The Girls and the Vacation finish

Pamela takes Sophie to Top Paw Pet Spa in College Station for grooming and for fun the groomer Misty always takes a picture of Sophie in some theme. 

I knew I was heading to the farm this past Friday so I tried and got lucky to get Lilley an appointment at Top Paw so she got her picture taken too. Misty does a great job grooming and getting their pictures. 

So this post finishes up our last days of our vacation to Missouri, Tennessee and Louisiana. I do want to give the right person credit for recommending Jack's BBQ when we got to Nashville and that was one of my favorite people Cresia. She's still in good standing with us since it was really yummy good BBQ.  

While on our bus tour the guide pointed out this building saying they called it the Batman headquarters but from the bus I never could tell why and I'm not sure you'll be able to from the picture I took either but here it is. I think you can. It's really the AT&T building. At night when it's lite up you can really see that it looks like Batman. 

For our last day in Nashville on Wednesday the 29th of June we went to the Jack Daniels Distillery. If you go be prepared to walk and climb lots of stairs. I have to admit the very last set almost got me. They were steep and lots of them but I made it!  

The coolest spot was just inside a natural spring and cave. Temperatures dropped drastically. Felt so good because it was Hot that day. It had Pamela smiling. mmm I just realized I don't know where the pictures of me and Pamela are in front of the cave with ole Jack himself. Well a statue of him.

After the tour was over we got to have shots of all their different whisky's. They even have one with cinnamon like Fire Ball but better.  We might have bought something while there.  Just saying.

That night Pamela treated us to tickets to the Grand Ole Opry. We had great seats and saw some some great entertainers like Parmalee, The Swon Brothers, Mary Sarah, Emily West, Ray Stevens (remember the they called him The Streaker), and our very on Texas artist The Randy Rogers Band.

Pamela had a flash back to 2005 or 2006 when she and a friend Lisa took their first road trip to float on the Guadalupe River and hung out with Randy Rogers. He's moving on up.

What a fun evening! Thank you sweet daughter for treating us. I like you being a hard working girl. LOL
Thursday morning we got up and drove to Boiser City, Louisiana to the Horseshoe Casino and Hotel to spend one night and take our chances at the one armed bandit's and the Black Jack Tables.  David was the only one you came out ahead. Pamela and I would win and get greedy and then we lost our pot. Bummer but at least David came out ahead this time. It was a quick fun night. No pictures. What happens at the Horeshoe stays at the Horseshoe. In this case literally. They kept the money. LOL
Friday, July 1st we got up and drove home. We were hoping to beat some of the 4th of July traffic. We did pretty good. I think we were all tired of riding and I know David was tired of driving so much. That was a lot of driving so when we saw that Texas Line sign we were pretty happy. 


We drove straight to Bryan and dropped off Pamela and she hopped in her car and grabbed her pup from her 
puppy sitter. Sophie was happy to see her Mommy but was sad to leave her friends. The puppy sitter has 2 dogs of her own for Sophie to play with. Once she got her home Sophie crashed. She was one tired little puppy. Pamela wasn't far behind. 


We continued our drive on down the road to Tomball so we could get our baby girl. This is the longest Pamela or we have ever left the girls so we're sure they were wondering  if we were ever coming back. 
The last time I had left Lilley at the Kennel for like 3 days she didn't act like she was happy to see me. In fact she acted like she was mad but this time if she'd been a bigger dog she would have knocked me down. She was so excited to see Me and David. She was even happier to be in her on backyard and home. She ran through the house like she had to make sure everything was still there.

The vacation travels were over but we had a few more days off to recover thank goodness. Well we did but Pamela didn't. She had to go back to work a day later I believe. The life and times of being a nurse.

Well that's it. I'm done for now. Sooooo
Until next blog.......

Handsome Lunch Date and Nashville

A week and a half ago Pamela and I met her best friend from elementary school Marlaina and her  sweet baby boy Thomas for lunch at Whistle Stop Tea Room in Tomball. Marlaina and Pamela were in-separable for the longest time. Especially after her family moved from the Heights out to Cypress just across the road from us. Marlaina is like family. Would you look at that happy sweet baby face? Thomas was so good at lunch. We were there for almost an hour and a half. He just smiled and flirted. I think he loves his Auntie Pam and vice versa.

****Our first 2 days in Nashville, TN while on vacation. 

We left my hometown of Trenton, Missouri on Monday the 27th of June and headed to Nashville, Tennessee.

