Christmas is Com- Never Mind, It's Here...

Friday, November 19 - Ashlee and the bachelorette party she was hanging with most of this weekend, met up with me at New Heights Brewing tonight in downtown Nashville.   It's very close to the AirBnB they were renting.  I bought the ladies a flight of NHBC's great beers as they are celebrating 5 years in business this weekend.  Then I was on my way...too much woo-woo for me! 

 
Saturday,  November 20 - It was a crazy night in Nashville with four different shows we would have liked to have seen:  Andrew McMahon (fresh off The Rock Boat), The Wallflowers, Andy Frasco, and the winner of our choice: Augustana (Dan Layus solo show) at The Mercy Lounge.  Ashlee broke free of the bachelorette weekend to attend along with our friend, Bethany.  Dan sounded great and we were so glad to see (and hear) him again.  

Thursday, November 25 -  We had a quiet little Thanksgiving at home for the first time in a while this year as the prices down in Destin for house rentals have really shot up.  Paige and Ella came up and we had a nice dinner ordered from Cracker Barrel with Doris at the head of the table ready to do some turkey carving!  Thanks to Ashlee for the cute pic.  

Friday, November 26 - Our old cruise pals, Will and Jenna, were in town for the holidays visiting Will's parents who live here in Wilson County.  We met up for a lot of craft beer and a ton of laughs and good times at The Cedar Tap over on the square.  It's so nice to have a place like this just a mile or so from the house.  These are two of my favorite pretty ladies in the world!! 

Saturday, November 27 - We headed over to our local Roxy Theaters (recliners!) this afternoon to check out the new flick, House of Gucci, which is getting rave reviews.  We thought it was really well done and a very interesting true story. 

Despite the fact we weren't going to Destin this year for Christmas, we found a bevy of Yuletide festivities around Nashville to keep us busy and happy. 

Friday, December 3 - We attended the Lighting of the Christmas Tree on the Lebanon Square tonight amid very mild temps and nice weather. Afterwards, we had a couple beers and dinner at The Cedar Tap.  Again, it's so nice to have this option in our town now! 

Monday, December 6 - We slowed down on our number of advent calendars this year with only this tasty cheese one from Aldi.  Maybe we will ramp back up again next year with wine, beer, etc. 

Tuesday, December 7 - We went over to Wal-Green's today and got our Covid booster vaccinations to hopefully protect us from the new delta variant of this crap.  While there, we also got flu shots.  Might as well protect against all the crud possible.  

Friday, December 10 - We had to hunker down in the bathroom tonight due to a terrible storm front with lots of tornadic activity roaring in from the west.  We got lucky with the cold Cumberland River once again splitting the heavy weather to our north and south of us.  North took in the worst with a lot of deaths in Kentucky due to tornado damage.  Whoever heard of killer tornados in December??  Yeah, global warming is a myth...

Saturday, December 11 - We cheated a little on the local cat rescue group that Ashlee volunteers with and is on the board of today when we snuck over to True Rescue in Mt. Juliet to check on the facility and a couple of their kittens they had posted online for Ashlee's sister, Paige.  It's a pretty cool place with tons of sweet adult cats just roaming around and a very nice staff.  We even went home with "Oliver" for Paige because he reminds us all of a young Zippy.  Well, those are mighty big paws to fill.  We shall see! 

We hit our first Nashville pop-up bar of the season tonight at Tinsel and Gretel's Christmas Candy Cottage at Sidebar at the Bode Hotel downtown.  This was our first visit here and it was pretty cool, albeit a bit disorganized this early on, I guess.  We had some tasty seasonal drinks, and there was a lady singing with her guitar that was pretty good also.  We had some decent finger food too.  Not a bad start! 

Tuesday, December 11 - Dudley: Santa's secret helper 

We went to see the new musical remake, West Side Story, at The Roxy Theaters (recliners!) here in Lebanon tonight.  Granted, we've never saw the original to compare it to but with Steven Spielberg at the helm of this one, we figured it would be good.  It was, in fact, not that great.  For a "classic" the story is kind of dumb actually.  It was shot well, but overall, a bit of a disappointment.  It was good to see our friend, Casey, and his nephew, Colin, at the show as well. 

Saturday, December 18 - We went to see the long-time holiday Nashville band, The Ornaments, in concert at The Wash at Eastside Bowl in Madison tonight.  Eastside Bowl is a cool new bowling alley and concert venue refurbed from an old Kmart building.  The Wash is their concert space. and while a bit small, it's pretty nice with good acoustics and decent sightlines.  Thanks to our friends Bethany, Emily, Andrew, Wendy and Charly for going with us.  We all had a nice low-key dinner in their Clark's Diner beforehand as well.  This little outing took the place of our usual Christmas party we have when we are home for the holidays.  

