Small World: She Knows J.J. and He Did Too

Tuesday, while we were bumming around Springfield, Illinois, we stopped at a favorite watering hole right up the street from the state capitol called Norb Andy's with intentions of splitting a ponyshoe and perhaps slaking a thirst as it was a bit warm outside.

We got to talking with the bartender and mentioned that we were thinking of going to Capitol City later to play NTN.  She said her dad plays NTN there pretty much every day after work at the Lincoln Museum and Library.

Both Liz and I automatically thought of buddy J.J. and asked her if he might be the same.  He was.  Small world.

Then, we went to George Rank's (both Norb Andy's and this place had been closed for quite awhile over the last several years so we were glad they were open again).  Got to talking with customers and mentioned J.J.'s daughter.  One said his wife also plays NTN at Capitol City and they know J.J. very well also.

Making Friends and Playing NTN.  --RoadDog

Heading Home South of Milwaukee

MARCH 11TH

No ticket or towed car this morning thanks to my midnight sojourn out to the parking lot and another $5 to make us legal. Definitely wasn't to happy to go out this morning.

Got back on the interstate and took I-94 south, passing Layton Road (might not have been an interchange but who knows with all that construction. Had to backtrack to the first place we planned on stopping to play NTN, EA Sports in Cudahey. Unfortunately, it was not open.

Then, on to South Milwaukee and Johnny Mo's. This is your classic Wisconsin small town bar (even as a suburb of Milwaukee) and located on a corner. They were open, but had dropped NTN, even though still listed on the site finder.

We were hungry, so ordered their 50 cent wings which they claim are huge. They weren't kidding. Biggest wings we've ever seen. Six apiece filled us up. Try doing that at BW3.

Definitely a place to visit again. Liked their posters for St. Patrick's Day with St. Patrick himself holding a basketball with a sign saying "Irishmen ignore anything they can't drink or pinch."

Last stop before getting back on I-94 was BW3, Buffalo Wild Wings. Liz and I had three Top 5s individually on the lunch game, including one game when we both had a perfect 7,000 score and were #1.

Heading to Mar's Next. --RoadDog

NTN Cruising This Past January-- Part 3: Happy Harbor and Applebee's Beaches

January 9th.

The Monday after the great NIU Go-Daddy Bowl win over Arkansas State, to cap arguably the best (or second-best-ever Northern football season in my memory), we left Mobile and drove east on I-10 to Alabama Hwy 59 ans south to Foley to Lambert's where we got "throwed at" and enjoyed that great food and atmosphere.

Fully loaded, we drove a short distance to Gulf Breeze and then several miles west to HAPPY HARBOR, a new place with NTN. Very friendly staff and $2 domestic bottles. Definitely a place we'll visit again. Near a little marina.

January 10th

Liz's 61st birthday. Drove over to Wal Mart and bought a king cake for Liz's birthday and then stopped at a new NTN site, Applebee's Beaches there on Back Bay Road. Pretty much a standard Applebees, but some real good drink specials. The bartender was related to the family at the Drift Wood Lodge where we are staying.


January 11th

Kind of a cold day at Panama City Beach, Florida, so drove into Panama City and played NTN at Joe's Corner Pub, a short distance from the bridge. Always a fun place with the crowd. We even had folks playing as well, a rare thing in our travels. Then, there are those great wings that they specialize in.

Two new sites.

NTNin' and Grinnin'. --RoadDog

NTN Cruising This Past January-- Part 2

We went to two more NTN sites in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.


SIDELINES

There could not have been a possible vehicle in the whole state of Mississippi that wasn't out driving and getting in our way as we drove to this place after leaving the BW3. This is your typical small strip mall sports joint with high ceilings and lots of TVs.

No one else was playing as the place was really quite dead except for one other customer. Exceptionally friendly bartender and cook.


CORNER SPORTS BAR

Good-sized crowd at this place considerably south of Hattiesburg and near some sort of a military installation. Unfriendly though and especially the bartender. No one playing the game. Definitely a place we would not go back to.

We then drove into Mobile and got our room for the next three days. There are several NTN sites in town, but we had already been to them. We did play at Baumhower's where we first experienced that high-pitched Red Wolf Howl that Arkansas State fans give each other. In addition, the University of Arkansas was playing a bowl game, so we got to hear the pig sounds their fans make. I tell you, it was a real animal experience.

