It's Done Turned Fall, Ya'll

Friday, August 21 - We are finally seeing a show at the world-famous Blue Bird Cafe.  We saw Sean McConnell tonight for one of two shows there.  Sean will also be on our upcoming music cruise in November.  (show poster pic on phone at 7/21 

Friday, August 28 - O/A/R at the FirstBank Amphitheater in Franklin

Stayed overnight in Franklin. 

Saturday, August 29 - Mat Kearney at The Pinnacle (tour poster pic on phone at 7/8) 

Beforehand, we did a behind-the-scenes tour at The Nashville Zoo with a sloth encounter as an early birthday present for Ashlee.  Our trip to Costa Rica earlier this year piqued our interest in these fascinating creatures.  

Friday, October 23 - Andrew McMahon SOLD-OUT solo at City Winery in Nashville (concert poster pic on phone at 6/9) and VIP meet-n-greet beforehand

ALASKA! TOGETHER! FINALLY!!

 While we have both been to Alaska, we have not been together and neither of us have been there on a cruise, so this is a big bucket-lister trip for us along with some family as well. 

Wednesday, August 5 - Fly to Seattle, flight museum, 

Seattle Mariners game vs. the Detroit Tigers.  We had front-row, aisle seats in the outfield of beautiful T-Mobile Park.  

Thursday, August 6 - A Day in Seattle - 

chef led food tour of Pike Place Market, 

underground Seattle tour 

Friday, August 7 - Cruising out of Seattle 

Saturday, August 8 - At Sea 

Sunday, August 9 - Ketchikan, Alaska - wildlife and waterfall tour 

Monday, August 10 - Endicott Arm and Dawes Glacier and on to Juneau, Alaska 

Tuesday, August 11 - Skagway, Alaska, waterfall tour, and cruising The Inside Passage

Wednesday, August 12 - At Sea 

Thursday, August 13 - Victoria, British Columbia in Canada

Friday, August 14 - return to Seattle, 

sunset cruise in Seattle 

Saturday, August 15 - Another full day in Seattle - 

Mt. Rainer National Park tour 

Sunday, August 16 - Fly home from Seattle 

Let's Do That Summer Thing Again!

 

Sunday, May 25 - We got home from our trip to the tropics only to find the tropics had invaded our back yard thanks to a lot of rain while we were gone.  Our two-year-old calla lily in the backyard by the patio was booming with blooms.  Top that, Costa Rica!! 

Monday, May 5 - Let's get our hungry, hungry hippo on! After only a day of rest from our trip, the super hostess with the mostest, Ashlee, dodged most of the forecasted rain to throw a darn good Childhood Games Partay today on Memorial Day.  It also served as a milestone birthday party for three of our friends: Brenda (60); Wendy (50) and Lisa (50).  It was a hoot and a holler with this giant version of human Hungry Hungry Hippos blown up in our backyard as the crowning achievement. 

We had great, themed food (Sloppy Joes, Hamburger Helper and Beanie Weenies), cakes for all three birthday girls and tons of throwback candy.  Note that these no longer say "cigarette" on them. 

Thursday, May 28 - An inspiration from our recent trip to Costa Rica arrived today in the form of a nice-sized Dwarf Cavendish banana tree that we hope will grow and become part of the household just like our palm tree that we've had now for over 10 years.  

 
Saturday, May 30 - I stopped at the Emeraude Bakery in Mt. Juliet this morning which is also near my current pet-sitting house and picked up some tasty pastries for me and Ashlee.  These chocolate croissants were so big and so buttery!  I also got a giant cinnamon roll to split as well as a huge chocolate chip muffin.

Monday, June 1 - When a new Waffle House opens less than 3 miles from the house, you make the artistic decision to go visit it ASAP.  And we did that tonight for dinner with some tasty grill cheese sammies, Bert's chili, and a peanut-butter waffle!  Yum!  And the staff there were so nice!  We shall return!! 

