Don't FALL all over yourself just to get here!

 Our Fall of 2025 didn't see a lot of action since we still had Sunny recovering from her surgery, and both of us had to travel for work as well.  But we made the best of what we had! 

Wednesday, September 3 - Our 26th consecutive BFFFL fantasy football draft occurred tonight and hopefully we both did well with our selections as NFL games start for real tomorrow night! Go Sneaky Stingrays and Pisces of Eight!! 

Saturday, September 6 - Thanks to a nice cold front that moved through last night and this morning, it was cool enough for our first fire of the fall out on the patio tonight along with Sunny who is recovering nicely from here recent surgery.  We cracked open a bottle of Al Wilson's Hard-Hitting Tea (Go Vols!) that was very good to sip on.  Our friend, Curtis, joined us and brought more wood, thankfully.  We chatted and laughed 'til midnight.  

Sunday, September 7 - We had lunch today at Rock-N-Dough Pizza in East Nashville with some killer salads and good pizza (and a brew for me).  We definitely gotta come here more often!! 

Monday, September 8 - Now THAT is rental car for work!! Our local Enterprise office offered me this sweet almost (18K miles) brand-new Mustang convertible as my corporate "standard" rental today and I jumped at the chance.  We took it for a little sunset spin over to Mt. Juliet tonight to enjoy some Andy's Frozen Custard.  "Gather ye rosebuds while ye may!!"  - Robert Herrick 1648

Friday, September 12 - Happy Birthday, Ashlee!!  Despite some work travel for both of us lately, we were able to get back together tonight for Ashlee's birthday celebration down at Hop Springs in Murfreesboro to see one of our favorite performers, Will Hoge, take the stage.  After a rather awful opener, Will was great as usual and we were able to get very close to the stage.  We got some great Mexican food delivered via Door Dash from Los Barrilos beforehand while sitting outside on a very nice evening with our friend, Monique.  
And then something cool happened at the merch table after the show...see below.

We sadly learned of the recent passing of our longtime Internet friend, JD Franklin, down in Louisiana who was a founding member of our BFFFL.  We actually never met JD in person, but he was always kind in his messages and in his success.  He was the defending champ (nice way to close out your career with us, bud) as well as several other times over the quarter century of playing with him as a fierce competitor with his team always named "To Ell and Back."  We miss ya, JD.  We dedicate this 26th season to you. The BFFFL won't be the same without you. 
(Thanks for the help with the honorary graphic above CRAIYON.COM)  

Saturday, September 13 - Family time here on Martin Avenue.  There were seven, yep seven - count the heads - deer hanging out in the neighbors back yard this afternoon.  They were enjoying Sunny being in the house and not barking at them! 

When you run your own merch table, it was pretty easy to get a picture after a T-shirt purchase the other night.  We told Will we were going to use this pic in our Christmas cards this year and he said that was fine as long as we wished everyone a "HOge HOge HOge'" holiday.  A great musician and funny too!! 

Friday, September 19 - Train with Butch Walker on guitar made their Grand Old Opry debut tonight and we were there to witness it.  We haven't seen Train in a good while since lead guitarist, Jimmy Stafford, retired, but when we heard the legendary (and beloved by us) Butch Walker was sitting in on this most recent tour, we became very interested again!! They only played three songs, but they were great, and the band got a standing ovation at the end of the short set.  
Other performers tonight included Opry legend, Connie Smith; Stephanie Urbana Jones and her excellent Mariachi Honky Tonk Band; Canadian sensation, Josh Ross; veteran Opry member, John Conlee; the hilarious and talented songwriter, Don Schlitz; long-time Opry staple, Mark Wills; and the Grand Ole Opry ambassador himself, Vince Gill.  It's kind of amazing that we've never been to an actual Grand Ole Opry show, but I don't think it will be our last.  It's a great venue, good show structure and a pretty good value. 

