Traffic, Evening Parade, and More Traffic

Friday Evening we made the trek to Washington, DC to take in the Evening Parade at Marine Barracks Washington. The Barracks, known also as "8th and I" are rich in history and tradition, and is called "the oldest Post of the Corps." But before we could enjoy the pageantry of the parade, we had to get there! Traveling up I-95 on a Friday evening, is an adventure to put it mildly. We finally arrived at a Northern Virginia Metro station and took the subway the rest of the way into the city.

Our first stop was for dinner and a beer at Molly Malone's, located right across the street from the Barracks. We've gone to the Evening Parade several times, and dinner at Molly Malone's has become part of our "tradition." The Irish pub fare is served quickly and is quite tasty. The beer menu is decent too. On this evening, they listed Heavy Seas Loose Cannon Hop³ IPA. This is one of my longtime favorite beers, but one that I've not had on draft in several years. I was happy to enjoy it again. It was as "juicy" and as hoppy as I remembered. My glass was nearly empty when my Fish and Chips arrived, so I treated myself to a second round with the meal.

After dinner we crossed the street to the Marine Barracks. The Evening Parade includes appearances by the U.S. Marine Band and the U.S. Marine Drum and Bugle Corps. Alpha and Bravo Companies, which make up the ceremonial infantry units of Marine Barracks Washington are present as well. Alpha Company includes the Marine Silent Drill Platoon. The silence of the audience during the Silent Drill Platoon's performance is almost as amazing as the drill team itself. Our seats this year were at the top of the bleachers, near the center, so we had a good view of the parade grounds, as is shown in Colleen's photos.

As opposed to previous years, the temperature and humidity was moderate, and a slight breeze made its presence known on occasion. The full moon rising up behind the Barrack's flag pole, added a special feeling to the evening. As an aside, that flag pole flies the flag of our Nation as it appeared from 1795-1818, with 15 Stars and 15 Stripes. Ft McHenry, Maryland is the only other location authorized to fly this flag, which inspired our National Anthem. The pageantry, precision, and Esprit du Corps of the Marine Evening Parade is a sight to behold.

Soon we were back on the Metro, heading to our car for the drive south on I-95. And what a drive it was. The never-ending construction would affect the trip home even more so than during the drive up. After spending some 30 minutes getting from three lanes down to one, we passed the paving work and the road opened back to three lanes. Only to stop again just a few miles later in order for traffic to be once again constricted down to one lane. That process took another 40 minutes. Why there is no one working for VDOT who has the common sense to keep the traffic in one lane through the entire construction zone is beyond me. Once we were in one lane, the traffic flowed below the speed limit, but it moved, and that would have been preferable to the repeated merge delays.

We finally arrived home some four hours after the parade. I had plans to be up early the next morning to go to a practice match at the Cedar Mountain Youths range. That practice session would definitely be affected by my lack of sleep. Despite the long trip, it was a fun time with good food, good beer, and an exciting ceremony. I'm sure we'll do it again.

Five O'Clock Friday: Heading Home

My replacement is here.

More Starr Hill Glasses

We headed over to Park Lane Tavern earlier this week for an unplanned, on a whim, dinner out. When we arrived, I saw a sign that they were sponsoring a Steal the Glass night. We quickly learned that the featured brewery was Starr Hill from Crozet, Virginian. Well, this was a nice surprise.

It turned out they had not one, but two, Starr Hill beers available; Double Platinum IPA and The Love Hefeweizen. As an added bonus, the IPA was the rotating cask selection. Our server quoted us the price of the beer, both with and without the glass to "steal," and we opted to pay the extra to get the promotional glassware. In what should be no surprise, I opted for the cask IPA. Colleen and Checkered Flag selected the Hefeweizen.

The Double Platinum IPA came out at just the right temperature and sporting a creamy, full head. The aroma is pine and floral hops. A herbal and pine hop profile combined with a sweet, caramel malt base make this an easy-drinking IPA. There's a pleasing "sharpness" to the taste, but it does not overwhelm. The Love is a light-bodied Hefeweizen. I didn't drink any this round, but have reviewed it previously.

More logo glassware is not something we really need more of in the house, but it's fun to have around. I claimed a Starr Hill monic pint glass at Park Lane last year and I use that frequently. I'm enough of a beer-nerd that I often try to use a matching brewery glass, if I have one. There are even a few "free" glasses I've picked up that have become favorites. Now we just need a little more cabinet space.

Strangeways Tap Takeover and STG

Up until Tuesday evening, I'd never had the opportunity to try the beers from this Richmond, VA brewery. I had been looking forward to the Strangeways Brewing Tap Takeover and Steal the Glass event at Capital Ale House for some time. The anticipation made even greater since the event had already been postponed once.

During the drive downtown Colleen and I wondered, how crowded would it be? Would we be able to get a seat at the bar? Walking in, I was shocked to see a large, and noisy crowd. And then I saw that Brazil and Germany were engaged in some sort of kickball tournament, and folks were watching the action on the TVs behind the bar. We found what may have been the last two seats at the bar and ordered our flights of six Strangeways beers.

