Yo! What up, Summer!

Summer's here and the time is right for....everything! 

Sunday, May 26 - We hosted an Inflatathon 2019 Party at our pool today with a bunch of our friends.  The cartoon above is what Ashlee used for the online invitations.  The Memorial Day Weekend weather was perfect and already plenty hot to get in and enjoy the pool with way too many flotation devices.  It was fun time from start to finish.



Big thanks to everyone who attended, Inflatathon 2019, with extra special thanks to our pal, Wayne, for helping us decorate.  The "party" will unofficially continue throughout the summer.

Tuesday, May 28 - We headed over to our local Roxy Theaters (recliners!) tonight to catch a $5 showing of the new teen comedy Booksmart.  We weren't sure if we could associate with it at our ages, and as Ashlee said during the film, "This is long ways from John Hughes" but we actually really enjoyed it and thought it was funny and well-made.   

Thursday, May 30 - Ashlee and I headed to Nashville for different reasons tonight (movie vs. shopping - you can guess who did what), but before we parted ways we stopped by The Black Abbey Brewing Company for a libation or two.  I was floored that Ashlee and I had not been here together before since I have been here many times, but according to Ashlee (and this blog), we have not been here together until today.  So cheers to a new Nashville experience for both of us to share together!  And, yes, the beer was fantastic.

Friday, May 29 - We couldn't wait for $5 Tuesday to see the new Elton John biopic, Rocketman, so we headed back to the local Roxy Theaters (recliners!) again this week with our friend, Wendy, to check it out on opening weekend.  Like Elton himself, it was truly fantastic! 

Thursday, June 6 - We went to check out the new weekly Farmer's Market at the Wilson County Fairgrounds tonight and discovered some delicious goat cheese from Harmony Lane Farm Creamery from over in Smithville.  We got three different flavors, but the Smithville Spice is my favorite.  Afterwards, we stopped by for a tasty dinner at  the Town Square Social restaurant on the Lebanon Square.  Their smoked wings are to die for!

Saturday, June 8 - It was a rainy/cloudy day, so we decided to spend the afternoon over in West Nashville for a little fun.  Our first stop was  meeting up with our pal, Wayne, for a light lunch at 51st Kitchen and Grill.  The food was great, and the place was very cool.  It's set up in and around a very neat old house with a unique layout.  

Our next stop was a scheduled tour of Pennington Distilling Company just around the corner.  These guys have been in operation since 2011 and our producing some great products.

The tour was short, since it's not a big place anyway, and informal, but a lot of fun.  It's pretty cool to learn that all their many products are distilled and packaged right here.  The samples were many and generous which was the best part!!

We all stocked up on a lot of their products before leaving.  Thanks to Wayne for this great shot of Ashlee with the bottle of Davidson Reserve rye whiskey that we purchased.  All you talent agents need to come through me if you would like to use the lovely Ashlee as your spokes-model.  We  ain't cheap, but we work for booze!  

After a quick stop at the Project 615 Store to check out their always-awesome T-shirt line regarding our beloved Nashville, we headed over to the relatively new Harding House Brewing Company for a couple beers.  They had the garage doors open on the their little place, so we grabbed a picnic table and enjoyed the breeze and cooler temps while playing several rousing games of War with a standard card deck.  Ashlee and Wayne also went next door to the Bare Bones Butcher shop to grab some tasty snacks for a true picnic experience.   What a great little afternoon in The Nations!  

Saturday, June 15 - We headed down to Chattanooga today to drop off our niece, Ella, who had stayed with us the previous week, and to follow our friend, Wayne,  as he pull his beautiful Airstream trailer with his new truck for the first time to Chattanooga to set up at Harrison Bay State Park for his mom for a couple weeks.  While in town we went over to meet the "Peach Truck Tour" with Ashlee's sister, Paige, who we split a 40 lb. box of fresh Georgia peaches with.  The Maker's Mark box behind it is full of beer and booze from the Vine and Barrel Liquor Store in Hixson also! 

Wednesday, June 19 - We had to go to Cookeville this evening to pick up our CRV from the Honda dealership there after getting it serviced.  We had a great dinner at the packed Father Tom's Pub afterwards. We also had a quick stop for a libation at Jig Head Brewing before successfully dodging most of some nasty storms on the way home.

Thursday, June 20 - So we named him Scamper, but he's just got to go.  He's been digging up mulch around the backyard and nosing around Zippy's house a little too much, so we hired a company to humanely catch him and move him to another location.  Sorry, buddy.  Your groundhog friend is next!

Well, that didn't take long!  As we met the guy from TriStar Wildlife LLC later this afternoon to remove Scamper to a new TWRA-approved locale, we saw that we had also caught Lebanon Lou, the groundhog!  Enjoy your new homes, fellas!   

