A Weekend With Big-Hearted Tiff and Big Head Todd

Friday, August 27th, 2010

We headed down to Chattanooga today after work to meet up with our friends, Tiff and Brenda, to spend a couple nights on their beautiful and spacious boat, Chyn Schyn (photo below). Don't ask. We don't know what the name means and neither do they really...that's how they bought it and numerous Internet searches have yet to reveal a clear answer. They were kind enough to bring their boat several miles down the Tennessee River from their marina and through the Chickamauga Dam lock to Ross's Landing in downtown Chattanooga. We had planned this a few months ago in preparation for the 16th Annual Southern Brewers Festival which was happening on Saturday there on the riverfront.

Saturday, August 28, 2010

After staying up to 3 AM (haven't done that in a while!) just relaxing and chatting on Chyn Schyn, we slept in late and walked up from the dock to Blue Plate, one our favorite Chattanooga restaurants, for brunch. The beer festival started at 2 PM and we had secured us all VIP passes to the "Party on the Pier" which was restricted access with unlimited food, beer and other beverages provided by Gordon-Biersch. The food was plentiful and good as was the beer (see Rob's beer blog for more on it). The tickets were limited in number so it was never crowded on the pier and there were short lines if any for the food and drink. There was covered seating as well which gave a nice beer-garden sort of feel to it (photo below). There was live music all day and it got progressively better as the day went on (or maybe that was the beer helping?) with the headliner being Big Head Todd & the Monsters, a great rock band we have wanted to see live for a long time. They did not disappoint turning in a blistering set of all of their past hits and fan favorites. We even had the pleasure of a brief meeting of Todd Park Mohr (photo below) after the show. Yep, he's Big Head Todd, and, no, it looked regular-sized to us.

We were joined throughout the day by several friends including Michelle and Patrick from Chattanooga, as well as Gary and Cary who just happened to be in town from Nashville. We met some nice friends of Tiff and Brenda's as well including Bill, Curtis and Robert (just call him Butter!). It was a great day of fun, food, music and brew. We have been to this festival several times, but this is by far the most memorable thanks to the cozy convenience of Chyn Schyn, a lot of good friends and a guy named Big Head Todd and his band of Monsters.

Sunday, August 29th, 2010

Sunday morning was another late-rising day. Around noon we accompanied Tiff and Brenda as they cruised slowly and leisurely back up the Tennessee River and through the Chickamauga Dam lock, which was a little nerve-wracking as the wind was kicking up inside the big bathtub as we tried to tie up, but it all worked out fine. It was a beautiful ride and a great way to cap off an excellent weekend. Thanks again to Tiff and Brenda for their generosity and friendship.