 4 years, or an average of 2 per year. Then he goes to the Jets and on our cursed Field Turf in Met Life Stadium, it didn't go so well.

2021: Hip, missed 2 games. Groin, needed surgery, placed on IR in December, missed last 6 games

There's a good chance the hip issue led to the groin issue as these are core muscles. And despite Davis coming back after two games, he was not quite the same player after and eventually, his season was shut down. This was one of the many free agents brought in who just could not get a good injury break. See Carl Lawson, see Vinny Curry, see LaMarcus Joyner, etc.

Conclusion

Jets fans, this is no scrub. This is a 6'3 209 pound wide receiver who runs routes well, and was steadily getting better and better. We never got to see how good because when he was in the lineup, Mike LaFleur, Zach Wilson, and the offensive line were not doing their jobs as well as they would in the second half of the season. 

Davis may be similar to Wayne Chrebet or Eric Decker in that he needs a very good WR on the other side of him to be at his best, like had with AJ Brown in his last year in Tennessee. Now we've added Garrett Wilson, who had the potential to be a top level WR for Zach Wilson. And we still are yet to see the ceiling of Elijah Moore. One of the best things that can happen to Corey Davis this year is Elijah Moore to stay healthy, allowing him to ascend to a possible top level wide receiver that he showed glimpses of being in 2021.

So this season, let's see Davis play inside a little more where he can use his size to block in the run game, take advantage of smaller corners, and get some yards after the catch. The Cowboys do this with CeeDee Lamb, the Bucs do it with Chris Godwin. 

And let's not forget how the improved running game can make life easier for the passing game. With a new talent like Breece Hall running alongside Michael Carter, it can open up more opportunities for Davis off play action plays.

While we're excited about getting a new starting WR in the draft and maybe another via trade or free agency, let us not forget the young veteran the Jets already have who can prove to be a big piece in making this offense thrive.

Jets Blog-Most Successful Numbers in Franchise History

In this article, we're going to analyze what jersey number has been the most successful for the Jets in their history. Of course, we're not going to count each and every player who wore the jersey, in the interest of simplicity, we're just going to focus on players who made a respectable contribution to the Jets.

Scoring System

So how will we evaluate these jersey numbers? We're focusing on 6 criteria and assigning different point values for each. They are as follows:

Hall of Famer as a Jet (HOF)* = 5

Super Bowl winner (SB) = 4

Ring of Honor Inductee (ROH)* = 3

All Pro 1st team (AP1) = 2

Pro Bowl (PB) = 1

Playoff win (PW) = 1

*When I calculated all the numbers, there were five players I projected to be future Ring of Honor inductees: Chad Pennington, Shaun Ellis, Darrelle Revis, D'Brickashaw Ferguson, and Nick Mangold. I also projected Revis to be elected to the Hall of Fame in 2023, his first year of eligibility. Those players received credit as an inductee and have an asterisk next to their name.

From there, we will reveal the Top 10. Tiebreakers are broken by whichever jersey number ranked higher in the highest scoring categories. 

The Rankings

1. #24 41 points

Johnny Sample (2 PW, SB), Freeman McNeil (1 AP1, 3 PB, ROH, 3 PW), Ty Law (1 PB), Darrelle Revis (3 AP1, 5 PB, ROH*, HOF*, 4 PW)

Only 11 players have worn #24 in Jets history. But the level of productivity from the players who have worn #24 is simply unmatched. Sample played his final 3 years with the Jets and provided the Jets with leadership they needed in their quest to the Super Bowl. He had a remarkable 17 interceptions in those 3 seasons. McNeil played 12 seasons for Gang Green, receiving most of his accolades in his first five years. Ty Law came over during the Brett Favre year and made a Pro Bowl. And simply put, we may never see a cornerback as good as Darrelle Revis ever again. Chances are he will make the Hall of Fame in 2023, and that would add another 5 points to this score!

