TallahasSEE DUKE PLAY

Friday, February 1, 2013:  We rented a car and headed south for a long weekend in Florida's panhandle to catch our favorite college basketball team, the Duke Blue Devils, take on the Florida State Seminoles on the road in some ACC action.



After picking up our friend, Mike, who lives in Chattanooga and who is also a Duke fan and had never seen them play live before, the three of us stopped for lunch in Atlanta at The Vortex.  The food was amazing and the downtown location is very cool.  We were lucky to get in right before it got really crowded for lunch.  We will be adding this place to our list of  Atlanta favorites for sure.



To break up a bit of the 7-hour drive south, we got off the interstate and headed into SW Georgia and stopped in Warm Springs about an hour out of Atlanta and the home of the presidential retreat (aka The Little White House) of Franklin D. Roosevelt. The place is quite lovely and the tour and museum were very interesting.  Ashlee had been here before but only as a kid, and we all agreed it was a great stop.  We highly recommend it.  The quaint home, designed by FDR himself is pictured above with a bit of that nostalgic Instagram look to it.

Next stop was another hour or so south in the good-sized town of Columbus, GA, at The Cannon Brewpub  located in the city's quaint downtown.  We were still full from the lunch at The Vortex so we just split a plate of blue-cheese chips and did some beer samplers.  Their beer is pretty good  For more on it, see my beer blog.



We arrived in Tallahassee around dark and checked in to the Doubletree Hotel near the state capitol and within walking distance of the Leon County Civic Center where tomorrow's game was being held.  None of us had really spent any time in Florida's state capital before now, but we have to say it's a pretty nice, albeit small, city.  The Spanish moss in all the trees just adds to the allure.

Saturday, February 2, 2013:  Since the game wasn't until 2 PM, we decided that since we were so close to the Gulf of Mexico, we just had to go see it.


Yep, he's real, and yep, he's every bit of six foot long, and yep, he's just across a small canal from us in the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge.  We saw a ton of wildlife during our short time in the refuge including tons of different birds and even a couple deer, but this big guy was the star of the day.  Kind of glad he was snoozing and not interested in us!!



We lucked up on our visit to St. Marks for a couple reasons.  One, the weather, albeit a bit on the cool side, was beautiful. And, secondly, they were having a festival in the refuge this weekend and the beautiful old (second oldest in Florida, actually) lighthouse (pictured above) was open (at least at the base) for tours.

We got back to Tallahassee in time to catch the pregame warm-ups for Duke and FSU.  The Leon County Civic Center is a decent venue and the view from our seats (pictured above) was good, but it's a bit aged as a facility, and we were surprised that the Seminoles didn't have their own arena on the large and quite nice FSU campus.  The game was a clinic from the start as # 5 Duke jumped out to a huge lead over the young and rebuilding FSU squad and cruised to a 19-point victory, 79-60.



We decided after the game that we wanted dinner on the water somewhere since we were so close and enjoyed it so much earlier in the day.  After a bit of Internet research back at the room, we settled on going back down where we were that morning to the actual town of St. Marks which sits on the river of the same name (photo above).

The Riverside Cafe in St. Marks is nothing fancy and their menu is fairly predictable in terms of seafood, but it was exactly what we were looking for as it sits not by the water of the St. Marks River but OVER it as part of a large floating dock complex there.  The temps dropped again as the sun went down and we were happy for the kerosene heaters as we ate in their partially open dining room.  After dinner we headed back into Tallahassee and found a cool brewpub/bar called Proof Brewing near the FSU campus and had a few more tasty adult beverages.

Sunday, February 3, 2013:  We packed up and headed north and stuck to the interstate for the most part as we wanted to make it back in time to watch the Super Bowl.  Our only diversion besides stopping for a gas and a quick fast food meal was in Atlanta again at the humongous IKEA Store for a bit of shopping.  All three of us came out of there with something which isn't hard since the prices are so good.  It was another good trip built around our beloved Dukies.  It's been fun seeing the Blue Devils play on the road the last few years, but we both agree we must get back to beautiful Cameron Indoor Stadium as soon as we can.  Next season, hopefully....GO DUKE!!  Thanks to our friend, Mike, for going with us on this trip and providing us with some excellent company.