Got excited as we drove down the road through Kentucky and I saw this exit for Paducah. It's another big quilting town. Big. But alas there was no time to stop and explore. Darn. But I might be able to convince David of a trip this way in the future since there is a race track here that he could visit.  We got to Nashville late in the afternoon so we checked into the hotel and proceeded to get a cab and headed to Broadway street also known as Honky Tonk row where there's lot's of music, bars, people, sites, people, food and etc.  We walked down the street and decided to stop at Jack's BBQ which our friends the Harper's told us to try.  We were standing in line and our mouths were watering for some ribs but by the time we got to the front of the line they were out. What?! No Way. Oh well Pamela and I shared a plate that had 3-4 meats on it and I got a veggie plate. It worked out perfect.  It was delicious. The flavors were awesome. The meat was tender and juicy. After dinner we walked down one side of Broadway, crossed over then stopped at the Acme Feed & Seed for a drink. The downstairs where the live music was, was full so we went upstairs. No live music there but we had a drink. I had water thank you folks. Yep just water.  After a bit we headed back downstairs and got lucky and grabbed a free table and listened to the live music and watched the people.  

Next day we caught a bus and took a tour of the city. If you go to the Pancake House the guide says to expect a wait but you may get lucky and see a celebrity or a local favorite. Learned that the Hard Rock Cafe used to be none other than the Silver Dollar Saloon. Our guide was great. He told about some great places to eat and go see. Did you know that Nashville was the home of Fisk University for free slaves. I think in 1871 they started the Jubilee singers to help raise money. They traveled the world wide.

Music Row is all the recording studios and not to be confused with honky tonk row. Nashville is full of fun stuff to learn and see. I need to go back to write it all down and see more of it.  

As part of our tour we got to go through the Ryman Auditorium which used to be the original Grand Ole Opry. We got to see a really cool video that played on the screen up front and it projected images on the side walls of the room at the same time. 

Right before we left I stopped to say HOOWWDEE to my friend Minnie Pearl. Dang it I forgot who the guy was. Anyway our last stop was Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. What a cool place. It was filled with memorabilia galore. Wow.

We went through everything room and floor. Check out Elvis's TV in his solid gold caddie. LOL Nothing like today's flat screens. Can you see it?

Love this steel guitar from the 1920-30's played by Bonnie Dodd who played for Tex Ritter. A true steel guitar. Cool.

 After going through everything we were getting hungry so where do we eat?  Food.. We leave the Music Hall and head back to Broadway to find lunch and end up at Rippy's Bar & Grill. 




Next we caught a cab to Antique Archaeology. You know Mike and Frank off American Pickers. Besides having a shop in Iowa we knew Mike had a shop in Nashville but wasn't sure where but while on the bus tour we saw it and definitely wanted to go back and did. 















It would have been cool to run into Mike but this was a Tuesday and he usually makes it in on Thursdays when he comes in. Darn it. It was fun looking around the place. Now I'd like to go check out his place in Iowa.
That night we hit a couple of the bars to listen to more live music. Our first stop was Tootsie's Orchid. This is right behind the Ryman Auditorium. Where several of the entertainers would come over hang out and have drinks in between sets and watch the Grand Ole Opry on the TV so they'd know when they needed to run back across the alley so they could go back on stage at the Grand Ole Opry. 

Anyway while we were at Tootsie's we got to see Andy Gibbon's and his band. His fiddler was pretty damn good.
Andy and his whole band are pretty darn good. We really enjoyed his show. After his set he came over and talked with us for a while. PR work. LOL

Another place we hit was Honky Tonk Central. I never did hear the name of the band here but they were really good. But watching the people was just as fun.
We only had one more day left in Nashville and there was so many more places we wanted to see and go. 
My next post will wrap up our vacation adventures

Well Until next Blog post....“To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that’s all” ~- Oscar Wilde

...

It's Wedding time...Vacation continued

Fair Warning Photo Heavy!
Take Me Out to the Ball Game.
Buy me some peanuts and cracker jacks. Okay while Sophie might eat anything I don't think those items are on her menu.  It doesn't matter what they do to this little hound she is quite the star. Sophie is so good for the groomer even lets her pose her and take her picture after getting groomed. Sophie's never this still for Pamela or me. 
Now back to the vacation saga. It's Saturday June 25th. It would have been I believe my step Mom's 74th Birthday. I guess she and my Dad are in Heaven celebrating with the Angels. I'm sure they looked through the holes in Heaven to watch Zachariah and Bailey Jo tie the knot. Would have loved seeing them dance together again. Big sigh.
Whew anyway Pamela and I headed back to Missouri Star Quilt Company for a couple of hours in the AM before we had to be at the church for the wedding.  It was so much fun to see all the fabric and all the shops. Love the the murals on the side of buildings too. They're really cool. 