Other notables: Ray Mickens.

2. #60 34 points

Larry Grantham (5 AP1, 5 PB, 2 PW, ROH, SB), D'Brickashaw Ferguson (3 PB, ROH*, 4 PW)

Only seven Jets have worn #60, but two of them have left an undeniable impact on the history of the franchise Grantham is on the only Jet to play the inaugural game with the Titans and also play in Super Bowl 3. He made the first All Pro team in each of his first five seasons and 8 All Pro teams in 9 years. And Brick's durability has been well documented, missing just snap in his ten years. He may never have been the best left tackle in the league, but he was tough, reliable, and solid.

Other notables: Dan Alexander, Connor McGovern

3. #99 22 points

Mark Gastineau (3 AP1, 5 PB, ROH, 3 PW), Bryan Thomas (4 PW), Jason Taylor (1 PW)

Gastineau leads this group with a mound of individual accolades and his Ring of Honor induction. Although Thomas never became the elite pass rusher the Jets were hoping for, he still hung around for 11 years.

Other notables: Hugh Douglas, Steve McLendon

4. #12 21 points

Joe Namath (1 AP1, 5 PB, ROH, HOF, 2 PW, SB)

There really wasn't any way this list would leave Joe Willie, now would it? The franchise's leader in passing yards, TD's, and their only Super Bowl MVP. Three players wore #12 before him, and no one would wear it ever again after Namath left the Jets in 1976.

Other notables: Al Dorow

5. #75 21 points

Winston Hill (8 PB, ROH, HOF, 2 PW, SB)

Hill is one of those Jets that has gone a little under the radar in retrospect. No Jet has made more Pro Bowls than this left tackle, who played 15 years of pro football. Of his eight Pro Bowls, he made 5 at left tackle and 3 at left tackle.

Other notables: Siupeli Malamala, Alijah Vera-Tucker

6. #68 21 points

Kevin Mawae (2 AP1, 6 PB, ROH, HOF, 3 PW)

One man makes this number and it's the center from 1998-2005. Credit to Bill Parcells for signing him away from Seattle, helping to turn around what had been the worst offensive line in football just two years before. Mawae led the Jets offensive line to a long string of success. Without him Curtis Martin would not have had holes so large to run through. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2019 and it was well deserved.

Other notables: Reggie McElroy, Matt Slauson, Breno Giacomini, Kelvin Beachum

7. #83 21 points

George Sauer (2 AP1, 4 PB, ROH, 2 PW, SB), Jerome Barkum (1 PB), Santana Moss (2 PW)

This one would fly a little under the radar, but it goes to show that Sauer was an underappreciated part of the Jets offense. He played just six years but made four Pro Bowls in that time. Barkum played 12 seasons with the Jets from 1972-1983, and was a steady contributor. Moss had four years as a Jet before being traded to Washington, where he would play the bulk of his career.

Other notables: Jo-Jo Townsell, Chansi Stuckey

8. #13 20 points

Don Maynard  (1 AP1, 4 PB, ROH, HOF, 2 PW, SB)

It's all about one player. The late great Maynard was one of the most prolific WRs in NFL history. Over 11,000 yards and 88 touchdowns and he caught two pivotal catches in the 1968 AFL title game that propelled the Jets to Super Bowl 3. Without him, Namath would never have been as good a quarterback as he became.

Other notables: Dave Jennings

9. #81 20 points

Gerry Philbin (2 AP1, 2 PB, ROH, 2 PW, SB), Dustin Keller (4 PW)

Had sacks been an official stat when Philbin was a player, he would have recorded double digits in four straight seasons. Tight end is not a position where the Jets have traditionally been strong, but Keller is one of the best in recent memory, as he caught 17 TDs and had nearly 3,000 yards in his brief 5-year career.

