It's Done Turned Fall, Ya'll

Friday, August 21 - We are finally seeing a show at the world-famous Blue Bird Cafe together.  Ashlee's been before with some friends, but I've never been.  We saw Sean McConnell tonight for one of two shows there.  Sean will also be on our upcoming music cruise in November.   We chose the early show to get us home at a reasonable hour to our melee of pets.  Such a great local talent!   

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

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.  

Tuesday, September 8 - We drafted tonight for the 27th season of the BFFFL.  This season is dedicated to the 26-year veteran of our virtual gridiron, JD Franklin, who passed away last year.  We're going to miss you, bud, RIP.  

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. 

That's 2,081 Nautical Miles Traveled + 2,072 airline miles + a few hundred road miles in between!! 

Wednesday, August 5 - We had an early direct flight on Delta Airlines to Seattle today as we prep for our Alaska cruise from there on Friday.  The flight went smooth and uneventful.  Thanks to our friends for dropping us off so as not to incur a large parking fee at the airport.  

Mt. Rainer came in to view as we neared Seattle, rising above the low cloud cover and a good amount of nearby forest fire smoke. 

We had to rent two vehicles to carry all our luggage and bodies! Our first stop while we waited on our lodging to be ready was The Museum of Flight which is close to the airport and where we also had lunch.  This place is so big and so interesting that you could spend a couple days here instead of just the couple of hours that we did and definitely without seeing it all.  But what we did see (warplanes from WWI - above - and WWII, fighter jets, inside a Concorde jet, inside an Air Force One, inside a FedEx freight-hauling jet, etc.) was pretty great! 

Here's the whole gang goofing around and posing with the retro Pan Am mannequins.  Who's the dummies here, again? 

Our adorable AirBnB home (good find, Paige!) in the very sweet Magnolia neighborhood of Northwest Seattle was our next stop.   We had three separate bedrooms and lots of room to spread out and hang out.  And it saved us some much money compared to hotel rooms! 

The minivan that Ashlee rented could seat us all without luggage, so we saved a ton of money on using Uber/Lyfts (which are really high here) to go see the Seattle Mariners game vs. the Detroit Tigers tonight.  We had front-row, aisle seats in the outfield of beautiful T-Mobile Park.  (our first time there for all 7 of us).  It was my treat since not everyone in the group is a sports fan like me, but we all wound up enjoying it on "Jimothy Night." 

We actually saw a lot of action in our front-row left foul pole seats.   Mariners left fielder, Randy Arozarena, put on quite the show in front of us with a homerun-saving catch over the wall in front of us and a wicked bullet of a throw to 3rd base to get a runner out.  At bat, it was Randy's single that started the scoring for Seattle with three runs in the bottom of the 6th.  We didn't stay for the end to beat some of the traffic out of a nearby VIP parking garage that we were at the top of (good find, Ashlee!), but the Mariners went on to win the game by a final score of 4-2.  There was a huge crowd and the weather was perfect for watching a game! 

Thursday, August 6 - We had a full day in Seattle to enjoy before crusing out tomorrow morning, so we started the day off with an awesome chef led food tour of and around famous Pike Place Market.  Our first stop was a dandy: CHEESE!  Beecher's Cheese to be exact.  So fresh, so good!  Next was some outstanding smoked salmon City Fish Seafood Market with an optional bonus fresh raw scallop (photo above) that you shoot from a seashell.  Wow was it good!  

Our next stop was the amazing Greek gelato shop called Hellenika.  This stuff was extremely smooth and creamy!  Street tacos came next.  Always a crowd favorite.  It was on the Truffle Queen next for exquisite fresh truffles.  We also got a free bonus fresh fig slice from the store's neighboring standing across the way.   Next were savory, delicious Portuguese custard tarts (pasteis de nata) at the Lands of Origin shop.  A slice of pizza came next from the authentic Pizza & Pasta Bar, then some legendary Rachel's Ginger Beer, some award-winning clam chowder from Pike Place Chowder, a quick stop to see one of tour group do a great job at catching a famous flying fish at the Pike Place Fish Market and concluded with some fine European chocolate at Frans.  We were stuffed and our chef host, Will, was outstanding! 
Afterwards we made a few more stops of our own around the market area that included the hip and popular ice cream shop, Salt and Straw, (there's always room for ice cream!); then The Cheese Box for some outstanding blue cheese recommended by our chef/tour-guide, Will, (there's always room for cheese!); and a few brews at the Taproom at Pike Place (there's always room for beer!).  

Ashlee's bad knee only lasted for the first part of an Underground Seattle Tour we had scheduled next since most of the tour was up and down a lot of stairs.  But it was quite interesting with information like the fact that Seattle is the only major US city named after a Native American chief.  However, it does look like the name got butchered somewhat from its original pronunciation which is probably why his bust (photo above) seems to be more like "Chief Resting Bitch Face."  
We got a great parking place again near the busy downtown waterfront market area by using the SpotHero app at a hotel with cheap valet parking.  

After getting back to the AirBnb house and freshening up, everyone but Ashlee and me went to dinner nearby.  We had other plans, and to kill some time we drove through the enormous and lovely Discover Park which dead ends at West Point Lighthouse (and a beautiful driftwood beach) overlooking the Puget Sound.  Catching the sunset here tonight was a bonus!   In a bit of an odd pay-it-forward move, we gave two German tourists a ride out of the giant park and back to a bus station near the entrance where they had gotten off earlier in the day.  Nice fellas.  Glad they didn't murder us! 