Didn't get time to take pictures of the ones in Chillocothe but I did take these in Hamilton.

Pamela took a selfie of us in one of the shops on Friday and then on Saturday I took a picture of her having fun picking out fabric for a friend's baby quilt. Yep another baby quilt in my future.

She got into this quilt shopping and she's good at picking out and coordinating colors.

 We went upstairs in one building down the stairs into another building. So much fabric, so many buildings and so little time... Before we knew it, it was time to get back to the hotel so we could get ready for the wedding. David was waiting on us. At least this time we know how to get to the church. No corn fields today.
What can I say about the wedding.... Got a good picture of Pamela and her Aunt Jerri Lynn and a pretty good one of me and my sister before the wedding.

And there was this cute picture taken of my sister Barbara with our nephew Beckett. Don't you just want to pinch those cute little cheeks, Becketts. Well maybe Barbara's too. LOL

The bride was beautiful and the groom, my nephew was nervous standing up there waiting for his wife to be. As the the groomsmen entered each one greeted Zach and handed him something. Well when he went to put what turned out to be notes of advice/wisdom in his coat pocket he couldn't. LOL They were all sewn shut. You know when you buy new pants all the pockets tend to be sewn shut.  He got a little flustered but he found an inside pocket and all was good.  Then there was the cute flower girl and my little nephew Carson (ring bearer) coming down the isle. They're walking down the isle and Carson is telling her "You're suppose to be dropping the the flower petals." The Flower girl ignores him. She doesn't drop one petal down the isle. Carson won't let her forget it either.
Zach and Bailey were so cute together. He had tears claiming it was allergies and she was all fine until it was time for her turn to do her vows and then she lost it.  With a few deep breaths and a at the wipe of tears she did it.  
Of course her hand was wet from tears and Zachariah pulled his hand free from hers and wiped his hand off on his jacket then grabbed her hand again which made everyone watching chuckle.

Then it was time to announce these two husband and wife. They did it!
And these 3 officially became a family.  
 
Oh and as everyone was leaving the alter the Flower girl was leaving she decides to start drop the flower petals. LOL
Now I can't take credit for most of the following pictures since I didn't have my camera and at a point in time during the reception I have to admit I was in no condition to take pictures. The ones I did take were rather fuzzy. My name is on these only to keep them hopefully from being stolen off the blog. I will say thank you now to all who did take pictures like my sistera Nancy, Barbara, Jerri Lynn and Cresia, Emily, Pamela and David while they still could. And any one else I might have forgotten to say Thank you to.

The Cousins having fun while waiting for the bride and groom to make their exit

This picture I know was taken by Cresia. Awesome picture! She caught them and the bubbles. Love it.

The reception was held at the Black Silo Winery. Wow who knew my small home town had a winery. And it had some really good wine. Might have come home with a few bottles. Just saying.

Their first dance as husband and wife.

Introducing Zachariah and Baily Jo Kasinger

These 3 are called the outlaws. Also known as trouble makers

when they get together. When Pamela or Hannah left their phone on the table these 3 were known to take all kinds of pictures with them. So did a few other people. Never leave your phone unattended folks you never know what might show up.

 Cute picture of Pamela and Cresia. Love these girls.

 Nephew Baby Beckett Moments 
With Grandma
    With his Mom

Getting Love from Auntie Nancy

Me Moments with family

my nephew Tyler

 Hanging the                                 Husband  &

With my sister Barbara

 

and 

then here's one with Pamela and her cousin Zachariah the groom













It was such a fun evening but I did have a bit too much to drink. Not sure but I think these guys did too. 


There are some photo's that will never see the photo album for others to see. Oh boy!

Singing and Dancing their way into your heart.
Hannah, she's my nephew Tyler's beautiful girlfriend, my sister Nancy and her beautiful daughter Shelby








That's water in that there wine glass for that little Missy. My tiny dancer niece Emily

The night was coming to an end.

Sunday was obviously a sleep in kind of day for everyone then we met up for lunch in Jamesport at the Country Cupboard. Their motto on their facebook page reads... "Many People have eaten in this kitchen and gone on to lead normal, healthy lives"  

LOL  This place has the best tenderloin sandwich. They have great food period. YUM.  

Of course you have to share the road.This is Amish country.

Even the Bride and Groom joined us for lunch. 

After lunch we went out to my Dad's place to feed the calve's and the chickens.

 They were very interested in saying Hi getting some water, food and a scratch on the nose or between the ears. Future fajita's I'm told but for now FFA projects. That Sunday after the wedding was just about hanging with family before heading out to Nashville.

Until the next blog post the vacation saga will continue However good or bad a situation is, it will change.