Other notables: Derrick Gaffney, Terance Mathis, Justin McCareins, Quincy Enunwa

10. #74 20 points

Abdul Salaam (2 PW), Nick Mangold (2 AP1, 7 PB, ROH*, 4 PW)

Salaam is the least heralded member of the NY Sack Exchange but he played eight seasons wit the Green and White. And for a franchise that ha a great history of centers, Mangold be the best, making 7 Pro Bowls in his 11 seasons. It's worth noting if Mangold does ever get elected to the Hall of Fame, #74 would be elevated to the #3 ranking on this list.

Other notables: Erik Howard, Ryan Young

Honorable mention: #79 18 points

Sherman Plunkett (2 PB), Marvin Powell (3 AP1, 5 PB, ROH, 2 PW)

Back to Chi-town

So three weeks ago, an old friend of mine asked me to be her date at her friend's wedding. I admit she's someone I never did date, but I have wondered what would happen if we did. And I hadn't been back to Chicago in 3 years, which was also ironically for a wedding. So I accepted. 

I left work at 2:45 on Friday afternoon and drove the 19 miles from Newport News to Norfolk Airport... which took an hour and 15 minutes. The Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel traffic doesn't start building at rush hour around 4:30 pm. No, it begins backing up around 2 pm. And there was a 3 mile backup, but it actually moved steadily and I was able to get through the tunnel in about an hour. 

I pulled into the Norfolk parking garage around 4 pm, grabbed my large brown and white stitched suitcase and headed inside. Thankfully there were no lines to speak of at the ticket counter or security, so I was able to get to my gate almost an hour before departure. 

Now the one nonstop flight looked like my best bet. Three days before, there were 14 open seats. Even the afternoon of the flight, there were still six open seats. And using my D1 pass, I was on top of the standby list. I knew there were 76 seats and once the boarding process began, I noticed there seemed like more than that many people standing around the gate. I didn't want to be negative, but deep down, I had an unsettling feeling in my gut. 

The gate agent even asked if I was Bartolo (she mispronounced my name of course) and said she'd get back to me. And then on the monitor,  there were the words... the two worst words to see as a standby passenger. 

"Boarding closed."

I had been bumped. And I knew the other flights out of Norfolk were close to solidly booked and I began to wonder if I could even make it to Chicago at all. And my bag was already on the nonstop plane, it's not like I could just grab my luggage and go home. 

I talked with my friend for nearly half an hour. She encouraged me to do what was best for me and I really wanted to make this work, but I was not about to get stuck in an airport for two days. I decided to try flying to Charlotte to see what I could do and then if it didn't work Saturday, I'd just go home. 

Now there were two Norfolk to Charlotte flights and they looked close to full. But I figured I'd try. I checked in, and saw I was down to 10 on the standby list. I had no idea why I would go down like that if I was a D1. I was really starting to think I'd go home and try flying into Philly on Saturday morning before taking an open flight to Chicago in the early afternoon. 

Well, they managed to get all the standby passengers on! I think there were 13 listed, I don't know that it was 13 people but I got a seat, 9E, which was the second row of coach. 

So I had two shots that night to make Chicago. The first flight looked more open but I was only scheduled to have a 10 minute layover. So it was going to take a quick deplaning and a short distance between gates. And it wouldn't hurt for the Charlotte to Chicago flight to be delayed for a few minutes. 

I knew the plane to Chicago was scheduled to leave at 8:12 pm from Gate B3. Late in the flight, we were told our new gate was C4. I knew i would have to pass through the main dining and shopping area where there would be a lot of foot traffic. But for distance, I knew it would be relatively short. Well, the plane landed right at 7:50, so I knew boarding had already commenced. I was even more glad I had the seat towards the front. 

The pilot did a great job to be able to get the plane right to the gate, there was no waiting for a gate to open or anything like that. It was funny that the flight attendant asked for those who were finishing their travel in Charlotte to stay in their seats so that those making tight connections could get to their gates. Well out of the 170 or so passengers, I would wager that about 160 to 165 of those passengers had connections to make, hopefully that night. 