We headed over to the Roxy Theaters here in town (recliners!) to catch opening night of Toy Story 4 since it was getting such rave reviews.  We opted for a later showing to avoid some kiddies hopefully.  There were still a few kids, but not too bad.  The movie was great with a lot of laughs and even a few tears.  For a fourth installment, it was as good or better than the previous ones.

Friday, June 21 - We decided to have dinner on the Lebanon Square tonight during Rock the Block to support our weird little town as much as possible.  It was a bit of a strange set-up since the traffic was still allowed thru the square so you had to dodge cars to move around the event.  But it's better than nothing I guess.  It's nice to finally see the lame city of Lebanon at least trying something new, fun and hip.  

The promise of "food trucks" at Rock the Block was a little lacking with only three there and only one actually serving food.  Hey, City of  Lebanon, trailers with shaved ice and kettle corn aren't "food trucks."  At least the one that was there was OUTSTANDING!  The Huli Hut serves Caribbean island-style fare and tasty fruit tea at reasonable prices.  We enjoyed our dinner on a bench on the square on a steamy, but nice, evening in Cedar City.  

Our little dopey town has so much potential.  They have a very cool restored train depot, but we don't know of any events ever held here and it's never open to take a look inside...guess we are outta the loop.

Another small step forward here in Lebanon is the first building mural that I can recall here.  This beautiful piece of art on the square adorns a small fashion boutique store.  

Saturday, June 22 - We have another raccoon to be transferred!  We named this one Trash Panda which probably isn't fair since they have never bothered our trash cans, but it's a funny name.  We are hoping this is the mate to Scamper and they will now be released together in a more rural locale.  Thanks again to TriStar Wildlife LLC for the help in capturing and transferring, and to Ashlee for finding them to handle this issue.  

The weather this summer has been chock full of storms to the point of frustration.  But with the end of every storm comes a little hope...even if it's in your rear-view mirror.  

We were invited by our friends, Charly and Wendy, tonight to a wine tasting and tour at the relatively new Nashville Urban Winery in East Nashville.  Charly won this $300 value at work and we were honored to be a part of it.  Also joining us were Charly's cousin and his wife.  The Love and Exile wines being produced here were surprisingly good and the food from their restaurant kitchen was outstanding.  What a great new find for us.  We will definitely be back! 

Next up was a visit to the even newer robot-themed tiki bar called Chopper just up Gallatin Road in East Nasty.  Charly's cousin has a huge Hummer that we all climbed in to take the short drive, and we must have looked quite the site rolling out of it.  The place was hopping and we could only find a counter-bar to lean on, but it worked.  We ordered some tropical drinks including a large "scorpion bowl" and hung out for a little while.  

This panoramic shot of inside Chopper tiki bar is a little dark (as tiki bars should be), but it gives a good idea of the cool ambiance inside.  We were probably the oldest people there, but who cares, right?    Of the two, however, I think I prefer the Pearl Diver tiki bar that we also visited recently which is also in East Nasty.  

Did we mention EVERYBODY loves the pool?  Even Doris could take a relaxing float.  Byron tried it, but wasn't as laid back (literally) as the fearless Doris.  

Thursday, June 27 - We headed over to our local Roxy Theaters (recliners!) tonight to catch opening night of the new Yesterday movie.  It's a weird premise, but it's from the makers of Love, Actually which is one of our favorite movies, and director, Danny Boyle, who did another movie we love, Slumdog Millionaire, so it had to be good, right? Well....it was OK...a bit slow in parts, but not bad.  It probably won't become a cult classic or win best picture, but it was a good way to spend a couple hours out of a rainy, stormy night in an almost-private theater.  

It's been a rainy, stormy summer so far, but the one benefit is some big blooms from our flowers around the pool and back patio.  This beauty popped out this week to greet us on our way in through the back gate.  

Friday, June 28 - Our pal, Wayne, came by after work and we all decided to go try the new International Menu at McDonald's.  We got a little bit of everything and $36 later, we were back home eating on the patio.  We all agreed the Stroopwafel McFlurrie was the best thing offered.  Everything else was decent, but not something we had to have again.  

Sunday, June 30 - After an afternoon in the pool with our Emily, Paige, Andy and Ella, we were invited to Franklin by our friends, Monique and John, to check out the Sunset Concert Series at the historic Carnton Plantation.  The place is beautiful and the music was  a spot-on channeling of the late, great Johnny Cash. It was a very nice, albeit steamy, evening that ended early enough for us to get back home and in bed at a decent hour to rest our tired bodies.  

Conch Republic Anniversary

It's our anniversary month,
 and finally getting back to our beloved Key West was our premier event.

