As you might have guessed from the forecast yesterday, Beale Street Wine Race was not much fun. I got down there about 12:40 as I usually do. Most years the street starts to get packed around that time. Yesterday there was practically NO ONE out. I can understand why. Not only was it not even 50 degrees with the wind kicking up, but to add the ultimate insult to injury there was a very light fog/mist in the air to make it feel that much colder.
I marched in the opening parade with Team Blind Bear. There was a tie for best entrance/float but we weren’t one of the teams that tied. We got seats in the Handy Park pavilion and watched Queen of the Vine. Someone commented, “I’ve never seen so many clothes on the QOTV contestants,” and I had been thinking the same thing. One of the casinos won that event, Gold Strike I think.
There’s about a 20 minute break between Queen of the Vine and the grape stomp. Normally everyone goes right over to the grape stomp area. Not this year! The street practically cleared as everyone went indoors to the various Beale bars. At that point I decided I’d had enough. I hated to skip the last two events, but I couldn’t take that cold, wet wind battering my face anymore. I walked back to the Blind Bear, where I spent the rest of the afternoon.
This was a rare year in which I didn’t take any Wine Race photos. The main reason why was that I didn’t want to take my hands out of my pockets! It was just too damn cold. Also, I knew that one of the QOTV contestants likes to keep her life private, so I didn’t take any photos out of respect for that.
At least Wine Race is a free event that is not a fundraiser. The event I really feel bad for is Southern Hot Wing Fest. That festival is ticketed entry, with cover charge and donations at the booths going to raise money for Ronald McDonald House. The feels-like temperature of about 43, 30 degrees below normal, surely cost them thousands of dollars.
While I was freezing at Wine Race, a friend showed me a notification on his phone that Tiger Woods had won the Masters. Over the years I’ve never really been into golf, but I enjoyed watching the Masters and I am so happy Tiger got his redemption. America needed a feel-good story right about now.
Congratulations to my friends on the New Wing Order food truck, who came in second out of 60 teams at the hot wing festival. Follow the truck on Facebook and Twitter to find out where it will be.
If you like fun and games on Beale Street, mark a date on your calendars… Downtown’s annual Big Wheel Race is set for November 30. You don’t have to provide your own Big Wheel like you do in some other events. Space is limited, so sign up soon.
Next Sunday a helicopter will drop Easter candy into AutoZone Park. Kids who attend the 2:05 Redbirds game that day can stick around after it’s over for the candy drop. There will also be a specialty Easter brunch ticket.
I’ve got a request for my readers, especially those who come to this blog not only to read the news, but who care about me as a person. June 1 is World Narcissistic Abuse Awareness Day. I didn’t even know what narcissistic abuse was until the beginning of 2019, but as soon as I read about it, I realized, wow, that happened to me, and events that made no sense for the longest time began to make total sense. If you don’t know what narcissistic abuse is, please spend 5 or 10 minutes reading through the WNAAD website. Not only will you get a better understanding of what life has been like for me, but you’ll also gain powerful information to protect yourself against this form of abuse.
There’s a biography of Doors frontman Jim Morrison that is divided into three sections: The Bow Is Drawn, The Arrow Flies, and The Arrow Falls. Some days I feel like the day I met my abuser at a bar in five summers ago was the beginning of “The Arrow Falls” chapter of my life.
But, on a better note about me… I didn’t drink a Call-a-Cab yesterday! Over the years at Wine Race I’ve had a history of drinking the fruit punch daiquiris from Wet Willie’s, often leading to a stumble home and a 4 PM bedtime. The cold wasn’t the reason I didn’t drink one. I just felt like I didn’t need it. In fact, I didn’t even drink a beer the entire time I was at Wine Race. I felt better, I saved money, and since I wasn’t taking in any liquids I didn’t have to worry about any trips to the restroom. I can’t remember the last time I made it to 11 PM the day of Wine Race.
Oh… one more thing… look who showed up at the Blind Bear last night, making me wonder if someone hung a FREE FOOD sign on the door.
That’s right, folks, for the next several weeks you’ll be able to hear the call of the Nuh-Uh Girl in the wild, which sounds like this: “Can I have a biiiiite?” or “Leftovers?”
Thanks for reading, especially the personal part. It’s sunny and starting to warm up, so I’ll be back in shorts and sandals today. Back tomorrow with more news.