As soon as my feet hit the tarmac, mom called. I was happy to hear from her, but knowing that I had to start running, I had to let her know this was just not the time! But as soon as I told her the boarding was about to finish for that plane, she understood and let me go. 

I had started with a steady jog as I gingerly tried to move around an old lady with a walker. As soon as there was a space, I was like Curtis Martin. I got that hole and took off down the side of the aisle! Past the admirals club, past the restaurants, past the shops, and down the incline to the B concourse.

I got to B3 and saw on the monitor that the gate agents had already started assigning seats to the standby passengers. On the board I was number 7 but a few passengers under me had their seat assignments already. I marched up to the agent and gave them my name. She said she'd passed me by long ago. I said our plane just landed give minutes ago and I sprinted to make it. Two minutes later, a couple came jogging up... they had been on my flight too. We all got our seats and as stressful as those 6 hours were, the only thing that had to be changed was Friday night dinner. Ryan picked me up and we made a plan. Instead of deep dish pizza, it was Portillo's. Big beef sandwich with cheddar, sweet peppers, and hot peppers. Nothing like it. After about an hour of hockey, it was bedtime. Well in my case, couch time. 

I woke up at 6:45 and we went to the gym for an hour. After running 4 miles the day prior, it was all lifting. I loved doing reverse squats, assisted chin ups and dips, hip abductions, these were machines i hadn't used much in 5 years. I wish I knew they had a steam room and sauna! I needed some protein and we grabbed a couple of coconut almond bliss bars. I checked the ingredients and... no chocolate.

We made a quick stop at a small farmers market in Lisle. Hahns bakery from Geneva had a stand, and it's a good thing they didn't have any of their crumb cake because it is so good. But at the market, I opened the bar up and... of course it's coated in chocolate. So I'll have to tweet them about the false advertising. 

After going back to his place, I finished packing and we drove through the pouring rain to Gino's East in Wheaton, the only remaining location in the suburbs. Jennifer arrived about 30 minutes after we did. We all split a Supreme deep dish pizza, and I left with Jennifer. She took me to her cluttered one bedroom apartment where I dropped off my luggage and then we headed out. 

She had to do some grocery shopping at Woodman's, a large, employee owned local grocery store. I walked in and I couldn't believe how much variety there was. They probably had two full aisles for frozen pizza alone. They didn't have a bread aisle, they had six aisles for breads all labeled by brands. Super impressive. 

We also took a look in their walk in liquor store. It was only then i found out that she is a big fan of IPA beers, just like me. We shared a pretty hearty laugh that we were just learning that about each other. I was interested in getting a Brickstone APA or Two Brothers Pinball Ale. But she wasn't really interested in any of that and I was not about to leave with a 6 pack so we left with nothing. 

But we did go to Brother Chimp, a new brewery in North Aurora. Decent beer, but the staff already has their stupid pride gear out. I did like the shuffleboard golf table and we spent about half an hour aiming the pucks down the sand covered board. It was fun and I got to see her competitive side, she even talked a little trash, and I didn't really mind it too much. 

By now the rain had stopped, and we began a 40 minute drive east to Oak Brook mall. We had both heard about Puttshack, a technically advanced indoor mini golf course. What we didn't know is reservations were needed. The soonest they could get us in would've been 11 pm. So there went that idea. But she did have a chance to explore Kendra Scott, her favorite jewelry store. 

But that aside, we did have dinner at Yard House. Despite the hour wait, I scored two seats at the bar. The peach iced tea was fresh and flavorful and I really liked the spicy jambalaya. It had chicken, crawfish, andouille sausage, shrimp, vegetables, and a Cajun cream sauce over linguini. 

By then we were both ready to go home. Once there, we watched an episode of 20/20, though we both fell asleep before the ending. I suggested we watch the end on Sunday. Sadly, that never came to pass. 

