Falling Inn Love with Evins Mill

We spent the night at The Inn at Evins Mill in nearby Smithville, TN. It's a place we have been wanting to check out for a long time and a recent Groupon.com purchase allowed us to do so at half the price. The weather couldn't have been better for mid-March with sunny, warm temps in the low 70's. After having lunch in Watertown on the way, we arrived around 2 PM to check-in. We were shown to our room, the Lawrence Two, which was just about perfect. It sits on a fairly steep bluff overlooking babbling Fall Creek with our own porch complete with rocking chairs. Their are only 12 rooms total in the whole complex with three buildings of 4 rooms each (2 upstairs and 2 downstairs) plus a main lodge (photo below) all nestled in among the forested bluffs of the creek.

After getting settled in our room, we headed over the walkway above the dam (also photo left) to the south side of the creek past the original Evins Mill which was built back in 1939. Our destination was about a half-hour hike downstream. Carmac Falls, (photo below) is the gem of this 40-acre facility. This 90-foot beauty is the main reason we wanted to come to this place, and it's also the reason we have known about this place for so long. It's ranked the 10th highest waterfall in Tennessee and it's one of the few major falls in the state that we had not yet visited.

The hike was a bit challenging to get to the base of the falls but well worth the effort. We were rewarded with two other smaller falls dropping into the gorge as well. The great swimming hole beneath Carmac Falls looked inviting with the warm temps, but a little wading in the creek showed us the water was still too painfully cold to immerse oneself in. We instead just enjoyed the sights and sounds of this beautiful place. We met two other couples coming in and out of the gorge, but otherwise the place was ours alone. The stream and surrounding areas were clean and free of trash, graffiti and other signs of an uncaring public that you unfortunately see on a regular basis at waterfalls with public access and no protection.

As the sun started to drop lower in the sky, we climbed back out of the gorge and headed back upstream. We stopped in Evins Mill itself on the way back. The innkeepers have turned the ground floor of this cool old building into a game-room complete with a pool table, ping-pong table, dart boards, a large TV and sitting area, and a bar with complimentary non-alcoholic beverages. After a spirited and close-scoring game of ping-pong, we headed back to our room to grab a shower and relax in our rocking chairs before dinner. We also had free wi-fi to access which was a nice perk.

Dinner (as well as breakfast the next morning) is included in your per night cost and is served in the main lodge. The inn offered some yummy appetizers before dinner and while nibbling on them out on one of the lodge's huge porches overlooking the mill dam and pond, we ordered a great-tasting bottle of Italian sparkling wine (prosecco) at a very reasonable price from their full bar. Dinner was scheduled for 7 PM, but the staff offered us seating at little early and we were happy to oblige since we were famished from our afternoon hike. Now, we came here specifically to check out Carmac Falls, and we figured anything else we enjoyed would be gravy. And let's just say, the gravy was delicious!! This four-course meal blew us away. It was easily one of the best experiences we've ever had dining out. The first course, ginger-infused soup, was amazing. The pineapple salad up next was creative and refreshing. Our entrees, organic pork loin from a local farm, and wild Tasmanian salmon, were incredible. Dessert was a light strawberry meringue that went great with the delicious coffee they served.

Our great meal experience. the mild temps and the "supermoon" (hey, that's what the experts were calling it as the largest full moon in 18 years thanks to its proximity to the Earth - photo below) inspired us to grab some flashlights and take a quick hike back out to the overlook of Carmac Falls about ten minutes downstream on the south side of the creek again. Wow! What an experience! Seeing and hearing the roaring falls under dazzling moonlight was breathtaking and one of those moments in your life you just have to be thankful you got to experience together (photo above).

A game of pool and a sad attempt at darts back inside the mill concluded our evening and brought the end of a surprisingly great day. We dropped another blanket on the bed back in the room and decided to leave a window open so we could let Fall Creek rushing over its rocky course put us to sleep. The bed was comfortable and although the inn was full, the entire place was very quiet and peaceful.

