On Friday we took another trip up 127 and went to Kretzers, a favorite of all ours.  Mike drove so I could relax and look out the windows.
I went up with the intent to order catfish special and I stayed with the plan except I got baked beans instead of fries in an effort to eat less fried food.  Lisa went with an italian beef while Mike got pulled pork and Debbie also got the catfish special.
The catfish was great as always and the slaw was better than I remembered.  The beans had a sweet taste and had pork in them, always a nice touch.  They were a little thick and really just okay.  I should have subbed the onion rings  Lisa surprised me getting the italian beef since the last time we were there it she said it was dry.   This time was no different, she thought it was dry again.  I tasted it and it seemed okay to me but I just had a little bite of the meat.  The last couple times we've been there Debbie liked my catfish and she finally got it and loved it.  Mike devoured his BBQ so it must have been good.
After we left we managed to avoid the Blue Room and decided to stop at Julz Joint in Nashville.  It's a nice old looking bar and grill stuck in the downtown area.  The bar was really nice and had a lot of character.  They had some taps but I didn't care for any of them.  Lisa had gone and checked out the beer case and the had Ultra Amber Max.  We used to like Ultra Amber so I gave it a try.  Gluten free beer taste worries me but this wasn't bad so Lisa ordered one too.  They had the typical bar food and is worth a trip up to check it out.
We managed to avoid pickle shots on the way home and stopped at Big Muddy.  They had Red Devil red on tap so that's what we had except Mike had peanut butter cup beer.  I walked over to look at a shirt and a guy mentioned the Packer shirt so I started talking with him and his group and it became a really good time between the two tables.  The are from the Springfield area and had come down for a week.  They love the area and do it every year.
As we say "it was a good day tater".

Wednesday caught a break with weather as thunderstorms had rolled through the area overnight and dropped the temp down, it was still nice and muggy though.
We played our first game on the middle court against Mag 4.  They only had three players so Clay asked if his two young sons could each roll one ball.  No brainer, they appeared to have a blast and damn near beat us.  The kids made just enough good throws and Clay picked up from there and the game went back and forth before we finally finished it off 9-7 in a game that could have gone either way.
In the second game we moved to the first court and took on Boccelism.  Another game that went back and forth for a few throws until they hit a three point frame and took a two point lead.  We tied it up with a two point frame of our own.  With the score tied 6-6 they got the next point and moved ahead 7-6.  We had the point but one their last throw they hit it and their ball ended up next to the pallino.  Our third ball looked good but caught a ball in front.  With our last shot we wanted to hit their ball which would have gave us three points but if we pushed the pallino it could have given them the two points they needed.  Once again we did what we had to and moved their ball and got three points for a 9-7 win.
Big step for our team winning two close games and playing pretty well in both of them.  Other than one three point frame we managed to stay away from giving the other team a big frame.

My plans to grill pork steaks was detoured by the heat yesterday so we decided to go out and eat.  We chose Bennies mainly because I wanted the special so off we went.
I stayed with the plan and got the special of chicken fried chicken, mashed potatoes and green beans.  I almost switched out the green beans but decided against it.  Lisa got Rigatoni Bolognese and no that's not rigatoni with bologna but an italian sauce.  The chicken fried chicken was good but nothing special.  The mashed potatoes were just okay but for some reason the green beans tasted really good.  I don't normally get green beans because there usually not very good but I was glad I did.  Lisa's really liked her dish and taste I had was very good.

Murphysboro does it again.  Yesterday was the 2nd annual Big Muddy Monsterfest on a very hot and humid day.  We had to pry ourselves out of the air conditioning but manged to get going.
We went to Big Muddy Brewing for a couple Red Devil Red beers, our favorite there.  We ended up talking with two other couples, one from Edwardsville and the other from Morganfield Ky.  They'd both just decided to come to Big Muddy because they really like the place.
We then went to Brews Brothers to hear the Swamp Tigers for the first time in a long time.  We got there and were shocked that there wasn't much of a crowd.  I guess the heat and street nationals in DuQuoin were the main reason for the sparse crowd.  We hadn't planned to stay very but the music was inside and had a nice conversation with another couple we knew.
While we were there we ordered some fries from Tater Headz to try out.  I'd been wanting to check them out for a while but it just hadn't worked.  We got the plain fries done extra crispy and with extra salt. The fries were good and had plenty of salt on them but could have used a little longer in the fryer to crisp them up.  I didn't care for the cheese sauce that came with them.
We were both ready to get something to take home and eat so we ordered a pizza from Cummares and headed home after a very good day.

I had a dermatologist appointment and was expecting to have some spots scraped and burned but the doctor decided against it so I was feeling a lot better than expected.  To celebrate we went to Bottoms Up.  It's been a go to place of ours for a long time.  In the past we normally got four piece fried chicken all white but lately it's been just chicken wings.  Their wings are my favorite anywhere plus they'll usually give us all flats, our favorite.  We normally get garlic parm on the side for them.  If you like wings this is the place to go.

