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.