Breakfast the next morning was not served until 9 AM, so that gave us time after waking up around 8 AM to take another quick hike to work up our appetites. We opted for what we were told was the "easy" north side of the creek trail, but actually found it to be a bit more harrowing than we expected. The trail that hugged the high bluffs of the creek gorge disappeared at points along the way either washed away from recent heavy rains, or perhaps not properly maintained for a while. We made it to the overlook without incident, but thought the view of Carmac Falls on the south side was much better. This trail does lead you the brink of the second falls dropping near Carmac which is kind of cool.

Breakfast was an all-you-can-eat buffet-style, and again the food was excellent. They even had an omelette station that we had to skip because will filled up so f

ast on the wonderful sausage, bacon, fruit, pastries, etc. We ate out on the porch where we had enjoyed our wine the night before and the weather was once again just perfect.

Check-out isn't until noon and since we had a couple of hours, we decided to take one more hike over on the south side of the creek and say goodbye to Carmac Falls from the overlook. We thought we were alone on the trail until we happened upon the little fellow in the photo above sunning himself on the trail. Looks like spring has officially arrived! We got back to our room and packed up and reluctantly checked out of The Inn at Evins Mill. We were home in less than an hour and we vowed along the way to definitely return to this wonderful place where even paying full price is well worth the money.

Seaside, Destin-ation

We took a drive deep down south to the panhandle of Florida this weekend for a quick long weekend beach getaway. Joining us were Ashlee's twin sister, Paige, her husband, Andy, their daughter and our cutie-pie, almost-5-year-old niece, Ella, and the girls' mom, Evelyn. The sole purpose for the trip was for Ashlee and Paige to run in the Seaside School 5K Race which Ashlee had bought Paige entry into as a Christmas present. The biggest payoff for the girls (besides the accomplishment and the exercise) was a Vera Bradley (big sponsor) bag that each participant received after completing the run. The rest of us decided to tag along to make a beach trip out of it since Seaside is..well...seaside.We got rooms at a conveniently-located Hampton Inn a few miles away near Destin, Florida. The drive down was rather long but necessary due to soaring airfare prices recently. The in-laws drove down from Chattanooga in one car and we headed out from Nashville in a rental from Enterprise which we got a great deal on. It was a spacious new Chevy Impala for a mere $13 a day. The 7-hour drive down went without mishap of too much note (other than having to drive the wrong way down a freeway off-ramp due to a wreck ahead, backed up traffic and a gas light burning brightly!). We passed the time on the road fairly easily thanks to an audio book from one of our favorite comediennes, Chelsea Handler, and her hilarious true-life escapades in "Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea."

We arrived late Saturday afternoon in Seaside in time for the girls to pick up their registration packs that included their race numbers for the following morning. Seaside is a rather famous planned community (it was featured in the film "The Truman Story") constructed on the Emerald Coast. It's extremely quaint, clean, organized and very quiet. After some searching, we found a little pizzeria nearby to have dinner at called The Pickle Factory. What the name has to do with pizza is beyond us, but their pies were excellent.

The next morning we awoke bright and early for the girls' 7:30 AM start of the race. Both Ashlee and Paige did great and finished the race ahead of their previous best times at such a distance. The weather was great for a race: cool, breezy and no humidity. Unfortunately, the weather stayed that way the rest of the day which is not so great for the beach, so the girls all went shopping and the guys checked out the the Bass Pro Shop in nearby Destin as well as the Irish pub there that brews their own beer (more on that can be found in Rob's beer blog). Dinner was a bit of disaster that evening as we all got lost searching for a Cajun seafood joint that sounded promising about a half-hour from the hotel. When we finally found it and sat down at a table, the small place was so unbelievably loud with tables full of people seemingly trying to shout over one another, that we had to make the tough decision to just get up and leave without eating there despite an interesting menu and rumbling bellies. This revolt was led by us two because one of our New Year's resolutions in 2011 is to not spend good money and time in a place we don't feel is worth it. This has been about the third time we have initiated this mantra this year and we feel all the better for it.

By the time we got back near the hotel, little Ella was exhausted and so was her grandma. Neither were very hungry and opted to crash in the room instead of pursuing a late dinner, so the foursome that was left trudged on and in an all-out desperation move, we opted for the chain seafood restaurant, Bonefish Grill, in Destin. We actually had a great time there laughing about our misadventures of the night, and the food wasn't too bad either (Bang Bang Shrimp is never a bad choice).