Keane are Keen and Augustana are Awesome

We caught a couple of good shows this past week:

Wednesday, January 23:  We grabbed some under-face-value Stubhub.com "fire sale" tickets to see the English pop/rock quartet, Keane, at the Ryman Auditorium.  The one hitch was that we had to buy three tickets to get the deal so we invited our friend, Wayne, to with us.  The show was good despite not being completely sold out.  Below is a snippet of one of their most popular hits, "Everybody's Changing" from our vantage point in the balcony.   Before the show we had a great dinner at the always-delicious Suzy Wong's House of Yum.

Friday, January 25: We were excited to hear that one of our favorite bands, Augustana, included Nashville on their most current acoustic tour.  They were scheduled to play the tiny High Watt stage at the 8th Avenue Music Complex, but ticket sales were so brisk that they were moved to the larger Mercy Lounge (where we last saw them) and they sold that out too!. Not only is Augustana one of our favorite bands, but they are also one of the most schizophrenic - i.e.  they never have the same line-up when we see them.  This was the most stripped-down we have seen them with only lead singer (and heart and soul), Dan Layus, and an accompanying friend playing piano (and accordion on a few songs).   The voice and fire of Layus are really all you need though as the short clip below of one over favs, "Steal Your Heart" will attest.  The show was excellent. Although we do hope he's working on putting together another plugged-in version  of Augustana since he played several good new songs also.  Thanks to our friends Wayne, Mike, Chris and Tarryn,  for attending with us and grabbing some dinner beforehand at the great Music City Flats (the former Urban Flats chain, now locally owned and better than ever).

10,000 Elusive Sandhill Cranes

For two weekends in a row recently, we tried to see an estimated 10,000 sandhill cranes nesting in the Hiwassee Wildlife Refuge on the Tennessee River north of Chattanooga by boat, but weather was a factor both times.  Despite the setbacks, we actually had a pretty good time on both trips.

Heavy fog was the culprit on our first try on January 12, 2013.  Despite much warmer-than-usual temperatures, the fog never lifted enough for us to make it all the way to the nesting site.

Blue Moon Cruises were our guides on both trips and provided a beautiful boat with comfortable amenities.  Our first cruise was booked through and sponsored by the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga.

It's not like we didn't see any sandhill cranes.  This little group was spotted heading back to the refuge from our boat.

We went north from the Sale Creek Marina to just past the Highway 60 bridge that connects Dayton and Decatur, TN, before having to turn around due to fog so heavy the captain was navigating only by radar and for the sake of safety had to call it off.  We still wound up having a nice cruise as the area is beautiful even shrouded in fog and we did see some wildlife.  Thanks to our friends, TIm and Lavonda, for tagging along with us and thanks to Blue Moon Cruises for the great lunch provided plus the chance to come back for another free cruise and try again to see the cranes and the refuge area.  We headed back to Chattanooga and caught a matinee showing of "This is 40" which was very funny and enjoyable as well as a delicious dinner at the always-great Urban Stack gourmet burger joint.

Saturday, January 19, 2013:  Now this is more like it!  We decided to go ahead and take our bonus cruise the very next weekend since the weather was clear (albeit a bit colder).  However, little did we know until we got to the refuge area that the heavy amount of rain over the preceding week had flooded the mud flats where the sandhill cranes usually hang out and forced them farther off the river and barely visable from the boat.  Again, the trip wasn't a total loss since we saw a several bald eagles, great blue herons, kingfishers, geese and ducks.

OK, yes, I love my new Smartphone for goofy stuff like this.  This screenshot also shows a lot of the over 1,000 acres of land encompassed in the Hiwassee Wildlife Refuge.

Great blue heron.

ALL parts of the Hiwassee Refuge Area are used by the nesting birds including this TVA transmission tower.

This HUGE bald eagle nest had a mother in it whose white head would pop up now and then and what we can only assume were some eggs or eaglets she was caring for.  We were surprised to hear that such nests can weigh over a ton!

The beauty of this place is hard to ignore.  Thanks again to our friends, Tim and Lavonda, for trooping out again with us as well as Ashlee's sister, Paige, and our niece, Ella.  We met back up with Tim and Lavonda again later that night in Chattanooga for dinner at a great new Mexican restaurant they suggested called Poblanos.  The food was marvelous.

Happy New Year, Mon!

