55 Years Done Spring, Sprang, Sprung!

Friday, Apri 1 - After picking up our friend, Nate, we headed up to Louisville after work today in a nice Toyota Camry rental from the Turo app that we picked up here in town to keep the wear and tear off of our cars.  We stayed at a Hampton Inn on the other side of Louisville in New Albany, Indiana, and had dinner and drinks at the nearby Floyd County Brewing.   After dinner we discovered a fun old band of hippies playing out back of the brewery in their Grain Haus called Hooter and Doobers.  What a fun and quirky surprise!  They even had a flautist!  

Saturday, April 2 - After a great breakfast at Wild Eggs in Louisville (so sad the one in downtown Nashville is no more), we drove on to Columbus, Ohio, for the Nashville Soccer Club Road game vs. the Columbus Crew.  Before the game. we hit a couple more breweries included the hilariously named Hoof Hearted Brewing which we visited before a few years back on another road trip up this way to see the Nashville Predators play (and win).  We walked over to North High Brewing next and met up with our friends, Chris and Tarryn.  Then it was off to the game in the beautiful new Lower.com Field Stadium and to meet up with two more friends, Craig and Alison.  We won a thrilling 1-0 match that helped NSC get some much-needed points in the standings, but the game was marred for us by some rude, obnoxious fans...for Nashville!?!?  Never again will we sit with these rowdy a-holes.  What a shame.  

Sunday, April 3 - We did the entire drive home from Columbus today but did break it up with a nice stop just outside of Cincinnati for a brewery tour and lunch at Cartridge Brewing in Maineville, Ohio.   These guys have set up shop in an old ammunition plant built back in 1860's called Peters Cartridge Company (hence the brewery name).  It's a beautiful old structure (thanks AtlasObscura.com) that's also been turned into apartments. Pictured above are the original smokestack and shot tower used during production.  The tour was fun and informal with a nice 5-count flight of their beers at the end.   Their food was good as well, and we enjoyed the company of Ashlee's cousins, Leslie, and her daughter, LeeAnn, who live nearby for the tour and for lunch. 

Monday, April 4 - We attended the "Bumps, Bruises and Bedtime Stories" show with past Nashville Predators players at Zanies Comedy Club tonight with our friend, Richard, and his girlfriend.  It was a great show with four former-Preds who still live here now telling great very funny stories of their careers in the NHL (former goalie, Chris Mason, couldn't make it). The host was comedian, Steve Byrne, who now lives here in Nashville as well and was quite hilarious himself. 

Tuesday, April 5 - We FIINALLY got to check out the Immersive Van Gogh Exhibit with a bunch of our friends tonight over in West Nashville after countless delays for this nationwide show stopping here for a limited engagement.  Beforehand, we all had dinner at the always-great J. Alexander's nearby.  The exhibit exceeded our expectations and was very unique, beautiful and interesting. 

We had a large group of friends attend with us including Nate, Ginny, Bethany, Danny and Brenda, who I snapped this cool picture of as she was immersed in Van Gogh on all sides. 

Wednesday, April 13 - Mother Nature tried her best to knock us out of another concert, but we braved the stormy elements and made it to the JohnnySwim show at The Grand Ole Opry House tonight.  Beforehand, we had a great dinner nearby at The Bavarian Bierhaus in the Opry Mills Mall. 

We had great seats down on the main floor of The Grand Ole Opry House, and Amanda and Abner, the husband/wife heart and soul of Johnnyswim put on a great show including bringing on Drew and Ellie Holcomb for a few songs to close out the show. and Abner coming down in the crowd very near us for the final song.   So great to see these guys live, and up close and personal for the first time. 

Saturday,  April 17 - We got a couple nice Stubhub fire-sale floor seats at The Ryman tonight to see one of our favorite local guys who's made it pretty big now, Mat Kearney.  He didn't play as many "old" tunes for our taste, and the new stuff is just OK, but overall it was a fun show along with a pretty good opener, Birdtalker, who are also locals.  Our dinner plans got way-laid by some crazy traffic so we wound up eating hot dogs at The Ryman concession stand which weren't half bad! 