Sunday, December 19 - Since we missed seeing the holiday classic, The Nightmare Before Christmas, at the Full Moon Cineplex recently due to illness with the staff, we decided to check it out tonight on our Disney+ streaming service.  Very weird, kinda cute and definitely worth a watch...finally! 

Monday, December 20 - We had tickets to Snow Globe tonight, a pop-up holiday bar at the new JW Marriott Hotel downtown.  It was a late-night experience for us since we were lucky just to get in with all shows being SOLD OUT! 

With some time to kill before our 9 PM ticketed event, we checked off a couple other pop-up holiday bars as well downtown starting with The Nightmare Before Christmas-themed Parlor Bar at the nice boutique hotel called Dream.  This place must be new because it sits between The Bobby Hotel and The Noelle Hotel which we've been to both several times, but we've never been in here.  The decor was very fun and well done.  Good thing we just watched the movie, so we knew what all the decorations meant!  The drinks and food were excellent as well. 

Speaking of the always-fun Bobby Hotel, we went there next to check out their rooftop pop-up bar themed as an outdoor holiday camp with even a small skating rink.  We sat by one of the outdoor fires and admired the clear (but cold) views of downtown Nashville.  We had some tasty warm drinks to help keep out the freezing temps.  

The new JW Marriot Hotel is a beauty, and it was such an exquisite, albeit cold night, to be downtown with a full moon and very little traffic since it's a Monday.  We even got to park free on the street (such a rarity here!). 

The Snow Globe pop-up bar was worth the steep price of admission.  What a cool concept!  It was an hour and a half experience at these large screens changed to different wintry, holiday landscapes along with the sounds and smells of the season.  We had a couple more tasty Christmas cocktails before heading home with a nice night of merriment behind us.  
Ashlee also found out that the company that set this up for the Marriott called Nightscape will have its own location in The Gulch next year.  We will have to definitely check that out! 

Tuesday, December 21 - Our collection of pop-up Christmas bars to visit continued tonight at the L27 Rooftop Lounge at the Westin Hotel downtown which is now has a snowy ski chalet theme.  We did mix it up a bit with a 4 PM reservation so we could watch the sun set over the city. We had more tasty cocktails and really good French onion fondue to munch on.

After our ski chalet visit, we stopped in the new Gibson Garage store near where we parked for free on the street.  Yippee!  And what a cool place!  We grabbed a nice hatch print from the store to add to our growing collection of to-be-framed prints.  

Wednesday, December 23 - Our goal to visit as many Christmas pop-up bars in Nashville as possible this holiday season came to a close tonight, and it looks like we saved the best for last!  The Pearl Diver Miracle Christmas pop-up tiki bar in East Nashville was our sixth pop-up to visit, and it did not disappoint with a large, reserved booth for us, great decorations, tasty and fun cocktails, and delicious food. 

Yes, the Snow Globe was the best overall presentation (and it should for what it cost to get in), but the best drinks of the season were at The Pearl Diver.  This was my Yippie Ki Yay MotherF#%$er rum drink served up in a hilarious (and big) Santa Pants Cup.  All the drinks were bountiful and served in awesome glassware that you could also purchase.  We had their awesome PuPu Platter to eat with a wide selection of island treats on it including some spicy Jamaican jerk chicken wings! 

Thursday, December 24 - We headed down for Christmas in Chattanooga today and when we got there we first met with our friend, Mollie, at the Terminal Brewhouse for a few libations, a gift exchange between the girls, and some tasty appetizers.   

Friday, December 25 - We had a nice Christmas overnight in Chattanooga but were ready to get back to our house and our cats and two foster babies.  We got back home in time to get in a rousing game of Christmasopoly which I had gotten Ashlee for Christmas.  It was a lot of fun, especially since I got to drink craft beer while playing it and I won!!  

Ashlee definitely is the better gift giver and knows me very well.  She got me some great stuff (and even let the cats take credit for some of the great gifts).  She's very hard to shop for, but I did my best and tried to think "outside the (gift) box" as well.  So, this Cameo Christmas greeting by our favorite funk legend Big Sam direct from New Orleans was pretty unique I thought...take it away, Big Sam!!! 

Our FIRST Back-to-Back Cruises!!

After we booked our first Rock Boat Cruise this year, we got a great deal on Michael Franti's Soulshine at Sea Cruise just before it on the very same boat, so we said, hey, why not!! Let's cannonball!! 

Tuesday, November 2 - We flew down to Miami this afternoon after work and spent the night at the nice Marriott Miami Biscayne Bay Hotel to await our boarding and departure tomorrow of the Michael Franti Soulshine at Sea Cruise!   

Flying out of Nashville at sunset was lovely.  Let's hope for more great sunsets coming our way!