After the show we had backstage passes "sort of" - no performers were still around, but we did get to see inside most of the 18 unique and cool dressing rooms; we got stand in the famous wood circle on stage; and enjoyed an almost hour-long history walk and talk behind the scenes with our great tour guide. 

Sunday, September 21 - We got to see Nicole Kidman in person this afternoon before a showing of what I think is one of her best performances in Cold Mountain in the CMA Theater at the Country Music Hall of Fame in downtown Nashville.  Nicole was lovely and charming and seems really genuine when she talks about her love for Nashville, the Preds and bringing more films to the area to be made.  We decided not to stay for the movie since we were hungry and had work and pet obligations.  The CMA Theater is very nice, and we would love to see a musical performance here sometime, but the screen they were going to show the film on wasn't all that, so I don't think we missed much since we had both seen it before.  We had some great apps next door at Barlines before heading home. 

(Editor's note:  Just over a week later we learned that Nicole had separated from long-time husband, Keith Urban, since earlier in the summer!  Crazy!!)

Well, our skyline looking west from our patio and pool changed drastically this week as a tree service company did more than just top the big ash tree that sits on our property line.  It definitely needed topping since some kind of bug/blight hit it last summer pretty hard leaving a lot of the high branches bare of leaves that didn't come back this summer.  Sad, but true.  It's nice to see the stars I guess...
(Update:  the next day the whole thing was gone and stump ground up.  So long, big fella, it was good to know you.)

Saturday September 27 and Sunday, September 28 - We attended the 2025 Pilgrimage Festival once again this weekend and included stay overnight in Franklin on Saturday night for some extra fun.  

Saturday, September 27 - We arrived in the early afternoon with a great parking spot in the North Lot (thanks Ashlee!) after picking up our friends, Danny and Brenda.  Our first musical performance we saw were The People on the Porch on the small Americana Music Triangle stage.  They were very good.  Maggie Rose and her tremendous voice and stage presence were on the largest Midnight Sun stage next.  Father John Misty and his smooth crooning were the next new-to-us discovery also on the Midnight Sun Stage.  The foot-stomping energy of The Turnpike Troubadours (photo above) pushed on into sundown on the big stage as well.  

Kings of Leon (photo above) were the headliners tonight and put on a tremendous set, looking and sounding better than we've ever seen them.  We stayed for the entire show and got out of the festival in under an hour which wasn't bad.  After dropping off Danny and Brenda, we checked into the nearby Fairfield Inn at Cool Springs which was pretty nice.  Comfy bed!! 

Sunday, September 28 - We stayed overnight in the area so we could enjoy a belated birthday present for Ashlee from me: a fancy tea at the January Restaurant at the swanky Southhall Farm in Franklin.  The tea and food were delicious and plentiful.  Thanks again to Danny and Brenda for dropping a lot of dimes to attend with us.  

We got to Day 2 of The Pilgrimage Festival a little later today but in time to catch Grace Potter's set on the big Midnight Sun stage.  It's good to see her getting back to her rock roots instead of still leaning into the pop genre.  Just stay a rocker, Grace.  Our favorite set of the festival was next over on the smaller Gold Record Stage where Better Than Ezra tore it up.  Lead singer (and festival founder), Kevin Griffen, played a cool guitar made specifically for the festival by Gibson Guitars and then gave the thing away to a kid in the audience during a performance of "Live a Little"!!  So awesome!! BTE also brought out Emerson Hart from Tonic for their massive 90's hit, "If You Could Only See" and then Candlebox lead singer Kevin Martin for a rendition of their biggest hit, "Far Behind."  It was a real 90's rockfest!!  The CEO of Gibson Guitars, Cesar Gueikian, was also on stage shredding a couple of his own products.  What a great show!! 

We "chilled" a bit back at our chairs on a tree-shaded hill above the big Midnight Sun stage to see Young the Giant take us into twilight.  John Meyer closed the festival, and we stayed for a few songs.  He sounded great, but wasn't playing any hits that we knew, so we ducked out early to miss traffic and get home to our pets and me on the road to Knoxville for work in the morning.  Another great Pilgrimage Festival.  Hard to believe it's been going on for 10 years now.  Nice job, Kevin!! 