Sunday, April 17 - We were downtown again today to attend the SOLD OUT Hatch Show Print "Block" Party at The Country Music Hall of Fame.  This event gave us the chance to use the historic Hatch Show Print block letter-press tools and ink to create our own posters, T-shirts, and canvas tote bags.  We thought we were only going to get to make one thing each, but they let us have at it for almost two hours to make as much stuff as we wanted!  The collection above is Ashlee's (which were better than mine), but we both had a ball creating keepsakes.  We also got to keep our Hatch Print aprons we wore and we got a professionally-made event poster as well.  What a great deal! 

Dudley is reporting that spring done sprung!! 

Tuesday, April 19 - We were downtown yet again tonight to attend our first Preds game of the season as they battle for a playoff spot with just a few regular-season games left.  Our seats were great, albeit a little tight...that's probably a change in us more than the seats!  Plus, we had just had some great 1/2 price chicken and biscuits downstairs before we sat down. A couple of definite big changes were Pekka Rinne's retired jersey number in the rafters, and the amazing new jumbotron hanging over the ice.  We snuck out a little early to beat the traffic after the Preds blew an early 2-0 lead to the Calgary Flames, but were glad to hear they got at least a couple points with a shoot-out win in OT.  

Wednesday, April 20 - It's my birthday!!  I'm 55 and Fine!!  Since we were traveling this weekend to a wedding and with my birthday falling in the middle of the week, we opted to stay home for this one.  We decided to do dinner and check out the music of Coldplay by candlelight (you guessed it - in downtown Nashville again) instead.   Dinner became quite the conumdrum when every place we tried was weirdly packed on a Wednesday night?  WTH?  We finally got in to Waldo's Chicken and Beer in Germantown which was fine with me since it focuses on two things I really like!   The hour-long show was simply amazing.  It was held in the Downtown Presbyterian Church sanctuary which had great acoustics and beautiful ambiance with the candles and the awesome stained glass windows they have. 

Thursday, April 21 - After work today, we flew up to Philly to stay with our friends, Mike and Eileen, who live in nearby Media, PA, to attend their daughter Megan's wedding tomorrow night.   The flight was packed,  but it was our first one with no masks necessary in a couple years.

Friday, April 22 - The outdoor wedding of Megan and Kieran's at The Duke Sculpture Garden at The Dixon Mansion in nearby Wallingford, PA, was beautiful and the weather cooperated perfectly (must be nice, right, hon?).  We ate, drank and partied late into the night and had a great time.  We wish the best of luck to the young couple and thanks for the invite! 
Before the festivities, we worked a little at Eileen's house, ran some errands, and took a drive over to Tap 24 for lunch and a look around the nice town of Media, PA.  

Saturday, April 23 - After a great late breakfast cooked by Eileen, we loaded up and headed to the Philadelphia Union MLS soccer game vs. the Montreal Impact.  The pretty Subaru Stadium is very close to Eileen and Mike's house, and they are pretty big fans since their other daughter, Erin, has actually worked for the team in sports medicine.  Ashlee wasn't into the game, so she mostly ran around to peruse the stadium's alcohol stands with Eileen's sister, Kath, who was also there without much interest in the game... and it was her birthday!   Meanwhile, the game concluded in a tough-fought 1-1 draw. It was a fun, family atmosphere...which you don't expect in Philly.  
After the game we stopped by Cocca's Pizza in the town of Aston for an interesting Del-Co dinner. 

Since we were in the Del-Co (Delaware County), I guess we shoulda went to the WaWa for a wet-ass hoagie (WAH) in honor of Aunt Mary Pat, the drag-queen comedian from this area that we love.   We chilled back at Mike and Eileen's tonight since we have a very early flight home tomorrow morning.