On Sunday morning, I made our brunch reservation at Ginger and Soul in downtown Yorkville. Jennifer had recommended it, she said it was the best

all you can eat brunch and their food was homemade. The restaurant is only open from 9-1 on Saturday and Sunday. That's right, just eight hours per week. The only time we could get in was 9 am.

We were the first table seated and they only have eight tables in their dining room. I got my oj and Jennifer got her coffee. Right away we headed up to the buffet line and it was so amazing. 

Herb and cheese frittata, thick cut bacon, thick sausage patties, cheesy hash browns, banana bread French toast, biscuits, sausage gravy, Caprese salad, cinnamon rolls, raspberry brownies, fruit salad, almond poppyseed scones, chocolate chip cookies...

Everything I tried was excellent. The bacon and sausage were so full of flavor. The French toast really had that nice banana and cinnamon flavor going. Cheeses added richness to the hash brown potatoes. Cinnamon roll was so flaky. I even took some the buttercream frosting on top and spooned it on the French toast bake and that only made it even more amazing. 23 dollars was a pretty solid deal, especially since it was unlimited portions. 

After brunch, we went to Highpoint Church in North Aurora. It's a small church in the middle of a subdivision. The majority of the congregation was white but they do have one Sista Johnson. During the entire message, the pastor couldn't go tweet sentences without hearing:

"Yes pastuh."

"Uh huh"

"Yes yes yes"

I will never knock someone with how they worship. If it's genuinely honoring to God, it's not my place to judge. But when the changing gets so distracting, it's a problem. 

And the pastor was a husky Italian guy, seemed like a good dude. But he had so much info to get in for his sermon about stress, it was like stuffing 8 pounds of stuff into a 5 pound bag. He had to speak so quickly that it was hard to follow along. He seemed stressed while preaching about stress!

Both of us were feeling the food coma and we faded in and out of consciousness. R went home and napped for about an hour. Then it was time to get ready for the wedding. I only took about 20 minutes to get ready and it was my first time wearing a black shirt and black slacks with a different color tie. I kind of like the look. 

We had to drive 45 minutes to downtown Joliet, it was the only time Jennifer would drive on the highway. I realized she prefers to concentrate when driving so rarely spoke in the car and listened to country and rock music mumble their way through poor quality speakers. 

The ceremony was held in an old church sanctuary, which was attached to a mansion. I think from start to finish, it took 20 minutes total. Now I didn't know anyone there, but the groom was Italian, so that was a good start. Cocktail hour was fine with three glasses of Merlot. I met Jennifer's friend Elizabeth, who I found to be nice but kind of socially awkward. 

After that hour, it was time for dinner. After the salad, it was bowls of mashed potatoes, overdone steamed vegetables, mostaccioli, chuck roast, sausage and peppers, and Italian dressing marinated chicken breast. The DJ did a great job with music from Lou Monte, Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Bee Gees, ABBA, John Mellencamp, Def Leppard, Brooks & Dunn, Kenny Rogers, etc. 

I was dancing, I was engaged, I was having a ball. And this was a mostly older demo wedding, there were not a lot of people dancing. It was mostly those of us at Table 5 and the really young kids who kept the energy up. 

So Jennifer wanted to leave at 8:30 to get ready for work in the morning. I didn't mind, except time started to slip and by 8:45, she basically said we had to go. I went along with it and we walked into the parking lot. Looking back at this, I don't even know why, maybe because I was singing a song or I was still in a joking mood, but she said I was getting on her nerves. Right then and there, I decided I didn't want to escalate, so I kept my mouth shut. All 45 minutes back to her place. I just went through my phone and wouldn't look at her. 

The next morning, I checked the flights. And although there were 2 or 3 open seats on the late planes from Charlotte and LaGuardia to Norfolk, I decided I didn't really want to sirens the day downtown lugging around my suitcase. There were 2 openings on the 1 pm nonstop to Norfolk so I decided to go for that instead. 

