The Charlotte 500, Lap 85: Cajun Yarddog

Located in the Arboretum shopping center, the Cajun Yard Dog is one of my new favorites. Unfortunately, it's on the opposite side of Charlotte from my home. Fortunately, Charlotte really isn't that big - an oversized Mayberry, I've heard it called. The Yard Dog features the best blackened catfish poor boys this side of Chicago's Goose Island Brewpub. And since, lamentably, Goose has discontinued their poor boy, that would make the Yard Dog's version the best I've ever had (as Pete Townshend would say). In addition to the poor boy, the Cajun Yard Dog has a nice beer list, including New Orleans's Dixie and several selections from NC's own Boone Brewing, and a wide variety of sides for those of us who prefer something other than fries to accompany our sandwiches (although they did offer sweet potato fries, always a nice treat). For dessert, it was a chocolate pecan pie, possibly the best slice of pie I've ever eaten. Best of all was the company - some things will never change.

The Great Blizzard of 2009

I still can't get used to how a bit of snow can paralyze an entire region, even if it is something that doesn't even happen every winter. Just seems silly. That being said, I had nearly forgotten how beautiful the snow can be. It was especially nice to see the snow cradled in the tops of those tall pines that are so common in this area. Anyway, I got these two pictures on my phone and regret not having my camera or the space (they don't like it when you stop in the middle of the freeway to take pictures) necessary to capture more images of our late winter snow, the biggest news event of the winter.

The Charlotte 500, Lap 83 & 84: Asian Corner Mall

You can read a bit of the history of the Asian Corner Mall, formerly Tryon Mall, at Dead Malls dot Com. Who knew such a website existed??

I don't have any pictures of the mall itself - there really wasn't much to get pictures of. Maneuvering through the parking lot would have been easier in a Moon Rover; I don't think it's been maintained since the original pavement was laid decades ago. And the mall itself was dirty and run down. Still, there are a couple stops worth making.
Lap 83: Rolls at Hong Kong BBQ - These large, soft rolls, which taste like Hawaiian bread, are stuffed with various Chinese "things" (the appropriate word escapes me at the moment), such as Chinese bbq, chicken curry, peanut, and coconut. The coconut roll, which made a tasty breakfast the next morning, is pictured, but they all look the same, as you might expect. Very appetizing, once you get past the carcasses of roasted pigs and ducks and various other critters hanging on hooks, or, even, sitting on one of the dining tables. Carry out might be the best option.

Lap 84: International Market - Featuring a wide array of ethnic groceries, mainly Asian, this is a fascinating market to walk through. It's crowded and chaotic, but the food and drink options are astounding, and sometimes kinda gross.

Nothing, Really

There's just too much going on to say much. Sure, there are many things I'd like to say, but there's so much else to do and think about. Maybe, some day soon, I'll post something useful, or semi-interesting, again. Keep checking back.

We Proved 'em Wrong

The Charlotte 500, Lap 82: The Horse Lap

I forgot one thing from Tryon Street that I meant to include with the last post. There are actually a number of things on Tryon that will eventually be added, but this is the one I've got the pictures for right now. It kinda speaks for itself - you hop in the carriage, the horses start walking...I think you get it.

The Charlotte 500, Lap 79 - 81: Tryon Street History

Tryon Street is the main drag of Uptown Charlotte. Actually, Tryon runs through the entire city from southwest to northeast, and might be the only road of such length that doesn't change names four times on its way through town.

Anyway, in Uptown, there are three points of historical interest memorialized on Tryon Street that make up the next three laps on my list.

Lap 79: Every now and then, an event so momentous occurs that everyone knows exactly where they were when they heard the news. I imagine that every American, North or South, alive in April 1865 forever remembered when they heard about the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Thanks to this marker in the sidewalk outside McCormick and Schmick's, you can stand where Jefferson David stood when he learned the news.

Lap 80: The Final Surrender. Just down the street, there is another marker identifying the location of the final meeting place of the Confederate cabinet, where Joe Johnston's surrender of the last major rebel army was authorized.

