Concord-Northshore Roundabout Works

So I’m digressing today.  I’m not talking about a restaurant, sporting event or service company.  Today’s post is a bit of an apology.  Here’s the deal.

For the past 5 years, I’ve complained about the traffic going from Concord Road onto Northshore.  I sat in endless lines late for my sons’ ball games at the Farragut Park.  And I made my frustration clear.  I called TDOT countless times asking when they were going to fix it.  Each time, they told me they were working on it and that they were putting in a round-about (at least that’s what I call it). Well when I heard this, I freaked.  How could something like a round-about work in a high traffic area.  I thought TDOT or whomever was responsible for this had lost their mind.

I’m here today to apologize for ever thinking that. The round-about has been in place now for several months and it’s amazing how folks have adapted to it.  No lines.  No frustrated drivers.  Not even a stop.  People just slow down, hit their gap, and move on.  Sweet.

TDOT, Town of Farragut, Knox County – whomever is responsible for getting this done – kudos.

The Rocky Top League is Back!

In a post last year, I talked about how awesome the Rocky Top League was.  The good news is the league is back again this summer. They’ve just had the draft and will be starting games Monday, June 16 at the Bearden High School Gym.  Here’s the schedule and rosters:

Rosters:

HT Group
Tyler Smith – Tennessee
Courtney Pigram – ETSU
Daniel West – Tennessee
Michael Jenkins – Northwestern
Cole Rose – Lee University
Greg Hamlin – East Tennessee State
Kyle Huckins – Emory & Henry
J.T. Blair – King College
Chris Conner – University of Maryland-Eastern Shore
Ryan Walden – Milligan College

Toyota of Knoxville
Wayne Chism – Tennessee
Dane Bradshaw – Tennessee
Rashard Lee – Tennessee
Andy Tipton – Carson Newman
Tony White Jr – College of Charleston
Kirill Yakovlev – McNeese State
Isiah Brown – East Tennessee State
Jared Stevens
Jimmy Boone – Tusculum
Dan Walter – Tusculum

Rays ESG
Scotty Hopson – Tennessee
Bobby Maze – Tennessee
Brian Williams – Tennessee
Logan Johnson – Coastal Carolina
Steven Pearl – Tennessee
Alex Oliver – Alabama State
Alex Bowers – Maryville College
Ben Williamson – Maryville College
James Gallman – Knoxville Fulton
Mario McClurie

News-Sentinel
Damon Johnson – Tennessee
Ron Slay – Tennessee
Renaldo Woolridge – Tennessee
Phillip Jurick – Tennessee
Jalen Steele – Knoxville Fulton
Raul Placeras – Maryville College
Cameron Sharp – Carson Newman
Jeremy Saffore – UT Chattanooga
Chauncey Thompson – Carson Newman
Keith Bauer – Roane State

Richardson Construction
John Mueller – Marquette
Terrence Oglesby – Clemson
Stanley Asumnu – Tennessee
Josh Tabb – Tennessee
Bobby Guyton – Carson Newman
Elmar Kuli-Zade – Lee University
Michael Blue – Hiwassee College
Rob Zalucki – Tusculum
Skylar McBee – Rutledge
Adam Plavich – Carson Newman

1st Tennessee

Cameron Tatum – Tennessee
John Higgins – Tennessee
Jordan Howell – Tennessee
Zach Hyatte – Carson Newman
Ben Bosse – King College
Eryk Watson – Maryville College
Marko Costic
James Boo Jackson – Eastern Michigan
Justin Walker – Carson Newman
Dustin Brown – Loyola Marymount

Schedule:

Monday, June 16
Sentinel vs. HT Group – 6:00
Ray’s vs. Richardson – 7:30
1st TN vs. Toyota – 9:00

Wednesday, June 18
Sentinel vs. Toyota – 6:00
Richardson vs. 1st TN – 7:30
HT Group vs. Ray’s – 9:00

Monday, June 23
Ray’s vs. 1st TN – 6:00
HT Group vs. Toyota – 7:30
Sentinel vs. Richardson – 9:00

Wednesday, June 25
Sentinel vs. Ray’s – 6:00
HT Group vs. 1st TN – 7:30
Richardon vs. Toyota – 9:00

Thursday, June 26
Richardson vs. HT Group – 6:00
Ray’s vs. Toyota – 7:30
Sentinel vs. 1st TN – 9:00

Monday, June 30
1t TN vs. Toyota – 6:00
Sentinel vs. HT Group – 7:30
Ray’s vs. Richardson – 9:00

Wednesday, July 2
Championship Round
#3 vs. #4 – 6:00
#1 vs. #2 – 7:30

Weigel’s vs. Pilot – The Round 1 Winner.

I knew after my trip to Weigel’s that it wouldn’t take much for Pilot to knock their opponent to the canvas but this is almost a TKO.  Check this out.

