Weekend Wrap Up: Midtown, Steak Overdose and Wine

This weekend was the annual Boone's Classic celebration. Classic particpants made their way to Memphis on Friday for a weekend of alcohol consumption and dining.

Friday night started out with burgers and beers at Huey's Midtown location followed by visits to the Blue Monkey and Celtic Crossing. It was my first visit to the Monkey in a long time. There was a decent crowd, but the crowd was a little too "mature" for me. So we headed over to Celtic.
Celtic was packed. There was barely room to move inside and the patio was standing room only. The only bad thing was the lack of cool air. Sure it was hot outside, but the weak AC and large crowd made it unbearable inside. Luckily the crowd started to thin out and the place cooled off. At this point a change of venue was requested and we headed to the Mt. Moriah Performing Arts Center. MMPAC activities are prohibited from discussion, so use your imagination.

Tunica was the first activity of the day on Saturday. We spent 3-4 hours at The Grand Casino and everyone left winners. I left Tunica up almost 800%. Definitely a good thing.

For dinner we made it to Texas de Brazil for the all you can eat steak marathon. I'm not sure how we pulled it off, but we each had the salad bar, a ton of assorted cuts of beef and dessert. We were all feeling a little sick after dinner.

Our meal didn't hold us back from enjoying several good beverages. At dinner we shared two bottles of wine. The first was a 2002 Merryvale Cabernet Sauvignon Starmont (Napa). It very heavy with tannins and had a extremely dry finish. It was not my favorite. Round 2 was a 2002 William Hill Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve (Napa). This was a much better wine. We also shared a 10-20-40 year flight of port with dessert. Port is very high on my list right now. I guess I should pick some up.

Later in the evening at the Williford house, I opened up three bottles of wines. The first was a 2001 Cakebread Cabernet Sauvignon (Napa). It was a very smooth wine with plum and berry flavors. I highly recommend it if you can still find it in stores.

We didn't need to open the other wines, but good decisions are rarely made while drinking. The second bottle was a 2001 Columbia Winery Cabernet Sauvignon (Columbia Valley). This was high tannin, chewy wine with berry and herb flavors. Not bad for the $10 I paid for it in Seattle. The final bottle was a Queen of Hearts Pinot Noir.

The Classic participants left Memphis on Sunday with slight hangovers and bigger waist lines. All signs of a good trip.

College football starts next week...FINALLY!