Lap 81: Charlotte was Country when Country wasn't..., well, when Country just wasn't: Some histories say the modern Country music and Bluegrass movements began in Charlotte. Of course, most major cities south of the Mason-Dixon line probably make the same claim. There is no denying, though, that the father of Blugrass, Bill Monroe, began his recording career in the Southern Radio Corporation offices on Tryon Street in 1936. We've got this marker to prove it!

2008 Reading List

When I started this blog, I intended to post reviews of all the books I read. That lasted for approximately one book, with a few more reviews scattered over the months. So, to make up for that I thought I'd post a list of all the books I read in 2008, with my recommendations or criticisms included. And even this is late, since I intended to post it while watching football on New Years Day. Oh well...life gets in the way sometimes, but here's what I read in 2008.

1) Isak Dinesen - Out of Africa - Boring
2) William C. Davis - Look Away: A History of the Confederate States of America - I'm not sure the author's analyses were always backed up by the facts, but this was a very educational book.
3) Omar Khayyam - The Rubaiyat - Don't know why this is a classic.
4) E. B. White - Stuart Little
5) Eugene O'Neill - Long Day's Journey Into Night - Repetitive and not very interesting.
6) Edmond Rostand - Cyrano de Bergerac - Silly.
7) Thornton Wilder - Our Town - I don't remember a thing about this book.
8) Cait Murphy - Crazy '08 - Great book, capped by the Cubs (the Cubs!!) winning the World Series. And, it's a true story!!!!!!!!!!!!
9) Theodore Dreiser - An American Tragedy - Very long, but very good.
10) Maureen Ogle - Ambitious Brew: The Story of American Beer - Informative and fun look at the American beer industry, tilted a bit too heavily, at times, toward Anheuser-Busch.
11) Edward Steers, Jr - Blood on the Moon: The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln - Just the right amount of detail about a story I thought I knew.
12) Bill O'Reilly - Who's Looking Out For You - Typical conservative trash. O'Reilly can do better than this.
13) Kemp P. Battle - Great American Folklore - Much too long.
14) Joel Chandler Harris - Uncle Remus: His Songs and Sayings - Most disappointing book of the year. I thought I would like this, but it wore thin really fast.
15) Patrick F. McManus - They Shoot Canoes, Don't They? - Not very funny, which for a book of humor is not good.
16) Louis L'Amour - Last of the Breed - Horrible writing, stupid characterizations, awful book.
17) John Koessler - Names of Israel - Surprise book of the year - every section taught some good lessons.
18) Charles Frazier - Cold Mountain - Great story, but with arrogant writing.
19) John S. Carbone - The Civil War In Coastal North Carolina - I don't normally like topical history with such a narrow scope, but this was okay.
20) Jay Winik - April 1865 - Excellent history.
21) Thomas Keneally - American Scoundrel - Disappointing. Good, but disappointing.
22) Shel Silverstein - Where the Sidewalk Ends
23) Fred Saberhagen - The Lost Swords: The First Triad - Typical fantasy, these three books have been on my shelf for about half my lifetime and now I can finally get rid of them.
24) Fred Saberhagen - The Lost Swords: The Second Triad
25) Fred Saberhagen - The Lost Swords: Endgame
26) Booker T. Washington - Up From Slavery - Good stuff and easy to read.
27) Richard Bachman - Blaze - From Stephen King's alter ego, this book was surprisingly great.
28) Alexander Solzhenitsyn - One Day In the Life of Ivan Denisovich - Outstanding. I can see why this is a classic.

