Basketball, Bourbon, and Family Make For An Enjoyable Trip

We enjoyed a fun and quick trip last week to visit family in Atlanta. The adventure began with an overnight stay in Blacksburg to attend a Virginia Tech basketball game. Despite the home team’s recent struggles, the games are always a good time, win or lose.

After the late night game, we got off to an early start and headed on towards Atlanta the next morning. Passing through Knoxville, TN, we stopped for lunch at Smoky Mountain Brewery. I enjoyed a Cherokee Red Ale alongside shareable plates of nachos and roasted chicken quesadillas. The Red Ale was delightful, with flavors of toasted bread, toffee, and malt. I tend to gravitate toward Red or Irish ales when exploring new breweries, and this one didn’t disappoint. With many miles still ahead, I reluctantly refrained from sampling more of the brewery's beers.

Leaving the brewery, I noticed a Total Wine nearby and couldn’t resist a bit of bourbon hunting. Virginia’s state-controlled liquor sales often limit the options, so this was an exciting opportunity. I tried to exercise restraint but still managed to check off several bottles from my wishlist.

• Pikesville Rye: A replacement for a recently emptied favorite.

• Redwood Empire Lost Monarch, Knob Creek Bourbon x Rye, and Heaven Hill Grain to Glass Wheated: All three are difficult to find or allocated at home.

• Chattanooga Single Barrel: A local bottle recommended by other whiskey enthusiasts in the aisle.

• High West Double Rye!: Pictured but not purchased with the others, this one came later as a thoughtful gift from family (and yes, it was opened during the visit).

I’m looking forward to trying these new-to-me whiskies!

Although I don’t drink much Scotch these days, I still enjoy it on occasion. Most of the Scotch in my collection has been gifted by friends, and I’ve worked through most of it. I should probably add a few new bottles to my selection at some point. My brother-in-law recently received a bottle of Macallan Scotch as a gift and kindly shared it during dinner. 

The Macallan A Night on Earth - The Journey is a holiday release from the Speyside, Scotland distillery. Presented in a beautifully designed box by artist Nini Sum, this single malt was crafted using first-fill American ex-bourbon barrels and both European and American sherry-seasoned oak casks.

At 43% ABV, it’s a mild Scotch, both in aroma and taste. Notes of oak, vanilla, and fruit dominate the nose and the flavor. There's a creamy texture on the palate. The packaging blurb mentions coconut, which I detected only after careful consideration—perhaps the power of suggestion. Overall, it’s an approachable Scotch, suitable for those less accustomed to robust profiles, though its higher price point may be a consideration. The packaging certainly adds to its charm, and the selling price undoubtably.

Later that evening, we opened the bottle of High West Double Rye!. My wife enjoys a Rye Old Fashioned, so I made one using the Double Rye! and the ingredients we had on hand (sadly, no Luxardo cherries). Afterward, I enjoyed the rye neat.

High West Double Rye! (the distillery adds the exclamation point) is a 92 proof rye made from a blend of two straight rye whiskeys — a 95% rye, 5% barley malt rye from MGP, and a 80% rye, 20% malted rye from High West Distillery. This bottle is labeled Batch 21B02. 

The aroma has clove and mint, along with mild vanilla. The rye aspect is not strong in the nose. In the mouth, the rye spice becomes more apparent, along with cinnamon, vanilla, and a touch of honey. The finish is clean and short lived. High West Double Rye! is a pleasant rye with a low proof point. And if I do say so myself, makes a decent Old Fashioned. 

While I packed cigars for the trip, a busy schedule and unusually cool Atlanta weather left little time to enjoy them. Instead, I made up for it with plenty of delicious food and drink.

After all the indulgence, some physical activity was essential. One afternoon, we took a beautiful sunset walk along the Chattahoochee River.

All in all, it was a fantastic mini-vacation filled with family, friends, and copious amounts of delicious food and drink. Now, I’m eager to pair my new whiskies with a good cigar in the weeks to come.

Cheers!