The tension between Jennifer and I didn't dissipate overnight. Around 5:45 am, she gently knocked on my door to wake me up since she needed to be back home and on her computer for work by 7:30. 

She drove me the 20 minutes to downtown Geneva. Just like the previous night, not a word was spoken. After I collected my luggage from the trunk, I told her thanks for the ride and I hope she had a pleasant day. She mumbled to me thanks for accompanying her to the wedding. I sadly said goodbye and I turned around and walked off. I really wondered what it would've been like dating her. The answer, as I learned this weekend, would've been stressful and frustrating. 

Egg Harbor didn't open until 7 am and I had arrived 20 minutes sooner than anticipated. But they let me sit down and gave me some water, only one other take was occupied at the moment. My friend Julie arrived and we chatted about anything from parents to music, 9/11, YouTube, tennis, gas prices, and what a piece of garbage Joe Biden is. 

I had to get my strawberry orange juice, there is no juice like it. And now they stated making mimosas with it, a move that is pure genius. My breakfast was a 3 egg scrambler with spinach, tomato, and Jack and cheddar cheese along with turkey bacon, breakfast potatoes and an English muffin. Julie got a plate of 3 blueberry pancakes that were about the size of a medium pizza. I think her breakfasts will be set for the rest of the week. 

She wasn't familiar with Geneva and St Charles so I guided her around, as I explored businesses that had changed and businesses that have stayed the same. Downtown St Charles had really changed, more and more buildings keep getting constructed by the river. They even added Alter Brewery at the base of one of those buildings, I wish I could have tried it when I still lived there. 

My old house hasn't changed much. I did see a couple of cat play toys inside, which we certainly wouldn't have had. And as we circled Whittington Course, I saw a Gorecki home improvement truck. I knew Miles, our longtime maintenance man, was there. So I walked up and he recognized me pretty quick. We chatted for five minutes and I was on my way.

Julie dropped me off at O'Hare around 10:45. I enjoyed our time together, it was far more relaxed than it had been with Jennifer. The nonstop was booked even but a few people missed their connection so I got my seat asking with the other three standbys. And sure I would have liked to go downtown and eat some more, but it really didn't bother me to get home before nightfall. 

Jets-Comparing Our Mock Drafts to the 2022 NFL Draft

Well, the 2022 NFL draft is officially in the books. As Jets fans, we had been waiting on this draft for four months, even before the 2021 season had come to an end. We knew the Jets were going to enter the draft with a plethora of holes and many premium picks to fill those holes. And on the GreenBean channel, we did 15 mock drafts over 4+ months to project what we would do if we were in Joe Douglas' shoes and were in charge of the draft. So let's take a look at what our tendencies and favorite players were, then figure out what our ideal mock draft would have looked like, and then compare that to what the Jets actually ended up doing on that late April weekend.

Who did we pick the most?

Our top first round selections were edge Jermaine Johnson and C Tyler Linderbaum, who were taken 4 times. There were three players we selected in the first round 3 times: Sauce Gardner, Evan Neal, Kyle Hamilton, and George Karlaftis.

By far, tight end Trey McBride was the apple of the collective Jets fan eye. We drafted him a whopping nine times out of 15 drafts. While we debated about what players and positions to select with our first round picks, there was never any question that McBride should be a Jet.  

There were five players we picked five times: Johnson, Linderbaum, K Cade York, LB Leo Chenal, LB Brandon Smith. TE Jelani Woods was drafted four times, mostly in the last month.

What positions did we pick the most?

Out of 150 total draft selections, six positions stood out from the others: RB, WR, TE, Edge, LB, and S. Here's the complete breakdown of our total selections:

15 RB

20 WR

21 TE

9 OT

9 OG

7 C

20 Edge

1 DT

18 LB

6 CB

19 S

5 K

So based off this, Jets fans wanted to walk away with a draft with several new toys for Zach Wilson and multiple new starters on last year's 32nd ranked defense. I find it interesting that we only drafted defensive tackle one time, but drafted kicker five times.