Wednesday, November 3 - This was our nice little breakfast view this morning at Biscayne Bay as we ambled over to a nearby Starbucks for a light breakfast before heading to the cruise-port to get checked-in, Covid tested and board the ship.  We both worked remotely this morning before heading over to the port which we will have to have to do the rest of the week as well since we aren't officially off work until next week's cruise. 

We got vaxxed, tested and are ready to go!!   It feels nice to know everyone on board will have gone through these same rigors to provide a safe and fun atmosphere. 

This was my first of many white Russians of the trip for me as I gazed out at the swanky new NCL Terminal before departing from Miami this afternoon.  Drinks are unlimited and included in the dirt cheap price we got for this first cruise. 

Another white Russian as Franti says "raise your glass for no fuckin' reason!" - so we did!!  Michael and the Spearhead band put on an awesome sail-away show on the way out of the port.  

The weather clouded up as we headed out to sea, but the rain held off and the Miami skyline looked kinda cool all shrouded in gray.  

One of other main reasons to jump on this great deal of a music cruise was that one of favorite bands to see live, Fitz and the Tantrums, were aboard.   They put on a great show out on the pool deck tonight.  

Thursday, November 4 - Soulshine Cruise Day 2  The ethereal Allen Stone had a great show today on the pool deck stage.  We've seen Allen a few times as an opener. but this was our first time seeing a full set by this gifted artist. Great singing voice, catchy tunes and pretty damn funny! 

We also enjoyed today sitting in on the taping of the Michael Franti's podcast,"Stay Human" with Michael Fitzpatrick of Fitz and the Tantrums.  

The buffet food on The Norwegian Gem was surprisingly creative and good.  We never once went to the sit-down formal dining room for any evening meals because it also usually conflicted with a musical show of one sort or another. 

Friday, November 5 - Soulshine Cruise Day 3 - We were dodging weather all day today as we had our one stop on the cruise at Great Stirrup Cay, Bahamas. 

While NCL owns part of the pretty and private Bahamian isle, they don't have a dock there and so we had to tender over to Great Stirrup Cay from the ship.  The water was a little choppy, but not bad and we dodged a pretty heavy downpour as well on the way in.  

The Norwegian Gem and ominous clouds.  Amazingly, we only got a few drops of rain on us while we were on the island. Ashlee even ran into Spearhead guitarist, JB , and got a selfie with him!

After some morning work on the boat, we were able to get some afternoon beach time in, hit the also-included bar, and a swim in the beautiful waters of Great Stirrup Cay.

Back on the boat after our beach time, it was Fitz and the Tantrums time again on the pool deck stage, but this time under a dark, threatening sky.  The show was good but we were a tad disappointed that it was basically the same show as the first one (included the same silly pre-song banter?) and felt a little canned. Well, hey, they're from LA where everything is canned...but even pretty Noelle who now lives in Nashville kind of blew us off when we ran into her in the halls of the ship later on.  Well, everyone can't be Michael Franti...unfortunately.  

One our best "finds" in new-to-us music was the band, Tropidelic, out of Cleveland, OH.   The funk, soul and hip-hop musical group are entertaining to watch and hear.  

Back out on the pool deck stage later, Michael Franti and Spearhead blasted on through light to moderate rain.  The show only had to cut a little short by weather.  Watch and learn, Fitz and the Tantrums....Spearhead drummer, Manas Itiene. was all smiles despite the weather. 

Saturday, November 6 - Soulshine Cruise Day 4 -  The Miami skyline was once again in view today, but this time decked out in several shades of blue.  Note the huge tanker ship running parallel with us along the shoreline. 

Sunset on our last full day of Soulshine was a fitting end to a beautiful trip with Franti and friends.

We and Franteeeee!  We love you, Michael!! Thanks for a great cruise!  

Sunday, November 7 - Time to dock and then rock!  It's (finally) Rock Boat time for us! We've been trying for years to get on this floating music festival, but it continually sells out fast with tons of repeat cruisers.  I guess the only good thing about Covid is that it allowed us to scamper on board when others couldn't or wouldn't as this awful pandemic continues to linger. 

Hey there, Scarlett Lady, we hope to get a ride on you or one of your sisters soon. ("That sounded kinda dirty, fella"...- Jim Gaffigan).   What we do hope is to eventually take a trip on the fairly new Virgin Cruise Line.  If it's as cool as some of their hotels, it should be worth it.   It was a beautiful day back in the Port of Miami as we closed out on music cruise for another one on the same boat! 

Maybe staying on board instead of leaving the ship during the transition was not the best choice, but we got through it with a bit of waiting and patience.  We got tested again and cleared protocol and were back on the deck in the sunlight again before too awful long.   Best thing was we didn't have to move any of our crap since we had the exact same room for both cruises! 