'Twas a Rainy Saturday

Saturday plans were rained out. The IDPA match I was very much looking forward to was cancelled. After careful consideration, I opted out of doing brewery visits since I didn't feel like driving through the predicted heavy rains. (And I saw reports of numerous accidents around the area.) So I did this...

My son had come home for the weekend to go to a local event with friends. That event that was also cancelled. On the plus side, we had an enjoyable day just visiting.

Sunday looks to be even wetter. I'll be catching up on some reading.

A Fun Range Trip

This week's range visit was a fun family outing. Our son is home for a couple weeks, so he joined Colleen and I, along with our friend "Checkered Flag." The range was slow so we all had adjacent lanes. I also rented the new SIG Sauer P365 to try out. I've been keenly interested in the gun, but have never seen one "live," so was excited when I found out that Winding Brook had it available for rent.

I started my time with the P365. I set the target at 5 yards, and saw a very nice group of 10 hits form. My three companions followed with a magazine load each, leaving me 10 more rounds to play with.

My initial impressions of the SIG P365 were very favorable. The gun is a little snappy, but it feels very solid in the hand. The shape to the grip allows a good purchase, even with the pinky finger hanging below. The range didn't have a 12 round magazine to try. It's a small gun but it feels bigger than I thought it would. The P365 is surprisingly easy to shoot.

Getting my full size SIG P320 out, I went through a box of ammo shooting the various sized shapes on the target at 7 and 10 yards. After 50 rounds I started to load more magazines but then decided I really wanted to shoot the P365 a bit more. I splurged on another box of ammo from the range.

This time I set the target out at 7 yards and my son and I took turns shooting at the target's various sized squares, circles, and diamonds. I was impressed with the accuracy for a small gun. I fired off 10 rounds as fast as I could and still shot well. The P365 sights comes back on target very quickly. Even shooting strong hand only proved doable.

P 365. Rapid fire. 7 yards.

Putting the P365 away, my range session was finished with some slow 15 yard shooting with the full size gun.

After shooting the new SIG P365, I was not dissuaded from my desire to get one of my own. As I said after the trip, "This gun feels like I need to buy it."

We finished our outing with a tasty meal and fun conversation at a local "burger joint." I hadn't been shooting with my son since he was home for the Christmas break so it was fun to do. I didn't get the chance to shoot his SIG Legion this time out, so we'll just have to plan another range trip soon.

Stout Themed Holiday

We were visiting with family in Montana for a few days last week, but like any good Irish family, we didn't let St. Patrick's Day go without celebration. For lunch on Saturday, we stopped into Flathead Lake Brewing in Bigfork, MT for a quick lunch. Colleen and I both opted for their 369’ Stout. The mildly bitter American Stout, with caramel and roasted notes, was made even smoother by the nitro serving. I did go a little "off reservation" and enjoyed the stout with a Greek-themed gyro filled with tasty lamb, feta and tsatziki.

Finishing lunch, we enjoyed a relaxing afternoon (meaning I fell asleep on the couch) before heading out for the Vigil Mass that evening. Afterwards, my father in-law asked, "Who's up for a wee dram of Jameson?" I certainly wouldn't pass by a chance to raise a glass with the 90 year old Irishman. He produced a bottle of Jameson Caskmates Stout Edition. This whiskey is aged in beer barrels that previously a aged stout brewed by the Franciscan Well Brewery in Cork, Ireland. The whiskey had a smooth finish with butterscotch and milk chocolate notes. It was a mild but quite enjoyable libation.

After our drinks, we enjoyed a delicious Irish-American meal of corned beef, mashed potatoes, and cabbage that had been prepared by Colleen. That was a fitting end to a day honoring Ireland's favorite Saint.

After Work Range Time

After work on Thursday, Colleen and I, joined by our friend "Checkered Flag," made a run down to Winding Brook Indoor Range for a bit of stress release. We signed up for three separate lanes so everyone was able to do their own thing.