In the midst of another heat wave Roll'em If Ya Got'em took the to courts last night.  We played back to back at 6 & 6:30, got to love that plus both games were on the middle court. 
In the first game we played Dark Side of the Pallino who not only was in first place on Wednesday but was sitting in first place overall in all leagues.  We got on them quick with a two point frame followed by a couple one point frames and a 4-0 lead.  We upped that to 6-0 then 7-0 then finally finished them off with a two point frame and a 9-0 win.
Holly Ballz had finished their game even faster so we played them as soon as our game was over.  They jumped on us right away with a four point frame but then we settled down and played a little better but they still kept making shots or knocking us out and we never could overcome the start losing 9-1.
We're starting to put it together some but still have a ways to go.

Willie Mays died yesterday at age 93, another boyhood hero gone.  He's the reason I've been a Giants fan since the 1960's.  Such a great player and seemed to be a really nice person.
My dad wasn't really a baseball fan so I didn't really follow closely.  One day Mike and Tom's dad was pitching to them a probably a couple other kids.  They all wanted to be Musial, Mantle and such.  I didn't know any players so I asked him who's good and he said Willie Mays so that's who I pretended to be.  The rest is history as they say and I thank my lucky stars he didn't say Ernie Banks. 
Anyway I've been a Giants fan ever since that day almost 60 years ago.  I've made it through the numerous bad times and the great times as a Giant fan.  The worst time was the 94 player strike that turned me off on baseball for quite some time but I still followed the Giants, just not as closely.  Luckily St Louis got ride of that monstrosity of a stadium and built new Busch and I really wanted to see it and that got me back into baseball just in time to see the best time for me being a Giants fan.  The 3 in 5 championships were the highlight.
Anyway I knew it was going to happen soon but it still hurts to lose another part of you childhood.  Say Hey Willie.

Debbie was off yesterday so we decided to do a little roadie.  We talked about Waterloo but decided we needed an earlier start.  After several other options were discarded it came down to Kretzers or Swamp Tales with Swamp Tales being the winner.  I didn't want to drive so Mike took the wheel.
Swamp Tales has a really interesting interior with a couple stuffed alligators and some other animals around the interior.  Mike and Debbie are becoming addicted to ettouffee like we are so they got that and fries while we went with etouffee and gumbo.  We also got an appetizer of fried gator. 
The gator came out and then shortly behind the food came out with both being good and hot.  As opposed to the other time we were there the waitress was very attentive.  The etouffee was really good but not up to Broussards level but ahead of Broadway Bayou.  The gumbo was a different story, it was a lot better than the other time we were there but still not a fan of the gumbo to rice that they use there.  We probably won't get it again.  The fried alligator was once again on point.  Debbie had never had it and she said she liked it but only had a piece or two. 
When we gone by Blue Room coming up it was packed with something going on outside.  We wanted to stop and by the time we came back the outside had calmed down.  The inside was another story.  We ordered some drinks and then saw they had hush puppies so they got ordered too.  When the cook brought them to our table I asked what was going on and her response was it was f&&king nuts in there so the day was deemed f&&king nuts day.  We were lucky to find a table away from the main noise but it was still loud and hard to hear.
After we left we opted to head on home or at least a place in town.  Brews Brothers was the first choice but then pickle shots got mentioned and it was Da-Nite, I also mentioned Big Muddy but pickle shots won out.  Several pickle shots were done but I only had two, I'm just not a big shot guy.  While we were there Mike tumped over an almost full drink and then had another small spillage.  We also heard and bang and knew it was a wreck so we went out.  Everyone was okay but I'm getting tired of these things happening around us.
Over f&&king nuts day was a great time.

We were getting ready to head down to the courts yesterday when I get a call from Fred saying Money Balls is forfeiting their games.  One of those games was against us at 6:30 so we're hoping that our 7:30 game would get started early. 
We couldn't be that lucky, they also had a 7pm game.  When we went down to the courts No Beer, No Bocce was playing their 7 o'clock game early but ended up in a marathon.  I filled in on Usual Suspects and we played a complete game quicker than the game we were waiting on.
We finally got started on the middle court.  We played competitive for the first half the game but they made shots when it counted and we ended up losing 9-5.  We had our chances but they scored some two point frames where all ours were one point frames.  We didn't play anywhere close to what we had the previous week.

