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

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