Sunday, April 24 - Our best flight choice today was a mind-numbing 6 AM flight (direct at least) from Philly back to Nashville.  Of course, after a nap, we did have the whole day to recover.  

Ashlee took the first full swim of the year in the cold, but not bone-chilling, pool today.  That's one way to wake up from a 6 AM flight home!   Congrats, honey!  I couldn't get past my knees. BRRRR!  

Is Winter Over Yet?? We miss our pool.

Tuesday, February 1 - We started the month (and kind of the year) out right with an afternoon 5K walk from our house today.  We are vowing to get more exercise this year.  

Saturday, February 5 - Thank God for the gas fireplace!  Right, Doris?  Our gas logs are truly a Godsend.  They keep the entire house pretty warm during these frigid nights that we've been having lately that are well below freezing when the heat-pump is useless and expensive. 

Sunday, March 6 - It got to a "sweltering" 50 degrees today, so we thought we'd do a little walking in the glades, cedar glades that is.  We went first to the fairly new Vesta Cedar Glade State Natural Area here in southwest Wilson County for a nice mile loop.  Next, we tackled the longer-established Couchville Cedar Glad State Natural Area for another (muddier) mile loop.  While they aren't the prettiest hikes around, it is nice to have them fairly close to home for a quick jaunt into Mother Nature. 

We headed over to West Nashville after our hikes to do a little shopping at Costco and Trader Joe's and wound up eating an early dinner with our libations at Tailgate Brewing out on Charlotte Pike.  What a fun place! And the beer and food are awesome!  Too bad it isn't closer.  

Monday, February 7 - We are really enjoying the new series from the makers of "Downton Abbey" called "The Gilded Age."  It's kind of like a "Downton Abby -American Style" with new money vs. old money in turn of the century New York.  Oh, the drama!! 

Tuesday, February 8 - The first one of these we snuck off to Jackson to see, so we wouldn't see anyone we knew.  Now, we are proud fans and couldn't wait to see the new Jackass Forever film at our local Roxy Theaters (recliners!) tonight.  These idiots are getting old like us, but they are still idiots, and we still love to watch them and laugh our butts off.  This one was no exception.  Crude, rude and hilarious. 

Saturday, February 12 - Wait, are we really in Lebanon?  These shops seem way too cool for this town.   Ashlee took me and our friend, Bethany, to two very cool relatively new shops that the girls had been to before on the backside of The Square on College Street.  One was Public Square Market, and the other is Demeter's Common (photo above).  Unique and stylish inventory and friendly shopkeepers.  Another great couple of additions to our ever-improving town square! Also on The Square, we stopped by Seven Cedars Butcher Block for some yummy and fresh eats as well.   So nice to have real enjoyable local shopping! 

Sunday, February 13 - Looks like the album cover for the new record by Zippy and the Butt-Sniffers.  Fun photo by Ashlee.  

Monday, February 14 - After such a fun time at Christmas, we came back to The Pearl Diver in East Nashville for Valentine's Day dinner tonight along with our friends, Wendy and Charly.   We had great food once again and the flaming Banana! Banana! cocktail (photo above) was everybody's favorite.  

Wednesday, February 16 - We decided to check out the weekly bingo game at The Cedar Tap up on The Square tonight.  Ashlee loves bingo, but we both kinda stink at it despite it being pure luck.  We also had a few craft beers as well.   We actually broke tradition and won the first game with our combined sheets to grab a $5 gift certificate!   I guess we will be back for more! 

Saturday, February 19 - Ashlee hired a professional pet photographer who was running kind of a moving sale to snap some pics of our OG cat, Zippy, today.    He wasn't having much of it, but the photographer did get a few good shots of the old grouch.  The photographer was nice enough to get a few shots of our other little darlings too. 

Glamour puss, Byron 

The hottest new country music duo, Dudley and Doris! 

We had a belated Valetine's treat tonight as well as we broke open this large candy heart that Ashlee bought at one of the little novelty shops mentioned above on the Lebanon Square recently.  We popped a bottle of champagne with colorful, edible sparkles added to it as well.  Cheers, baby!  

