I'm not Barbara Walters, but this is 2020

Tuesday, January 8 - We took advantage of $5 Tuesdays at our local Roxy Theaters tonight to catch a showing of the outstanding remake of Little Women.  The cast was stellar and director, Greta Gerwig, did a wonderful job with the classic story adaptation.   She definitely got screwed out of a deserving Oscar nomination

Friday, January 17 - That's right!  Some Shoney's Restaurants now have a bar!  The old southern comfort-food staple has been revamping many of their locations and even adding alcohol like this one near the Nashville Airport on Donelson Pike that we had dinner at tonight.  We didn't actually consume any booze (this time), but it's just a "comfort" to know it's there!  

January 21 - We checked out the raunchy new comedy, Like a Boss, tonight at the Roxy Theaters here in Lebanon ($5 Tuesdays, free popcorn and recliners!) along with our friend, Emily.  It was pretty funny, but we could have used a little more raunchiness! 

Wednesday, January 29 -  Ashlee captured this rare shot of all three of our cats lounging on our bed together.  It didn't last long, but it DID HAPPEN!! 

Thursday, January 30 - We started celebrating Valentine's Day a little early this year with this great Aldi find. This heart-shaped cheese pizza was tasty and light.  Despite the fact that we are spending most of the upcoming weekend apart, our sticky, cheesy love remains strong!  

Friday, February 7 - We woke up to a nice snow this morning and it was the baby kitties first time experiencing it.  They didn't think too much of it.  Byron was scared of it and Doris (above) preferred to keep her paws and butt out of it!  Thanks for the pic, Ashlee.

Tuesday, February 11 - Early Valentine's Day goodies continued today with the arrival of a package containing three different kinds of bleu cheese for me and Ashlee from Kenny's Farmhouse Cheese up in Austin, Kentucky.  Besides being super-tasty, this package also references back to a Valentine's Day early in our relationship when I tried to get some bleu cheese shipped to us and I distinctly remember the lady on the phone (pre-Internet) saying "We don't send smelly blue cheese through the mail!"  Thanks to Kenny and his folks and to FedEx for improving the world we live in your own small and delicious way!

Friday, February 14 - We had a very low-key Valentine's Day dinner  tonight at (one of the last) White Castles in Nashville.   Hey, go fancy or go home!!  We were comparing and contrasting this low-brow experience to the Waffle House dinner a couple of years ago, and we give the edge to the ol' WH, but we still had silly fun and the folks serving at WC could not have been nicer.
Here's to hearts and farts!!  

We spent much more on two drinks before dinner than we did at White Castle when we stopped in the Pop-up secret bar at The Noelle called "Love Sucks."  

Ashlee had the tequila-based "Your Brother's Hotter Anyway" and I had the bourbon-based "Booty Call."  They were both great and we always enjoy our visits to this funky home-town hotel.  

Saturday, February 15 - Blue skies and brown water can only mean one thing...hello New Orleans!!  We decided to take a long weekend trip over the Presidents Day holiday down to The Big Easy and points westward in Louisiana.  This was a bit of a make-up trip for the rearranging of plans we had to do over New Year's.

We grabbed a rental car, a nice little Toyota Camry, from the New Orleans airport and headed immediately west for our first time exploring Louisiana beyond The Big Easy.  We took I-310 over the mighty Mississippi River and continued rolling into Cajun Country.

Our first and only stop of the day was just under an hour from the airport at the famously elegant and historically important, Oak Alley Plantation in Vacherie, Louisiana.

You can actually stay on the property at Oak Alley Plantation in quaint cottages.  This was ours and we couldn't have been happier with our accommodations.  The weather was sunny and mild and we had a great afternoon strolling around the grounds and having a drink at their "Spirits" bar.

There is a restaurant on the grounds, but it's closed for dinner, so we had prearranged "room service" deliver us our dinner from there and it was waiting on us when we got in along with our own private table set up in the cottage's living room.  We had delicious salad; gumbo with sausage; red beans and rice; cheesecake for dessert; and a very nice bottle of their own Oak Alley Plantation sparkling wine.

Staying in the cottages also gives you 24/7 access to the grounds and the place takes on a spooky and magical air about it after dark.  No one was around when we visited the front of  The Big House after dinner.  With all its beauty and charm, Oak Alley Plantation does a good job of not hiding the fact of its shameful past regarding slavery.   There are interesting and humbling exhibits regarding the human beings who were held here against their wills for a very long time.  

Sunday, February 16 - A full breakfast was included with our stay at the cottage and it was served over at the restaurant on the plantation grounds, and it was a hum-dinger.  I think I won the menu choice competition with my choice of a 3-egg omelet stuffed with craw-fish as well as a craw-fish etouffee smothering the top of it with a biscuit and grits as well.  Wow! 