Saturday, June 6 - We FINALLY made it to Awedaddy's Bar and Grill on Old Hickory Lake in Gallatin for a meal today.  We've been wanting to check it out for quite a while and circumstances fell right today with Ashlee taking our Subaru to the Gallatin dealership for an oil change and me in Gallatin pet/houae-sitting this upcoming week.  Our friends, Todd and Kelly, joined us and we had a very tasty and nice;y-priced lunch (fish tacos for Ashlee and sweet chili salmon for me, plus some excellent corn dip as an appetizer) out on their deck with views of the lake and marina next door.  Great place! We've got to get back up here again as soon as possible!  

Sunday, June 7 - Fresh flowers look great in a clean house!  We bit the bullet and hired a house cleaning company for our cluttered, messy home and it's been great so far.  They did a deep-clean last week and will now be coming every couple weeks on a regular schedule.  It will also motivate us to keep things tidier for them to be able to clean.

Sunday, June 13 - Ashlee had to bring the Subaru back up to the Gallatin dealership this morning to get our broken grill replaced and I was on my last day up there pet/house-sitting, so we met at Keke's Breakfast Cafe.   It's a very nice place and the food and beverages were outstanding.  We did a little shopping afterwards around town.  

Tuesday, June 16 - We went to see Augustana at the new (and improved) Cannery Hall in downtown Nashville tonight.  They were co-headlining a tour with Phantom Planet who we've actually never really heard of.   Thank goodness, Augustana went on first, so we could cut out of there at a decent time (old people issues).  They played their entire debut album, "All the Stars and Boulevards" which is celebrating its 20th anniversary plus some other favorites.  It was an excellent show and we were home by 10 PM!  Beforehand, we had a tasty dinner at the Homegrown Taproom in Donelson.  

Thursday, June 18 - We went to see one of our favorite old-school comedians, Dave Attell, tonight at Zanies in Nashville for a SOLD-OUT show.  Dave's a legend for sure.   His openers were nothing to get excited about, but he was in true form, i.e. very funny.  

Tuesday, June 23 - We went to see the new Toy Story 5 movie tonight at the Providence Theaters in Mt. Juliet.  It was another classic story and well made.  The place was full of kids, but they were quiet during the movie, so it was a nice experience.  It was also Discount Tuesday, so we saved a few bucks as well.  

Saturday, June 27 - We attended a SOLD-OUT World Cup game in Atlanta tonight at the Mercedes Benz Dome.  The teams were Uzbekistan vs. DR Congo and while we don't have a rooting interest in either team, it was about the only game on a Saturday that was close enough and affordable enough for us to attend so as to be even just a small part of this massive global event.   Tickets to this game have more than doubled what I paid for them originally as World Cup excitement here in North America is at a fever pitch.  

Before the game, we attended the also SOLD-OUT FIFA Fan Festival.  This was a free event, but you still needed a ticket.  It was hot outside and things were pricey and lines were long, but we did have a good time since we got to see our good friend, Rex, who lives nearby and we had a tasty and refreshing FIFA-inspired cocktail that included Crown Royal peach, passion fruit, lime, ginger beer and a dried orange served in a plastic soccer ball.    

This is each team's third and last game in their Group K Stage and while neither team will probably be advancing (Congo has a decent chance), they have both given great effort.  Congo has had a stronger tournament so far with an upsetting 1-1 tie to start things off for them vs. European powerhouse, Portugal.  That was Congo's first goal ever in the World Cup (it's been 52 years since they were last in it), and this is Uzbekistan's first ever appearance in the tournament, so we are also seeing some history here.  Uzbekistan's first ever World Cup goal came in a 1-3 loss to Colombia.   

We stayed overnight at a nice Hilton hotel called The American within walking distance of the game.  This was our first time together to attend an event at the spectacular Mercedes Benz Dome which was decked out in FIFA fanfare.  

What an experience!!  The game was a classic with Congo coming from a 1-0 halftime deficit to roar ahead for a 3-1 win in the second half!  This was Congo's first ever win in The World Cup!  They also qualified to move on to the 32-team Knockout Stage next week against powerful England.  The atmosphere was electric with huge contingents for both countries representing pride and excitement for their national teams.  Our seats were dead center with great sightlines.  We had some delicious (and affordable) grilled cheese sandwiches beforehand for dinner in the stadium. 

