I find it ironic that one of the most powerful hurricanes to make landfall in the U.S. was named after my sister.  The ironic part is that when the remnants of the storm passed through Murphysboro it was on my sisters birthday.

Last Saturday we went down to Bottoms Up for the first time since they'd reopened.  Wow.  They did a great job remodeling, it looked great.  I missed the beer cans and some of the other things they had around but it looks a lot fresher.
We both ordered 1/2 fried chicken white meat only and both had salads but I had slaw while the Glue went with chips.  The fried chicken was great as always, moist and tasty.  The salads weren't anything special but were solid.  I'm a fan of their slaw and I wasn't disappointed, same with the Glue's chips.
The finished part of our basement is undergoing some updating and it's been a trying experience.  One day was exceptionally trying and we ended wanting pizza.  After considering the normal options we decided on Casey's.  We used to eat it a lot before Pizza Pro came to town since the only other option was the Rome so it's been over 20 years since we've had it.  We went with the meat pizza with mushrooms instead of beef and it was ready in under 20 minutes.  More importantly it was very good and different enough from the Big Three in town to be a nice change of pace.  They also have sub sandwiches which is another thing I want to try there.

After a bye week last week Holy Balz took the court against Muddy Rollers.  In the first game we jumped out early and survived a comeback to win 9-5.
In the second game they started out fast and jumped out to a 6-4 lead.  We were unable to get very close and left a wide open court with them holding three balls.  The first two were in but the last one they somehow throw wide right and we still had life.  In the next frame they stuck their first ball close but Ian made a great hit and we capitalized with two points and making the score 8-6 them.  In the next frame they once again put their first ball close but Mick made the hit this time.  I didn't throw a very good ball but it held up and we put our last two in for an unlikely 9-8 win.

Last Friday we finally made a trip to St. Gens, really just to kind of get a feel for going there then to go a bunch of places.  We decided to focus on the old downtown area and chose Audubon Bar and Grill to start.  The building is really interesting and a portion used to be a bar and the remainder a hotel.  They had some outside tables that looked inviting but it was a little to warm to be in the sun.  We were met on the inside by a waitress who took our temperature before we could be seated.  As is our norm we chose the bar side and set in a booth.  They had six or so taps and we went with a Charleville Brewing Tornado Alley which is an amber ale.  I was ok but for some reason tasted a little hoppier than it really is.
We got an andouille sausage and mushroom pizza and an order of bacon wrapped shrimp which came with something called risotto.  The pizza was real solid but probably wasn't the way we should have gone the first time we went there.  Don't get me wrong we both liked it.  The bacon wrapped shrimp were real good, the risotto was interesting but not sure how much I really like it.  For our second beer we chose the house amber which is made by O'fallon Brewery which we both like a lot better than the first.
We then walked a few doors down to Sirros for a beer.  No drafts and it seemed like it was mainly an eating place.  We both had an Amberbock and there was a group of people from Festus who were real nice and helpful about places to go.  They told us about a place called the Dew Drop Inn but it was about fifteen minutes north of there and is for another trip.
We walked around the block to the Anvil which must be the place to eat since it still had a lot of people eating around 3pm.  It had drafts but the selection was limited.  The bartender was an interesting character who was on me when I asked to sample a draft and he kept on me the whole time.  Of course I may have made some comments too.
Our last stop was the Old Brick House which is the oldest brick building west of the Mississippi.  We were the only people there when we walked in but a couple walked in while were there to have the buffet.  No drafts there but the owner was real nice.
We made one last stop at the Point but when we walked in it was obvious they smoked in there so we left.  We had been told several times that smoking was allowed in all the bars in town so we weren't overly surprised.
The historic district in St. Gens seems very vibrant and there were a lot of people there on a Friday afternoon.  Next time we go there will probably be to the wineries in the area.