A-Ohhhhhhh! A-Ohhhhhhhh! or Whatever the Sound Is That Wolves Howl. --RoadDog

NTN Cruising This Past January-- Part 1

Whenever Liz and I are on vacation, we make it a point to stop at new NTN places whenever we can.

We ended up going to ten new sites in Illinois, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida this past trip to the Gulf Coast. Sadly, we were the only ones playing in all but one place.



THIRD BASE-- SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS, Jan. 4th.

We've been to all Springfield sites, except this one that just got it recently. It was kind of hard to find it, southwest of the downtown. The first thing we noticed was that there are hardly any places to sit in it. Friendly people, though and found out it is more of a late night, younger crowd joint. The place gets crowded and that is why there are so few seats.

Judging by the low scores, not many people play, but it was early in the month.



Next, we hit all three places listed as being in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

BUFFALO WILD WINGS-- HATTIESBURG, MISSISSIPPI Jan. 6th

We hit all three places in the afternoon and this was a rare BW3 (what us old-timers called Buffalo Wild Wings, in the early days called Buffalo Wild Wings & Weck, hence the w3. Here we are in the heart of Brett Favre land, University of Southern Mississippi.

Friendly bartender and this was a rare time when no one else was playing. Usually, there is at least one person playing in BW3s, even if it is just the poker game.

Always really love spending $5 for soft drinks at these places just for the two of us, especially when we aren't going to get refills. then, there's the buck tip.

I don't know if I've ever been anywhere with more traffic than here in Hattiesburg.

Eight More to Come. --RoadDog

NTN Cruising

Whenever Liz and I hit the road, one thing definitely on out to-do list is to visit NTN sites and play.  Some folks target Civil War battlefields (like us), others want to visit lighthouses (like us) and others go to the bars and restaurants (like us).

But, in addition, we like to drop in at places with NTN.  That's good for the company to come in and make sure the bartender and owner of the bar know that we are there because they have NTN.  That's just good for business. 

Since we started keeping records of visit, we have been to 953 places at the conclusion of our most recent trip.  I'm sure that is a lot more than anyone in the NTN/Buzztime Corporation has been to.  If they want to know what's wrong with their product, we could sure tell them.  But, they seem to be disinterested in what we have to say.

And, There Sure Are a Lot of Problems.  --RoadDog

Hootin' and 'TNing Our Way Across Mississippi

March 2nd, we left Biloxi and drove west on US-90, enjoying the view of the Gulf the whole way to Gulfport where we took US-49 northwest to Hattiesburg and eventually the state capital at Jackson. US-49 is divided four lane the whole way and it is not hard to see exactly where the older two lanes were due to the contour-hugging of the southbound lanes.

In Jackson, we went to Hooters for lunch and to play NTN. It is great to see more and more Hooters getting the game. Plus, hard to beat the $5.99 ten boneless wings and fries. I had a #8 with Roadog. Klofmn at Hello Folks came in #9 so I'm sure he was looking.

Continued on I-55 ro just south of Memphis and stopped at the Horn Lake Hooters for some more NTN and a driving break.

We had not been to either of these places before and they proved to be the last of 23 new sites we visited during the trip.

Playing WAY TOO MUCH NTN!! --RoadDog

No Place for a Packer-Backer

This past Thursday, on our way down to PCB, we stopped at a few NTN Buzztime sites along the way. Of course, I was showing my Green Bay Packer colors. Right proud of our boys.

One was at the BW3, Buffalo Wild Wings in Birmingham, Alabama. While sitting at the bar, I somehow got the feeling something "evil" was lurking behind me. I turned around and the whole wall was "STEELERS." Banners, pictures, Steeler colors, Big Ben posters, the whole nine yards. Two prominent signs said this was the home of the Heart of Dixie Steelers Fan Club.

It figures that there might be a lot of Steeler fans in Birmingham as this city was the heart of steel production in the South for many years. A lot of Pittsburgh folk came down because of this production, so a bit of history here.

And here I am in my green and gold wearing my Super Bowl XLV Champion hat. Good thing there were no HoDS fans there. The bartender said they get anywhere from 100 to 200 Steeler fanatics in the place for games and that it was to capacity for Super Bowl. I inquired if there were any Packer fans there and he said two or three, but they stayed quiet.

