I went to Wild Wing Cafe when they first opened to watch my Valentine’s Day segment on ESPNU and the Virginia Tech basketball game that immediately followed. After 20 minutes, they put the television at our table on the U, but sans the volume – I was ok with not having to hear my own voice that sounds to me like a raspy 12-year-old phone sex operator, but I wanted to hear the game. Which brought me to the conclusion that just like restaurants which have smoking and non-smoking sections, sports bars should have game volume and music sections.
My favorite food is anything smothered in buffalo sauce — so one would think that I would recommend Wild Wings menu with 33 variations of wings ... not so much. I ordered a buffalo chicken salad but something else came out ... so I just sent it back. Then a girl came out from the kitchen, whom I assume was on her period because she barked at me, “Do you want a to-go box for this? Because I can’t re-sell it so I’m still going to have to charge you for it.” W… T…. F….?
It’s not breaking news that parking in Uptown is a bitch, but as of late it’s an even bigger bitch. The Park It Nazis and garage owners are cracking down and making the commute to Uptown an even bigger pain in the ass.
It used to be that you could tell the attendant at the 6th Street Parking garage that you were going to Stool Pigeons or the 7th Street garage attendant that you were going to LaVecchias and get a ticket for validation with the attendants leaving at midnight thus not actually requiring validation.
Well, to get your ticket validated it has to be scanned at the validating venues, and the time scanned is indicated and read by a machine. At the EpiCentre, even the employees have to pay the $10 parking fee, and don’t even bother trying to pull the “I’m going to the theater” line to get free parking because your ticket stub is required for validation.
Cason-Point: Carpool or cab your ass Uptown.
Since I don’t believe in the allocation of our tax money to decorate said garages with hundreds of thousands of dollars in mirrors, murals and stupid noise making columns, I don’t believe in paying to park in them.
So, I am going to share with you the tricks of the trade so you can allocate your money to something more worthwhile ...
* If you’re going to Buckhead Saloon you can get a “Buckhead card” and get your ticket validated to park for free in the garage attached to it on 5th Street.
* You can park in the lot across from Wachovia on 3rd and Tryon after 7 p.m. because the attendant is gone and no longer monitoring the lot.
* You can park along 7th Street between Davidson St. and Dixie’s
* You can park in 5th and Poplar garage in a retail spot before the Harris Teeter closes.
... and if you really want to get gangsta with it, there’s an opening you can sneak out of in the EpiCentre parking garage if you do tell them you’re going to the theaters to get in without offering the cash upfront.
They are building a new parking garage across from the Arena so hopefully we can find a way to sneak into that one.
Between Moosehead Grill, Angry Ales, George Pappas and Jeff’s Bucket Shop, I used to refer to Montford Drive as Dive Drive, but it’s a little hard to now that Andrew Blair’s has opened for fine dining and wining, and one of the most famous dives, The Press Box, is now a premium pub – Brazwell’s.
It may have rained on NASCAR’s parade, but there was much to be seen on the scene when the NASCARnival came to its hometown.
* Pretty much every driver was at the O.A.R. concert and/or Pit Crew Challenge prior to the All Star race. I actually saw Brian Vickers, Kasey Khane, Michael Waltrip, Denny Hamlin and Dale Jr.’s right-hand man JR Rhodes.
* Meanwhile O.A.R was straight chillin' up at the Rusty Rudder the Tuesday before the show with their fellow Ohio State alum, Panther alum Drew Carter.
* Party with a Politician: Pat McCrory was both at the 600 and backstage at the O.A.R. concert.
* Panther DeAngelo Williams was at the Red Bull suite at the race (you know, the giant infrastructure with a DJ between turns two and three). As was Scott Speed …
You can learn a lot about Scott Speed in his interview with 3 Wide Life. Trust me when I say there was a lot of stuff that didn’t make the cut considering it’s an educational program – such as his incisive make-out session with his fiancée.
* Michael Waltrip is, well, a trip. He acted as a backup dancer for the Lost Trailers on WSOC’s Redneck Yacht Club, which was followed by a contest to see who could put their foot behind their head the furthest, at the dinner table, at Red Rocks … where there’s a new menu item — the Brittney Cason Sweet Tea Mojito. (Thanks Ron! ... and Congrats to Michael for winning the contest!)
* A Dessert Storm Veteran at a tailgate at the Coca-Cola 600 insisted Brotha Fred try his “Chicken Balls.” I partook of one of his cherries ... soaked in Moonshine.
* Oh, and Ric Flair went from Piedmont Town Center After Five to my hometown., Harrisonburg, Va., and Peyton Manning was at Blair Acres on South Boulevard following his tee time with Tiger Woods at the Quail Hollow Championship
* Meanwhile, in the elevator of my building I saw my new neighbor ... Denny Hamlin.
Followed by Monday Funday at Dixie’s where he was with Jay “Motha Fucking” White
And there’s a lot to see on the NASCAR scene ... like a guy with the number 88 shaved into his back or a pregnant woman in a bikini with 24 painted on her belly, and someone wearing a confederate flag cape.
And then there’s Lowe's Motor Speedway celebrities Couch Man and Beer Man.