(Editor's note:  Congo put up a brave fight in their next game as a massive underdog to England and in the end conceding a loss by a respectable 2-1 score.) 

Sunday, June 28 - We slept in a bit and enjoyed our nice, quiet room in downtown Atlanta.  Before leaving, however, we did amble over to the nearby Hansel and Gretel Bakery Cafe for breakfast which was amazing.  They have tons of pastries to choose from and we gorged ourselves! 

We had a discounted (thanks, CU!)  rental car (a comfy Hyundai Tucson SUV) from Enterprise to travel down and back in.  We stopped for a late lunch in Guild, TN, at the amazing Riverdance Restaurant overlooking Nickajack Lake.  Our food was excellent and we are pretty sure some or most of the Spanish National Soccer Team were there at the same time.  They have been training in nearby Chattanooga for this year's World Cup.    

(Editor's note:  It has now been confirmed that it definitely was the Spanish National Soccer Team at Riverdance while we were there.  It's also been confirmed that the Spaniards are the now this year's World Cup Champions!)  

This road trip to Atlanta also gave us a chance to finish the wonderful audiobook, "Actress of Certain Age" by actor, Jeff Hiller who we love from the now-sadly-cancelled HBO TV show, "Somebody Somewhere."  It was funny, touching and beautifully written.

Monday, June 29 - So these two little hellions had the run of the house while we were gone this weekend...and they actually did great.  These brethren foster kittens are Everett (white one) and Gunnar.  We were told they were completely blind when we started caring for them, but we are happy to report they definitely have enough sight to run and play hard and fast without much holding them back.  They are growing like weeds and they are going to make someone a wonderful pair of pets! 

Saturday, July 4 - We threw an Independence Day Pool Party today since the holiday fell on a Saturday.  Ashlee's cousins from Cincinnati came down for the weekend as well as several friends for the party today.  It was sweltering hot, so the pool felt great even though we had to add several bags of ice to cool it off!   

Party on, Buc!  We got a great gift and fun outdoor party favor from the cousins from Cincy!  (photo above) 

A couple other new party additions this weekend also included a new outdoor fridge and a new picnic table (according to this same blog, our first picnic table lasted over six years outside - so not bad).

Another hit at the party today were some red, white and blueberry fried pies from Breeden's Orchard over in Mt. Juliet.  Yum! Yum! 

Letty decided to check out the new picnic table in the backyard and she approves.  Isn't she a pretty girl!  

Friday, July 10 - We dined IN THE POOL tonight with some great grub delivered to us from Chili's.  It sure beats getting dressed and going out! 

Saturday, July 11 - Our friends, Kate and Curtis, picked us up today and we all traveled a little way north to check out the Christmas in July event in lovely downtown Gallatin.  Several nice boutique stores were having pretty good sales, and we found a few goodies to take home.  

Ashlee even found Santa (allegedly) at the downtown farmer's market in Gallatin. 

For lunch, we checked out the French- inspired restaurant, The Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cafe.  The food was very good and moderately priced.  We could definitely see coming here again. 

Sunday, July 12 - More backyard jungle brilliance!  This is a canna lily that Ashlee saved off the discounted "death row" at our local Lowe's and brought it back to life with some TLC (and a nice amount of rain lately) at home.  

Sunday, July 13 - It looks like someone's got themselves a Mini-me! It hard to see in this picture where Sunny stops and our little white foster kitten, Everett, begins.  That's some adorable snuggling going on right there! 

We went to see new epic film, The Odyssey, tonight with some friends at the Regal Hollywood Theaters in RPX (recliners!) in Nashville.  This was my second viewing and while it was not in IMAX like the first time I saw it just a few days ago, it was still incredibly powerful and awesome.  No way it doesn't win best picture.  What a masterpiece of film for Christopher Nolan.  He is the GOAT!!  Ashlee thought it was very good also albeit at times some scenes made her uncomfortable.  

brunch at Inglewood Lounge with their locally famous patio cat, Penny 

A Quarter Century of Marital...Pura Vida!!