Tuesday, September 30 - "Well, if you can't be...with the one you love, honey...love Downton Abbey at the same time!!"  I think that's how the old hippie song went.  Ashlee and I have been trying to see the new film sequel, Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale, together ever since it came out a couple weeks ago, but we just haven't been able to find the time.  So, we decided we would go tonight conjointly and see it on the big screen before it's gone while I was working in Knoxville and she was at home.  We both thought it was a wonderful, tear-jerking conclusion to one of the greatest TV - and movie -series ever made! 

Friday, October 3 - We had a fun time tonight at the SOLD-OUT Haunting Tales at Hawthorn Hill ghost tales in Castalian Springs just north of home along with our friends, Curtis and Kate.   The tales that were told were a little lame, but all in good fun and getting to tour the historic Hawthorn Hill home was worth the time. 

Saturday, October 4 - We attended the SOLD-OUT Cedar City Brewing Company Beer Fest up on the square here in Lebanon this afternoon.  We started with a tasty lunch at the host, Cedar City Brewing, which was only open to VIP Early Entrants (like us).  We then had a great time swilling some good and not so good craft beers from all over the area despite some hotter than usual temps for early October.  

Wednesday, October 14 - After several days apart due to travel and/or work, Ashlee and I rode up to Gallatin together tonight so I could do another drop-in for a dog-sitting gig there this weekend, but more importantly, so we could have dinner at the Vui's Kitchen location nearby.  Yummm!!  It was great, and they treated Sunny to a free bowl of chicken as well as we dined on their patio outside the restaurant.  
We ate there again on Sunday, October 19th!  Open one in Lebanon!! 

Ashlee's done a scary great job of decorating the house for Halloween this season including this adorable wreath she picked up at our local Octoberfest here in town. No boos here, just hoo-rays!!   

Thursday, October 23 - We had our first visit to the Lebanon Public House tonight despite it being in operation over a year now (not since 1802).  We had great cocktails and tasty small plates with some of the proceeds going to the kittens of Mighty Miracles Rescue! 

Saturday, October 25 - We went to see Johnnyswim perform tonight with front row seats and pre-show backstage access at the new Nashville music venue, The Pinnacle (thanks, Ashlee!!).  It was a great time, and Amanda and Abner couldn't have been nicer, and their show was great.  We were very impressed with The Pinnacle and will definitely come back for more shows in the future hopefully.  

We only had to take our selfie backstage with Abner of Johnnyswim twice to get us to look normal.  Abner looked great in both takes, of course! 

Sunday, October 26- We attended the SOLD-OUT Duke at UT college basketball televised exhibition game at the Food City Center/Thompson-Boling Arena on the campus of UT in Knoxville tonight - CONJOINTLY!   I had tickets first with my friend, Toney, and then Ashlee decided to come to the game also with her friend, Mollie.  Our seats ended up being very close to each other and we even got to sit with each other for the second half thanks to some empty seats around Ashlee and Mollie.  It was a great atmosphere, and our Duke boys got the win 83-76!!  It was great to see our Blue Devils play live in person together.  It's been a while!! 

Friday, November 8 - Well, we tried to go to Memphis tonight to see an NBA game and does some fancy Christmas wreath shopping, but terrible gridlock traffic and stormy weather derailed that plan.  There's four-plus hours we'll never get back!  At least most of the time was nicely (and hilariously) filled with the start of the audiobook, "Actress of a Certain Age" written and narrated by actor, Jeff Hiller, who we grew to love on the now defunct (what a shame!) HBO show, "Somebody, Somewhere."   Not sure when we will finish it, but we definitely will.  

Friday, November 14 - The couple that vaccinates together...
We got our free flu and Covid shots at the same time today at our local CVS since we still believe in vaccines despite our current dumbass administration.  