The ideal Jets fan 2022 mock draft:

Of course, we all have different opinions on what the Jets should have done in this draft. But going off of who we drafted in the mocks and what positions we prioritized, here is an idealized version of the draft without any trades, since we obviously couldn't have predicted Joe Douglas would trade up multiple times.

1st round, pick 4: Jermaine Johnson, Edge

Our position of greatest need would be addressed as soon as possible. With Adan Hutchinson unlikely to fall to 4 and a notable portion of the fanbase scared off by Kayvon Thibodeaux, this was the edge we took most often in Round 1. 

1st round, pick 10: Jameson Williams, WR

Wilson was the only WR we drafted twice in the first round.

2nd round, pick 35: TE Trey McBride

As mentioned, we drafted McBride 9 times, all of them in the second round.

2nd round, pick 38: LB Leo Chenal

Chenal was drafted five times, steadily rising up the board form the fourth round in January, and then getting taken in the second round by April.

3rd round, pick 69: S Jalen Pitre

We took safety 19 times, and we drafted 12 different safeties among those 19 pics. Hamilton was the only one drafted three times or more, so I went to who we picked twice. Pitre was the choice, as we took him in the second as well as the third round.

4th round, pick 111: TE Jeremy Ruckert

Before the Jets signed CJ Uzomah and Ty Conlin in free agency, we wanted to double up at tight end; we felt the room needed a complete overhaul save for TE Coach Ron Middleton. The Long Island kid comes home.

4th round, pick 117: RB Brian Robinson

We liked Robinson's combination of pass catching, speed, and blocking. We had an early interest in Hassan Haskins, taking him three times, but never after the month of January.

5th round, pick 146: OT Kellen Diesch

Offensive line depth is needed. We discovered Diesch late, but he came a multi-time selection, once in the fifth round then in the fourth round.

5th round, pick 163: Edge Zach VanValkenburg

At this point, it's best player available, just finding a flyer who's worth taking a chance on. We took this edge rusher from Iowa three times, certainly in part because of his cool name. In the mocks, he was taken once in the 5th round and twice in the 7th.

Who did the Jets actually draft?

1st round, pick 4: CB Sauce Gardner

No one can deny the talent of Sauce Gardner. Anyone naysaying the idea of drafting him this high would cite the premium position argument.

1st round, pick 10: WR Garrett Wilson

Although many draft pundits mocked Garrett Wilson to the Jets with this pick, we never drafted him one single time. Whenever we would go WR, it would be Jameson Williams.

1st round, pick 26: Edge Jermaine Johnson

Bullseye! We picked him 4 times of a possible 15 and while we never expected to get him this late in the draft, we got our edge rusher.

2nd round, pick 36: RB Breece Hall

Many of us were gun-shy about taking a running back this high in the draft and I was among them. But we did take Hall one time, at 38th overall on March 28. We were expecting to address this in the 3rd of 4th round, but JD saw an opportunity to trade up and he pounced.

3rd round, pick 101: TE Jeremy Ruckert

We nailed this one too. We had Ruckert going to us five times, once in the third round, and four times in the early fourth.

4th round, pick 111: OT Max Mitchell

Never once was Mitchell selected in our mocks. Our late round tackles were usually Diesch or Zach Tom or even Tyler Smith way back when before he shot up the draft boards.

4th round, pick 117: DE Micheal Clemons

Truth be told, I think we would be hard pressed to find a Jets fan who knew who Clemons was before Saturday, unless they also root for Texas A&M.

What did we learn?

We had nine picks scheduled and the Jets wound up only having seven. While the Jets did address edge and WR early as we thought they would, we also expected them to address linebacker/safety early. These positions were never addressed, as JD opted to address cornerback and running back sooner than anticipated.