Wednesday, May 1 -  We celebrated our friend, Wendy's birthday tonight along with her husband and our pal, Charly, with a visit back to Sushi 88 over on Belcourt Avenue in Nashville.  We had been here once before back in March after a show at the The  Belcourt Theaters.   This time we opted for the all-you-can-eat option and did just that to our foundered content.  We even Ubered over to the restaurant so we could imbibe and found out they unfortunately were between liquor licenses at the time.  Dohh!!   Well, at least there were bourbon slushies beforehand, and the food were great!

Sunday, May 5 - Our favorite local and authentic Mexican place has moved again.   Back to where they originally were as a food truck,  Alberto's Taqueria is now inside the gas station where they once were set up in the parking lot just up the road from our house.  We celebrated Cinqo de Mayo with a take-out order from them that we enjoyed out on the back patio in beautiful weather this evening.  

Tuesday, May 7 - We went tonight to see  the new  comedy movie, Long Shot, at our local Roxy Theaters (recliners!) with our friends, Brenda and Casey.  It was freaking hilarious, and we all enjoyed its raunchy humor and big heart greatly.

Saturday, May 11 - We were heading to Chattanooga today to do some work at Ashlee's mom's house, but got a little side-tracked when we learned about the Meow Luau Kitten Shower being hosted by the Chattanooga Humane Society at the Chattanooga Whiskey Event Hall.  We always want to support the place where we got our beloved Mabel, Byron and Doris, so we decided to stop by and have a tropical drink, give a donation and pet a kitten or two.  We were joined by our friends, Tim and Lavonda, plus Ashlee's sister, Paige, and our niece, Ella.  We had a great time and the Chattanooga Whiskey facility is very nice.

Then this happened...Ella fell in love with this little orange and white tabby and before you knew it, Paige (who is allergic to cats) got the blessing from her hubby, Andy, and suddenly they now have a new member of the family, Penelope Ambrosia, or just, Penny, for short.  Above is Ashlee, the main instigator in the adoption, with Ella and Penny.  She is a sweet little cutie, that's for sure!  Welcome to the fold and congrats to the Harlins on their new addition!

Friday, May 17 - The forecast for Key West looked great for our long weekend there to celebrate our anniversary.  We flew down after work tonight to Fort Lauderdale, Florida on Southwest Airlines and stayed near the airport.  We were delayed which is rare with Southwest due to some weather in other parts of the country, but finally got there after midnight.

Saturday, May 18 - We got up early and headed back to the airport to grab our rental car, a nice Chevy Camaro convertible, and headed south.

Our first stop (other than Wal-greens to get some sunblock) was in Islamorada at the Lorelei Restaurant and Cabana Bar where Ashlee had one of their "world famous key lime coladas" which was delicious.  We ordered some apps for lunch including some coconut shrimp and tasty cracked conch.    Our waterside table offered some excellent views.  It certainly was good to be back in The Keys finally.  

Our next stop was just down the road at the historically famous Tiki Bar at Holiday Isle, the supposed home of the creation of the rum runner drink.  Opening back in 1969, this place got the shit kicked out of by Hurricane Irma back in 2017 and took almost a year to reopen.  We never got to see it before which is a shame with all our visits down this way, but it's a great place to visit now.  We had a couple more libations before heading on south.

A bonus treat during our stop at the Tiki Bar was seeing this two beautiful manatees hanging out at the docks nearby.  This is my first time seeing these gentle giants up close, although Ashlee has actually snorkeled with them in the past (without me, sadly).  We've got to go do that together sometime for sure!  

We arrived in the Old Town part of Key West just in time to check in to our hotel for our three-night stay, the beautiful Hotel Marquesa.  Thanks to Ashlee for splurging on this great accommodation just down the street from our usual digs, The Eden House.  

We were given a complimentary upgrade to a beautiful suite poolside (Room 61) in their newest addition, the Marquesa 4-1-4 complex.  Since we had a fridge and microwave, we headed over to a nearby Publix and stocked up on snacks and libations for our stay.  We spent the rest of the afternoon lounging around the pool and relaxing in our air-conditioned room...the humidity was already heavy here...welcome to early summer in Key West! 

We strolled down to Mallory Square to catch the sunset and take in some of the street performers there.  Kudos to Ashlee for this great shot of a very talented juggler/acrobat whose show we really enjoyed.  

Sunday, May 19 - Happy 18th Anniversary to us!  

After a glorious sleep-in to counter our late-night/early-rising yesterday, we started our anniversary with a return to the incredible Hemingway House which we haven't visited since one of our first pre-blog visits to Key West.  