On Friday we made the trek down to Cape to pick up some bbq sauce from Academy that I can't find anywhere else.  Unfortunately they didn't have any but the Glue got some shoes she'd been wanting and were on clearance.
Classmate and coworker Debbie had recommended the Riverhouse Winery in Scott City a couple years ago so we decided to check it out.  The Riverhouse is about 15 minutes outside of Cape most of which is off the interstate.
It is really cool place with a great view of the river and you can see Thebes and it's old courthouse across the river.  There's also a train trestle that you can see the trains go across.
They have draft beer so we ordered an amber from O'fallon brewery.  I'm a big fan of ambers but they'd hopped this one up a tad too much for me.  I ordered a rueben and fries while the Glue went with a panini with fries.  My rueben was good and I really like the fries.  The Glue said her panini was good but she probably wouldn't get it again.  They also have a dipping sauce that neither of us cared for much. 
We also got a mango beer that ok but we only drank about half before decided to order a pitcher of cherry limeade sangria.  The sangria was good but very sweet and by the time we got to the end it was a bit overwhelming.  One glass would have been plenty.
Great place that we'll go back to soon, only downside is it's pricy.
On Sunday we went out to Mase's because they had fried chicken and the Glue wanted fried chicken.  When we got there they were out, Holly the waitress and bocce player said they'd got slammed earlier.   I went with catfish and the Glue went with smoked chicken.  I got a salad and baked beans for sides while the Glue got baked beans and potato salad.
The salad was just lettuce, cheese and a couple cherry tomatoes but it really hit the spot.  The catfish was solid, good but nothing special.  The smoked chicken didn't look good at all when it came out but it ended up being real good, most and not oversmoked.  The skin needed to be crispier though.  Both of us thought the beans were kind of bland and could use something to liven them up, brisket or pulled pork would really help.
It was a happening place and we saw a lot of people there we knew.  We ended up having a beer with the always enjoyable Ronnie.  While we were having that beer they had internet problems and couldn't use their card machine.  Luckily I had cash.   I also had to dust off some ancient computer knowledge and suggest resetting the machine which apparently worked.

We played Clarks 2.0 Wednesday.  In the first game we took a 5-1 lead and were in complete control but they came back and tied it 5-5.  On the next throws we couldn't get within three feet of the pallino and they capitalized winning 9-5.
In the second game we once again jumped out to a 4-1 lead but they came back and took a 6-5 lead.  This time they left it wide open and we capitalize with four points to win 9-6.
I once again left a lot of shots short which is becoming very frustrating.  It was our first time playing the late games and I didn't like it but that was a given.

We've been having our basement redone and it's been a busy couple weeks so we decided we needed a get away this past Friday.  The weather was great and we we're going back to E Town restaurant but I discovered a place in Morganfield Ky that looked interesting and had cajun. 
The name is the Feedmill and it has a very interesting menu.  As an added bonus I could pick up some Yuengling and some Kentucky Irish Red while we were there.  We got there about 12:30 and the place was crowded which usually says it's a good place to eat.
We walked into the dining area but just off of it was a bar area so we ate in the bar area.  There was also another dining or banquet room on the other side of the bar.  They didn't have draft beer but did have Yuengling so I had one of those while the Glue went with her standard Amberbock.
We decided to share a cajun trio with gumbo, crawfish etouffee and shrimp creole.  To compliment it we got a fried alligator appetizer but had it all brought out at the same time.  The gumbo and etouffee were different than we're used to and were just ok but the creole was very good.  The real star of the meal was the fried alligator.  It may surpass Blue Fish as our favorite. 
On our way home we stopped a couple places looking for beer to take home before finally stopping at Smoking Joe's to pick up a case of Yuengling.  I never saw any of the Irish Red but Smoking Joe's is a cool place if for no other reason than the name.
As we were heading home the Glue mentioned how she really wanted to go back even though the gumbo and etouffee wasn't our favorite.  She wants to try the fried chicken and for some reason thinks the BBQ is going to be good.

Other than the weather our games last night were rather uneventful.  In the first game we won 9-2 in a game that was never close.
In the second game they started out with a 3-0 lead but we ran off nine consecutive points to win 9-3.
I had trouble throwing my shots hard enough.  I'd let go and think they were good only to have them stop 2-3 feet short.
We're now 5-1 on the season.  We've played the 6&6:30 time slot each week but that changes next week.