Sunday, February 20 - We took a nice long walk today back up to The Cedar Tap and back (a little over two miles) and enjoyed a few libations and the warm weather for late February. 

Tuesday, February 22 - We went to see the new film, Dog, tonight at The Roxy Theaters (recliners!) here in town on Discount Tuesday.  We thought it wasn't as much a "comedy" as advertised, but actually tackled some pretty heavy subjects, but in a very good way.  Wonderful film!  Glad we saw it! 

Well, Jersey Mike's has got some stiff competition now with a new Penn Station Sub Shop opening up very close to our home...and they've got fries...very, very good fries!! 

Saturday, February 26 - We went to see one of our favorite performers, Brett Dennen, tonight at The Basement East in East Nashville.  It was a late starting show with an opener which we weren't thrilled about, but we had dinner beforehand at Hawker's Asian Street Food just up the street and it was fantastic despite the long wait to get a table.  The opening band was The Heavy Hours and they were pretty good actually.  We only stayed for about a half hour of Brett since it was getting very late and we've seen him a bunch of times.  The place was packed which was good for him and good for everyone as the world seems to be coming out of the Covid funk hopefully.   

Sunday, March 6 - We were lucky enough to be given two extra tickets to see the hit Broadway musical "Dear Evan Hansen" tonight at TPAC in downtown Nashville, by our good friends, Danny and Brenda.  Beforehand, we had a great dinner at Stateside Kitchen which is located nearby in the new Dream Hotel. The show was fantastic, and our seats were great.  

Friday, March 11 - Well, the incoming snowstorm got us a concert cancellation unfortunately as the front was to hit us right about show time.  We feel we made the right call as we heard about lots of auto accidents had happened overnight.   See ya next time, Kevin Griffin! 

Saturday, March 12 - We attended the Farm to Tap Festival at Tailgate Brewing in West Nashville today which was a mostly outdoor event, so why is this the coldest day in the last month???  I mean a high of 34 degrees, really??   BRRRRR!!  Despite the weather, we had fun and tried a lot of different beers made solely from Tennessee-grown products from several members of the state Craft Brewers Guild.  It was a crowded event, but the sample lines weren't bad and we got a table to stand at during the event.  Our friend, Emily, joined us as well for the last hour or so. 

We did get about 4 inches of snow overnight which you can see in the photo above using Dudley's tail for scale. 

Sunday, March 30 - We zipped down to Chattanooga today to celebrate our niece, Ella, for her 16th birthday (hard to believe!).  We had a fun time with her and some of her friends and family at the (new to us) Dave and Buster's over at Hamilton Place.  The highlight had to be the sit-down Hungry, Hungry Hippos game!!  Ashlee won, but her hippo was definitely a ringer! 

Friday, March 25 - We went to opening night of the new comedy film, The Lost City, at the Regal Hollywood 24 Theaters (recliners!) in Nashville tonight.   It was goofy, silly and hilarious.  And just what we were looking for!  

After the movie, we also checked out the SOLD OUT Alice in Wonderland Themed Pop-Up Bar called "The Alice" in the Penthouse of The Fairlane Hotel in downtown Nashville. It was very cool and our cocktails were good.  My whiskey-based libation was even served up in a dainty teacup.

The outdoor part of The Fairlane Hotel Penthouse was pretty exquisite as well.  Not sure there's anywhere else you can look DOWN on The Bobby Hotel's own fabulous rooftop across the street. Despite a bit of chilly temps, it was a beautiful night in downtown Nashville. 

Wednesday, March 30 - Another pair of concert tickets bit the dust tonight as we had to abandon hope of going to see The Airborne Toxic Event in East Nashville tonight due to nasty weather moving through the area with tornado warnings as well.  We waited almost two years to see this show with delays due to Covid-19 and still didn't get there.   Disappointing.

April 1 - POOL'S OPEN!! (no foolin'!)