Never met a weed she didn't like......

Killin' Poison Ivy

We have sort of adopted a local golf course that is long on potential but short on manpower.  I will occasionally spend a day working with other volunteers to remove downed trees, tree limbs, and brush around the course.  Then I feel content and play away.

Mary, on the other hand,  has a personal vendetta for weeds of any kind and a serious hatred of poison ivy and oak.  She never met a weed she didn't want to pull.

Clip, Cut and Pull

It has gotten so that about the only way I can get her to to play golf with me is to promise to let her play in the weeds for an hour or so after we finish our round.  We had an acre in Winston-Salem and that kept her satisfied but here in Tennessee, we have only a postage stamp sized lot so she needs to go elsewhere for her weed gratification and Baily Links has become her target.  (At least I get to play more golf this way.)

Fish Burritos Baja Style

Friday was a day for going to downtown Knoxville for the afternoon.  We venture down there every month or so to wander around Market Square, walk along Gay street and visit some of the unique places that make a downtown experience more than just a shopping trip.

UT Baja Bug

The "Official" reason yesterday was to find a pair of sandals for me that would last for more than 6 months - but then, any excuse would do.

Market square is just a collection of eateries, specialty shops and former head shops converted to disguised head shops.  It is just a couple of blocks from the UT campus and is a hangout for the young student crowd (and those of us in our dottering old age).   The real attraction for us on the square is the food!  At any given time, there are a dozen or so restaurants competing for the oldster's money (I can't imagine a college student eating a $15.00 lunch and washing it down with $4.00 draft beers but what do I know).

 Anyway, today's choice was a new place called the Blue Coast Burrito Grill (a regional chain) named for a section of coast just North of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.  Nice clean place with a genuine beat up VW bug complete with attached boogie board and hung from the ceiling for atmosphere.  But the real attraction was the food!

Mary got to design her own lunch in the form of a spinich quesidilla with chipolte chicken and a half dozen other goodies - pretty good choice and it didn't take her long to decide on it, a rather unusual event in itself.

As usual, Richard ordered the absolute best item on the menu (in this case the waiter did recommend it).  Fish burrito, Baja Style in a Chipolte tortilla.  YUM!  I can't really say what was in it but I had never tasted a fish burrito that good before and I grew up eating the stuff.  Friendly people, great food and a pleasing atmosphere - drop in if you are ever in the area.

Yes, I did find my saldals and they were on sale!  They only cost me $200 - my sandals, Mary's sandals, lunch, beer, parking, Mary's blouse and 1/4 tank of gas.  Life is good.

Nationwide Tour Golf in Knoxville

Big John Daly the Fashion Maven!

The Nationwide Golf Tour's News Sentinel Open is held in the Knoxville area every year and Mary & I decided to get tickets for the week.

This year, the tournament is being held at the Fox Den Country Club in Farragut, Tennessee (only about 15 miles from our house) so it is easy for us to attend and watch how the up and coming stars of PGA golf  play the game.  It also allowed us to see some of the folks we have watched on TV over the years.

We arrived about an hour after the lead-off group hit the first tee and walked  to the junction of the 7th green and 8th tee.  Not much of a crowd and a great place to watch.

Sunghoon Kang's Birdie Putt on 7.

John Daly put in his appearance wearing his trademark LOUD pants and posted a respectable -2 but he'll need to do better today if he wants to play on the weekend.

Rookie Sunghoon Kang made this beautiful birdie at 7 on his way to a -9 round and a share of the day one lead.

After a couple of hours at our 7/8 station, we were getting too hot so we ambled back to the clubhouse and walked around to 18 where we actually found seats in the public grandstand in the shade!  Instead of heading home, we passed another couple of hours watching more golf.  Lunch was great cheesburgers and cold beer while watching the pros hit into the green surrounding lake (I can do that!)

Home in the mid afternoon and the end of another wonderful day in retirement.