Nashville, Day 2

We woke up to the disappointing news that the trolley tours were still canceled. But at least the temperature is up into the twenties which is pretty much what I would call tanning whether right about now. I did 30 minutes in the gym and then got breakfast in the downstairs lobby. The breakfast spread is pretty impressive with seasoned scrambled eggs, sausage links, waffles, breakfast potatoes, vanilla yogurt, berry compote, varieties of fruit, breads cereals, and pastries. I guess if anything the orange juice could have been better but then again, I'm used to being disappointed by orange juice, kind of like I am women.

But anyway, that aside, we went to the African American music museum, and for $25, I was really impressed. It had separate halls for jazz, blues, R and B, gospel, and hip hop. And it was so interactive, there were multiple places to create your own hip hop groove, sing with a local choir, participate in a battle rap, produce a track. But one of the best things was going by different eras and being able to take songs and add them to an online playlist which was saved on a provided wristband. And then all those songs are getting emailed to me. So it's an amazing way to find new music and learn how one artist influenced another artist. We spent 2 hours there and I could have easily spent a 3rd discovering more music.

Getting hungry after 2 hours in the museum, we headed literally to the upstairs of the same building to Assembly food hall. I've always been a fan of food halls, at least the ones that are of good quality. And this is one of the best I've ever been to. We went to Prince's, which is the original Nashville hot fried chicken. 4 medium tenders and they were perfect for me but a little too hot for mom. Thank goodness for the white bread, pickles, blue cheese, and honey mustard. We even had a little bit of sushi afterwards, not my usual thing, but after all the barbecue and fried chicken I've had, I needed a come down. And they have a free refill coke station in the hall, although after my second cherry Coke, I was ready for a gallon of water. I still don't know why they didn't have any iced tea or lemonade at those stations. Excellent variety of food, clean floors, places to plug in your phone, a good amount of space to walk around, multiple TVs. What a cool addition to downtown Nashville.

One of my favorite things about downtown Nashville is how close so many things are together. The museum was downstairs from the food hall, which is right across the street from the Ryman Auditorium which is right behind the beginning of Honky Tonk highway, which is loaded with all kinds of great live music venues.

There's also a lot of premium shopping at the site too. I went into an Ariat store and I actually bought a pair of boots. They're the most I've ever spent on shoes. But they're low cut with the look of a dark brown cowboy boot; I guess they're really weathered work boots. Mom called them haggard so I'm calling them my Merles. Oh and the store offered free phone charging, very cool!

We made one stop in Nudies to hear some music and have a drink. I tried the Bearded Iris homestyle IPA, a fantastic balanced IPA that I hope will be available near where I live.

I knew we were going to Church of the City for Christmas Even service since one of our old pastors at Willow Creek is with this church now, although at a different location. Pastor Smallbone had an excellent message about the relevancy of Christmas and why it's worth celebrating.

Then came dinner at Merchant's, a Nashville staple on Broadway. I liked the old school feeling with the black and white wall tiles and the waiters and bartenders dressed in bowties. We split a Caesar salad to start, which was fine, that Parmesan was very well aged and freshly shaved. But the jambalaya that mom had was too tomatoey and came to our table lukewarm. We actually sent it back and got the shrimp and grits instead, which were much better. The server was very apologetic, not that it was his fault or anything.

I made out a little better with my entree; I had the sweet tea brined pork chop with mashed Yukon gold potatoes. Well seasoned and nicely cooked. I wonder how good it would have been if had been served with sweet potatoes instead. And I still think there should have been a vegetable served like green beans or asparagus. And sadly no bread was served.

Back to the room, it had been a long day and it was cooold.

Nashville, Day 1

I woke up at 3:15 in the morning and stumbled my way out of the apartment around 4:15. I had just finished my 30 minute drive and parked my car in the Norfolk airport garage and had started to step away from my car. And I realized I was only dragging my suitcase, I didn't have my backpack. I went back to my car with this sinking feeling, and sure enough, I realized I had left my backpack on the sofa at home.

