A Peek at Life as a Natic

Friday night we went with Dan, Bobby, and Kara to Gordon Biersch down in Buckhead.  Gordon Biersch is a brewpub / restaurant chain that has a few locations in the Atlanta area.  I had been wanting to try it out for quite some time but my fear of lagers has kept me away.  Well I was wrong.  I should have gone there years ago.

I am a big ale person and love my dark, bold, thick beers.  Since most of the American popular beers are lagers, I have built up a large amount of hate for this type of beer.  I should have opened up sooner.  These beers at Gordon Biersch were quite good!  They are not as heavy or as bold as the stouts that I typically like, but they were still quite tasty smooth and flavorfull.  I am a fan and will be sure to give more lagers a shot when out drinking at Taco Mac or similar bars.  I will certainly look for ales first, but I will not turn my head to the lagers anymore.  Well most of them that is.  I still dont care for the typical American Lager, but the darker more complex styles were good. 

The food there was also very good.  We had some hiccups with our order but they were polite and very quick to resolve them with no questions asked.  The management staff came by to make sure all was corrected as well which was nice.  Without a doubt, I would return to Gordon Biersch.  I really enjoyed it!

I would certainly recommend you give them a shot!  We loved it!

Last Saturday we made plans to leave the kiddos at home and head out for an adult dinner at Maggianos in Buckhead.  Alisha’s birthday and Ryan’s birthday are only a day apart and we always make an annual trip to Maggianos – and this year was no exception.

In the afternoon I had tried to get all of the guys together for a good game of football.  We had about 10 people that were in but most of them backed out due to a little rain.  Four of us showed up and we said “screw it, lets play”.  We played for a while just as a QB and one receiver taking turns trying to make it into the end zone.  It was fun on its own, kept us active, and made for a good time.  We were soaked, but it was still so worth it.  Afterwards, we headed over to Taco Mac for a quick beer and then headed home to get ready for dinner later in the evening.

We made plans to leave little Preston with Alisha’s mom and head out with friends.  Bobby and Courtney came over to our house and we headed out to Buckhead to meet up with Mike, Aubree, Ryan and Andrea.  We had an excellent dinner and had a great time.  It was very nice to see everyone again and as always the food was spot on.

Alisha has been wanting to stay active so that we she asked me last week if I wanted to go to Athens on Saturday night.  Are you kidding me?  Of course I want to go to Athens on Saturday night!  Bobby was in for the ride in a heartbeat.  I asked Hector and Reagan to join as well as Reagan still has never been out there and she was actually quite interested in going this time!  She has been wanting to come along but being pregnant and not able to drink has deterred her thus far. 

We had Alisha’s mom watch Preston for the night and we headed off with Bobby, Dan, Hector and Reagan out to Paradise City; I mean Athens.  We headed to Terrapin, as always and enjoyed some great local brewery beers and then over to Copper Creek for some excellent dinner.  Dinner and drinks were great but man was it FREEZING.  It was in the teens in Athens and unfortunately Copper Creek’s heating system was not working so we froze.  LOL.  Hell, it was still worth it.  We then headed over to Trapeze for a few more drinks and hung out.  By then we were cashed in.  We are old now but we still had a great time.  I Love Athens!!

I am so glad you came Reagan.  I hope that you had a good time and I look forward to you being able to come when you are able to enjoy it more!  Little Preston did well with his Grandma at home.  He slept and ate well and was very easy to care for while we went out.

On Friday night we headed into the city to check out a brew pub that I had been keeping an eye on with some of our friends.  It was called Max Lagers which was located right by the SunTrust building in downtown Atlanta. 

We went down with Bobby and Dan to grab some dinner and drinks and met Andrea and Ryan there.  We had a great time just talking it up but I will say I was not impressed at all with the beers.  I felt as though they were very watered down.  It was almost like good beer Bud Light style…I don’t know… there was absolutely no beer taste there.  Let’s put it this way.  We all know Alisha hates beer…. she actually liked this. 

I dont know if we had a bad batch or something, but it was no good in my book at all.  We were one of three tables on a Friday night and that may be why.  The food was okay, nothing great really, but the service was great.  Our waiter really went out of his way for Alisha and that was really cool of him.

It was a chill night with some good company to wrap up my birthday.

