One post a week - and today it started at Metro Cigars in Germantown

 Now that I am back on the blog, I have set a reasonable, attainable goal. I will smoke at least one cigar a week, and write one post per week. I feel pretty good about this.

I didn't waste any time. I left home this late Sunday morning and went to one of my favorite places - Metro in Germantown. They open at 11 am on Sunday. There is no more football and the Olympics are over, so this left me with a good quiet Sunday to break the ice.

When I got there, Nicole was tending bar. Although I had not been keeping up with this blog, I have been to Metro, but only during the week. She only works weekends so it's been awhile since we saw each other. She was glad to see me, and I was glad to see her. I will have to swing by on more weekends! She is very warm and fun.

 So today I chose an Alec Bradley Black Market Gordo, and I ordered Jack Daniels on the rocks. I know, I know: it is not my typical bourbon but this cigar lounge just vibes "Jack Daniels" to me. It is only at Metro that a Jack Daniels is my drink of choice. At Shakers I will do bourbon or scotch or port. But Metro is Jack Daniels. Go figure.

The Black Market Gordo lit well with a match, and the initial surge of flavor was creamy rather than that bold maduro kick you sometimes can get with other dark cigars. It is actually fairly mild, like a hot chocolate. Well, more like a dark chocolate, because it is spicy more than sweet. I will definitely try it again. I highly recommend it.  At Metro it is 13 dollars and some change and well worth it.

The crowd looked like a typical Sunday outing. It was mostly men, off work for the day. The clouds of smoke helped the quieter patrons meditate, while the drink and tobacco facilitated philosophical and political discussions with the more talkative ones. But nothing was toxic. It was all thoughtful and intelligent. That is why I like it at Metro. If you have never been there, I suggest you try it!

Okay. That was the first review in three years. I think this blog is now be sustainable. Later in the week, I have an event at Shaker's Cigar Bar. My next blog post will be all out that!  Thanks and it is good to be back.

I am back - and the "trail" is why!

 I launched this blog over three years ago and posted a lot in late 2022 and early 2023! My last post was exactly three years ago today, March 1, 2023, and then life happened, and school happened, and I got so darn busy. And I lost it. I lost the persistence to keep this thing going.

And in the years since then, I still went to cigar bars, and the staff at my favorite haunts commented how they read my blogs, and I felt kind of bad about not keeping up with it. Well now I am back, and let me explain why:

I am retiring from the teaching profession at the end of this school year, in June. And I have one last spring break before my income is reduced and more "fixed." So I wondered about taking a trip. Maybe to Europe? I have never been to Europe and people always tell me how much I would like it. I started shopping around online and saw that I could afford a trip to France, or Croatia, or anywhere really - I looked at places in Latin America, Asia, and Australia, even. However when I got to the airline tickets and saw the time dedicated to flights, I just couldn't do it. For a trip to France, we were looking at 19 hours, 16 hours, 17 hours, and that was only the flight there, and then another long flight to return. I did not want to spend almost two full days just traveling via airports, terminals and in the air. I hate flying anyway. I am not afraid of flying on a plane, but I hate the whole process: arriving at the airport early, going through security, occasionally getting searched, sitting packed like a sardine on an airplane, and dealing with the delays. Nope. Maybe I won't ever go to Europe or anywhere far away and exotic. I think I am really okay with that.

Then I started thinking about this large country I live in, and that despite the political division that dominates the news and social media, I imagine that most people are very decent, and that the Ameican landscape is utterly beautiful. I would love to drive somewhere instead. And that is when it hit me: bourbon and cigars! The Kentucky Bourbon Trail! My hairstylist of all people suggested it to me years ago, since he knows I love bourbon and cigars. So I went online and planned a trip! So at the end of March I am driving to Bardstown, Kentucky and I am touring several distilleries and checking out several cigar bars. I might even fit in a horseback trail ride to boot. Yay!

And then it occurred to me. The blog. Oh yeah. People actually read it. I have to step up my game! I cannot go to the whiskey trail in Kentucky and pair all that amazing booze with cigars and not write about it!  SO I AM BACK!