2015...off an running

2015 got off to a quick start for us with a couple of separate trips including Ashlee going on a Caribbean cruise with a co-worker of hers and some other ladies; and a quick jaunt back out to Las Vegas for me, plus a chance to see Linkin Park again up close at the Bridgestone Arena.  Of course, we also found time to do some things together throughout January and February:

Good shoot-twice seats in the 300 level with an all-you-can-eat option.  Yummm!!

Winnah! Winnah!

# 1 in the entire NHL

Thursday, 1/8 - We attended our first Nashville Predators game of the new year with a large group of friends including Wayne, Chris, Tarryn, Brenda, Danny, and Tom. We broke from our norm and sat in the 300 level but the kicker was it was all you can eat of your typical stadium food and also some delicious jambalaya.  It was a thrilling 3-2 win in OT over Dallas.  This win put Nashville in first place in all of the NHL!

Friday, 1/9 - Six of our eight-pack from the hockey game the previous night decided to have dinner tonight.  I suggested a return (for me and Ashlee) to The Sutler Saloon.  We stopped by here a few weeks ago just on a whim for a couple drinks and thought the place was very cool.  Since we had already eaten earlier that day, we vowed to come back and try the food. So here we be!  The food was very good.  Afterwards, we slipped downstairs to their unadvertised speak-easy-style bar for a couple drinks.  What a cool place!

 "Southern"-style pork rind nachos at The Sutler!

Thursday, 1/15:  We had dinner again at the amazing Lockeland Table in East Nashville tonight. This time it was with our friends, Sharon and Karen, and the meal was once more outstanding.

Tuesday, 1/27 - We enjoyed our first visit to the relatively new City Winery in downtown Nashville for dinner and a show tonight.  It's a beautiful venue with great food and good acoustics.  We saw The Ben Daniels Band accompanied by the famous actor (and Ben's dad), Jeff Daniels, who is also very talented musically, and, of course, quite funny.  We got the honor of meeting Mr. Daniels after the show as well.  He was very cordial and friendly (for a Yankee).

Just hangin' with "Will McAvoy" from "The Newsroom."

Thursday, 2/5 - We attended another Preds game tonight with our friends, Chris and Tarryn, and we were back in 1st place in the NHL and our All-Star goalie, Pekka Rinne, was back from injury, but despite these positives going in it was a disappointing 5-2 loss to the talented Anaheim Ducks.

Saturday, 2/7 - We checked out the Oscar-nominated short films (animated and live)  today at The Belcourt Theatre with our friends, Danny and Brenda.  Animation was first and they were pretty good (at least better than last year's batch of depressing nominees).  We had a break in between before the live action shorts and had a late lunch across the street at Jackson's which was delicious.  The gals killed another hour or so shopping while Danny and I grabbed a couple seats at a nearby sports bar to catch the Preds win yet another game.  We finished the day with the live action shorts which were a mixed bag with a couple pretty good ones and a couple of odd ones and one downright depressing one.

Thursday, 2/12 - Can't get enough of those weekday Preds home games (especially at $35 a seat in the lower bowl)! And we're still in first place in the entire NHL!  Five friends (Chris, Tarryn, Brenda, Danny and Bethany) joined us for tonight's game against the Winnipeg Jets which we won in solid fashion by a score of 3-1, further establishing that # 1 spot in the league!

Saturday, 2/14 - Happy Valentine's Day!!  We drove down to Chattanooga today and had a wonderful early dinner with Ashlee's mom, Evelyn, at Public House.

Saturday, 2/21 - An unexpected tragedy had us traveling to my boyhood town of Powell's Crossroads today for the funeral of a dear friend.  My friend from kindergarten and our friend for many, many years beyond that, Brian Griffith, passed away this past week from heart complications. Brian was a sweet, loving guy with always something funny to say.  This world won't be the same without him  Goodbye, dear friend, may you rest in peace.  We will miss you greatly.

This pre-collage flashback to happier times back on May 19, 2001, shows Brian (far left) as one of my groomsmen (and eligible bachelor) not even trying for the garter tossed by Ashlee on our wedding day.  He was probably afraid of spilling his beer.  That's our Brian.  Ashlee's then-coworker, Karen, saw her boyfriend (in the blue shirt) catch the garter and sure enough they were married soon after.  Another groomsman, our nephew, Matt, also make a valiant effort for the catch as well.

Sunday, 2/22 - It's that time of year again.  Time for us to attend the annual Oscars Party hosted by our friend, Brenda.

"Everything is awesome!" including our outfits for Brenda's Oscars Party as Wyldstyle and Emmet Brickowski from The LEGO Movie.  Ashlee got first place in the female costume contest, unlike the movie which we thought got a wrongful snubbing by the academy when it didn't get a "Best Animated Feature" nomination.

Thursday, 2/26 - We attended another Preds game tonight (still ranked # 1 in the NHL!) vs. the Minnesota Wild.  It was a close, but tough, 4-2 loss (the last Wild goal was an empty-netter).  And, yes, despite the loss, we are still # 1 in the rankings!

On a brighter note, we got to meet # 4, defenseman, Ryan Ellis, after the game.  Ryan was just back from an injury and we are happy to have him in the line-up again for the run to the playoffs.

They're just that darn good!

Saturday, 2/28 -  Tonight we attended the SOLD OUT debut of Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors as headliners at The Ryman,  The opener was Holly Williams, the grand-daughter of the great Hank Williams and daughter of Hank Jr.  She was pretty good.  Drew and the boys (and wife, Ellie, on a few numbers) gave us a just-about-perfect show.  This band was made for such a great venue and did the ol' girl proud.  Bo Rhinehart of NEEDTOBREATHE even came out for one song.  Drew's cover of Springsteen's "Thunder Road" was a stunner as well.  Our balcony second-row seats were excellent.  Dinner before at the always-delicious Suzy Wong's House of Yum made for an awesome Saturday night in downtown Nashville.