After a relaxing sleep-in on Monday morning, the weather had improved to sunny but the temps still hovered in the cool range well below 70 degrees thanks to a cold-front that had moved in the day before. We headed over to nearby Henderson Beach State Park, determined to at least get a little beach time in despite the weather. The beach is beautiful here (photo above) and thanks to the temps it was pretty much abandoned for our own private use. We braved the cold water and did a bit of wading in the pounding surf. It wasn't too bad after you got used to it. We two took a long walk westward along the shore that was very relaxing and enjoyable. We got back in time to help Ella build one humdinger of a sand castle (if we do say so ourselves) complete with walls, a moat, a central tower and gardens.

Dinner this evening went much smoother and we all had a blast at McGuire's Irish Pub, the one the guys had visited the day before. Despite it's name, this place is a world-class steakhouse as well as having all the usual Irish fare. Our two steaks, filet minon for Ashlee and New York strip for Rob, were superb. The place itself is pretty unforgettable with the nearly 900,000 dollar bills (photo below) hanging from its ceilings (we didn't count to confirm but we will take their word for it), it's delicious 18-cent senate bean soup (yep it costs 18 cents per bowl) and as mentioned before, several of their own types of beers brewed on the premises (again, more on that in Rob's beer blog).

Tuesday was another sleep in day for everyone before we all loaded up for the long drive back up north. We downloaded another Chelsea Handler book for the drive back: "My Horizontal Life: A Collection of One-Night Stands" which is also hilarious and surprisingly well written given the racy subject matter. We got into a lot of rain coming back through Alabama and a bit of a traffic jam in downtown Birmingham due to an accident, but we were home after returning the rental car before 10 Pm.

In hindsight, it definitely wasn't our best trip by far, and the foul-ups with the weather and dinner on Saturday night don't overshadow the fun we had and the accomplishment of Ashlee and Paige in their first 5K race. Good job, ladies!

Preda-Oscars

We were invited to a Nashville Predators hockey game today by our friends, John and Monique. We met them at their new condo in Lennox Village and then took one car downtown to grab some lunch before the game. We opted for Big River Grille which is just a couple blocks from the Bridgestone Arena where the Predators would be taking on the Columbus Bluejackets at 2 PM. It was an important game for the Predators who are trying to climb back in the hunt for the playoffs with about 20 games left to play despite several key injuries.

It was "HCA Family Day" and we really appreciate Monique (to Ashlee's left in photo above)including us in her "family" of four tickets. The seats were excellent. The were in the lower-bowl about 10 rows off the ice. After a scoreless first period, we made plans to meet our friends, Chris and Tarryn (foreground in photo above), in the concourse during the intermission. They are season-package holders with seats in the upper level. There were several seats open next to us during the first period of the game, so we told them to come sit with us since they weren't being used. No one ever claimed the seats and the six of us had a large time cheering on the Preds as they battled the next two periods to a 1-1 tie, then a 2-2 tie and then a thrilling 3-2 regulation win with just 1:35 remaining!! After the game we were headed over to Brentwood for the annual Oscars Party hosted by our friends, the Edmondsons. We checked with Brenda, the hostess, to see if John and Monique could tag along. As we figured, Brenda had prepared a huge amount of food and was happy to have a couple more mouths to feed. We had a great evening chowing down on delicious grub all with Oscar-inspired titles like "True Grits" while watching the festivities and playing Oscars Bingo and answering trivia questions during the commercials. Most of our picks for Oscar winners were correct although we both thought "127 Hours" should have won "Best Picture" over "The King's Speech." Thanks again to the Edmondsons for including us in the last few of their annual tradition now 18 years and counting!

Getting Up with a tasty burger and getting down with The Dirty Guv'nahs

We left immediately after work today and checked in to the Hotel Indigo on West End. This was another Travelocity.com Top Secret Hotels bargain for $60 a night. The boutique hotel is quite lovely and our stylish room was huge with a very comfy king-sized bed.