Ambush Avoided. --RoadDog

Brat Stop and Donovan's Reef-- NTN Cruisin'-- Part 5

Again, if you're ever near the Illinois-Wisconsin border on I-94, get off at Wi-50, go west about a quarter mile and check out the Brat Stop. It is an experience.

We played two games there and had a #9 with Roadog #15 and a #2 with Roadog #8, DBLK #15 and Parrot #18. The game was on two TVs, but no one else was playing (as usual), so between the four of us, we had five boards.

Another thing not boding well for them keep NTN Buzztime is that this late in the month, Dec. 30th, the high Countdown score was 9,870 and high Buzztime was around 8500. Obviously not many people are playing it.

We then drove Hwy-50 to Twin Lakes, Wisconsin, and played NTN at home base with six more Top twenties. Of course, Donovan's Happy Hour prices are $1.50 for pints and $2 bottles. A new offering is a pound of hot-roasted in the shell peanuts for $2.50. Now that's some more good eating.

Brats, peanuts and beer!!!

Always Fun NTN-Cruisin'. --RoadDog

To Brat or Not to Brat-- NTN Cruisin'-- Part 4-- The Brat Stop

Listening to Professa John Hook's yearly Beach Music Countdown on Cashbox right now. He's doing 1953. When you hear that Rock and Roll started in 1955 with "Rock Around the Clock," not so. It was alive and fine in '53, just is white folks weren't getting an opportunity to hear it.

A brat and chips will set you back $5.55. Too expensive, but if you are a bratwurst aficionado, you will pay it. It simply is the best. They use their own recipe for it and even have the bun made especially for them. It is brat nirvana.

They, of course, also have sauerkraut. I always wonder why some places sell brats but have no sauerkraut.

A brat plate costs $8.25 and includes fries, American or German potato salad and cole slaw. Thursdays it is the special at $6.95.

Beer goes for $2.50 for a stein, $3.25 a pint and a huge, heavy schooner for $3.50.

Strongly Suggesting a Stop Here If You're in the Area. --RoadDog

Going for an NTN Cruise-- Part 3-- The World Famous Brat Stop

Again, the I-94/Wi-50 intersection in Wisconsin, not far from the Illinois border is a great place for NTN fans to visit. You don't usually find four places with our addiction that close to each other (within a mile) along with motels so you don't have to play, drink and drive. Two are east of I-94 and two are west.

The Brat Stop is the best of the four. It is huge, it is rustic and it has the best brats you'll ever eat. They are celebrating their 50th anniversary "Fifty Years on Highway 50." They opened in 1961 and rebuilt after being gutted entirely by a fire in the 1980s.

The place is always crowded and you can be served on two floors. The interior decor is best described at Wisconsin North Woods.

You can watch games and play NTN on 70+ TVs.

Not Finished Yet. --RoadDog

Going for an NTN Cruise-- Part 2-- Uncle Mike's Beers Around the World

Our first stop was at Uncle Mike's. Get off I-94 at Wi-50, go east to the frontage road and then north past all the buildings.

Uncle Mike's used to be a famous German restaurant noted for superb schnitzel, but now is Uncle Mike's which started by Lake Michigan where it still retains a site and now is out by the interstate.

It is a neat-looking place both inside and out. There is a huge bar that kind of goes off in all directions. TVs are on the outside of the bar so you either watch across the bar or have to turn around, not the best situation.

They have a huge selection of beers from around the world, many of which are on tap. You can even sign up for a Red, White & Brew Beer Tour.

The food must be good as the place was packed, even at 1 pm.


GIVE ME YOUR TIRED BOARDS

We had to send several boards back because they weren't working. The Kellehers and Liz and I had five boards between us because you have to have that many to have a shot at ranking. The bartender was not happy at all to give us that many. After that, she pretty-well ignored us.

We did have a #8 and a #1 with Roadog at #2, Lizard #3 and Parrot #5.

Beware the site locater which still has the place down by the lake.

Of course, we were the only ones playing, which is the usual case most of the time we visit other places.

I don't think we'll be back and doubt they will keep it much longer. NTN Buzztime just has no clue how to keep sites.

