Emily Elizabeth Is An Instagram Star, Vegas Welcomes Kraken & J.R. Smith Lit Up By Bees On Golf Course
There has been a change to Mike T. in Idaho's cross-country travel plans, thanks to a Screencaps reader!
I knew this community was powerful, but I never knew just how powerful until Tuesday when Mike & Cindy T's big three-week trip from Idaho to the northeast was modified via Jake W., who grew up in a part of New York where Cindy had plans to visit.
I'm curious about the stop in Auburn. I grew up primarily in the neighboring town, Skaneateles, which is home to one of the Finger Lakes, and features a lovely downtown that sidles up to one of the prettiest lakes in the entire country, Jake wrote Tuesday.
Auburn is known mostly for its maximum-security prison, which was the site of the first execution via the electric chair. I know I'm biased, but unless it's for family, I find Auburn a curious destination. If Skaneateles is too snooty, may I suggest Seneca Falls, which is just a bit to the west of Auburn.
It's a fantastic little town, right on the north shore of Cayuga Lake, and is said to be the inspiration for Bedford Falls in the movie, "It's A Wonderful Life" (there's a museum dedicated to the movie downtown).
I forwarded the message to Mike T., who reiterated that he's just the driver while Cindy is the navigator. Keep in mind these two have traveled all over Europe and Mexico. I've seen their Mexican travel blog. This is clearly serious business to Cindy, and it would take a very inspired speech from Jake W. to change this itinerary.
Well wouldn't you know, this morning at 7:34 a.m. I received the following dispatch from Mike:
Please tell Jake, tour guide Cindy changed our plans and we now staying in Seneca Falls. The Screencaps team at work again!
This is a huge development. HUGE!
This has been an incredible week for this community. We had Douglas J. in Omaha packing his kids in the car and doing a family vacation to Mackinac Island after all of my northern Michigan chatter, and now Cindy T. is taking Screencaps suggestions. I love where all of this is going. This is better than letting a AAA travel guide picking out stops for my mom and dad in the 1980s, that's for sure.
And it gets better.
• Tuesday I received an email from extremely loyal TNML member David in RI who broke the news he spent Sunday on Put-In-Bay, the Lake Erie Island where I hold the Put-In-Bay Two-Club Invitational -- (2022 date is TBD, might change the date to July after travel ball parents are done...traveling).
Dave writes:
Seems to be a travel theme going on lately with the morning caps posts, so here's a quick one from me…I had a business trip to Cleveland last week, and my wife decided to join up with me on Thursday evening to make an impromptu long weekend out of it. Having never been to the area, we made sure to visit the Rock & Roll HOF, and took a ride down to Canton for the Football HOF as well. But Sunday was the cap as we visited…Put In Bay!
Never would've known it existed if not for your columns, so many thanks. We had a great time taking in the sights via golf cart and learning a bit about our country's history via the War Memorial National Monument there. And of course sampling the local wine production. Great stuff!
• Brandon W. writes:
Love the community you built by your screencaps and topics. Long-time reader, second-time emailer.
Mike & Cindy,
enjoy the great state of Michigan. In Traverse City, try the sour cherry pie. Glen Arbor - take the pierce stocking tour and/or climb the sand dune near glen lake. Ann Arbor - a trip to Zingerman's deli in Kerrytown (downtown Ann Arbor).
Katie Nolan,
There are so many things out there to enjoy rather than trying to get likes, retweets, hot takes, etc. we have built a community around Thursday nights. Started with a golf league of 20 guys this year. The 20 guys were all loosely connected through our kids’ school. We had good players to bad players but everyone loved the camaraderie. It rolled into 6 weeks of cornhole at people’s houses. The championship was held last week in the rain. Nearly everyone showed and Nobody complained. Now this week, we are starting a 10-week indoor golf league that runs to Christmas. Golf is fun but hanging with friends, telling stories over a few adult beverages is pure enjoyment. As Ferris Bueller says, “life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around, you might miss it.”
Ps - I loved your golf tournament idea/rules We will be stealing a bit of it for my wife and sister-in-law's charity next year. 9-hole Scramble with teams of 2 to 8 people. Each player is allowed only 2 clubs and no sharing (no putter). On each green, you will get to use a specific putter - standard putter, Fischer price blue plastic putter, pool cue stick, hockey stick, etc. The course loved the idea and is excited to be a part of it. Hopefully, we will raise some money for a great organization supporting breast cancer awareness.
• Trey T. has a message that I think we can all rally behind:
Joe, I've been reading your Screencaps on OutKick since you joined the team, and I appreciate the positivity you spread each morning. Lately, you've shared emails/posts from people doing positive things in hard times.
I wanted to share a quick story about my wife and make a small request. Last September, my wife Lauren was diagnosed with Stage 2 breast cancer at the age of 35. At first, we were both devastated. Since then, however, she has channeled that negativity into positive energy by becoming a resource to the cancer community. During the course of her treatment, she spent hours each week connecting with the online cancer community and helping anyone she could (all complete strangers). She even took it one step further and wrote a book to help others in the same situation. I am so proud to be her husband and am continually in awe of her perseverance.
Now the request... Since October is breast cancer awareness month, would you be willing to include an Instagram post of her in your screencaps? I know she would be thrilled by the shout-out. More importantly, she would be happy to share her story with anyone who's in the fight with cancer right now. I assume your audience is mostly male. I think this would be a great opportunity for men to talk to their wives about self-exams, mammograms, genetic testing, cancer, etc. Early detection is key--it saved my wife's life.
• Guy G. Jr. has some more travel advice for Mike and Cindy or any others who are planning trips into Buffalo/Niagara Falls.
Send over to Mike T, that he needs to take a small detour while jumping off the Thruway in Hamburg. Head over to East Aurora, and go to BarBill Tavern for the best wings he’ll ever have.
Or, while going right through Hamburg, the Pour House right in Hamburg has excellent wings.
He can’t go through Buffalo and not get the best wings available. This also goes for you and the family, next time you head over to Niagara Falls.
Finally, while in Lake Placid, Smoke Signals is the place for dinner. Our favorite post-hike place to go!
• Now for something other than travel advice for Mike. I watched several hours of ESPN's NHL coverage and there a couple of things really stood out, including what sounded like a three-person booth during the Vegas-Seattle game. I'm not sure how long that can go on before it becomes a distraction. The vintage music is back, which is nice. It was also nice to have Steve Levy anchoring the coverage.
Here's the big takeaway from last night: the NHL on ESPN looks good, the cast is good and everyone seems to be having fun. Levy and Melrose will bring the party. Messier and Chelios seem like they're going to mix in well and Ray Ferraro is excellent.
NHL fans better be happy this morning. Their sport is finally getting the exposure they've been crying about for 15 years.
• And I can't let this NASCAR news slip by this morning without addressing what the near future looks like for the sport. NASCAR Bob brings us the news that the racing circuit is looking at electric cars. In your free time today, think about what the future of pit stops looks like. No more Sunoco fuel stops. Fox racing reporters will be shouting out battery manufacturers during pit stops in the very near future.
https://twitter.com/bobpockrass/status/1448009370395160578
• Here's today's assignment: I want to know the best backroad restaurants in America. I don't care where they're at. I don't care what they serve. I don't care how big, how small, etc. I'm going to compile this into a special Screencaps-inspired travel guide.
In case you haven't noticed, the mom & pops are in yet another battle for survival as the fast-food giants start paying new workers $20 an hour.
Email: joekinsey@gmail.com