This month we celebrate our 25th Wedding Anniversary!!  

Saturday, May 2 - We went and saw the new Michael Jackson biopic, Michael, tonight at the fancy brand new Hooky Entertainment venue in downtown's also-new Nashville Yards Complex along with our friends, Todd, Kelly, Toney and Lisa.  The film was very well shot and the sound was killer. A very enjoyable look into MJ's life before he got really weird, accused of some horrible things, and then his untimely death.   Beforehand, we had dinner at Hooky also where you can preorder for the movie too with bottomless sodas, ICEEs, and popcorn at reasonable prices.  The food-food was good too!  Nice place and experience. And four hours of comped parking too in the underground garage beneath it.  We will probably be back (the seating was the only drawback since it isn't recliners, but more like wide couches). 

Saturday, May 9 - We decided to get our own tailgating spot at the Iroquois Steeplechase in Nashville this year and invited several friends and family members to attend with us.  It turned out to be a tremendous time as the weather was great, our space was in a good location, and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. There's already talk of doing it again next year!

Our set-up at the Steeplechase was pretty great.   We had walking tacos, hot dogs and other snacks to munch on.  Libations a plenty with two Ninja slushie makers going thanks to our Bonnaroo generators.  We did $5 betting on each race with blind draws and only had one repeat winner in 7 races (it was that luck-box, Mollie Majors, lol).  What a great time!! 

New roof, who dis?  We had to put a new roof on our house in Whitwell that my crazy sister lives in.  It was pricey, but a good upgrade to our investment property.  Then we had $1,100 worth of tree and bush trimming/clearing done on the property as well.   Whew, that's enough of that! 

Tuesday, May 12 - We went to Parnassus Books tonight over in Green Hills to hear a talk with author and radio hall-of-famer, Scott Simon, about his new book, "Ulysses S. Cat and Other Animals I Have Known."  He was interviewed by Nashville radio host, Blake Farmer.  We had a chance to meet Mr. Simon afterwards and have our books personalized, but ironically, we had to get home since we had PETS to take care of. 

Thursday, May 13 - Well, she's back and better than ever!  Our beloved backyard pool got a new dark blue liner this year plus a few leak repairs and she's back in business as of today!  This is our 10th anniversary of the installation of the pool, and we still think it's the best money we've ever spent.   Of course, Sunny was the first one in with a swim first and then a float along with her new elephant friend.   The new liner is supposedly pet-resistant regarding nails and does have a nice, grooved feel to the touch for better traction for dogs and people. 

Saturday, May 16 - We headed over to Brentwood tonight to help celebrate our good friend, Brenda, on her 60th birthday party.  It was a casino-themed party with fun games, great food, libation and laughter.  Ashlee did better at blackjack that I did at poker.  Congrats on being sexy sixty, Brenda!! 

  
Tuesday, May 19 - It's our 25th Wedding Anniversary!! - We flew very early this morning to Costa Rica on Delta Airlines for almost free thanks to points from Ashlee.  After a quick stop in Atlanta, we landed at the Liberia Airport in the Guanacaste Province on Costa Rica's west coast (new country for us! That's # 43 if you are keeping score at home). 

Both flights were smooth and easy despite being an hour delayed out of Nashville.  Our transfer in Atlanta was quick with no issues.  We didn't sit together so we could both have more comfy seats in the emergency aisle.  But we did conjointly watch the new Netflix film adaptation of the wonderful book, Remarkably Bright Creatures, which was excellent and quite the tear-jerker.

We chose to stay at the Esh Hotel and Spa in the Nosara Province, town and Beach of the same name.  We booked a room with a private plunge pool (thanks tax refund!)  They were awarded a Michelin Key in 2025!  The place is beautiful!  