For my practice session, I drilled on multi-shot strings, concentrating on getting the gun back on target quickly for rapid follow up shots. Starting at 7 yards, and gradually increasing the distance out to 15 yards, I was generally happy with the hits. I find that creating a patch of holes in the center of the target at closer distances helps to give me an aiming point for more consistent hits at the further distances.

Quickly running through a box of ammo while making use of the turning feature of the target system, I very rapidly burned through my supply. Since the rest of the group was working more on slow, precision fire, I spent the last few minutes watching my wife shoot. As much as I enjoy watching loved ones shoot well, perhaps I'll bring along an extra box of ammo for myself next time.

For Valentine's Day

It's a stereotype we've all heard. Husbands who have to sneak beer into the house. Or they devise a plan for surreptitiously acquiring a new gun. I shake my head in amazement, and disgust, when I see guys bragging online about about "fooling" their wives by hiding a new gun purchase. (Hint, she's probably smarter than that.)

I've long gotten a kick during such discussions by reminding folks that I don't have to sneak around, that my wife knows and appreciates good beer. And she shoots too! Shooting and beer, in the right order, make for some of our favorite date activities. I love the incredulous looks when someone asks Colleen for her feelings on "my" interests in craft beer or shooting and they find out that she can hold her own in both of those areas as well. And I especially enjoy a chuckle at the ones who are a little bit intimidated by that!

That's my valentine! She's a great wife and a loving mother. And my best friend.

Happy Valentine's Day Colleen!

Saturday Range Time

After a much-needed relaxing Saturday morning sipping coffee, Colleen and I headed down to Winding Brook Indoor Range for a little shooting time. The morning rush was still clearing out, but we got a couple lanes with very little wait.

Starting out with my target set at 10 yards, I gradually worked out to 20 yards. I was using USPSA paper practice targets, and managed to keep most of the hits in the A zone, slipping a few outside at the furthest distance. Using the turning target feature, the sessions capped off by practicing quick hits on the target from low ready. 

At one point I noticed clouds of paint coming off the side wall of the range. Someone a few lanes over had their target at about 5 yards, but was bouncing hits off the wall 15 yards down range. I stopped shooting and looked over as the observant range officer very quickly attended to the situation. When I brought my target in I found a copper jacket remnant embedded in the cardboard. Such are the pitfalls of an indoor range.

It was a fun hour shooting, and even a pleasant couple hours in the car driving to and from the range. That's two visits to the Ashland range this month. If this keeps up I may have to buy a membership. 

Saturday Morning Shooting Fun

My son and I headed down to Winding Brook Indoor Range on Saturday morning. We weren't sure what the crowd would be like on a Saturday morning, but we had accepted that we might have a wait. We could have shot without delay but we opted to wait until two adjacent lanes opened up.

Using some IDPA practice targets, I started out shooting multi-shot strings at 7, then 10, then 15 yards. After emptying the first box of 50, I moved the target carrier to 10 yards, and set it to expose the target for 3 seconds, with a 4 second interval. From extended and compressed low ready positions I shot 2, 3, or 4 rounds on the target as it turned. The next 50 rounds were very quickly expended. This is as close as I can get to match-like practice, and that alone made long drive to the range worthwhile.

I finished up with more 15 yard work, and then some close SHO and WHO shots. I was done a few minutes before my son, so spent a little time watching him shoot. He's had a good teacher so does well. :-) He's getting ready to head back to school so this was likely our last chance to shoot together for a few months. We also got in lots of good conversation during the drive time and post shooting lunch making it a super fun and memorable morning.

Family Range Day

My Christmas "stay-cation" had been so far, pew-free. Finally, on Wednesday we took a family drive down to the Winding Brook Indoor Range in Ashland, VA. This is the same facility Colleen and I visited last February. Unfortunately just a few months after we visited, the doors were padlocked by the landlord. Recently, this newly constructed range was reopened under new management.

There was a short line and a few folks on the waiting list to shoot when we arrived. The staff at Winding Brook was working cheerfully to get shooters into adjoining lanes as requested and we were assigned to our lanes without much delay.  Rather than possibly wait longer to get three lanes, we opted to share two. 