First up was Strangeways Albino Monkey, a Belgian-style Witbier. Slightly cloudy, the flavor was mild and wheat-rich. The second beer in the the flight was B-Sides Honey Bock. The sweetness of honey was noted in both the aroma and the taste. The honey flavor gave way to sweet malt and hint of bitter hops. This was probably my favorite of the group. Soon the small glass was empty and we moved on to the next, interesting beer.

Strangeways O.T.I.S. is described as a Cucumber Melon Sour. I was very intrigued to try this, but didn't know what to expect. The American Wild Ale is brewed with cucumbers, honeydew, juniper berries, and tangerines. I got a hint of the cucumber and melon only briefly, and the tartness took over. Wow, that was good. Another sip... A refreshing and palate cleansing drink. I'd have it again, but I think one glass would suffice in a sitting.

Phantasmic East Coast IPA was next in line. The malt-heavy IPA had fruit notes mixed in with the piney hops. Clean finishing, it left little bitterness behind. Strangeways Woodbooger is described as a Belgian-style Brown Ale. The aroma was caramel, chocolate, brown sugar and roasted malt. The dark roasted malt flavors were offest by a rich mocha sweetness, the sweet and bitter aspects of the beer taking turns at dominance.

Finally, we arrived at Strangeways Freeze Ray, a 10.24% ABV Eisbock. I was looking forward to this one as Eisbocks are uncommon, especially among the US craft breweries. Freeze Ray is a rich, dark dobblebock with a creamy mouthfeel and a smooth chocolate and malt flavor profile. The high alcohol level is completely masked, with no alcohol burn. This one could be dangerous!

Neil Burton, the owner of Strangeways, and Chris Holder, one of the owners of Capital Ale House travelled up from Richmond to attend the event. Neil is a native of Fredericksburg, so this was a homecoming of sorts for him. It was great to meet him and hear his story on how he came to own a brewery. I hadn't seen Chris since before the Fredericksburg CAH location opened, though we've emailed back and forth often. I was good to catch up and talk beer for a bit.

The drama on the TV ended not too long after our arrival. The bar emptied for a short time before more folks started arriving for the Strangeways event. Colleen and I enjoyed our dinner while discussing the beers and current life events. We enjoyed all of the beers and I look forward to trying more from this brewery. Perhaps an extended visit to the brewery is in order. They keep 25 house beers on tap! After a couple hours, we noted that severe weather was building in the area, so I opted to not order a full pint of one of the Strangeways beers, and we headed home. Of course, that did relieve me of having to make a tough choice; B-Sides Honey Bock, or O.T.I.S. Sour, or ...

Independence Weekend Run 'n Gun

Though a couple days late for the 4th of July, but still on the holiday weekend, the Fredericksburg Practical Shooters match on Sunday, July 6 was a great way to celebrate our right to bear arms and have some fun at the same time. As I pulled into the range that morning, the dashboard thermometer read 59°. Fifty-nine degrees. In July. In Virginia. The temps eventually rose to near 90°, but the low humidity and a light breeze made for an unseasonably pleasant day.

Our squad started on Stage 6, "Deja Vu All Over Again," which was a fairly straightforward course, and the only field course with no moving targets. It provided a good warmup for the rest of the day. Stage 7, "Yankee Doodle Dandy," started with an unloaded gun picked up from a barrel. Pushing through a swinging bar across the path released a swinging target. Further down the course, shooting a popper activated a drop turner and unlocked a door which the shooter pulled open to reveal the final targets. I forgot a reload and ended the stage with an empty gun, but fortunately no makeup shots were needed. It was a quick and fun stage, and also my highest stage finish at 5th of 30. (First person video here.)

Stage 1, "Down And Dirty" was a very interesting, and challenging, stage. There were two arrays of three targets that were exposed by pulling on a cable. The shooter had to hold the heavy targets up while shooting them, which meant shooting strong or weak hand-only. There was also a stomp plate that activated an upside down target swinging in an opening. The habit of shooting at the top half of the target would lead to D hits instead of C. (It also led to some double-takes from the ROs when scoring.) I didn't finish well on this stage but had a big grin on my face after shooting it. (Video here.)

"Fast and Furious" included six steel poppers, one of which activated a clamshell target, which in turn activated a swinger. Due to some prematurely pasted targets I got a reshoot on this stage. I strayed from my plan slightly on the second run, but still managed a 7th place finish. Stage 3, called "Over the River," began with some long shots on paper and steel, followed by a quick sprint down an L-shaped path. The stage ended with some closer targets, and a swinger activated by another push bar across the path. Some overly fast shooting on the short range targets earned me a couple of D hits but I still managed a 6th place finish on the stage. (Video here.)