So that meant I was traveling for 4 days with no books, no printed itinerary, no pen and paper, no tablet, but worst of all, no phone chargers...and my Samsung Galaxy 9 is not exactly known for its battery life at this point in its existence. Thankfully, mom had not left Raleigh yet and was able to bring an extra charger. I made my flight to DC with no real drama, I didn't even have somebody in front of me in the security line. It was the 1st time I have ever connected through DC Reagan and I really like the great hall which opens into each of the 5 individual concourses. The American flag is large, and there were several enormous Christmas trees displayed. I had about a 2 hour layover so I decided to get away from the terminal and go over to the chapel, which I don't believe I've ever done before in an airport. I found a small daily devotional book and I began reading it. All of a sudden a brown skinned guy in basketball clothes, maybe early to mid twenties, comes in. He immediately takes off his shoes and I know exactly what he's going to do. He gets a blanket from the corner, unfolds it, and lays it down and does the whole Muslim kneeling prayer ritual. I would guess he was out of there in about 3 minutes. And I thought to myself I admire his dedication and discipline but does he do this because he wants to, or because he is supposed to? It has nothing to do with judging another faith, but I am curious how different faiths affect people's mindsets.

I did give in and buy a pair of wired headphones just to have a little bit of sanity. But I have to admit I felt a little bit hollow, a little bit naked with no backpack on because it's an absolute staple when I travel.

So I headed over to my gate and I was 5th on the standby list out of 5 people which immediately gave me a bad feeling because I knew they were only about 4 or 5 open seats. As they were boarding the flight, I immediately dropped to 7 of 7, and now I really had a negative vibe about making this flight. But I guess these other folks either didn't get through security, their connections didn't work out, or they upgraded. Because the only 2 standbys that I know of that got on were number 5 and me. Last seat in first class, and I can testify that the morning screwdriver went down well. 

As the plane descended through the dark gray clouds and began to see the greater Nashville area, it was pretty surprising to see it covered in a shallow blanket of white. It was 0ﾟ and very windy outside and there was so much bad weather going on that it took us 30 minutes to get from the runway to the gate. But mom's plane from Raleigh took over an hour to get from the runway to the gate so I guess we got a better deal. 

And the Nashville terminal is rather small but quite nice with multiple restaurants bars and live music options. There may not be a whole lot of places to sit, it definitely needs to be expanded but it's a good place if you're waiting on a delayed flight.

It took about a 1/2 hour for the luggage to come through, clearly this crew is not used to dealing with freezing weather. But there were no real issues aside from time, and then we got an Uber to drop our luggage off at the Hyatt house which is on the Southern part of downtown Nashville. And then we had the driver take us to lunch at Puckett's and we tipped the driver 15 bucks for it.

Puckett's is a pretty well known barbecue and Southern style restaurant located on Church St downtown. We ordered the whole farm which was a mixture of brisket, pulled pork, baby back ribs, a smoked half chicken, baked beans, skillet macaroni and cheese, and Cajun corn cake. That's not too bad for $35.

And then the Presley parfait with vanilla wafers, banana pudding, peanut butter mousse, and whipped cream. And it's served inside a Mason jar. Oh my goodness, was that ever indulgent. Definitely the best dessert I had on my trip.

Service was a little bit slow on a cold Friday afternoon when the restaurant was maybe 20 percent full, I didn't mind the food taking some time since it is BBQ. But the servers were a little slow on drink refills, and it took time just to get an extra glass of ice.

We then started walking down Broadway which is the Main Street in Nashville. I even went into a couple of boot shops to see if there was anything worth buying, but it's a little hard for me to imagine spending more than a $100 on a pair of shoes if they're not running shoes. I didn't wind up making a purchase, at least not yet.

Yet with the weather being so inclement, a lot of tourist attractions had already shut down for the day, which wasn't a good omen because we knew a lot of places would also be closed Christmas Eve as well as on Christmas Day. But the Johnny Cash museum was operating so we went there. I still remember the shivering cold walking through downtown Nashville on Christmas weekend, it was actually reminiscent of downtown Chicago. But it was a great museum, just because it was Cash and I give them credit for being open on a day when a lot of businesses shut down for the day. 