Walking Soundtrack # 12

1) Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain - Willie Nelson: Willie Nelson wrote a lot of great songs, but he didn't write this one, which was his first #1, and, in my opinion, the best song he's ever sung.
2) Tear Stained Letter - Johnny Cash: Forgettable song.
3) Stages - ZZ Top: My favorite song by ZZ Top, it really gets me fired up, so it is good for walking.
4) Heaven and Hell - John Entwistle: Live recording of one of Entwistle's Who songs. Too bad he never answered these questions for himself.
5) Where the Soul Never Dies - Willie Nelson: Interesting how these last two songs were shuffled together. I'm sure there's some great spiritual analysis to be done, but I'm not up to it.
6) I'm One - The Who with Eddie Vedder: One of the Who's best songs, it sounds like it could have been written for Vedder.
7) Top Jimmy - Van Halen: Great song to get you moving. It cooks and swings, just like Top Jimmy.
8) Death of a Clown - The Kinks: I'm almost afraid to know what this song is about, but it's one of my favorites, so it helps me keep up a good pace when I exercise. Otherwise, it's not exactly a working out kinda song.

The Charlotte 500, Lap 78: eeZ Fusion Grille & Sushi Bar

We don't do sushi, but we will definitely go back to eeZ Fusion for the other delicious selections on their menu. The Spicy Thai Cucumbers we had as an appetizer were incredibly good, and apparently healthy as well! The Cashew Chicken and the Mongolian Beef were both excellent, and many of the other choices sounded like they'd be fun to sample on our next visit. Located in Birkdale Village in Huntersville, eeZ is an easy walk to the movie theater, a couple ice cream shops, a Starbucks, and all kinds of other things that would make it a convenient date spot. We will be back to eeZ, and we recommend it to anyone passing near Birkdale.

The Charlotte 500, Lap 77: Cafe Monte

Cafe Monte on Fairview Rd in Charlotte is part bakery and part restaurant. We visited on New Year's Eve, arriving just in time to toast the New Year in Paris (6PM local time). While the highlight of the meal was the soup - I had an amazing Tomato Bisque, while Tiff went with the French Onion - the entire meal was outstanding. We both went with our French favorite, Steak Bearnais with pommes frites (french fries) for the main course, and we both were both were far too stuffed to even think about dessert. But we weren't too full to hope for a return visit, some time very soon, to try something else from the menu - crepes, quiche, sandwiches, even pizza. Serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner, Cafe Monte is arguable the best restaurant we've found in Charlotte so far. And you gotta try the soup!!!

Meaningless 2009 Firsts

New Year's Day is a day for being lazy, getting fat on high-cholestorol foods (Scottish eggs and bacon-wrapped water chestnuts, for example), while watching a lot of football (this year we get the added bonus of a great NHL matchup between the Blackhawks and Red Wings). In other words, I'm sitting around doing almost nothing, so I might as well post some mindless observations while I'm at it. The first thing that came to mind was to post a few 2009 firsts, so here are ten of my firsts for the new year.

1) First thing I read in 2009: The January 1st page on my Page-a-Day calendar.
2) First TV: Iowa stomping South Carolina in the Outback Bowl.

3) First song listened to: "There's a Tear in My Beer" by Hank Williams.

4) First drink, other than water: Orange-Tangerine juice (Tropicana, I think).

5) First meal: Butterscotch chocolate chip pancakes.

6) First book read from: The Virginian by Owen Wister.

7) First potty break: Approximately 3:30 AM.

8) First noise heard after waking up: Meeeooowwwwww at the closed bedroom door.

9) First e-mail received: Monster job updates (I'm not looking, by they way).

10) First phone call: Hasn't happened yet.