Next up was the classifier stage, "Triple Choice," CM99-47. Shot from just 25 feet, the five targets had varying degrees of hard cover, and required three strings of fire; free style, strong hand only, and weak hand only. I had two hits on hard cover, i.e. misses, so no classification boost this time.

The final stage we shot, "Prison Break," included three ports to shoot through, and those ports were obstructed by wooden "bars." The second port had an array of three steel poppers, one of which activated a three target swinger in another barred window that randomly moved two no-shoots in front of the other targets. Taking an extra shot on a target gave me an empty gun at one point, which was followed by a jam, costing me valuable seconds lost to remedial action. Despite that I was pleased that I managed to get into position well to see the various targets through the bars.

Overall, I was quite happy with my shooting on this day. The D hits hurt, and I consider D's to be the same as a miss. The classifier stage and the issues on the last stage notwithstanding, I finished 9th out of 30 in Production, and that field included two Grand Masters. But more importantly, I was felt good about my course execution and movement throughout the day. I've set up a small "field course" in my basement and have been working on target transitions, as well as movement and arriving in position ready to shoot. There's still much that can be improved upon, but was good to see the apparent payoff of those practice hours.

After six hours of standing and walking, interspersed with short sprints through a course of fire, I was bushed. Getting old ain't fun, but those aches and pains are evidence of a great time. All in all, this was a fantastic match. The courses of fire were very interesting and fun to shoot. Kudos to match directors Alan and Clay for coming up with some challenging stages that offered a lot of variety. I think I would actually rank this as one of my favorite days at Fredericksburg. Interesting stages and great weather, what's not to love?

Flying Dog "Art of Craft" Cigar Pack

While we're not regular cigar smokers here at the Musings, I have been known to enjoy a smoke on occasion, usually always in conjuction with a good beer. I would frequently take a break at a beer fest to enjoy a cigar from a festival vendor. The cigar booth at the events I've attended have always been quite busy. It's that popular combo that probably inspired Flying Dog Brewery to team up with CAO Cigars to create the "Art of Craft" cigar pack.

Looks like a party

The "Art of Craft" includes four CAO cigars, and a fancy Flying Dog bottle opener. The cigar pack will be available at Total Wine stores in Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, Virginia, North Carolina, and California, displayed alongside the corresponding beers. Flying Dog offers the following suggested pairings:

• OSA Sol and Snake Dog IPA: The zesty spice of OSA Sol meets its match with the citrus and resinous hop aromas and flavors of Snake Dog. 
• CAO Brazilia and Gonzo Imperial Porter: Both big and bold, the bitter coffee and chocolate flavors in CAO Brazilia are mimicked by the same robust notes in Gonzo. 
• CAO Gold and Raging Bitch Belgian-Style IPA: The wildly complex hop bitterness and fruity sweet Belgian yeast notes in Raging Bitch are soothed by CAO Gold’s caramel creaminess. 
• CAO Mx2 and Pearl Necklace Oyster Stout: Dark and dry is the name of this pairing’s game with Mx2’s rich notes of earth and Pearl Necklace’s dry, roast, and slightly bitter character.

I'm looking forward to trying out these pairings that were sent over by the brewery. Cigars are not quite as sharable as a bottle of beer, but I think there's a party-in-waiting here. Perhaps one Summer evening around a peat fire on the deck...

The 2nd Amendment Explained

And in much more detail here.

The Next Revolution

As I sit down to down some words for this Independence Day, I find that the ongoing illegal and tyrannical actions of the current administration weigh on my mind, as they have in previous years' posts on this day. If anything, the offenses against freedom, have increased over the years.

The egomaniacal ramblings of the current president have become more bold and more frequent. Negotiation with, and the release of known terrorists endangers Americans at home and abroad. The opening of our borders to criminals and disease is a threat to safety and the economy, the likes of which we have never before seen. The IRS scandal and ongoing coverup is an abuse of power that is chilling in magnitude.

Lest I be accused of partisanship, it should be noted that in a ruling just two weeks ago, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the president violated the Constitution. And it was not the first such ruling. Many on the Republican side of the aisle shy away from impeachment proceedings, which are the proper response to continued violations of the oath of office. To refuse to proceed makes them just as guilty of ignoring the law as the president.

Today we mark the occasion when our forefathers stood up to a tyrannical monarch. Two hundred and thirty eight years later we are faced with an egotistical, power-hungry, and I dare say treasonous president, who promotes his power-grabbing agenda despite the will of the people and Congress. Hardly a week goes by that I don't read about someone who now regrets their previous support of this president. To those who cast a vote while ignoring the obvious, I reply that a simple apology doesn't cut it. The damage is done. The willingness to put "free stuff" over freedom must end.

Try as I might, there are few celebratory words to be said. Today we will, as a nation, mark the anniversary of our independence. We will enjoy the fireworks, the beach, the shooting range, the burgers and the beer. But we must prepare ourselves, a second revolution is at hand. It might not be fought not with arms, but preferably in the courts, the Congress and the voting booth, but it will be fought.