So as we look back on this draft and look ahead to future drafts, we have to remember it's not so much about assigning a position to a pick. Good general managers don't necessarily address the worst positions on their team first. Rather, they figure out positions that make sense to address, rank the players who fit the roster best, and then take as many of those players as possible. 

Let's Jet!

Charleston, part 3

Mom wanted to go to a black church downtown. We got dressed nicely, drove to the crowded downtown, and... it was closed

Still a lot of churches meeting online only

We went to the First Presbyterian Church instead and it felt so much like the one I went to growing up in New Jersey

Mom had a 1pm timeshare meeting at a Hilton hotel. 

With a little bit of time for lunch, we went to North Charleston to the Tattooed Moose, which was featured on DDD. I mean I didn't know when my next chance would be to try a duck confit club sandwich.

We sat at the bar, it was mostly the brunch crowd, but wow, it was really packed. It's good thing they had a really long bar that holds about 50 people. The garage door was open so we needed our jackets to keep us warm.

So the duck club was really good. The sweetness of the Hawaiian bread really made this the perfect bread for this kind of sandwich. The duck confit was tender, though I thought it got a little overwhelmed with all the other ingredients. The bacon had a nice smokiness, and the garlic aioli was nice and strong. The smoked cheddar, lettuce, and tomato rounded it off very nicely. It's a little messy, but it was fun.

Mom got the Thanksgiving sandwich and this is an underrated gem. That turkey tasted roasted, it was not generic in the slightest. Cornbread stuffing, a little cranberry, crispy onions with gravy on the side. Thankfully, they held the mayo.

And the duck fat fries, well they're duck fat fries. What else needs to be said, other than that you've never had french fries until you've had them cooked in duck fat.

One of the funkiest atmospheres I've ever seen in a restaurant, this is a great place to go.

While mom went to get meeting, I explored King St, one of the 3 main streets of the city. The shopping is top level, akin to Fifth Avenue in New York or Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. 

Heros Donuts

Sugar n spice, one of the best I have ever had. 

Cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, ground coffee in the spice blend.

Charleston Beer Works

Met a couple of girls who had been in town for a Bachelorette party

One works for the NJ Devils

Went back to the hotel to clean up

Husk 

I had made a reservation two months in advance, during my one week in Charleston, I wanted to visit one of the more iconic restaurants in town and I was able to get a spot.

We started with the hearth baked skillet cornbread, which had the tiniest crumbles of Broadbent’s bacon. It was so hearty and satisfying, I could tell that cast iron had been covered with bacon grease! It was more of a savory cornbread, less sweet than what I'm used to, but I liked it.

We split the lettuces with cornmeal fried oysters, radishes, pickled onions, and buttermilk dressing. Six oysters are never enough! they were super crispy and nicely flavored. The lettuces were super fresh and vibrant.

For our main course, we both had the TN Beef Strip with new potatoes, broccolini, mushrooms, and jus. First of all, props to the staff for the beautiful presentation. The beef was cooked to a perfect medium, that faded light pink, and was well seasoned. It wasn't a very large portion, it was five or six decently thick cut pieces of steak, it wasn't a getting a whole steak and cutting as you go. And there wee maybe 4 or 5 baby potatoes on the plate, all of which were bite sized. I could've definitely eaten more, but I was satisfied at then end.

I was looking forward to a real southern dessert like chess pie or cobbler, but they only had two options and I believe both had chocolate, so I had to pass. I really thought they should have offered more options.

I'm not going to say I was totally blown away or it was the best food I ever had in my life. But it was southern food done with some class and I'm glad I got to go.

Back to the hotel

The Beyond Borders crowd was still there

The lobby reeked of packeted parmesan cheese

Bar was closed

Marble slab for ice cream

Got to the airport at 3:45 am. 

Bumped 3 times

I landed at Newport News around 330, drove straight to the office, and worked 4 hours before finally driving home