What should have been about an hour's drive here was a three-hour drive south of the airport as we took a private shuttle there that we booked through Viator.   We quickly learned that our theme of "Costa Rica 25" also applied to the average speed you could go in this country due to road conditions and traffic.  A few complimentary Imperial Beers helped some with the trek.  But in the end, it was well worth the effort, because from the moment we stepped into the pretty lobby (photo above) at the Esh Hotel and Spa we were treated with an amazing amount of warmth and welcoming kindness.  

Our room was awesome!  Huge comfy bed with a view of our plunge pool and the jungle beyond and a cool sunken living room.  

We were shocked to see a picture from our wedding and a note card with congratulations on our wedding anniversary from the entire staff waiting for us in our room.  We are not sure how they got this picture, but it was probably off my Facebook or Instagram page after I made a brief comment on their FB page that we were coming there for our 25th wedding anniversary.  So thoughtful! 

Our private plunge pool was so opulent and really hit the spot after such a long journey here.  

We had to dash through a rainstorm to get to dinner at the hotel restaurant, Almar, but again, the journey was worth the destination.  Our food was excellent.  Our cocktails were huge.  We even got a complimentary dessert to celebrate our wedding anniversary that we could only muster a couple bites of since we were already stuffed!  But, again, so thoughtful and nice.  Pictured above with our bountiful adult beverages was our appetizer which we both thought was the best dish of the night:  fresh seasonal heirloom tomatoes with house made hummus and warm pita bread.

The rain had stopped for our walk back to our room.  Every trek through this property is like a walk in the jungle with tree frog calls, bird songs, but otherwise peaceful solitude with every step.  

Wednesday, May 20 - A full day in Costa Rica! Hey, did I mention that our room shower was technically outside?  Yep, in the photo above there is a glass door behind you and then the jungle (and no glass) in front of you.  The double rainfall showerheads made for a delightful and nicely private experience.  Ashlee did have a small gecko visit her on one occasion, but we think he was just trying to get out of the rain.  

With the weather cooperating today much more than the forecasted predictions, we decided to check out the beach while we had the chance.  The hotel provides a complimentary shuttle down to the beach and town areas of Nosara, so we hopped in and arrived at Guiones Beach after a ten-minute ride down from the Nicoya Highlands where we were staying.  The beaches here in this area are still wild and undeveloped.  Nosara is a surfing mecca, and we arrived after the tide was definitely out.  The hotel provided chairs, a sun-blocking tent and some water, but let's just say it's no Destin, Florida.  

We both did a little wading before encountering the pounding surf which looked a bit too rough for us for swimming.  The Pacific water was shockingly warm.  No wonder the surfers love it here! 

It was time for some lunch, so we walked a short distance from the beach and found the Beach Dog Cafe.  What a great little place.  We sat outside on their patio with some breeze and overhead fans to help with the thick humidity.  Our food was simple (tacos and nachos) and delicious.  The libations were flowing including the traditional Chili Guaro Shot of Costa Rica which we both enjoyed.  

After lunch, we walked around the pretty, clean and simple town of Nosara for a bit and checked out some shops, but as stated before the humidity was thick, so a dip in the pool back at Esh was sounding good to us. 

Instead of waiting on the hotel shuttle, we decided to give a tuk-tuk a try for a ride back up to the hotel.  Yep, we spent several days in India without riding one only to come to Costa Rica to give it a try.  Air moved better in it than we thought it would, so it was a pleasant enough ride except the little single-cylinder engine barely got us back up to the steep grade to our hotel.  

Back at Esh, we decided to check out the hotel pool which like the rest of the place really does a nice job of blending into the jungle motif.  Looking more like a series of jungle ponds, this tri-level beauty was fun and relaxing.  

While we didn't see a ton of wildlife on our trip, it were definitely there.  Iguanas were the most noticeable and we saw several.  We saw tons of different birds too.  We could hear howler monkeys outside our room but never caught sight of them.  This patriotic little guy (Costa Rica's flag is also red, white and blue) pictured above came crawling along in front of us while we were at the pool.  He kept to himself, as did we.  

We went to dinner again at Almar tonight and had another enjoyable meal.  Afterwards the evening was occupied with several games of Rummikub and a bottle of champagne that we didn't get to last night for our anniversary but went down smoothly tonight! 

