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 and WNBA teams play.   

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.