Dont forget to check out our photo gallery for pictures of our Thanksgiving here

The setup

On Thanksgiving we headed over to Edwin and Geni’s house to stuff our faces like we have not eaten in 2 weeks  – ohh and spend some quality family time.  This Thanksgiving (and quite a number of  past) was about 15 minutes away at Edwin and Geni’s house.  The whole family as well as Reagan’s family all gathered for some good ol’ family time.  Geni made two turkeys, ham, rice, and stuffing.  Everyone who attended brought a dessert and a side dish to share.  We brought sweet potato casserole and s’mores brownies for dessert to add to the long list of other items that people brought. 

When we first got there we took pictures with Susan (some of which you saw in the belly album) for about 45 minutes or so.  We then headed inside to get ready to stuff our faces.  We ate and ate and ate and demolished the food plates that were setup.  It was excellent. 

After eating the guys decided to head out to Sharon Springs Park to play some football on their field before it got dark.  Man…. we are old…. and even worse…. we are out of shape.  We played on a 50 yard field and we were dying.  At least the adults were LOL.  It was miserable and great all at the same time.  As we played some of Reagan’s family showed up to watch and happened to record one play.  It happened to be the touchdown pass from Hector to me in the end zone.  Hector sat back looking for an open reciever and patiently watched for someone to break free.  He threw it to me in the back of the endzone and it was tipped by Danny / AJ and I dove for it keeping the ball from hitting the ground, bringing in the reception.  It was a great catch.  In the video it looks like it may have touched the ground.  I promise you on anything that it didn’t and Dan was in the area from the opposing team to confirm it.  As you could tell I was a little hyped up by the catch as I celebrated LOL!

After football we headed home to spend the rest of the night with the family.  We had a great time as always and loved the food till the very end.  Thanks for having us Edwin and Geni!

You may have noticed that we stopped playing BINGO quite some time ago.  I think everyone got a little tired of the food and we all got busy for a few weeks in a row and BAM! no more BINGO on Wednesdays.  Well, Alisha and I got bored and missed everyone so we decided that it would be a perfect time to get everyone back together for a hump day dinner.

I sent out an email to everyone and we got a ton of positive responses.  We initially wanted to do dinner at Chepe’s, a Mexican restaurant in the area but they could not accommodate the reservation so we moved it to Jim and Nick’s BBQ.  We had a huge table!!!  It was Joe, Carol, Dan, Hector, Reagan, Geni, Edwin, Danny, Kelly, mom, dad, Zach, AJ, Chris, Patti, Dave, Cookie, Frankie, Alisha and I. 

We had a great time getting everyone back together.  We love our family and our family friends.  They are great and make for a fun time.  We laughed, drank,  and joked and just had a hell of a time.  It was so great to see everyone again!  We will need to do it more often for SURE!

Saturday morning Alisha and I woke up and got ready so that we could make it out to North Point Mall to get some shopping done before I head out to Athens for the night.

Alisha wanted to stop by a few stores in the mall to get Preston some clothes.  I think he has more clothes than I do lol.  Afterwards we left the mall to head to Rubin Brothers to see if we could get Alisha’s rings dipped in rhodium and have them cleaned as well as check DSW to see if I could find a pair of sneakers to wear for the night.  Fortunately I was able to grab a pair and we headed back to the house.

Terrapin Brewery

I had plans to head out with Bobby, Dan, Danny, and Kelly out to Athens to hang out.  As you should know it is one of my favorite places to be so I was really excited about it.  I tried to get Alisha to come along but she just doesn’t care to be out there while she is pregnant which is pretty understandable.  We headed out at about 4:15 to Terrapin Brewery for their brewery tour.  They had their depth charge as well as their newest side project Pumpkinfest which are both awesome beers.  Unfortunately, they ran out of Depth Charge before I was able to have it there, but fortunately there was another bar that was serving it in the area.  While we were at Terrapin and a few beers deep, Danny asked me if I would be a paul bearer for his wedding LOL!!!  He had no clue it was even wrong.  I thought he was kidding, but after being called out he corrected himself and asked me to be an usher.  ha ha ha ha. 

Copper Creek Brewing Company

After Terrapin we always head over to Copper Creek for dinner and a few more drinks.  For the first time ever, they had a milk stout (my favorite style of beer) on tap as well as their pumpkin beer.  Both of them were absolutely incredible.  I want to go back already to drink them.  As always, we LOVED it there… the best food and the best beer around.  Period.  I wish we had a place like that around here.  I would trade Taco Mac for that place every single time.  It is a no brainer.  After Copper Creek we headed out to Trappeze where we called it a night.  They had the Depth Charge on tap (MMMMMM!  – Terrapin’s Milk Stout with coffee) which was our final beer and we headed back home.  It was an early night compared to our previous visits, but still great.  I love Athens!