Saturday, November 16 - We checked out the new food-truck oasis and bar called The Trailer Park out on Hwy. 109 with some friends today.  It was OK, but some of the trucks on site weren't even open at lunch time, and those that were served just OK food.  It was kind of loud too and chock full of kids.  We ambled over to East Nashville Beer Works - Wilson County next door afterwards and had a few libations to close out the afternoon. 

Tuesday, November 18 - We went to see Brett Dennen at City Winery in Nashville tonight with front row premier seats next to the stage!  We had some great food and libations as usual there also.  It was a unique and enjoyable show with Brett doing the first set with songs inspired by watercolor paintings he had done also.  The second set was all requests from the audience along with stories of why they wanted to hear the song and little drawings of art from the fans also.  

Into the SPHERE of Summer

We've been wearing out our local Penn Station East Coast Subs shop lately with their great and numerous BOGO deals.  We prefer their cold sandwiches over their toasted ones, and Jersey Mike's is still our favorite, but you just can't pass up free sammies when they come along! 

Thursday, June 12 and Friday, June 13 - We each flew out to Las Vegas on different days this week and met up with friends to go see the Kenny Chesney show at the Sphere this weekend.  Hey, Vegas!  It's been a while! 

It was cool to see the Sphere (the giant red ball) while flying in tonight. 

We stayed at the nice Park MGM Resort right on The Las Vegas Strip.

Saturday, June 14 - After a day of different interests around Vegas, we met at The Venetian for our walk to the Sphere for the Kenny Chesney show tonight.  The stockinged legs sticking out are an advertisement for their next big event here, showing The Wizard of Oz on the giant 360-degree screen inside. 

Inside the Sphere was equally as mind-blowing with crystal-clear video projection in every direction.  

The opener was Miley's big sister, Brandi Cyrus, who DJ'ed an entertaining set.  

                            Kenny's intro video was extremely cool - see above 

Our "sandbar" floor/pit tickets made for a lot of standing through the 2-hours-plus show, but. man, what a vantage point! 

Just some Tennessee folks in da BIG house!! 

What a great show!!  Getting back to the hotel afterwards was a bit of a haul, but worth it in the end. 

Sunday, June 15 -We had a full sunny (hot! 100 degrees plus) day in Vegas ahead of us.  This view out our hotel window shows the great weather and the ultra-nice T-Mobile Arena where the new NHL hockey team plays.   

We started with breakfast at the adorable (and tasty) Hello Kitty Cafe - a pop-up shop very close to our hotel.  The donuts and iced coffees were excellent! 

Shopping time in Vegas!!  Ashlee even purchased her first-ever Chanel bag.

Lunch was at the cool and tasty Asian restaurant, Din Tai Fung, in the Aria Casino and Hotel.  Did we just see Adam Sandler? Ashlee thinks so.  I have a little doubt. 

We found ourselves back to the Sphere this afternoon for a showing of the sensory film Postcard from Earth directed by Hollywood heavyweight, Darren Aronofsky. It was only 50-minutes long, but it was stunning.   And the sound, seat vibration, air currents and even smells only added to the experience.  

         Another incredible experience - see video above.  Our 200 level seats in the middle of the Sphere gave a much different view than last night from the floor. 

Afterwards, back at The Venetian we enjoyed the ultra-cool (and free) 2-story Kenny Chesney Experience which was a lot less crowded today with no show tonight.  

Monday, June 16 - Ashlee flew home from Vegas today while I braved on in Sin City for a few more days to try my hand at some more poker tournaments.  Before she flew out, we had some tasty breakfast sandwiches at the All 'Italiana booth in the Eataly complex that is attached to our hotel.  How did we just discover this on the last day we are together here??  Classic Rob and Ashlee...

Before going our separate ways, we also relaxed a bit out by the fantastic pool area at the Park MGM Casino and Hotel. How did we just discover this on the last day we are together here??  Classic Rob and Ashlee... 