Our lane sharing arrangement worked out well as we rotated around and shot each other's weapons at various times. We used the "colors and shapes" targets during this outing. The distinct aiming points made it easy to have multiple shooters using the same target paper without needing to change as often. Most of our shooting was at 7 yards, though I did run the target out to 10 and 15 yards for a bit.

The range officer was very friendly and left folks to shoot without intrusive oversight. We observed one lady who seemed to be shooting for the first time. He gave her a quick tutorial and stepped in the help or answer questions as needed.

I was very pleased to learn that drawing from a holster is permitted at Winding Brook. I didn't take advantage of that during this visit, but it will be worth the drive to do so in the future. There are no other ranges local to me that allow both rapid fire and holster use. I've already got some drills in mind to run next time. Rifles and shotguns are also allowed at the range. The retail area and display cases are mostly empty at this time, though Winding Brook does have targets and ammo available for sale if needed. 

The facility is clean, modern, and the staff seems focused on getting people in to shoot. We heard "Have fun." from the staff frequently. I lament the range isn't a little closer, especially with the alwats-horrible traffic on I-95. However given the ability to shoot at any safe speed, and use a holster, it will be worth making the trip on occasion, especially if it's a family affair.

A Scottish Christmas Story

A little seasonal humor before church.

A man in Scotland calls his son in London the day before Christmas Eve and says, (In a thik Sko-ish axcent)

"I hate to ruin your day but I have to tell you that your mother and I are divorcing; forty-five years of misery is enough".

"Dad, what are you talking about?'" the son screams.

"We can't stand the sight of each other any longer", the father says. "We're sick of each other and I'm sick of talking about this, so you call your sister in Leeds and tell her".

Frantically, the son calls his sister, who explodes on the phone, "Like hell they're getting divorced", she  shouts, "I'll take care of this".

She calls Scotland immediately and screams at her father, "You are NOT getting divorced. Don't do a single thing until I get there. I'm calling my brother back and we'll both be there tomorrow. Until then, don't do a thing, DO YOU HEAR ME?" and hangs up.

The old man hangs up his phone and turns to his wife.

"Done! They're coming for Christmas - and they're paying their own way." 

Thanksgiving Day Range Trip

In what has become an annual outing, my son and I hit the range early Thanksgiving morning. It was a beautiful sunny, 31° day as we arrived and unloaded the gear. By time we finished about 90 minutes later it had warmed by 10 degrees, but the cool temps didn't dampen the enjoyment.

We hung a couple of the "color shapes" targets and focused on slow fire from the 7 yard line. While he shot his new SIG Legion, I worked with the P320 Compact. I made a brief diversion to my P226 and also fired a few rounds with his gun.

I've found my concentration lately with practicing slow fire with patience in watching the sights during the trigger press is paying off. Working through all eight shapes on the target with 10 rounds each, all but three were in bounds. Considering the blurriness of the targets even at that distance, I'm happy.

The biggest thrill, as always, was shooting with, and advising my son. His groups were quite impressive, and his gun safety awareness is exemplary. He's had a good teacher. ;-)

Finally, looking at the amount of brass on the ground, we decided we better stop and begin the chore of picking it up. And there was also the promise of a bagels and smoked salmon breakfast waiting at home.

New Gun Owner

Our son is no stranger to firearms. He built his own AR rifle a couple years ago and he's also an experienced handgun shooter. However, he's been looking forward to actually buying his own handgun for a while. After celebrating his first legal beer in the U.S. recently, our now 21 year old son finally made that purchase he's been anticipating for a long time - a SIG Sauer P226 Legion. Detouring by the gun store on his way home for Thanksgiving break, he picked up the gun he had already paid for online. Then on Monday he met me at the office at lunchtime and we headed over to the indoor range to try it out.

After he shot the first few magazines through the gun, I asked for a chance to shoot it. I have to admit to a bit of envy of the high end SIG he opted to start out with. He's long enjoyed shooting my "basic" P226. He's been working hard and saving for some time in preparation, so I don't blame him for "going big."