Trappeze Pub Athens GA

If you have never had Terrapin beers, you need to.  Period.  They are a nationally recognized brewery that happens to be right here in Athens.  They have different beers for every different beer drinker.  If you are unsure which to try, ask me.  Ill give you a recommendation to meet your taste.  If you are ever in Athens, you must visit Copper Creek and Trappeze.  Both are excellent places!

On Sunday we went out with Dan, Bobby, Ted, Danny, and his girlfriend, Kelly to dinner and then out for some drinks.  I had really wanted to try out 5 Season’s Grille in Alpharetta because they are a respected brew pub in the North Metro area.  They also have some interesting food such as antelope and quail. 

We met for dinner at about 7:45.  We spent some time just talking, enjoying some great beer, and eating some delicious food.  I won’t say that it was just insanely great, but I did have an excellent antelope burger!  Some of the others were not wowed by their meal but no one was really unhappy either.  If you like good beer and some different dishes, give it a shot.  It was good.

After dinner, we wanted to go out and enjoy a few beers.  We all went to the only place to drink – Taco Mac of course.  We went to the one at 141 and regretted it.  Not because the service was poor, just that we like the staff at exit 14.  We had a few pumpkin beers and headed home.  It was a nice Sunday with good friends.  So excited we have Monday off.  4 day work weeks ROCK!

Saturday was the day that I was looking forward to for months!  Motley Crue was in town doing Cruefest 2 with several other bands (including Godsmack Drowning Pool, and Theory of a Dead Man).  Before the concert Bobby, Dan, Courtney, Hector, Kevin, and I all went out to Sweetwater Brewery to have a few beers and to try out the beer that we picked blueberries for several weeks ago called Big ol Blue Balls.  It was a great time at Sweetwater as always – until Courtney broke her sandal walking out LOL!!! 

We took a side trip to Target to get a replacement pair for her and then went into Atlantic Station to eat a quick dinner and head to the concert.  While we were out Alisha hung out with Kara to pick out the dress that they are going to get for Denae’s wedding next year.  She tried to meet up with Ash as Kevin was out with me, but schedules did not happen to match up.  We’ll catch you next week girl!  Reagan was also free because Hector was with me so the two of them did some shopping and hung out for a while.  With Reagan being pregnant, they have been spending a lot of time together and talking a lot.  Its an exciting time for both of them and it gives them so much in common to talk about!

The concert was awesome – for me at least ha ha.  Not too many others knew much Motley Crue stuff but I loved it!  They played the entire Dr. Feelgood album cover to cover.  I bet they may have been kinda bored, but whatever – it was awesome!  Aside from the music, I have never seen so much trash in my entire life.  These people must live in the woods or something.  Within 10 minutes of us getting there, two fights broke out with multiple people fighting the security staff and all kinds of crap.  It was CRAZY!  90% of the concert goers must have just come from a Meth party or something.  These people were cracked the hell out, dressed like total trash, and just nappy!  While we were there we also ran into my old boss from Publix.  That was pretty crazy too.  Hadn’t seen her in like 7 years plus. 

We got home at about midnight and spent some time talking to Alisha before we headed off to bed.  Unfortunately Courtney woke up with flu-like symptoms and left before being able to go to Andrea’s baby shower.  Hopefully she does not have the flu, but it sure sounded like it.  Alisha headed out to Douglasville to celebrate Andrea’s baby shower today while I just killed some time at the house.  I started trying to paint the nursery but unfortunately I really need another set of hands to get any of it done.  Trying to just mark off where the chair rail was going to go was nearly impossible and I just got too pissed to continue.  Another day – ugh… I really want to get it done!

We had been wanting to head back to Athens for a while and Dan being back home since graduating didn’t help LOL.  We had originally planned to head up there last weekend but we decided to push it back once I found out that Terrapin was doing a “Back to School Bash” this past weekend.  Let’s just say I am SOOOO glad that we did. 

Alisha was not fond of coming along this time as the last time she felt awkward in the bars being knocked up.  To put the icing to the cake while we were in Generals she went to the bathroom and some student whore ( ) asked why there was a pregnant woman in the bar as she walked by.  I can see why she decided to stay home.  I love when she comes with us (for more than designated driver reasons!!) and was kinda bummed she was not going to join us.  Hector, Bobby, Dan, Mike, Paul, and Rickii all decided to join and we all had a great time!