Saturday, June 21 - It was our first day over 90 degrees this year and so it was my first full emersion into the pool, and it was Sunny's first float.  Hello, Summer, glad you found us finally! 

We also shared our first craft beer slushie in Ashlee's new NINJA Slushie Machine.  It was a shandy and blonde ale combo, and it was delicious in the 90-degree weather!! 

Friday, June 27 - We opted to skip going downtown tonight for an event and decided to meet our friends, Toddy and Kelly, at our local Rock the Block on the Lebanon Square.  An afternoon thunderstorm had knocked the temps and humidity down to a reasonable amount.  We had some delicious dinner from the Huli Hut food truck, shopped a little, listened to some live music, and then just socialized over libations at Cedar City Brewing.  It's nice to have options now while living here in the WilCo.  

Tuesday, July 1 - We went to see the new F1 racing film in IMAX at the Opry Mills Theaters in Nashville tonight (Regal Theaters Discount Tuesdays!) with our friends, Toney and Lisa.  The movie was fantastic, and we all loved it.  We also got four free popcorns for using Apple Pay to buy the tickets! 

Friday, July 4; Saturday, July 5; and Sunday, July 6 - We had an Independence Day long weekend of pool fun and chilling with folks dropping in and out the entire time including Ashlee's childhood friend, Starling, and her husband, John, who came all the way from Maryland, and Ashlee's cousins from Cincinnati.  It was sort of a three-day party!   

We had great weather, good food and a lot of fun this whole weekend!

Sunny's too cool for the pool!! 

Same cool doggie.  Same pool fun! And she loves water-gun fights too! 

Saturday, July 19 - We attended the SOLD-OUT Dinner IN the Creek at Pine Knot out in the west-central part of the state today with some friends.  Afterwards, we stayed overnight nearby at the restored (albeit kind of weird) Commodore Hotel in tiny (albeit weird) town of Linden, Tennessee. 

Thanks to our friend, Michelle, for snapping this pic of us in the creek.  The food was fantastic with unlimited beverages (including the adult kind!), great appetizers and then an awesome four-course meal that really filled us up.  

What a magical evening!  The mist rising over Sinking Creek just added to the ambiance.  It was a diverse and friendly crowd in attendance.  Well worth the time, cost and effort.  

Sunday, July 20 - We did a quick drop-in of our friends Kate and Curtis' birthdays soiree at Yee Haw Brewing at the 6th and Peabody Complex in Nashville.  It's a great area and we had some tasty tacos, a giant pretzel and some good beers.  Too bad we couldn't stay any longer.  Maybe next time! 

The end of the month of July 2025 found Ashlee traveling some for work and me doing some dog-sitting around the area. 

Saturday, August 2 - We met up at East Nashville Beer Works - Wilson County today with some other friends to celebrate the start of ENBW's Augustfest.  Before the brews, we enjoyed some great sweet treats from Polly Sparrow on the Lebanon Square that our friend, Curtis, picked up for us.  They were super delish!! 

Sunday, August 8 - We headed over to The Belcourt Theaters this afternoon to catch this year's Cat Video Fest 2025.  We've attended these before and they are always adorable and hilarious.  This year was no different.  Too funny and cute! And this year's proceeds benefit the Cat Colony Food Pantry of Nashville.  Good deal!  Afterwards, we did a little grocery shopping at Trader Joe's where we each got a vanilla sheet cake for the week (if they last that long)!  We grabbed a six-pack of cookies from Doug and Dolly's over in Donelson and got an "end of day" extra cookie too.  Thanks, Doug!  Then, we had an early dinner next door at Cheba Hut that consisted of some tasty, toasted subs.  A fine and dandy little Sunday funday! 