A Brat-in We Will Go. --RoadDog

Going for an NTN Cruise-- Part 1-- Beers Around the World and Sliders

Yesterday, the Kellehers, Liz and I drove up to Cheesehead Land (Wisconsin) to play some NTN at some new-to-us places: Uncle Mike's Highway Pub and the Brat Stop, both in Kenosha off I-94 by Wis-50. We finished our tour at home base, Donovan's Reef in Twin Lakes.

Always enjoy playing with them as together we make a really good team. We had four top twenties.

Even better, there are four NTN sites within a mile of each other and all are fairly close to motels. One, Rush Street, is as close as you can get, in the Best Western. The other one is the BW-3, er, Buffalo Wild Wings. And, there is a White Castle close by for those Slider attacks.

A perfect place to get your NTN fix.

It is always a good idea to visit new sites as soon as you can since most will probably drop NTN by the end of a year. The wonderful folks at hq just don't have a clue as how to keep sites. They could ask me. I've sure been to a lot of sites and know. But, they ask not.

From what I saw, neither place will have it for long. And both are popular places, especially the Brat Stop which is known for having the best, although expensive, of that sort of food.

These two new places put us at 52 new sites for the year and 910 overall.

Uncle Mike's Tomorrow. --RoadDog

T-Giving NC--2010-- NTNin' at Buffalo Wings and Rings-- Richmond, Indiana

It is quite easy to get Buffalo Wings and Rings confused with the much-larger chain called Buffalo Wild Wings. Not all BWRs have NTN, but all BWWs (I still call them BW3s) do.

We'd played at the Buffalo Wings and Rings on a previous trip when we stopped for the night in Richmond. At the time, we weren't expecting to stop there so had not done any researching NTN sites ahead of time.

Our motel was close to the restaurant and we were very happy to find they had the game so played awhile.

The first motel I tried to stop at, the Motel 6, had an even better price, but way too many people waiting to check in, so I ended up at the Days Inn across the street.

I had their signature gyro sandwich which was very good.

Sadly, as far as NTN, this place was all too typical. No one was playing and the game wasn't even on any TVs, despite a good-sized crowd in the place. When the game is not even on, this is never a good sign.

They also have just five boards. The bartender put the game on for me. The Buzztime scores were from 6,200 to 7.900, low for this time of the month.

I played a couple games and did have a national #11 with 9829 on Buzztime for RoadDog. I also played part of the hour-long music game and was happy they had so many old country song questions.

It will be too bad to lose this as an NTN site, expecially with all the nearby motels within walking distance.

There is a Biffalo Wild Wings about a mile down the road, though.

Definitely a Long First Day. --RoadDog

NTN Cruisin'-- Part 1-- Buzztime

Whenever Liz and I travel, we always check out the NTN sitefinder to see where we can play, both during the day and especially at night. During the day and while still on the road, it is no alcoholic beverages.

However, once we get to where we spend the night, I'll have drinks as long as we are close to the motel. Otherwise, no drinks for me if it is too far.

This past trip to North Carolina for my mom's 80th birthday, I was able to stop in two places on the way there and two coming back. There was a new NTN site in Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio and Illinois. This brings our total of new NTN places to 904 overall and 46 for the year. I doubt that anyone else in NTNdom has been to as many places.

We're very happy to now have a GPS device which makes locating the places a lot easier (sometimes). Plus, we use the NTN Sitefinder for names addresses and, I write down directions as a backup.

Unfortunately, sometimes the places aren't in the place where the sitefinder says it is.

NTN Cruisin' and I Got to Get a Life. --RoadDog

Cruisin' Nebraska-- Part 10-- NTN Buzztime (part 2)

We have been in Nebraska on three occasions. The last time, we were being chased by an early October winter storm across the state in 2006 so didn't stop to play NTN. We had picked up the snow just west of Denver as we were returning from our end-to-end Route 66 drive.

The first Nebraska trip was on our return from the 2004 Tulsa Route 66 Festival where we went on out to Tucumcari, New Mexico and we were taking US-54 back most of the way, but had gotten off in Wichita, Kansas.

The second time was spring break 2006, when we took the Lincoln Highway across Iowa and then went way out of our way to see the world's largest round barn in Red Cloud, Nebraska. (I don't suggest it.)

Of the 21 NTN sites we've been to, eleven are no long in business or have it.

Ones that have dropped it:

DJ's, Varsity Club, TGIF, In-Play, Crescent Moon, Old Dundee, Oscar's, Clancy's and Digz in Omaha.