We took a quick trip down to Jamaica to celebrate New Year's.  While this trip had been planned for a while, it was up in the air if we would actually go until the last minute due to the ongoing medical condition of Ashlee's mom, Evelyn.  But, with improved progress in her health and an understanding and blessing by Evelyn herself, we decided to go.  This trip had a couple of "firsts" for us.  It would be the first time we would be staying in an "all-inclusive" resort and it's the first time we had bought a package deal (i.e. flight, ground transportation and lodging) from a travel company.  Our usual modus operandi is finding cheap airfare and building a trip around it ourselves, but we got a decent package rate and wanted to try an all-inclusive resort at least once in our lives.

Saturday, December 29, 2012 - We drove down to Atlanta to catch our direct flight into Montego Bay.  While we enjoy the convenience of flying out of Nashville, we always check Atlanta and a lot of times their airfares are much lower to certain destinations.  This was the same with the package deal we bought which was a much better overall rate out of Atlanta than out of Nashville.



The descent into Montego Bay was breath-taking.

Our resort, the Riu ClubHotel, was just outside of Negril, Jamaica, on the far west tip of the island.  The hour-and-a-half ride from the Montego Bay Airport was a bit long, but at least it hugged the coastline for most  of the way providing us with some nice views here and there.  Jamaica is an extremely poor country which is evident fairly quickly.   However, the roadsides and small towns we passed were fairly clean and tidy.  This was not case, for example, in Belize which we visited a few years ago on a cruise where not only was the country poor, but the residents there didn't seem to care about upkeep or trash removal.



This was the view from our room at the resort looking out on Bloody Bay.  One interesting thing about Jamaica, at least here, were the number of hardwood trees near the beaches instead of just palm trees.  Yes, that's a bar on the beach.  It opens at 10 AM every day..just FYI.  Until then we had a stocked fridge and bar in our room...just sayin'.

Sunday, December 30, 2012 - A great day to just hang out by the pool.

This was our favorite of the two pools at the resort.  Probably because that's a swim-up bar under the patio on the right and the bartender there makes a great White Russian and another  delicious "secret" concoction of his own called "The Green Dragon."

Not top-shelf, but a big shelf.  The bars, bar service and drink selections were the best part of the resort.

Monday, December 31, 2012 - It was just another lazy day for us around the resort today before we loaded up in a van to our one and only planned excursion of the trip:  a swim in Bioluminescence Bay.  This was an amazing experience.  The moonless but clear sky made it perfect for this endeavor.  We honestly can't say we have seen more stars in the sky than we did tonight.  And they seemed so much closer than at home.  The bioluminescence experience was surreal.  Every movement in the water left a glowing trail behind it. Unfortunately, we were not able to capture any of it on film.  We did find the link below to a National Geographic feature about a similar area in Puerto Rico.  A hint of the amazing stars we saw comes at :55 and the swimming experience is at 1:55 if you don't want to watch the whole thing (although it's all very interesting).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HXXQBz6Vv0

The only downside to the bioluminescence excursion was that it was on the other side of Montego Bay, meaning we had an almost two-hour ride to get there and then another back for only a one-hour experience.  The views as above were sometimes nice, but fleeting, and overall the transportation endeavor almost cancelled out the actual experience itself.

New Year's Eve back at the resort was a bit of a let-down.  They had a terrible band playing, unimpressive food and no fireworks.  What the??  We decided to see 2013 come in on our patio with a bottle of champagne and a (legal here) Cuban cigar (our first one and it was pretty smooth). 

Tuesday, January 1, 2013 - Happy New Year!  On our last day at the resort and the first day of the new year, we decided we just had to go so see a little more of the island. We made arrangements with a cabbie to take us into the town of Negril and drop us off at Rick's Cafe, a famous bar on the cliffs there overlooking the ocean which is supposed to be a good place to watch the sun set.

The famous diving alcove at Rick's Cafe with the Negril Point Lighthouse in the background.

A panoramic sunset view of Rick's Cafe from the balcony above the main bar.

What can you say.  Jamaica's pretty nice.  Yeah, mon!



Wednesday, January 2, 2012:  Heading Home

We said goodbye to tranquil  Bloody Bay this morning and headed back to the airport for our early afternoon flight.

Jamaica's worth coming back to someday if we have the chance.  It's a beautiful, diverse place.

Collage Time!

2012 Memories

Collage # 14 is done and another year is now "under glass."  2012 was a good one despite a few set-backs and missed opportunities due to Ashlee's mom's prolonged illness in the last quarter of the year.  We are happy to report she looks to be well on the road to recovery, and we can't wait to have her back home!

