Papaw's Hotel & Guide Service

An Old Man’s Coffee Cup Hot summer weekend 2016 while going through the considerable clutter in Pops kitchen cabinets I find this old cup. Old by who’s standards? Mine? Certainly not his. It’s his cup. Pops Coffee Cup. An old Man’s Cup. An old man’s coffee cup. I can tell you I remembered it well. I have seen this cup sit in the many offices upon the many office desks my father has had. I ask him about the cup and as clear as my memory (as sad and hard as most of my memori...Continue reading

Back & Forth Today is the very first entry of The Big Papaw Memorial Beer I wish I could share with You photo. Over my years on the road I brought home beer from all around the country. Pops and I sat at the darkly lit bar that separates the dining and kitchen area for hours on end after I had returned home and unpacked. Well to say the truth, Pops sat and I stood mostly. I had to. I was in charge of the bar area refills and would have to produce savory or sweet snacks to ...have while shared together our drinks and thoughts on how bad and bitter or delicious these small brews or batches were. I did so much enjoy the back and forth with Pops. Hearing the memories we would mix up in both our minds and how the conversation always went down the familiar old windy backroads and dusty old staircases inside his chronicled mind of epic stories he would have never shared with his children. Some stories pulled us along the way smoothly and sometimes glimpses of the ones I had certainly heard before crept around. I didn’t say anything about how he had relayed that old story more times than others. I listened and enjoyed. I knew a lot the main players from his stories. The lead characters and even the other supporting group. Dad being the protagonist in his three minute autobiography or even something he had not witnessed personally but only a quip overheard. Quick jokes, smart ass comments. We made one another laugh until my stomach hurt. Back and forth Back and forth Until enough was finally here and we retired to our own solitude. I will forever love our talks and the shared adult beverages we had at that bar and all the bars we traveled together. We should have had our own smart alec video pod cast. Would have made 10’s of dollars I am sure. Ok on to the beer. Shiner Candied Pecan. I will give your comments as well as my own. Privileged as I am to do so. We shared the same take on some but not all. I was more adventurous than you and love the small batches. While you ordered an American classic in a Irish Pub with 350+ beers on hand. Next story on this by the way. This is a pretty good bock beer. Really subtle hints (Hated writing those 3 words but what the hell else can you say for subtle hint) of the Candied Pecan which I know you love are definitely present. But alas, they don’t belong in this beer or any other beer as you have precluded in your non-pineapple pizza forgiving old man self. It’s all good I don’t fall to far from that stance myself. Neither sweet or savory snack is needed with any bock beer. It’s like a triple decker sandwich in a bottle, fills you like spray foam insulation. The beer will get a 1 from Pops and a 5 from me. Meaning secondary to the score or 1-5, I will have to drink the 5 because I do not think you would have had seconds. That’s outta ten BTW on to the next adventure. Iloveu Pops. Your Rose will be in all the pictures I will have fun with this.

Papaw’s Hotel & Guide service is now closed. A brilliant, wonderful father of all that shared his light has been dulled and switched off. A fighter for what’s right and the hardest soft hearted man I have ever known has gone to share glory with his loving wife. I will miss you and cherish you for as long as I can sing your praises Pops. You are my best friend. You are my everything. Papaw has been a GIANT in our family and will always be. He is a GIANT now. A GIANT forever. I...loveu sweet man. You taught me not just how to be a man but how to strive to be a great man. I miss you so much already. I am so thankful for the blessings you brought to my son. He is so blessed to have you in his heart. Iloveu Pops. I will forever be less without you here. My pain will pass but your love will forever raise me to limits I can’t explain. There is no words for this. Or too many to write. I can’t believe you are gone. See more

DUNCAN $50,000 ADDED FUTURITY PAYOUT The top 35 spots will walk away with a check, and first place will be awarded just under $45,000!

We love Turkey Day.

TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS, HE LIVED ALL ALONE, IN A ONE BEDROOM HOUSE MADE OF PLASTER AND STONE. I HAD COME DOWN THE CHIMNEY... WITH PRESENTS TO GIVE, AND TO SEE JUST WHO IN THIS HOME DID LIVE. I LOOKED ALL ABOUT, A STRANGE SIGHT I DID SEE, NO TINSEL, NO PRESENTS, NOT EVEN A TREE. NO STOCKING BY MANTLE, JUST BOOTS FILLED WITH SAND, ON THE WALL HUNG PICTURES OF FAR DISTANT LANDS. WITH MEDALS AND BADGES, AWARDS OF ALL KINDS, A SOBER THOUGHT CAME THROUGH MY MIND. FOR THIS HOUSE WAS DIFFERENT, IT WAS DARK AND DREARY, I FOUND THE HOME OF A SOLDIER, ONCE I COULD SEE CLEARLY. THE SOLDIER LAY SLEEPING, SILENT, ALONE, CURLED UP ON THE FLOOR IN THIS ONE BEDROOM HOME. THE FACE WAS SO GENTLE, THE ROOM IN SUCH DISORDER, NOT HOW I PICTURED A UNITED STATES SOLDIER. WAS THIS THE HERO OF WHOM I'D JUST READ? CURLED UP ON A PONCHO, THE FLOOR FOR A BED? I REALIZED THE FAMILIES THAT I SAW THIS NIGHT, OWED THEIR LIVES TO THESE SOLDIERS WHO WERE WILLING TO FIGHT. SOON ROUND THE WORLD, THE CHILDREN WOULD PLAY, AND GROWNUPS WOULD CELEBRATE A BRIGHT CHRISTMAS DAY. THEY ALL ENJOYED FREEDOM EACH MONTH OF THE YEAR, BECAUSE OF THE SOLDIERS, LIKE THE ONE LYING HERE. I COULDN'T HELP WONDER HOW MANY LAY ALONE, ON A COLD CHRISTMAS EVE IN A LAND FAR FROM HOME. THE VERY THOUGHT BROUGHT A TEAR TO MY EYE, I DROPPED TO MY KNEES AND STARTED TO CRY. THE SOLDIER AWAKENED AND I HEARD A ROUGH VOICE, "SANTA DON'T CRY, THIS LIFE IS MY CHOICE; I FIGHT FOR FREEDOM, I DON'T ASK FOR MORE, MY LIFE IS MY GOD, MY COUNTRY, MY CORPS." THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER AND DRIFTED TO SLEEP, I COULDN'T CONTROL IT, I CONTINUED TO WEEP. I KEPT WATCH FOR HOURS, SO SILENT AND STILL AND WE BOTH SHIVERED FROM THE COLD NIGHT'S CHILL. I DIDN'T WANT TO LEAVE ON THAT COLD, DARK, NIGHT, THIS GUARDIAN OF HONOR SO WILLING TO FIGHT. THEN THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER, WITH A VOICE SOFT AND PURE, WHISPERED, "CARRY ON SANTA, IT'S CHRISTMAS DAY, ALL IS SECURE." ONE LOOK AT MY WATCH, AND I KNEW HE WAS RIGHT. "MERRY CHRISTMAS MY FRIEND, AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT." This poem was written by a Marine. The following is his request. I think it is reasonable..... PLEASE. Would you do me the kind favor of sending this to as many people as you can? Christmas will be coming soon and some credit is due to our U.S. service men and women for our being able to celebrate these festivities. Let’s try in this small way to pay a tiny bit of what we owe. Make people stop and think of our heroes, living and dead! , who sacrificed themselves for us. Please, do your small part to plant this small seed. May God Bless You and Have A Great Day