Tuesday, August 5 -We got some bargain-basement priced tickets to see one of our favorite voices in modern rock, Rob Thomas, again at the Ascend Amphitheater in downtown Nashville tonight.  The weather was rather delightful for early August.  The show was great, and we really enjoyed the opener, A Great Big World, as well.   Rob looks great for his age (his adult son was playing lead guitar) and that silky smooth voice is still there.  

Friday, August 8 - We attended the Gladeville Middle School Basketball Trivia Night as guests of our friends, Todd and Kelly.  Our team of seven people had a great name:  The Smarty Pints.  We won two of 10 rounds of trivia vs. 39 other teams outright with lots of neat prizes including some great bucket hats to wear in the pool.  We tied for first in a couple other rounds but missed out on prizes.  And then we came in 3rd overall in total points in all ten rounds and won some more nice prizes thanks to a tiebreaker we won over a couple other teams in 3rd place.  A tasty spaghetti and meatballs dinner as well made for a very fun night for a great cause.  

The vet bills have been coming in fast and furious lately with Doris being the latest to have to go let the doc check her out.   We thought she might have a UTI, but tests came back negative, but we've put her on some antibiotics just to be sure.  Her blood work came back stellar at least! 

The biggest patient in terms of issues (and cost) has been poor Sunny who recently tore her CCL running to chase a neighborhood cat. She is going to have both back legs/knees done later this month followed up by a long eight weeks of recovery.  Hang in there, baby girl!  We love you!! 

Monday, August 11 - We got a couple free tickets to see Charley Crockett at his SOLD OUT album release party at the legendary Nashville Palace (thanks, Lavonda, sorry you couldn't make it) over by Opry Mills tonight.  Beforehand, we had dinner at said Opry Mills at the new P.F. Chang's there.  It was delish as always.   Despite its long history, we've never been to the Nashville Palace, but we saw Charley at Bonnaroo a couple years ago and enjoyed his music.  The show was very good.  The Nashville Palace is a typical honky-tonk, but large enough to accommodate the swelling crowd and free parking as well!  
On our way home, we saw an amazing and giant "strawberry moon" rising from the east.  So beautiful! 

Saturday, August 16 - We went to see actor and comedian, Craig Robinson, of "The Office" fame at his SOLD OUT show at Zanies tonight with our friends, Curtis and Kate.  The show was very good, but we have to admit we thought the first opener and host, Matt Richards aka "Chocolate Trump" kind of stole the show.

"Chocolate Trump" is the best!! And also, the nicest, for agreeing to a fun selfie with Ashlee just after the show.  

After the show on the way home, we stopped in Mt. Juliet at new (and very popular) Andy's Frozen Custard.  This is a favorite of Curtis and Kate's, but our first time ever.  It was worth the stop!  Absolutely freakin' delicious!! 

Sunday, August 17 - After chilling in the pool all afternoon, we decided to sweat it out a little at the Wilson County/State Fair tonight since the Cat Show was going on.   The cat show was goofy and fun as usual. We had some good Cajun food while there and enjoyed the always well-done fair offerings.  We especially enjoyed the "maze of TN counties" exhibit where all 90 Tennessee counties were represented with what makes each of them special (it probably helped that it was in the air-conditioning).  

Dudley says it's bad enough they are called the "dog days" of summer, but does it also have to be this friggin' hot!! 

Tuesday, August 19 - We went to see a showing of the world premiere of, "Dolly: A True Original Musical" tonight at The Fisher Center on the campus of Belmont University in Nashville.  This is an opening trial run of the show before it hits Broadway next year.  Dolly Parton, herself, has been a big part of this creation including writing several new songs for it.  We thought the show was great, but our "box seats" were awful with more than half the stage blocked from view.  We wound up standing for the first half and then moving downstairs to some empty seats for the second half.    The Fisher Center is lovely otherwise, and the free parking garage nearby was a nice bonus. 

Tuesday, August 26 - Poor Sunny had to have surgery today on her torn CCL and will be out of commission for about eight weeks.  Unfortunately, I was not even home to help out due to work travel.  Hang in there Sunny...and Ashlee.