We try and stay positive on this blog, but we have to say that the hosts of The Rock Boat, Sister Hazel, who we used to really like are a shell of themselves now.  Mainly because frontman, Ken Block, has basically lost his voice.  They sound awful and it's painful to watch and listen too.  It's probably time for new hosts to take over this cruise.  Our first show of mention (and our vote for new hosts of The Rock Boat) was and is Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness (photo above).

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Same boat, so same great food in the buffet.

Monday, November 8 -  Rock Boat Day 2 - Hello, Big Blue!  We were supposed to be back at the  Great Stirrup Cay in the Bahamas today.  But despite pretty weather, the seas were deemed too choppy for tendering into shore.  Since we were off work officially now.  We spent the unscheduled full-day-at-sea day relaxing, lounging and reading out on the deck watching Big Blue do her thing. 

Despite no beach time today in the Bahamas, Andrew McMahon still got to ride the waves tonight in his next show out on the pool deck.  What a great show and what a great performer!!  

Tuesday, November 9 - Rock Boat Day 3 - We've crowned this the best day of music overall on The Rock Boat.  Up until now, we were actually a little underwhelmed overall.  But today changed our minds with great shows all day and night.  We started by attending the Jon and Andrew Show, a back-and-forth of songs by the front-men of the two of the biggest acts on the ship.  We came for Andrew McMahon, but we were very impressed with Jon Foreman of Switchfoot.  He's got a great voice.  We now have to put their shows on our to-see list after this.  
We saw another great acoustic show by the two of the guys from Bowling for Soup.  They are basically the American version of Barenaked Ladies with sort of silly songs with clever lyrics that just kind of stay with you.  Their banter was even funnier. 

Nashville was well-represented with long-time Rock Boat alumnus, Will Hoge, putting on some of the best shows on the ship.  His vow to not play any of the same songs on all of his shows was impressive and only adds to his legendary performer status.  Take a hint, Fitz and the Tantrums...and he talked to us genuinely on the elevator one day...take a hint, Noelle, of the Tantrums...

The guy's got a thing for pool floats, you know?  What made this even better was that Andrew's "friend" in this show was a life-size version of our beloved Chad beverage pool floaty from our pool.   Kudos to Ashlee for snagging this great shot.  

That's Cuba and a downpour in the distance.  Another beautiful day at sea as we sailed toward Jamaica. 

Wednesday, November 10 - Rock Boat Day 4 - Welcome back to Jamaica!  This time we were on the north side of the island in Ocho Rios.   We were supposed to go to the Dominican Republic to start with, but Covid does what Covid does.  We had a waterfall excursion planned for the DR, so we were happy to see a similar trip ashore here. What we didn't realize what that this one more than a "just look at the waterfalls" trip.  Here at The Blue Hole Falls we were given the opportunity to jump in the base of it!!  And we did!  But not from the high platform seen behind the tree.  We chose to jump in down and to the right of it.  It was still a jump and still thrilling and a little scary, but we did it!  

Oh, yeah, there was a second jump!!

As a change of pace, we were asked to climb UP nearby Konoko Falls which cascades over brown-sugar-looking rocks for a couple hundred feet plus.  And we did it! (with some nice lifeguards' help). What a fun day and the weather held out nicely for us despite a dreary forecast.  

The Ocho Rios overlook from the Konoko Falls Park was stunning.  Look at our pretty (giant) boat! 

Making friends in Jamaica.  The Konoko Falls Park has a small zoo as well and we were able to have this beautiful parrot sit on both our arms, and I also got to hold my first large iguana.  Very cool!   What a fun day in Jamaica, yea mon!  

We were in the 2nd row for the 2nd Will Hoge show out on the pool deck stage tonight.  I think Will would be impressed with my rhyming skills there!  

The most unique and beautiful sunset of the entire trip was tonight as we were leaving Jamaica. 

Thursday, November 11 - Rock Boat Day 5 - Just a man and his piano...looking for a pool float, no doubt.  Love the Buc-ee's sticker on Andrew's piano.  

Better than front row, we were at the stage for the final Will Hoge show on The Rock Boat. 

Friday, November 12 - We docked today, and disembarked with no issues.  We were set to fly home in the early afternoon, but after 5 delays and 3 gate changes, we finally took off around sunset.  We each got a great view of The Everglades as we had back-to-back window seats on our American flight home.  It was a great trip and a learning experience as well.  We learned that back-to-back cruises are fun, but a big commitment.  We learned that The Rock Boat is great, but we are not sure it's the be-all end-all in terms of music cruises.  And we still believe Michael Franti should run for president with Will Hoge as his VEEP!! 

Saturday, November 13 - Will even answered me on Facebook!  Maybe Franti should be the VEEP?