After chilling in the room for an hour or so, we headed over to the happening and hip little area in Nashville known as "12th Avenue South" for our Meet-Up group dinner at Burger Up!. Our friends, and veteran members of the group, John and Monique were there, along with second-timers to the group, Bill and Jacqui, plus two other new couples to make an even ten. The rather small place was super-crowded for a Friday night and we were glad we had made arrangements for our large group before we arrived. They were able to get us a table together right on time and we had a wonderful dinner of gourmet burgers. After dinner, we set out to catch a new favorite regional band of ours, The Dirty Guv'nahs, with their first headlining show at The Mercy Lounge. Opening was a band called, Ponderosa, who were OK, but not much to write home about in terms of energy or stage presence. That all changed when The Guv'nahs took the stage around 10 PM. This young band from Knoxville is chock full of energy and no one has more of it than lead singer, James Trimble, (photo below) who came into the crowd twice where we were standing center stage...once on foot and once flying through the air in an unexpected stage dive. Good thing he's a small fella and we were able to catch him! Later in the show Ashlee even "caught" his sweaty vest as well, although not really by choice! The crowd swelled as the show continued and was officially sold out by the time the boys encored with a tremendous cover of Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers' "American Girl" along with members of Ponderosa. Thanks to our friend, Ryan, and his friend, Curtis, for joining us during the show. We had a peaceful and restful sleep back at the hotel and woke up late Saturday morning in time to check out and have lunch at Bosco's Restaurant and Brewery before returning home.

Grace Be With Us

We took a half-day off from work today to check out a noon-time in-store acoustic performance by Grace Potter & the Nocturnals at Grimey’s New & Preloved Music in Nashville. GP&N are one of our favorite bands to see live right now and this 3-song set was a great primer for tonight’s sold out show that we had tickets to at The Cannery. There were quite a swell of people inside the small store which takes up the ground floor of a large converted 3-story house. We were only able to get glimpses of the band over the heads of others, but the acoustics were very good. Afterwards we were starving for some lunch and decided to track down The Grilled Cheeserie, a Nashville-based sandwich truck that specializes in gourmet grilled cheese delights. Thanks to their Facebook page we learned that they were over in the Berry Hill neighborhood nearby. Despite some drizzling rain there was quite a line of people waiting to place orders when we arrived. Service was fast and efficient, however, and we got our wheat bread sandwiches fairly quickly (Ashlee’s added bacon to hers and Rob added shaved ham). They were delicious. Despite having some good dessert options, we decided to fore go them and head over to The Cupcake Connection on the other side of downtown in the Germantown neighborhood instead. This place gets rave reviews (and long lines) and we were hoping the rainy Thursday afternoon would give us a chance to check it out without too much waiting. There was a line, but it wasn’t too long and we were able to snag a half-dozen delectable cupcakes of assorted flavors including key lime and coconut-creme. We each had one to start with and saved the rest for later.

Besides the rain and fog we were currently dealing with in Nashville (photo above), there were predictions of heavier rain and possible flooding and severe thunderstorms for later in the evening, and we thought it might be best to grab a room downtown for the night after the concert let out late, instead of trying to drive home. Thanks to Travelocity.com’s Top Secret Hotels option, we were able to snag a 3-star hotel near the venue for only $38. It turned out to be The Comfort Inn on Demonbreun Street. We checked in that afternoon and found the room to be decent and definitely worth the price. Still dodging rain and with some time to kill before dinner and the show, we headed over to The Flying Saucer and had a couple of beers out on their couch-filled foyer. Not a bad way to spend a rainy Thursday afternoon. Around dinner time we made plans with our friends, Gary and Cary, to meet at Taco Mamacita for dinner. We recently ate at the one in Chattanooga and found it to be wonderfully fresh Mexican fare at reasonable prices. The Nashville location was an equal match with good food and a nice setting in the Edgehill Village near Vanderbilt.Their outdoor patio will be a great place to hang out some evening when the weather warms up. Our friend, Sharon, joined us for a drink before we left and was also going with us to the GP&N show. We three took a cab from the hotel over to the show's venue nearby.