I dropped in the Pilot on Campbell Station around 5 this afternoon and it started off on a positive note. I was greeted by a friendly employee who offered to help me find anything I needed – nice touch.  I headed straight to the drinks and held my breath.  In my experiences, Pilot has never been known for having essentials – especially Coke Icees. Man was I wrong.  Coke, Blueberry, Cherry and – the cream of the crop – Mountain Dew.  I sampled the Coke Icee and the consistency was spot on. It had a slight cherry taste which I’m not a big fan of but other than that, I was pleased.

I checked out the restroom and although it was small, every necessity was fully stocked and the floors were clean.  I’m not talking eat-off-the-floor clean. More like I-would-change-my-clothes-in-here-if-I-had-to clean.  Definitely better than their counterpart across the street.

I browsed through the selection of items and although it wasn’t as diverse as Weigel’s it was neatly arranged and easy to get to everything real quick. That’s one thing that bugged me about Weigel’s.  It seemed a little too big for a “quick-stop” place.

My last comparison took me to the hot food counter.  Talk about variety.  This Pilot could almost be considered a Shoney’s buffet compared to the warming lamp dip dog I sampled at the circle W.  The hot dog roller was filled with your standard franks, sausages, jaleponeo cheddar dog and cheesburger dogs.  That’s no typo folks.  Cheeseburger dogs.  Just imagine taking hamburger meat and shredded cheddar and shaping it into a hot dog.  It doesn’t sound inviting and it definitely doesn’t look inviting.  In fact it looked like…well…I’ll just let your imagination do the work on this one.  On to the rest of the food counter. (Yes, there’s more.

They also had nachos, cheese, chili and a choice between two taquitos – sausage and egg or fajita chicken. Nothing really looked that good (how can it when it’s been sitting on rollers all day) but for catering to the quick-bite crowd, this place could not be beat.

The only complaints I had were a) the hotdogs/meat sticks were not identified or properly aligned with their signs so it led to b) my second complaint – I tried what I thought was a hot dog and it ended being their “smokey dog” or sausage.  The meat was tough and a little dry but definitely edible.

So, after round one, Pilot is in control.  Now on to round two.

It’s Friday! Time for Sweet P’s!

Lunch on Friday’s at the office has become a treat. Just about 11:30 the smell starts to make it’s way through the cubes – yep, Chris is here. Former front-man for Gran Torino, Chris Ford, is the man behind the table and the owner of Sweet P’s. That’s Chris to the right with his daughter, Presley Mae. Not only can Chris sing, he can smoke some bbq.

My usual consists of potato salad and pulled pork. Now that might sound boring, but this meal is anything but. The meat is always perfect and the potato salad is the best you’ll ever have. Keep in mind that I’ve got a big family and I’ve been to tons of covered dish events – no one, not even Aunt Geraldine, can touch his potato salad (sorry, Geraldine). The secret ingredient in this meal, though, is the sauce. I’m a tried and true Tennesseean and love me some tomato based, but his sauce has the North Carolina vinegar twang to it that flat out rocks. Actually, its a great combo of both styles. It’s probably distilled up in the hills on the state line just east of Mountain City.

I’ve sampled the rest of the goods as well – chicken, brisket, wings, tomato and blues salad – it’s all good.

I do have one complaint, though. Unfortunately, he does not have a restaurant. This is strictly a catering-only gig for Chris. Instead of running a restaurant, I guess he likes to tend to the smoker to make sure everything comes out right. If that’s the case, I think I can wait for next Friday to come around.

Lucky for you, Chris is only a phone call or email away.  Here’s his info:

Phone: 865-804-4843
Email: orders@sweetpbbq.com

I’ve got gas. Wiegel’s vs. Pilot – Round 1.

As promised, I started the comparison. The first duel has started on Campbell Station Road near I-40.

First up – Wiegels.

I had some time to kill so I ran in to see what I could find. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find much – especially in the bathroom. Tell me this. What’s the one thing you need to do in the bathroom when you’re done? (No, it’s not write on the walls.) Wash your hands, right? What is required? Water – Soap – Towel. Well Wiegel’s gets a big fat F on this one – no soap or towels. And the bathroom was nasty. I expected more than this from this location.

As I walked out, I was sure that they would redeem themselves with the good ole’ standard – a Coke Icee. Every Weigel’s has a Coke Icee. Right? WRONG! Only cherry and… (get this)… mocha. Yeah, that’s right. Mocha. I about threw up in my mouth when I read that.

By then I started to feel sorry for this place. It got even worse when I realized they had no warm hotdogs on rollers (not that I like these things…I’m just doing my job).  Surely they had several items for a quick bite. Nope. The only thing I found was a corn dog under a light bulb. I got brave and went ahead and tried it. Amazingly it wasn’t too bad. My daughter and son scarfed it down.

So, on to Pilot. I’ve not done the side by side yet with them but I’ve been in there several times and a worker even gave me a free coffee. My hopes are high for this place.

One thing I will say is that Wiegel’s did have a big map of East Tennessee on the wall. Nice touch for lost travelers.