Walking Soundtrack # 11

1) I Don't Want To Wait - Paula Cole: This is one of those girl power songs, rock version, from the mid to late 90s. I don't really know what the message was, but I'm sure it was something important.
2) I'm Crying - Stevie Ray Vaughn: Standard blues from Stevie Ray, this song has exactly the same tune as "Pride and Joy" which is the most famous song from SRV's most famous album.
3) I'm Free -The Who, live in 1989: From the Tommy 2oth anniversary tour in 1989. It's hard to believe 20 more years have gone by.
4) Radar Love - Golden Earring: This song, along with Twilight Zone, are, I'm willing to bet, the only two songs from Golden Earring that 99% of music fans can name. Both are great songs, but I don't know of any others from this band.
5) Father and Son - Johnny Cash, with Fiona Apple: You probably couldn't pick two more disparate personalities to sing a song, and, appropriately, it sounds like they're singing two completely different songs. I can't decide if I like it or not.
6) Song For My Sons - Sara Groves: I can't quite identify with this song, so, even though it has an upbeat rhythm that is ideal for walking, it kinda drags me down.
7) Cryin' Game - Sara Evans: This song is pretty standard "girl country" (my name) - it's not a bad song, but not all that great.
8) Waterloo Sunset - The Kinks: The best song, in my opinion, from the Kinks in their long and distinguished history. I once read that this song was "impossibly perfect" and that seems an appropriate description.
9) Nightmare # 71 - Larry Norman: One of the best songs from "The Father of Christian Rock."
10) Eminence Front - The Who, live in 1989: One of the Who's last hit songs, Eminence Front has a funky beat that is perfect for a nice brisk walk.

Walking Soundtrack # 10

1) Under My Car - Mazzy Star: "Saw you laying under my car" - that's the first line of the song and one of the only lines I can understand. A lazy, sleepy song, but I like it, so it's good for walking.
2) See Me, Feel Me - The Who: Part of the big finale to "Tommy" with lots of repetition, which helps keep a good pace.
3) The Time of My Life - David Cook: Last year's American Idol winner, David Cook released, or was forced to release, this song, which is really just a string of cliches set to music. What can I say, it was free.
4) Dedicated Follower of Fashion - The Kinks: This is one of those weird '60s songs that you just can't help liking.
5) Viva Las Vegas - Elvis Presley: Umm, not much to say about this one.
6) Boy Who Wouldn't How Corn - Alison Krauss & Union Station: This is a great piece of Americana music, with a great story and some wonderful instrumental work by Union Station.
7) Fallen Angel - John Entwistle: A song about how society tears down the idols it sets up, I think. Being politically-minded, it makes you wonder how far our next president will fall in the public mind over the next few years.
8) Goin' Mobile - The Who: This is one of the best of the obscure Who songs, from Who's Next.
9) Why Can't This Be Love - Van Halen: Possibly the ultimate power ballad of the '80s, this song helped cement Van Halen's reclassification from Heavy Metal to Hard Rock. Any band that released this kind of song can't be considered heavy metal, can it?
10) Who Are You - Stereophonics: A cover of what has become the Who's theme song. The vocals are a bit strained, but otherwise it's not a bad effort.
11) I Shall Not be Moved - Johnny Cash: This hymn was appropriated by the civil rights movement, and it's politicization has caused it to lose some of its strength. Still, not a bad song.

Walking Soundtrack # 9

This one is short. From inside I could see the beautiful sun, warm and inviting, but I couldn't see the wind blowing 30 miles an hour from all four directions at once. I just couldn't complete my full walk, which proves, I think, that you can take the boy out of Chicago and take the Chicago out of the boy.

1) Into the Great Wide Open - Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers: I know it's not original to this song, but the line "rebel without a clue" has always made me smile.
2) South Australia - The Pogues: Festive and raucous, this song is a good one for exercise, even in the wind. Is it punk, is it traditional Irish? I don't know - sometimes they seem like they could be the same thing.
3) Feels So Good - Chuck Mangione: One of the most appropriately named songs of all time. I remember driving down Forest Hills Rd, an old fire road in the Nicolet National Forest, with my sister Barb when she put this cassette in the radio. Even on the most blustery days, this song will always remind me of blue sky, warm, fresh air blowing through the open windows, and those beautiful Wisconsin trees.
4) Stages - ZZ Top: Just good old fashioned, but not too old, rock and roll from one of my favorite bands. They just let it rip on this song.
5) Naked Eye - The Who, live at the Isle of Wight 1970: This is, in my 'umble opinion, one of the 'oos best songs. They never quite got it right in the studio, but this is one time they nailed it on stage. It's kind of a rambling song about something or other.