Well we pushed the trip back to Saturday and like I mentioned I am so glad that we did!  Not only did we get a special Terrapin glass (with the UGA schedule on the back BTW ) they had FOUR new beers on tap to try out including two casked beers.  I had been DYEING  for this beer (Depth Charge) to come out.  Terrapin collaborated with Left Hand Brewery for and it was on tap for the first time!!!!!  In addition, they had their new seasonal release, Gamma Ray, a casked version of Gamma Ray, and a casked Pumpkin beer.  The Pumpkin (not casked), Gamma Ray (not casked) and Depth Charge, will be available for retail purchase mid next month.  The brewery was very busy and we had a hell of a time.  We enjoyed talking, drinking, and listening to the bands play.  I met the owner of Terrapin as well as one of the brewers which was cool and enjoyed the HELL out of the Left Hand collaboration called Depth Charge.  Even those in our group that are not too fond of stouts really enjoyed the beer.  It was an excellent milk stout brewed with Jittery Joes Coffee added to it.  Perfection!  For more of my posts on Terrapin Brewery click here ( scroll past the first few posts as I mention Terrapin often ).  For more on Left Hand Brewery click here. 

After Terrapin we headed to dinner at our favorite restaurant in Athens, Copper Creek!  As always we had a hell of a dinner and some beers that are brewed on site.  I LOVE this place.  The food is excellent, the beer is excellent, the atmosphere is excellent!  After dinner we headed to The Globe and then to All Good before heading back to the house.

As ALWAYS we had an excellent time in Athens and am already looking forward to returning.  If you have never been to any of the places mentioned, I highly recommend you do.  You wont be disappointed.  If you would like some company… I’d love to join you.  As with all breweries, check the tour dates on Terrapin’s websites as there are very specific hours on specific days that they are open to the public.

On Saturday morning we woke up and headed over to IHOP in between exits 7 and 8 to grab breakfast with Mike, Aubree, and Kaitlyn.  After stuffing my fat face with far too many pancakes, hashbrowns, eggs, and bacon we headed up to see Mike’s dad.  It was great to see him doing so well.  As you may know, they are like family to me… hell, they were a second family for about 6 years of my life and I owe them lots for everything they did for me during that time and it continues all the way until now.  They are some of the most geniune and sweetest people you will ever meet and I am glad to see them all doing so much better.

After hanging out for several hours, Mike and Bree headed up to her parents house and we headed home to spend time with Envy before going out for the evening.  After spending a few hours with Envy and watching a bit of the Atlanta / Detroit preseason game, Dan came over and we headed off to Ashley and Kevin’s house for the night to celebrate Grant and Allyson’s upcoming wedding in Florida.  Alisha was invited to Allyson’s bridal shower while the guys chilled downstairs until it was over.  We had a great time.  I spent a lot of time hanging out with Allyson’s and Grant’s dad talking about everything from sports to beer to sex.  We really had an excellent time!  They were a riot!  Allyson, I love your dad… he was a ton of fun.  I have known Grant’s dad for Y-E-A-R-S now so catching up with him was equally great.

We spent the evening hanging out with many of our friends.  It was a great time and we were glad to be a part of it.  Unfortuantely, I did not grab any pictures as I was just chilling and when I did shoot some, I was using Amber’s camera.

Thanks for having us Grant and Allyson!

Dont forget to check out our photo gallery for pictures of our day with the family at pictures.neilnatic.com or here.

The New Pool Area!

This weekend was our much anticipated meeting of Justin’s new girlfriend. 

She flew in this week to spend some time with him and meet the family and Edwin and Geni had sent out invites to have the family come over and meet her as well and enjoy the great day.  We spent some time drinking, playing, joking, and just chilling.  It was hot as hell outside, but it was all worth it.  We had a great time as usual.

My Injury

Unfortunately I had an injury exiting the pool as I busted my ass hard on the new stamped concrete section around the pool.  In doing so, my big toe dragged across the concrete leaving me without a chunk of skin.  Yeah – it hurts so badly!

Dont forget to check out our photo gallery for pictures of Brick Store and Sweetwater at pictures.neilnatic.com or here.

The Group

Wow!  What another great Saturday with friends and family!

Phil, Krystle, Hector, Reagan, Bobby, Danielle, and Dan all met at my house in the morning to head down to pick up Amber and Jason before heading to lunch in Decatur.  As you may know, I am in love with Brick Store Pub and this was the perfect opportunity to head down there for drinks and some grub.  We got a table upstairs near the Belgian bar and had a great time talking, laughing, drinking, and eating some great food.  Everyone else seemed to have the same opinion as I as we were leaving.  You have to love that place.  It is excellent.  If you have never been, you HAVE to go.  It is incredible with a great atmosphere, huge beer list, great food, and good prices.  A complete hit!  Check out their site here.  Here is our blog entry of our first time at Brick Store.