Gateway Lanes in Elkhorn and the Penalty Box in Lincoln.

Always sad to see so many have dropped it, and that number would be worse had it not been for all the BW3s (Buffalo Wild Wings).

NTN Cruisin' in Nebraska. --RoadDog

Cruisin' Nebraska-- Part 9-- NTN Possibilities

I went on the Buzztime NTN site and found that there are 23 sites to play NTN in Nebraska, not a large number, but definitely enough to visit while touring the state. And they're spread out as well.

For those of you who don't know, NTN Buzztime is like the Who Wants to Be a Millionaire game on TV. You can play it on TVs in bars and restaurants who have signed up for it. If you have ever been in a Buffalo Wild Wings, you might have noticed it being played.

The two biggest concentrations are in Omaha with 6 and Lincoln with 7. Four of the ones in Omaha are Buffalo Wild Wings.

Other cities with one apiece:

Grand Island
Papillion
Offutt AFB
North Platte
Sidney
Chadron
Kearney
Hastings
Sidney
Bellvue

Looking like it's a good time to do a cruise along the Lincoln Highway through the state as Grand Island, North Platte, Kearney and Grand Island are right on the old road and Hastings not too far from it (plus, all the Kool Aid stuff that might be there).

Cruisin' Down Da Road and Playin' NTN. --RoadDog

ILMOTOUR 2010-- Part 5-- Don't Blink

Continuing into Missouri.

We passed a sign for Queen City, a small town with a population of 638. We couldn't help but chuckle when it went on to say, "Don't blink or you'll miss us."

Continuing south on US-63 and we came to Columbia, the home of the University of Missouri. This is when I recalled that there was a TGIF that had NTN which we hadn't visited before. We saw it right by I-70, but not in time to exit so had to go on a few more miles and double back.

Not too much farther south is Jefferson City, Missouri's capital. We drove by the capitol and then got off looking for the new Buffalo Wild Wings, but it was so new it wasn't on our Tom-Tom GPS so had to stop for directions. It ended up being north of town off US-50.

This is also where we found the used CD and record store where I found "Costello Music" by the Fratellis, a CD I had been looking for during the whole trip. It is the one that has Chelsea Dagger, the song they play at the Blackhawk games whenever the Hawks score. It has kind of grown on us.

Played that song all the rest of the way to Lake of the Ozarks. The rest of the album is pretty good as well.

One of these days we might even get to Route 66, our destination.

Showing Me Through Missouri. --RoadDog

Number 900th NTN Site

We've been playing NTN way too much since the 1990s. I mean, way TOO MUCH.

Yesterday we visited our 900th new place. I doubt that any other NTN Buzztime Player has played at that many sites, especially anybody with the "corporation." Fortunately, I started keeping track of sites right away so have the whole number listed by state, when we visited and date.

Anytime we go traveling, we always make it a point to visit as many places as we can along the way.

The most recent trip was out to the Mississippi River, Iowa and Illinois. We went to five new NTN sites that we had never been to before. One was in Iowa and four in Illinois.

They were:

DUBUQUE , Iowa-- Courtside Pub
GALENA, Illinois-- The Flying Horse
MOUNT MORRIS-- Maggie's Idle Hour
LOVE'S PARK (by Rockford)-- Casey's Pub
Machesney Park-- B-Dub (Buffalo Wild Wings)

That makes a total of 42 new NTN sites for the year.

Playing this Dumb Game Way Too Much!! --RoadDog

Getting Ready for the Lincoln Highway

Tomorrow, I leave for Dixon, Illinois, for the annual Lincoln Highway Association National Conference running from Tuesday to Saturday an am also signed up for the post-conference tour of the Route 66/Dixie Highway/Lincoln Highway leaving from Joliet.

We just got back from the Route 66 Association of Illinois Annual Motor Tour June 13th and had considered going to the Route 66 Tri-State Festival this past weekend.

This will take me through my "Road Fix" for awhile.

Wednesday and Thursday will be mostly taken up with bus trips east and west along the Lincoln Highway from Dixon. Friday there are symposiums and talks and then the general meeting on Saturday before leaving in the afternoon.

I also plan on going to three more NTN Buzztime sites, one each in Sycamore, Sterling and Mt. Morris.

On the Road Again. --RoadDog