We saw a lot of great concerts this year including Mumford & Sons twice.  We found a great new music festival called Bunbury up in Cincinnati, and we returned again to our beloved Bonnaroo here in Middle Tennessee. We took some awesome trips this year including a 3-country tour in Europe (again) where we felt our first strong earthquake while in Milan, Italy; California (twice); the Outer Banks (again); Chicago (again); and tropical Aruba.  We saw an array of sporting events including playoff wins for our beloved pro hockey team, the Nashville Predators, the U.S. men's soccer team, pro and college football, and pro baseball in two different cities.  We had some great food at some wonderful new restaurants during our travels as well. 

2013 is already looking to be promising with planned trips to Jamaica for New Year's, China (yes, China) in February, and Colorado in early March for some snowshoeing.  We also have a possible first-time visit to the city of Pittsburgh and then on to Mt. Rushmore in the planning stages as well as a possible return to the Indy 500 in May, and a possible music cruise in November.  We already have a few concerts we are planning to attend including our beloved Augustana in an acoustic show, Gaslight Anthem in a more intimate venue than we've ever seen them before, and another run at Bonnaroo in June. 

A special thanks to all our friends who have joined us this past year for many of our endeavors. We appreciate your camaraderie and enthusiasm in everything we do. 

Now, as long as the Mayans aren't right, let's proceed in filing up our next collage!

Happy New Year everyone!

OK, now....Let's hear It for the boys...

November 5, 2012 - We caught another show by one of our favorites, Snow Patrol, at the Ryman Auditorium (this is the second time we have seen them there) tonight along with co-headliner, Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds, and opener, Jake Bugg.  It was a good Irish and British invasion  of Nashville all around.


November 17, 2012 - We attended the UT vs. Vandy college football game in Nashville tonight.

Great seats, eh? Just 7 rows off the field! It was a  41-18 shellacking by Vandy of the once-proud Vols.
  It was OK by us since we were pulling for the Dores who were already bowl eligible
 and increased their chances for a better bowl with this win.
This also turned out to be embattled UT Head Coach Derek Dooley's
(white shirt, right center) last game before being fired the next day.

December 1, 2012 - We caught another show by one of our regional faves, The Dirty Guv'nahs, at Track 29 in Chattanooga tonight along with openers, The Black Cadillacs, from Nashville, and Shark Week from Chattanooga.  Another excellent show by The Guvs who never fail to impress us with their energy and passion.  Thanks to our friends Mike (who also met us for dinner beforehand at the always-delicious Terminal Brewhouse), Michelle and Debra for hanging with us at the show.  In the photo above, members of The Black Cadillacs join The Guvs on stage for a closing cover of the appropriately-named Beatles/Joe Cocker staple, "With a Little Help From My Friends."

Let's hear it for the girls...

It's been all about the ladies recently for us.  Most importantly, Ashlee's mom, Evelyn, who has been on a long recovery over the past six weeks from an aortic tear in her heart.  Her serious medical condition has required us to miss a few shows and events we had planned together over the last month or so, but we were able to squeeze in a few things from some other special ladies during that time.



We caught the second show of Grace Potter & the Nocturnals' two-night-stand at the beautiful
Ryman Auditorium in Nashville on Saturday, October 13th.  With our friend, Wayne,
 we had awesome front-row balcony seats that gave us a great view of the 2-hour-plus show.



We were fortunate enough to get a chance to meet Doris Roberts
of "Everyone Loves Raymond" fame as she spoke to volunteers at Memorial Hospital in Chattanooga during Evelyn's recovery.  She was in Chattanooga for a seniors active-living convention and stopped by the hospital during her first-ever visit to the city.  Thanks to the staff at Memorial for letting us crash the party.


We returned to the Ryman Auditorium on Friday, October 26, to catch another great lady of music, Alanis Morrisette, who hasn't toured in a few years, but you couldn't tell that from the energy she showed on stage (see a small part of that in the video below).  Our 9th-row main floor seats were a perfect vantage point for the show that was packed full of her past hits (hear that, Jackson Browne, it's OK to play your hits!!) as well as new songs off her latest album.  Our great seats were a far cry better than what we had the last time we saw her a long way from the stage in the general admission grass at the now-defunct Starwood Amphitheatre (RIP, old friend) many pre-blog years ago.

GET WELL SOON, EVELYN!  WE MISS OUR TRAVELING PARTNER!!