We got to the The Cannery early to stake our general-admission claim of standing- room area for the sold-out show. We ran into one of Ashlee old Bunko participants, Beth, and her husband, Mike, who were about to experience their first GP&N show. We were also able to track down Ashlee’s junior-prom date and friend, Dennis, and his wife, Kristie , who had driven up from Chattanooga to catch the show. Our friend, Ryan, had tickets as well and when his date plans fell through he offered the extra ticket up and our friend, Nate, snatched it up. So, we had quite a little group gathered when the opening band, Jonathon Tyler & the Northern Lights, took the stage. We saw these guys last year at Bonnaroo and really like their stripped-down Texas blues-rock. They were a perfect opener for GP&N. Miss Potter and the band took the stage around 10 PM and wowed the huge crowd for the next two hours with an amazing amount of energy. They played most of their fan-favorite originals plus a few amazing covers from My Morning Jacket and a smoking rendition of Heart’s “Crazy on You.” The rain was pouring down after the show and we were certainly glad for the short ride in Nate's van back to the hotel. We set the alarm early and we able to get back in time for work on Friday morning.

Shorts Weather in February

In preparation for our upcoming attendance of the annual Oscars party hosted by our friends, the Edmondsons, we attended a showing of this year's nominated short films (both live action and animated) today at The Belcourt Theatre in Nashville. Joining us for the live action line-up were the Edmondsons, Danny and Brenda. There are five nominees, all under 30 minutes and from all over the world. We liked them all with our favorites being "Wish 143" from England and "God of Love" from the U.S. If either win, we will be happy. After a ten-minute interval, the animated shorts were cued up next. Our friend, Carolyn, also joined us for this round. Again, there are five nominees from around the world all under 20 minutes, plus they showed two more "Highly Commended" honorable mentions. We enjoyed all of them as well with again our favorites torn between two of the entries, "Madagascar, Carnet de Voyage" from France and "Day & Night" from the U.S. and the geniuses at Pixar. Everyone in the group enjoyed the collection of films and we all hope this will be an ongoing event at Belcourt each year before the Oscars. Afterwards, we all walked up Belcourt Avenue a block or so and wandered into Belcourt Taps & Tapas for dinner, a small plate restaurant (tapas) with a good amount of draught beer (taps). Despite the bad luck of a couple of taps being empty, we were in luck to arrive just in time for their "Trivia Night." We had quite a collection of "lint brains" among us and did great placing second out of several teams (only two points out of first) and winning $30 in gift certificates. The food was good too, so we will definitely be back, give certificates or not.

Red Hearts, Blue Devils and Green Shamrocks

Feb. 11th, 2011

We took a great little long-weekend trip down to South Florida that we nicknamed the "Suck It, Winter, Tour" because we were just tired of the cold winter temps and were looking forward to some sunshine and warmth. We got a great flight deal on AirTran out of Atlanta despite having to drive a bit further than we really wanted. So as to not have to get up really early, or feel rushed before the flight and to gain a few more Hilton points, we drove down to a bit north of Atlanta on Friday night after work and stayed at a nice Doubletree Hotel that we got a great rate on.

Feb. 12th - We flew down to Ft. Lauderdale around noon and arrived just after 2 PM. We got a sweet deal on an even sweeter Mustang convertible (photo above) which we immediately dropped the top on despite some cloudy skies and a smattering of rain drops. We drove south about a half hour to Miami Beach where we had two nights booked at the very cool art-deco Hotel Astor. The restored boutique hotel (originally built in 1936) is a historic site in the area (there was a history tour on a stop in front of the hotel when we checked in). Our room, 211, was in a word...interesting. Access to the door to the room was actually in the stairwell?? At least they had a little sign indicating it to lost patrons. The room itself was very large and lovely. (photos above)

The hotel was just a couple blocks off the beach and by sunset the cloudiness had dissipated and we were treated to a beautiful sunset (photo above). We grabbed dinner at Waxy Conner's Irish Pub a few blocks from the hotel which only seemed appropriate since we had tickets to see Flogging Molly, an Irish folk rock band, in concert later that evening at the Fillmore Theatre a few blocks further on. The theatre was a beautiful facility with good sight lines and acoustics. It was a general admission show with plenty of standing room in front of the stage as well a large amount of seating further back. We got there in time to hear the last song of the first opening band, Drowning Men, who sounded pretty good. Next up was Moneybrother. This band can best be described as a Swedish Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band. Singing their own songs in English with a heavy Swedish accent was about the only difference. (maybe they should call the band, Bruce Svensteen, instead?).