Our summer league started up last night with us playing 6&6:30 games, I'd take this every week.  We only have 10 teams on Wednesdays for the summer so no 8pm games and only one 7:30 games, love it.
In the first game we took on Muddy Rollers and Debbie was on fire.  The game started close with both teams exchanging single points but then we took off.  Debbie and Lisa started putting the first ball on or close to the pallino.  Me and Mike came through when needed and we started string together frame after frame of good throws finally winning 9-3.
In the second game we played Bertha's Ball Handlers.  One good thing about back to back games is you don't sit long and there's a good chance you'll stay on the same court.  The game started the same back and forth but then they started making one great throw sometimes on the first throw, sometimes on the last.  In a reverse of the first game they strung together frame after frame and beat us 9-3.
The first game was probably the best all around game we've played with this lineup.  The second game wasn't as good but wasn't as bad as the score in the score indicated.  An encouraging start to the season.

Because of various reasons we didn't get to eat much until late afternoon.  By this time we just decided to go out but stay local.  We finally decided on El Jalisco.
I tried not to fill up on chips and salsa but had a several, just not as many as usual.  I ordered the mara y tierra while Lisa ordered carnitas.  I got all rice instead of beans.
The food arrived quickly and was very hot.  On the mara y tierra it says great to share and I see why, it was gigantic.  It had fish filet, shrimp, chicken, steak and chorizo all on a bed of peppers, onions and tomatoes along with the rice mentioned before and a salad which is just lettuce and cheese with sour cream on top.  I wish I would have ordered without the sour cream.  Lisa's carnitas are roughly Mexicos answer to pulled pork.
I tasted the carnitas and they were very tender and good but I'll take pulled pork.  I was surprised that my favorite thing on my plate was the fish.  It tasted like it was blackened or something similar.  The shrimp was my next favorite followed by the chorizo.  These three were so good.  Both the chicken and the steak were on the dry side but still decent.
Lisa really liked hers and said she'd get it again.  I doubt I get mine again not because of the taste but because of the size.  Between the two we brought home a lot of left overs.

Catching up from the weekend.
For some unknown reason I decided on Chili's on Friday.  We wanted to stay close to home and off we went for maybe the most nerve racking trip to Carbondale I've ever made.  First on new 13 two cars were playing speed up then slow down, one in each lane so it was an aggravating trip over.  When we got to the stop light on Oakland we got to see a car run a red light and get hit by a car that was maybe going too fast.  Luckily no one was hurt.  Lastly when we were turning into the frontage road to go to Chili's the two cars in front of us unexpectedly came to a full stop.  I didn't come close to hitting them but it added to the nerve racking trip.  
On to Chili's, I ordered a brisket burger with fries while Lisa went with a burger with a salad.  Both sandwiches were big, neither of us could finish them.  The brisket burger was surprisingly good.  I say surprisingly because I don't expect a lot out of chain restaurants especially with BBQ.  The fries were just okay, nothing special.
After the bocce tournament on Saturday we went to Quatros.  We ordered a small meateaters and split a large dinner salad.  It seemed strange having a small but it was good.  What I really wanted to mention is the salad.  It was a very good size and really good especially the french dressing I got on mine.  We need to this more.

Playing as Game of Throws we took the bocce courts yesterday to defend our title from last year.  We were at full strength this year with Lisa replacing Ted.
We played the first game against Teds son and daughter and spouses on the first court.  For a team that hadn't played much they were pretty good but we pulled away and won 9-5.
In the second we stayed on the first court and played Silkworm with a couple of just graduated wrestlers playing along with Bob and Mike from Big Muddy Monsters.  We started out decent but about halfway through we hit a will and they took advantage losing 9-7.
We played the third game on the middle court against the Raymond, Angi and their two kids  With a win we would get in a roll off for the final playoff spot.  They hadn't played in a while but are planning on getting in to it.  We managed to pull off the win and get a chance to advance.
I haven't been playing well and Mike has been wanting to try the roll off so no problem.  His shots weren't bad but not good enough so our day was done.

Our plans to visit Bay City, Elizabethtown and especially Cave In Rock were put on hold by a certain person (Debbie) and her fear of cicadas.  We discussed several places before settling on a visit to Cape.  We hadn't been there in a while so it was time.
We got off to a late start due to a person (me) getting behind shopping for the weekend.  We still got down there early enough so we decided to stop at Katy O'ferrells for a drink.  It's long been one of our favorites and me and Lisa really like the house red there.  For a Friday afternoon the place wasn't really happening so we left after a drink or two for Mike.
Next stop was Broussards for some cajun food.  Me and Lisa decided to split etouffee and got an extra salad with house dressing.  Mike and Debbie split etouffee, gumbo and red beans and rice along with salads.
The house dressing was different than it used to more, it looked like cheese sauce where before it was much thinner.  It was real good though as was the salad and the croutons are excellent.  Maybe because we hadn't been there in a while but the etouffee was spectacular tasting.  I'm ready to go back and get some more.  I'm still amazed that Mike, who is a picky eater, likes the etouffee especially with it having crawdads in it.
After a great meal we went down to Port Cape for a couple drinks before heading home.