I also brought along my SIG P320 Compact. I had only put 50 rounds through it since the trigger upgrade, mainly to check function. This time I shot a more organized practice session at 7 and 10 yards. I was more than happy with the groups I was getting. After 100 rounds, I checked on my son, who was doing quite well, and was very happy with his purchase. I watched him for a while longer, much to my own enjoyment. I offered him my last box of 50 rounds, on the condition he let his dad shoot one more magazine with the new gun.

As with my pleasure over his choices for good beer, I'm also glad he has good taste in firearms too.

My son told me that when he bought the gun, the person who handled the paperwork and the person who verified the purchase, both wished him a happy birthday. When the range proprietor checked his ID he too remarked "Happy Birthday." It seems I'm not the only one who enjoys it when someone makes that first purchase.

Now It's a Family Affair

He grew up visiting craft breweries and hearing all about good beer. This weekend our son got to do more than watch.

The beer was Right Mind Brewing Tommy Dinkus 80 Shilling Scottish Ale as we celebrated his 21st birthday with dinner and beer, for the whole family.

This dad is proud the "factory beer" stage was skipped.

Seven Years Today: RIP Mom

It's been seven years since my mother passed away. After seven years, it still feels as if it was yesterday.

That smile. That ever present smile. I don't ever want to forget that.

Requiescat In Pace.

Celebrating 33 Years

For my wonderful wife and best friend on this special day as we mark 33 years of marriage. Colleen, I give thanks to God every day for putting you in my life. I look forward to 33 more years!

And now a musical interlude to help celebrate...

Happy Anniversary to a beautiful, loving, and patient, lady. I am blessed.

Some Range Time

Despite being able to shoot in matches the past couple weeks, the foibles of life have prevented any actual range trips for practice. Finally after work Tuesday, my son and I took advantage of the moderate (i.e., below 95°) weather to hit the range before dinner. The shaded pistol bay was pleasant enough, even though we could hear thunder far off in the distance.

We did all of our shooting this trip from the 10 yard line. I wanted to focus on tighter shots, so much of my time was spent on head shots. I was mostly pleased with the results. A lot of those shots were taken in controlled pairs at the top of the IDPA target, or in body/head combinations.

I also expended a lot of my ammo on strong hand and weak hand only shooting. I have to say I impressed even myself with the strong hand only portion of that. 80% or more of those shots were in the -0 zone, and the rest barely out. However I was less satisfied with the weak hand shooting. About half of the hits were high right of the -0, and even a few crept into the -3 shoulder zone. I will definitely be putting in more time on that skill.

Since more than two shots in a string, as well as any movement, is now banned at the range, these trigger control focused drills help make the best use of my time, and ammo supply. It's also the area where I think I need the most work. On future trips I hope to extend the one hand shooting out to 15 yards. If I can get good hits at 15 yards, the common 7 and 10 yard shots should come easy. (Wistfully stated.)

It was good time spent with my son. We are fortunate that our work schedules pretty much coincide, so we are able to get to the range together fairy frequently. We'll enjoy that until he heads back to school later this summer.

Starting The Weekend With Smoke & Noise

Friday afternoon my son and I took a chance on finding an opening at the range after work. To our delight, not only was the weather relatively pleasant, there was an free bay. He was shooting the SIG P226, a gun he's grown quite fond of, while I wanted to get a few rounds down range with the P320 before shooting a match on Saturday morning.

Most of our time was spent at the 10 yard line, shooting "controlled pairs" at the body and head zones. (In the latest update to the range rules, multiple shots, up to two, are permitted.) It was also good to shoot from a holster after so many indoor range sessions.

We also spent a bit of time at the 20 yard line. I was quite happy with those strings, hitting 18 of 20 in the -0 zone. Moving closer we both got in some one-handed shooting, both weak and strong. 

It was a quick and relaxed outing, each of us shooting just 100 rounds. After the quick session, we were both more than ready to enjoy the delicious dinner Colleen had prepared, which I fear we may have devoured at a less than relaxed pace.