Great times with great friends

After Brick Store, we headed up towards Sweetwater Brewery.  As you know I am a huge fan of supporting our local breweries and fortunately we have three great breweries in the Atlanta area that make it easy to support them.  You may have read about Sweetwater Brewery on our blog here and here.  It is an excellent microbrewery with excellent beers but due to some previously tough tour hours, we never made it out to check out the brewery.  After helping out with the blueberries down at Serenbe Farms, we were told about Sweetwater’s new Saturday tour hours from 2:30 – 4:30 beginning today.  They have a live band, excellent atmosphere, great crowd, and of course excellent beer!  For $8 they give you a souvenir glass and 6 tickets to get beer each of which allows you a half pint pour.  They allow you to sample all of their year round beers and whatever seasonal beer is on tap at the time.  We had a blast talking, drinking, and hanging out with great friends.  I highly recommend you make it out to Sweetwater Breweryand encourage you even more to support your local breweries.  Sweetwater as well as the others make it easy to do so by producing beers that are nationally recongized for their excellence. 

At Sweetwater Brewery

After leaving Sweetwaterwe headed back towards the house and had everyone back over to hang out.  Hector brought some games and people played, drank, cooked, and chilled for several hours.  Being that we started the day early, everyone got pretty tired and headed home around 10:30 or so.  It was a great day and a hell of a way to start off the weekend.  If you have never been to Brick Store or Sweetwater GO!  You will not be disappointed.  I don’t get anything for bragging about these great local places.  I love great beer, food, and people and establishments like these keep Atlanta excellent! 

The taps with liquid heaven

We had such a great time today.  Thanks to all that came as well as the guy rapping about “eight ball in my corner pocket” to himself walking around Decatur.  Peace up.  A-Town down homie!  – for our not so urban readers… A-town is Atlanta. LOL

Friday morning I read that Taco Mac was releasing a new Terrapin beer at 5:00 PM.  As you know I am a Terrapin addict and I HAD to stop by and try this new beer.  It was actually being released for charity… and that is the only reason I was going (okay – I lied LOL).  After seeing this beer release, I made some phone calls to see who wanted to join for a quick Friday Happy Hour.  We had a nice crowd lol.  Bobby, Dan, Jason Lucas, Spencer, Paul, and Rickie all decided to meet up at Taco Mac in Cumming at 5:00. 

Once I got work I headed up to meet Dan at the Avenues in Forsyth.  He mentioned that some shorts were on sale so I ran up there to snag a pair.  We did some shopping with my dad and then headed over to get his haircut at Sport Clips.  I love that place, but he didn’t get the same vibe.  He was not a fan of the steam towel and head massage that they give you while washing your hair… he is crazy!  Anyway, after getting his mophair cut, we headed over to Taco Mac for a few beers.  Alisha was still out with Ryan and Anne so we took some time to grab a few beers and catch up.  Terrapin’s new beer was a double white and I thought that it was quite tasty!  A few of the others did not agree completely but I was very happy with it.  It is not a style that I would typically drink but it was good.  Light, different, good!

After grabbing three beers we headed back to the house to make dinner and chill.  Dan rode back with me and Spencer and Jason joined.  Bobby had a date so he did his own thing.  I (yes I not the pregnant one lol) had been craving IHOP all day… but apparently i could not get anyone else to join LOL.  Alisha decided that she was in the mood for french toast so I picked up stuff for that and we did french toast and chilled on the patio. 

We had a great dinner with great company and a few beers.  It was a great start to the weekend!

Dan came over this morning to finally botlle the beer that I brewed for him (Caramel Vanilla Creme Ale).  I had been meaning to do it for several weeks (okay nearly months now) but just had not gone ahead and done so.  I guess I was just dreading bottling beer again when kegging is sooo easy LOL.

I grabbed all of the bottles and got them ready to be sanitized.  We spent about 2 hours or so getting everything sanitized, adding the vanilla extract (a whopping 5 ounces of it!), and adding the bottling sugar.  The beer came out damn near perfect.  I am glad that it was a successful batch for him as after all he did pay for the ingredients LOL.  He will need to wait about 2 weeks before he can drink it, but it should be great when he does. 

For my own notes, this beer finished at a perfect 1.012 final gravity and we added 5 ounces of vanilla extract