ESPN Sideline Reporter Taylor Beth Davis Hits The Beach, Indy 500 Debauchery & MEAT!
Let's start in Indy where they held a race that line up perfectly with our family schedule & thunderstorms
If it was going to rain in the Midwest on Sunday, the timing couldn't have been any better from Mother Nature. She delayed the race just long enough so I could build my new Weber Genesis II 335 series gas grill from Costco.
The build went great. Screencaps Jr. helped me. Neither of us walked off the job in frustration and Mrs. Screencaps only had to assist in deciphering the build directions twice, which was a huge relief.
She has an engineering brain while I have the brain of a bowling ball headed down an alley. I'm just looking for instant results.
What happened to the Traeger? It's still here, and I like it, but when these boys need to be fed FAST before a baseball game, they need to be fed. I need immediate heat. I need it over 500-degrees and I need those burgers and chicken breasts to be flame-broiled FAST.
So now I have two cook stations. We'll see how it goes.
Anyway, back to Indy, I'll go ahead and say it — that was a damn good race and I watched nearly all of it. There was all sorts of different strategies going on. There were guys leading, like Connor Daly, who were legitimately leading until they got caught by their pit stop timing. There were wrecks. There were drivers angry at each other.
And then the ending delievered.
IT WAS A CLEAN ENDING UNLIKE WHAT NASCAR TYPICALLY DELIVERS (TO BE FAIR, NASCAR HAS HAD SOME GREAT ENDINGS THIS YEAR FROM WHAT I'VE SEEN)
I'll go ahead and admit NBC's Leigh Diffey can be too much (Mrs. Screencaps left the man cave because Diffey kept going nuts) for me over 3 ½-4 hours. However, last night the Aussie's call of the finish was strong.
Typically, I find Diffey calls to seem overdone and full of fake enthusiasm like he's working a WWE match. He'll deliver like he's trying to keep you watching, but it's fake and viewers can see through it.
Not Sunday.
For those wondering why I'm into the Indy 500, keep in mind I grew up about 90 miles east of Indy during the Bobby Rahal days. Indy was king in the Dayton area. I vividly remember my taking us boating in Brookville, Indiana and him turning on the Indy 500 on the boat radio.
That was Memorial Day weekend growing up.
Memorial Day weekend adventures in the Polo of the Summer
– Benny in Yukon, Oklahoma writes:
Good evening Joe! Hope you and the SC community is having a safe and relaxing weekend. I also hope everyone takes a moment to remember the meaning of Memorial Day and pours one out for those who sacrificed it all.
Saturday, I went to the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in OKC (a must see for anyone interested in the old west, cowboy and ranch life, western movies, and/or Native American heritage), which held its annual Chuck Wagon festival.
The festival had multiple demos: Oklahoma Chisolm Trail leather stamping, basket weaving, western fashion, fur trading, flintknapping (art of making stone tools), and Dutch oven cooking. Also, lots of activities for kids: petting zoo, archery, games, milking (fake) cows and churning butter. There was also music and storytime entertainment.
My favorite (and the main reason I went) was for all the chuck wagon food samples. Beef tips and potatoes , sausages, green chili, stew, various cobblers, and grape dumplings. I definitely did not leave hungry.
I spent most of my time outside with the chuck wagon festivities and did not spend a lot of time within the museum, since I have been before and will go again. But I did take a reprieve from the 90 degree heat and sun and went into my favorite room of the entire museum - the barbed wire. The museum has over 8000 types of barbed wire. This specific room has 1300 examples of barbed wire. It amazes me there are that many types of barbed wire. What an amazing country we have! I also repped the TNML proudly and hopefully influenced a few curious soles to the genius of mowing on Thursdays!
Sköl to those who gave it all for Freedom.
‘Do Hard Things’ (marriage) for 25 Years
- Ron in Lake Oswego, OR writes:
My wife of 25 years on May 30th are on Oahu for this Anniversary. As many of my friends and family will attest, Kate, my wife has DONE Hard Things being married to me for these last 300 months. It also goes without saying, although many people who know us both, say to me every day that I married up and they are right. Well we are here in paradise without any kids for the first time since 2000. So in between relaxing and just tourist stuff I figured a few pics here and there would be cool.
Saturday we saw Diamond Head from the beach at Fort Derussy Park; a gecko hanging out in the same park; and a couple of local guys providing music while a friend performs a Hula Dance at the excellent Waikiki Food Hall in the Royal Hawaiian (#notsponsorded).
Sunday we did the Circle Tour of the Island with Go Tours Hawaii (#NOTsponsored but HIGHLY recommended). John our Guide and Eric our Driver were awesome. Pics are from the Byodo-In Temple, Moana Island, and a rainbow Eucalyptus Tree.
Tomorrow we are visiting the USS Arizona Memorial and Punch Bowl Military Cemetery. That is where 42 of the other 45 Marines in his Platoon (25th Marines [Regiment], 4th Marine Division) are buried, they didn't make it off of Iwo Jima alive.
I will send pics from Pearl Harbor after. I hope everyone has a peaceful Memorial Day and remembers the Men and Women we lost and the families those sacrifices impacted.
The Yacht Rock movement is legit
- Randy L found out this weekend:
I never understood the power that yacht rock held on the 40s something crowd until tonight. The rain would not deter this beer fest crowd for this band. God bless this weekend.
Randy added:
Also, a sunset pic for Todd Z. [Joe K. Ed. note: Todd Z. was Mr. Anti-Sunset pics for a couple of months last year]:
Mowing on Saturday
- Indy Daryl writes:
Hope your outdoor golf game was solid yesterday! I just wanna say that I was out on my training run yesterday, around 8:30am and the amount of folks firing up their lawn mower was incredible! At least 4 people were out mowing and I couldn’t have been happier that I had mowed on Wednesday!!! Thanks for all that you do to bring the most diverse group of people across this great country together. Truly it is wonderful.
And thank you to all the veterans who serve and have served to make this great country what it is. You are all amazing!!
Kinsey:
My golf game wasn't pretty. At one point, Canoe Kirk told me my swing off the tee looked like I was hitting pop flies to my 12U team. Guys, that's not good. I leave in EIGHT days for 144 holes of golf.
Here's what I think was my problem: I was TOOOOO relaxed. We rented the Finn scooters to ride around and then I turned on Yacht Rock at 8 a.m.
That will not happen next week. I will get my head right this week and go over to the driving range to hit more balls. I should be back to normal (mid-90s) fairly quickly.
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That's it this morning. I need to get the family moving so we can go see the Memorial Day parade.
Have a great holiday. Enjoy that food on those grills. I'm firing up the Weber and moving some rocks. I just have to prevent a freak injury this close to the golf trip.
Email: joekinsey@gmail.com