If we are being completely honest, we also visited the Hemingway House again because we were missing our cats and we knew we could get a six-toed fix here.  We were not disappointed as the famous cats were  out and about everywhere on the property mostly doing what they do best, snoozing.  

After the Hemingway House re-visit, we strolled around more of colorful Key West taking in all the unique and interesting sites.  We stopped in the historic (1890) bar, The Green Parrot, for a few libations in the shade and listened to some great live music.  Lunch was our next priority so we sought out Garbo's Grill for some outstanding burritos served from a tiny air-stream trailer.  We had more libations from Hank's Hair of the Dog Pub which is adjacent to Garbo's.
After another late afternoon dip in the pool back at the hotel, we walked over to one of our favorite places in Key West, Blue Heaven Restaurant, for a light anniversary dinner in their nice, but steamy tonight, outdoor courtyard.  

Monday, May 20 - Time to get ON and IN the water! 
We had another lazy morning and then set out for the harbor to catch a 1 PM "Dip and Sip" snorkeling tour with Sunset Watersports.  After a beer at Waterfront Brewing next door, we boarded a large catamaran with only about 20 other people on it and headed southwest for about 7 miles to the coral reefs around Sand Key Lighthouse.   The weather was perfect. We have snorkeled off Key West many times and it's can be hit-or-miss in terms of water clarity and things to see, but this trip was absolutely our best snorkeling here ever.  We saw tons of colorful fish in varying sizes and the reefs were incredibly beautiful.  After our DIP we were able to SIP on some free libations plus a $10 bucket of booze that was very generous in its alcoholic content.  

An artistic look back at Sand Key Lighthouse from our catamaran.  

After our snorkeling trip, we stopped in another Key West historic staple, Pepe's Cafe, which opened back in 1909, for a late lunch and, of course, some of their key lime pie which was...of course...amazing.

We headed back to the beautiful Marquesa 4-1-4 to shower and rest up for another little adventure come sundown.

In all our visits to The Keys over the years, we have never actually seen an endangered Key Deer except in pictures, so we decided to head about an hour north to Big Pine Key just before sunset to see if we could spy one or two.  Well, we got that and more!  The little beauties were practically everywhere once you got off  busy Hwy. 1 and  into the National Key Deer Refuge, enjoying the late afternoon.  Ashlee got this great pic above shooting across me as I drove VERY SLOWLY.  

A great little added bonus as we drove from No Name Key back to Big Pine Key was seeing this young couple haul up a pretty good-sized dogfish shark while fishing from the bridge over Bogie Channel between the two islands.  I got out to help them get a picture and Ashlee took yet another good shot from the passenger's seat.  

Check another historic watering hole off the list for us.  Back on Big Pine Key we stopped at the quaint No Name Pub for a libation.  The food looked and smelled so good, however, we ordered pizza as well.  The "small"  pies were so filling we couldn't finish them but it made for a great breakfast the next morning!   

It was well after dark by the time we got back to Key West, but we just had to visit an old friend before leaving tomorrow.  The Southernmost Point Marker which we have been to many times took a real beating during Hurricane Irma back in 2017, but a fresh coat of paint had it looking as good as ever tonight! 

Tuesday, May 21 -  We had another lazy morning with the sad fact that our trip was drawing to a close looming in our heads.  We packed up and prepped for the drive back to FLL  to catch our evening flight, but we did have time for a few fun stops along the way.  We drove down to the end of the appropriately named Blimp Road on Cudjoe Key to get a closer look at "Fat Albert" - a government-owned blimp that is used by US Customs and Border Protection.  We saw it up in the air last night during our Key Deer hunt, but it was tethered to the ground this morning.  Very secret, very hush-hush. 

Our final main stop was another one that was a long-time coming on our Florida Keys To-do List.  We signed up for the 1 PM tour of The Turtle Hospital in Marathon.  This hour-long behind-the-scenes tour is terrific, albeit a little sad, as you see some of the things these beautiful creatures have had to endure...mostly due to mankind.  But it is a hopeful place also, as their goal is always to rescue, rehab and release when possible.  We got to meet Rebel (photo above) a huge 230-pound loggerhead sea turtle who is a permanent resident with irreparable injuries due to a boat strike.

Bender is a very rare (for this area) 80-pound Kemp's Ridley sea turtle.  She is also a permanent resident due to boat strike and fishing line injuries.
It was a great ending to a very nature-heavy trip with great planned and unplanned encounters with manatees, tons of fish while snorkeling, Key Deer, a large dogfish shark, and now sea turtles.
After a quick stop at the Florida Keys Brewing Company for a beer, we headed back into the mayhem of Miami and Ft. Lauderdale and flew home without incident.  Another great Conch Republic trip complete. 
See ya again ASAP!