There were so many awesome artifacts such as guitars, family furniture, army discharge papers, Bibles, and plenty of Cash recordings to listen to. They even had a producer's exhibit where you can adjust the volume on different songs, messing with the vocals and the instruments to create the sound you want. Of course my headphones weren't working, which was pretty disappointing because I am a big fan of interactive museums. And I know nothing about producing music, but this is my opportunity to give it a try!

We headed out the door and back into the freezing cold; the wind was whipping in our faces and our cheeks were getting bright red. It was hard to walk more than five minutes without stepping inside for a reprieve. With the ice all over on the ground, it was not easy to make quick foot traction. I really tried to walk slow for mom, but I was dying to start running to escape the frigid atmosphere! But we got back to the hotel, huffing and puffing, and settled in. 

We made the choice to go to a Nashville Predators game since prices had been plummeting and I'm willing to bet the weather had something to do with it. Oh and the Bridgestone arena is only 3 or 4 blocks away from the hotel. The arena was really nice, very well laid out, very inviting. The one thing I didn't really like was they needed more escalators, I think they only have 2 in the whole building. I would also say the hot dog bun could have been a little fresher. But oh well. I did get my commemorative puck which I do for every single hockey game I go to. And the game was very tight and competitive, with the Colorado Avalanche winning in overtime 3 - 2.

As for the hotel room, it is nice but incredibly small, so much so that the way the lamp and night stands were set up in between mom's bed and my sofa bed, as I opened up the couch, I had to move the lamp out of the way and the nightstand all the way over next to her bed so there would be enough room for the sofa bed to fully open. We are incredibly tight on space, it almost feels like being in a hotel room in Europe or something. But at least we slept well.

New Jersey (from September)

I woke up at 4:15 AM to catch a 6 AM train from Williamsburg. Now I can't remember the last time I took this long of a trip on Amtrak so I figured I would get there about 45 minutes early to be on the safe side. I woke up at 4:15 AM to catch a 6 AM train from Williamsburg. Now I can't remember the last time I took this long of a trip on Amtrak so I figured I would get there about 45 minutes early to be on the safe side. I probably could have arrived 5 minutes before the train arrived and still would not have been a problem.

The total train ride took 7 hours. The sky changed from black to powder blue with not a cloud in sight. And it's amazing moving from the mid-Atlantic to the northeast. The smokestacks of Virginia to the small towns outside DC to the inlets of Delaware to Philly itself to industrial south Jersey. Not everything may have looked pretty, but I still admire how this country has so many distinct parts to it. 

Without a doubt, the last hour took the longest. But the ride was worth it to shock Jeremy. He never ever knew we were coming. Lots of hugs. Ten weeks of waiting was well worth it. 

 And the 1st place these 2 bozos took me to was a dispensary in Woodbridge. I know nothing about this stuff, I've never smoked a thing in my life.  Well aside from pork butt. And no I did not try anything. 

 We worked our way into downtown New Brunswick where there was a pep rally going on for a records football game on Saturday. Trying to find out a street parking space was next to impossible. But we settled in the deck and then walked down two blocks to the Tavern on George.

I really liked the Kane high head IPA. Very citrusy with a faint taste of hops. Eventually my father and his girlfriend showed up with their dog a shih tzu named Rummy. Very low maintenance and cool dog. Also Mark, Dom, and Pete joined as well. Gunny and his wife, unfortunately, got stranded in Chicago as their plane got delayed and they were rerouted from Newark to Laguardia.

 After 3 hours of eating drinking and laughing, I headed with my father over to the apartment where I immediately fell asleep for about an hour. We watched wrestling and a little bit of pathetic Mets baseball and I settled onto the sofa bed around 10 PM.

On Saturday morning, it was a 7 mile run on the treadmill followed by a lot of scrambled eggs, thick bacon and rye toast. Nick and Mark picked me up and we headed to Coney Island to meet up with the rest of the Jets gang.

Did my first roller coaster

Cyclone was a thrill, but I didn't have a burning desire to do it again

Nick got a parking ticket, I gave him some cash to help

L and b spumoni garden

Remarkable pizza

Vanilla and pistachio gelato

Shopping at Dicks for merch with Iowa

Tailgating Sunday 

Pork roll egg and cheese

The hangar club

Jets get beat by Baltimore

Rutts hutt

Deep fried hot dogs

Getting wasted 

430 am train back home