Thursday, May 21 - Another full day in Costa Rica!  Another couple fun things about our room were the giant flowering banana tree plants right beside our pool (photo above) and the kick-ass Costa Rican Britt espresso coffee that was complimentary, and restocked every morning since we drank all we had anytime it was there!  

After some separate time this morning with me in the plunge pool and Ashlee getting a massage (this was actually part of a late Christmas present since we couldn't use the Savannah Bananas game tickets in Knoxville this coming weekend that I had won and given to Ashlee for Christmas, I sold them for a huge profit and gave her the cash), we headed back down to Nosara for brunch at the tiny Elios Tiki Room.  The food was good and bountiful!  As was Ashlee's tiki drink! 
Beforehand, we also had a drink at Chancho BBQ before they were even technically open (did I mention that the people of Costa Rica that we encountered were very nice). 

"Sky blue, bitches!!" (long ago Las Vegas trip shoutout).  It was just too hot and humid to walk around town, so we decided to rent a golf cart for the afternoon to get us to the places we wanted to go at our own pace.  She was nice one, but man, the roads here are just brutal and this puppy had no real shocker absorbers, so it was bumpy afternoon.  

Playa Pelada Beach is another wild. rocky undeveloped stretch on the other end of town from where we were yesterday.  

This is one of my favorite pix from our trip as we were leaving Playa Pelada.  I think it accurately portrays the beauty, and the ruggedness, of this area.  

We did some grocery/snack shopping next at a great little bodega just up from the beach, and then it was on to Blue Zone Brewery where we imbibed in some local beers with the best one being their non-alcoholic house ginger beer.  It was so good, we got a crowler of it to take with us back to the room.  
Our golf cart was not designed to climb the steep grade back to the hotel, so we had to leave it behind and were picked up by the courtesy shuttle.  

It was a little bit of a maze to get to our room # 28 from the Esh Hotel lobby, but we could always count on this beautiful tropical bloom known as a shining bird of paradise to mark our path.  

Friday, May 22 - Another full day in Costa Rica! We spent almost the entire day in our room today just hanging out in the A/C, plunge pooling, snacking for brunch, playing Rummikub, and just relaxing before the long drive out tomorrow and 5 hours of flying.

We did decide to make the trek on foot this evening to Huacas Restaurant at another nearby resort called Tierra Magnifica that I had scouted out on my own earlier today.  As with all trips in Costa Rica by car, golf cart or foot, this one paid off as well with an outstanding view for dinner and delicious cocktails and food.   That's Punta Guiones in the distance beyond our excellent cocktails.  

We acquired a third wheel during dinner who I think was drawn to us by Ashlee's entree of beef but also seemed happy to just hang with us quietly and politely and never left us for another table our entire time there.  We saw the hotel's aging bulldog as we came in, but did interact with him, so his choice of hanging with us was all on his accord.  Such a sweet boy! Thanks to Ashlee for the pic. 

On the walk back from dinner in the dark, a rather large animal with a bushy tail ran across our path.  Our best guess is that it was a tayra (in Spanish: tolomuco) (thanks for the pic, Internet).  It's a member of the ferret/weasel family.  Evidently, they are kind of rare to see in the wild.  Pretty cool!  
We got back to the room before a huge thunderstorm enveloped the area with some crazy loud thunder.  We've been very fortunate with weather on this trip with the only real rain coming in the evenings when we were back at the hotel.  

Saturday, May 23 - Our private shuttle picked up this morning at the hotel since we are flying back home from Costa Rica today.   The route was different than how we came in, about a half-hour shorter, and was much more visually pleasant!  We did the same seating arrangement as we did when we flew in and then conjointly, we watched the next to last episode of the "Hacks" series - a show we are truly going to miss. 
Our flights were both smooth again with a little bit of an early arrival back in Music City actually which got us home around 10 PM.  

Another great trip and one we would do again if we are able now that we are little wiser on how to travel in and around Costa Rica and still enjoy the "pura vida" (pure life) here!