Range Time With Son and SIGs

After foiled by crowds last Sunday, my son and I spent some time on the range one evening this week. The range supplies, excepting guns and ammo, had been left in the car, so it was easy to head out without delay after work. We took along the Full Size and Compact SIG P320's and a bunch of ammo. The next 90 minutes was spent swapping back and forth between the two guns and doing some fun plinking.

In an exercise that was, at least to me interesting, we also tried out the 9mm ammo in three different bullet weights; 115, 124, and 135 grain. I shoot all three with regularity, but I've never taken the time to shoot them back to back for comparison.

We keep the ubiquitous 115 grain 9mm ammo around for general plinking. When I find a bargain, I stock up. The 124 grain bullet weight has long been my "go to" for match use. The felt recoil is less snappy in my opinion. Recently, I've been also buying the 135 grain 9mm, mainly due to pricing deals. I knew the "snap" was greatly reduced, but when shooting in direct comparison with the others, the difference is substantial. It's certainly a good choice if one is going to be shooting a lot of rounds in a short time.

It was a very enjoyable outing for both of us. Besides the shooting, we got to talk, a lot. About guns, school, friends, life. And unlike other members, we did it while shooting and reloading magazines. Eventually hunger won out and we opted to head home for dinner — even though we still had ammo in the can. We'll save that for next time.

Mother's Day Range Trip

Well, actually it was a father and son trip, on Mother's Day. Our son had told me a couple weeks ago he wanted to hit the range when he came home, so how could I not oblige? He was only home four days, but fortunately the rain finally stopped and Sunday turned out to be beautiful sunny day. Colleen opted to stay home and spend some time baking, something she enjoys so everybody wins. (And we all enjoyed the fruits of her labor later in the day.)

My son picked out the pistols to pack and he selected the SIG Sauer P226 and P320, the M&P Shield, and the Kimber 1911. A well-balanced selection indeed. Despite the sun shining for the first time in nearly a week, we arrived to find an empty bay to use. As we walked up to the firing line to start shooting the wind kicked up and the cardboard we had hung began blowing back into a horizontal position. On more than one occasion we had an automatic, but random, target exposure system going as we tried to catch the target when it dropped backed down vertically.

We spent almost two hours rotating through the guns. As usual, my son impressed me with his skills. It's also comforting to know he's competent with a variety of weapons. Besides all the gun talk, it was great to spend time just chatting. I was a little distracted making sure we didn't pull the trigger at the same time too frequently, but otherwise it was an extremely enjoyable outing. When he returns next month to spend the rest of his summer break with us, we'll be enjoying more family range outings.

Father & Son Range Visit

Our son was able to come home for the Easter weekend. Even though he was here less than 48 hours, we were thrilled that he made the long drive so that we could celebrate as a family. We were sitting around Saturday afternoon talking, mostly about guns, and the discussion turned to a possible range trip. Colleen was planning an early dinner before the Easter Vigil. My part in the preparations involved steaks on the grill, and that was supposed to happen in about 15 minutes. We had several hours still before we needed to head over for Mass. I called an audible to delay dinner and we headed over to the range so he could shoot the new P320.

We set up a couple targets and my college student started putting shots in the center of the target right off the bat. (Sometimes he's annoying that way.) I kept loading and feeding him magazines, and encouraged him to work back to greater distances. He stayed consistent with good hits as he moved.

We had also brought along the smaller SIG P239 and he shot that for a bit too. He's been shooting that gun for years, and always enjoyed it. It is indeed a fun gun to shoot and I too bring it out regularly. Quite quickly he ran through the 200 rounds I had packed, though I did take the trigger for about 20 shots.

It was a short but especially fun outing. I didn't do much shooting myself, but the talk time with my son was most enjoyable. We were back home about an hour later, and I quickly fired up the grill. The dish of scalloped potatoes was still warm from the oven when the steak was served. There was even time for a cup of coffee before we headed out for the Easter celebration.