Flogging Molly came on about 10 PM and we had heard their shows can get a little crazy with beer-swilling Irish (and wannabe Irish) fans becoming excessively rowdy. We intentionally stayed back from the stage a good ways to avoid this possible activity, but unfortunately it found us right into the first song as these slam-dancing idiots started in immediately. This nonsense got old quick and Ashlee even wound up throwing a half a beer in one's face which neither angered nor deterred him. With no security in sight to stop the stupidity, we retreated to the seating area to avoid the mayhem. The band was excellent and the crowd (for the most part) was joyous and in control for most of the night. Feb. 13th - We slept in peacefully and then spent the early afternoon at the beach a couple of blocks away. On the way to the beach we stopped and had a great lunch at The Clevelander, an open-air sports bar attached to a hotel of the same name. The beach was perfect with a light breeze and low humidity. The ocean was a bit cool when you first made contact with it, but it slowly became tolerable. After getting back to the hotel and showering, we dropped the top on the convertible again and headed south a few miles toward the Miami suburb of Coral Gables where the University of Miami is located. We had tickets to see our favorite basketball team (and defending national champs), the 5th-ranked Duke Blue Devils, play in the first ACC game we have seen them play in live. We have seen them play (pre-blog) several times on their home court in Durham and in larger venues in Charlotte and Greensboro vs. out-of-conference opponents, but this was a first.

We had a little time before the 6:45 tip-off, so we had a light dinner and a few microbrews at the Titanic Brewing & Restaurant next to the campus. We went for the beer (more on those is Rob's beer blog) and wound up loving the food as well. The University of Miami has a beautiful campus and the Bank United Center where the basketball teams play is a nice, new, yet still small, intimate venue. We had good seats about 20 rows off the court behind the Duke bench. It was a great game with the improving Hurricanes staying in the game until the end when the Blue Devils were able to pull away by the final score of 81-71. The drive back with the top down on a gorgeous night was just a bit cool, but with the heater blasting it was fine. We were early to bed after the sun and the busy day in South Florida had drained us.

Feb. 14th - Happy Valentine's Day! We got up a little earlier this morning, said goodbye to Miami Beach and the lovely Hotel Astor, dropped the top on the Mustang (of course!) and headed north. About an hour later we stopped in the quaint little town of Lake Worth and found the Havana Hideout for an early lunch. This little slice of the Caribbean had a great Cuban-influenced menu and has been featured on The Food Network's Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives show. After an appetizer of warm tortilla chips and delicious homemade salsa, we both ordered the "What Guy Had" Platter (that's Guy Fieri, the host of the show). It included one fish taco, a small pressed Cuban sandwich and a helping of pionono (ground beef and spices layer between sauteed plantains). It was all delicious!

After lunch we headed on north another half hour and made it to the seaside Hilton in Singer Island. We have stayed here before and really enjoyed it ( see previous blog - July 2009). We immediately headed for the beach and enjoyed a few more hours of low-humidity sunshine, gentle beach breezes and even a bit warmer ocean water. Afterwards we showered and headed for an early dinner at our favorite restaurant, Capt. Charlie's Reef Grille a few more minutes north in the town of Juno Beach. We got a table immediately which was fortunate because by the time we were done with our excellent fresh seafood meal, there was a line out the door as usual. We grabbed a bottle of champagne on the way home and finished the evening on our balcony listening to the waves crash on the beach below. What a great way to spend a Monday, let alone Valentine's Day. Feb. 15th - We awoke to the sunrise on the beach which was bittersweet because even though it was beautiful, it also marked the start of the day that we knew we were going back home. We reluctantly dropped off the beautiful Mustang convertible and flew back to Atlanta from the West Palm Beach airport near our hotel. The drive back to Nashville was uneventful with a stop in Chattanooga to see Ashlee's mom, sister and our niece, the lovely Ella.

A great little trip with some excellent red, green and blue memories.