I've got two pairs of tickets to the Coca-Cola 600 courtesy of Bank of America (meaning they're good tickets) ... want them? Then start the engines on your cursor.
All you have to do to get to Victory Lane is join the fan group for the motorsports show I host, Three Wide Life then e-mail me at brittney.cason@creativeloafing.com
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Tickets available for pick-up at the Creative Loafing office at the N.C. Music Factory before 5 p.m. today only
That's all.
There is now something you can do with that spare change weighing down your wallet ... go out. Latta Arcade, 320 S. Tryon St., is taking us back to an older concept of the economy, where hot dogs and sodas were 25 cents. Flashback Fridays are held from 11:30-1:30 every Friday this May, thus there’s only two more, tomorrow and next Friday. It’s perfect for a lunch break that won’t break the bank. Other deals include buy one, get one half off at Quiznos and cookies for 5 cents at Chicks.
Alongside affordable eats, there’s live music, at least there usually is. Last Friday, the band was M.I.A., and I don’t mean the singer of “Paper Planes.” This Friday, the music will be provided by Josh Z, next Friday by Jeff Brown. The group that was meant to play when I went was “The Pat Carpenter Band” from Speed Street, but they never showed. Despite an absence of music and a little wet weather, I still digged the food and the prices, they were swell ... unfortunately I can’t use the old lingo as well as I can the flashback prices.
By Bailie Thompson
Last Saturday afternoon started off a bit rainy in the Queen City, but when the clouds parted and the sun started shining the 4th Annual Stonefest got fired up at The Philosopher’s Stone. The Philosopher’s Stone is known for being one of those local hangouts where everyone knows everyone and good music and good times can be found — especially at their Stonefest.
Stonefest IV was the perfect opportunity to sit outside, eat some BBQ and enjoy the tunes of several regional jam, rock and reggae bands.
One Big Love kicked off the show at about 2 p.m. The band creates unique grooves; a little reggae-infused with danceable beats and a saxophone to top it off. Then they transition into a DJ-backed ‘intelli-rap’ hip-hop set that is refreshingly smart and even pokes fun at all of the rappers that only flow about bling.
When I first heard the name Gastrolounge I thought it was a place you go to get colonics ... not so much. SOUL Gastrolounge is actually the new hot spot in Plaza Midwood ... and perhaps Charlotte in general.
SOUL is fine dining by day, nightclub-lounge by night. In other words, get there by 7 p.m. on the weekend if you plan to eat, because most people stay to play when the music gets turned up and the lights turned down at 10 p.m. But it’s not the kind of place you mind waiting for a table though because of the beats and the bar, tended by mixologist Kyle Crabtree who puts the Level 3 sommelier to shame.
SOUL serves sushi and tapas ... small plates, not so much small amounts of food. Just enough food to coat your stomach for a night out, but not put you in a food coma. And despite the name, the food doesn’t make you gassy — compliments to the chef Patty Greene, the menu master behind Carpe Diem.
While tailgating typically surrounds sports, now it IS a sport ... it even has its own league.
The National Tailgating League is a newly formed organization created to make tailgating games such as Cornhole, Ladder Golf and Washer Toss an organized sport.
The green flag, kick-off for the NTL presented by Budweiser is this weekend, Saturday, May 23, and Sunday, May 24, at Lowe's Motor Speedway, surrounding the Coca Cola 600. There will be two tournaments on each day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon — both open to the public. Each tournament will hold 50 teams and while the cost to play is a mere $20 per person, the prizes include $500 cash, suites passes and tickets to the fall race.
In other words ... get to the track, park your car, do your stretches, put on your game face and strut to the “Eye of the Tiger” theme song in your head to the site of the NTL Cornhole tournament at the corner of Highway 29 and Morehead Road, directly across the street from the speedway — stopping to collect free shit along the way, like Will Ferrell loofahs from Old Spice, beads and keychains from beer girls, and Tylenol and Tums.
NASCAR is one of the biggest tailgating sports in the world and Memorial Day is one of the largest tailgating parties of the year. Tailgating is essentially an American tradition … while women break out the recipes, the guys break out the rivalry.
So, while tailgating recipe books are being published, the fire and ice grill and cooler combo is mass produced, sporting event parking lots become more decorated, and new tailgating games get created, the National Tailgating League is makes it official … tailgating is a sport.
You can register to join the league here.
And stay tuned because this week on Brittney After Dark I am giving away tickets to the 600 courtesy of Bank of America.
As in George Strait tickets for tonight at Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre, with special guests Blake Shelton and Dancing with the Stars star Julianne Hough. Now, I am strictly dickly, but Hough is a hottie! Therefore, the guys going strictly for Strait can at least have something pretty to look at while tuning out the girly country tunes.
I have one pair of tickets and the first person to hit my Crackberry at brittney.cason@creativeloafing.com wins them, to be picked up at the Creative Loafing offices (and home to the new Uptown Boutique Amphitheatre) at the NC Music Factory.
If your high-speed internet isn't speedy enough to win, there are ways to get tickets for a lot of shows for practically free... Check out the Vibes blog for info on Live Nation's $10 Lawn Blow Out.
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