Our other plans tonight were to meet for dinner with our long-time friend, Paige, from Nashville originally who moved out here several years ago.  We met at her choice of location, the eclectic and fun Dreamland Bar & Diner in the funky Fremont neighborhood.  The walk to the bathrooms (photo above) should tell all you need to know about this interesting place! 

Friday, August 7 - Time to get on the BIG BOAT!!  After a bit of harrowing and annoying time to return the rental cars this morning, we got smoothly onto the beautiful Celebrity Edge to begin our cruise out of Seattle.  Ashlee and Paige have both been on this same ship before and it's one of their favorites, and I can see why.  So beautiful from stern to aft.  

Our first cruise out of Seattle, but probably not our last.  The Emerald City is such a great place to visit.  With a little creative contrast work, I was able to clear the still-lingering wildfire smoke from this above shot as we pulled out into The Puget Sound.  

With so much port time and cruising with a view of the Alaskan coast most of the time, we decided to not get the booze package, but did upgrade a little to include high-end coffee, soft drinks and other upgraded non-alcoholic drinks.  One of our new favorites is the many flavors of Italy-made Sanpellegrino.  We are not always the biggest fans of sparkling water, but this stuff is very smooth and flavorful.  

Saturday, August 8 - Waking up at dawn and seeing the ocean outside your window is always a special feeling.  One of the coolest features on the Edge are the new "infinity-balconies."  Instead of a door to a separate balcony, you get more room space with a large window instead, the top half of which can be rolled down for the open balcony effect.  Pretty ingenious if you ask me! It was a relaxing day at sea for us as we cruised north up the Canadian coast toward Alaska.  

The dazzling interior design throughout the ship just continues to amaze.  This art piece is made entirely of pearl necklaces, tiaras and bracelets. 

One of our favorite new-to-us Celebrity Cruise Line on-ship offerings are the "Beyond the Podium" talks presented before entering each port.  The speaker we had for our India cruise was outstanding and we didn't think she could be beat, but, alas, there's naturalist and all-around awesome dude, Brent Nixon! The photo above is a screen grab of his first talk today about Alaska overall that was rebroadcast on the ship's TV system after it was given, but we were there live (and so was about half the ship - it was so crowded).  If you can't get fired up about nature and all it has to offer after listening to Brent, well, you might be dead! 
All of his talks were packed with listeners.  Come to find out that his wife, Mary Amanda Fairchild, was also a speaker on the cruise and was very interesting in her talks about overall travel, culture and tourism.  
   

After a free tour (and a pretty good sales pitch) we opted in for spa access on the ship ever day on the cruise for a couple hundred bucks each.  The ship was crowded (just under 3K in passengers alone), so this was place was a great respite from the crowds.  These heated loungers shown above were our favorite accoutrements of the spa area, but we also enjoyed the salt room, the crystal room, the Turkish bath and steam room, etc.  But the # 1 reason we chose spa access was private open front deck access which will really come in to play a couple days from now (see below).  

Tonight we chose to have dinner in the beautiful Eden specialty restaurant at the back of the ship.  You pay extra for this experience, and I thought it was great (especially the butterscotch creme brulee in the photo above).  However, the girls, who, again, have been on the ship before, thought it had changed somewhat for the worse in their opinion to what they had experienced before.  That's too bad since paying the extra cost should blow you away in flavor, choice and presentation. 

Meanwhile, back at the Martin Avenue Zoo...big thanks to our friend and pet-sitter, Leslie, for taking such great care of our pets again while we travel for a long period.  How she got all seven of these goofy cats to pose in the same picture is beyond me.  She's amazing!!  Don't forget there are also two dogs in the den!  

Sunday, August 9 - Hello, Ketchikan, Alaska!!  It seems the 49th state is just bursting to welcome us back as a couple! After promptly spending a little time apart this morning doing different activities, we met back up for a low-key afternoon wildlife and waterfall tour that I had booked through Viator.  

Baleen Brewing 

The weather was exquisite! 

We went bear hunting and danged if we didn't just miss him!! #scathumor

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

very pricey helicopter to glacier (both) 

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

Wednesday, August 12 - At Sea 

Thursday, August 13 - Victoria, British Columbia in Canada - craft beer tour just for me

Friday, August 14 - return to Seattle, 

sunset cruise in Seattle (for both) 

Saturday, August 15 - Another full day in Seattle - 

Mt. Rainer National Park tour (for both) 

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.  
(Editor's note:  We've got a KBC in Mt. Juliet now too!)

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.  

Saturday, August 1 - In a bit of a last-minute decision, we decided to get tickets to see the musical production of "The Prince of Egypt' tonight at our own Capitol Theater up on the Lebanon Square.  We weren't expecting much to be honest and were shocked at how good it actually was!  The story is a classic from The Bible, and they had incredibly talented and basically local (Nashville area) cast.  
Beforehand, we also had a nice dinner at Angelos Italian Restaurant also just around the corner from the house.  It was tasty, but still no comparison to our favorite Italian which is even closer to our house, the always-great Painturro's.