Before continuing west we stopped for a quick look at another huge plantation houseon the Evergreen Plantation just down the river from Oak Alley.  It is amazing the number of giant sugar cane plantations that stacked along both sides of the Mississippi in this area throughout history.

Our next stop was Baton Rouge and the campus of the reigning NCAA football champs, the LSU Tigers.  Representing the school in one of the nicest wild animal enclosures in the country is Mike VI, the Bengal-Siberian tiger.  Mike was looking like he had a wild Saturday night (which is not uncommon in Baton Rouge I hear) and was taking it easy (like the Sunday morning it was) when we visited him, but he did give us a sleepy glance at least.  

We continued northwest through Louisiana to the quaint town of Natchidotches where we would spend the night in the Steel Magnolias (yep, that one from the movie) House Bed and Breakfast, and in none other than the "Shelby Room."

The "Shelby Room" was awesome.  Adorned in her "signature color" of pink, it was a beautiful large room in front of the amazing house.  The bed was so tall Ashlee needed steps to get in it!!  

The city of Natchitoches (pronounced "Nack-o-dish") is as charming as it looks in the movie.  It's off the beaten path by a good ways and seems isolated and lost in time and history.  

One fairly "new" place we did find in historic Natchitoches was Cane River Brewing, but even this modern craft brewery is housed in a old historic cotton mill building that has been nicely brought back to life.  We each enjoyed a flight of their wares and took more with us for our evening plans.  

Look, watching one of our favorite movies ever, Steel Magnolias, on DVD in the lovely and comfortable living room that most of the movie itself was filmed in was special enough for us, but the most amazing fact that WE WERE THE ONLY GUESTS TONIGHT was mind-boggling!!  Even our hostess left after checking us in leaving us the whole house for the night!  We got some town-famous mini "meat pies" as take-out from Maglieaux's and a pizza from Domino's and the aforementioned craft beer from Cane River and we were set!!  We watched the entire movie, a special feature about the making of the movie, and most of the movie again with director commentary.  What a great and special night!  You know we love you more than our luggage!  

Monday, February 17 - Breakfast was included with our stay at the Steel Magnolias house.  And it was big and great.  Hand cooked by an 80-year-old sweet lady.  We ate at a large table in the beautiful dining room, but this was a good shot this morning of the table in the kitchen nook that was used in the movie for the card-playing scene the night before the kidney transplant.  

It was a long, 4-hour drive back to New Orleans, but we just couldn't miss staying at least one night in The Big Easy while we were in Louisiana.  The drive along I-10 is fascinating as a large parts of it are elevated over the swampy waters of the Atchafalaya National Wildlife Refuge and Maurpas Wildlife Management Areas.

Most of New Orleans was decked out in Mardi Gras swag as the big event was under a week away.  We got to enjoy some of the pageantry without all the craziness.  We checked into our excellent room at the Hyatt Centric Hotel in the French Quarter just a block off Bourbon Street (thanks Hotwire!) and headed out immediately into the fray that is The Big Easy.  

We walked over to pretty Congo Square which is steeped in history.  After finishing our "walking beers" that we got in a bar while crossing Bourbon Street, we stumbled into another great little beer bar across the street called The Black Penny and had a couple more libations.  Cheers, everyone!!  It's NOLA!!!  

We settled on the well-reviewed and close-by Napoleon House for dinner after reading they had muffuletta sandwiches.  They had 'em all right, and they were excellent!  As was my gator-sausage po'boy!  Man, the food in this town is not to be missed!  We got a great little nook-style table in this quaint and historic (circa 1914) bistro on Chartres Street.

We walked off our large dinner with a stroll up and down the often-imitated, but never-duplicated Bourbon Street as the fog started to settle in over the downtown high rises.  We were blessed with good weather on this trip and the humidity while high was reasonable.  We also came to realize on this trip that maybe we are more suited now for a bit quieter streets in NOLA like Rampart, Chartres and Royal instead of Bourbon.  With age comes wisdom...

Tuesday, February 18 - The fog remained until the morning shrouding Jackson Square and the beautiful St. Louis Cathedral in its veil.  We walked down to Cafe du Monde for their signature beignets and coffee.  A great jazz band had set up in front of the cafe's outdoor tables and gave us a great NOLA brass serenade for our last day here.  

We took in more of The French Quarter as we walked the streets wrapped in the colors of Mardi Gras.  Now we wished we had another day here...but we will back as soon as possible. 

Our table reservation at Cafe Amelie on Royal Street for lunch before heading to the airport had a great courtyard view for us.  This place also gets swelling reviews and the line was already starting when we walked up ten minutes before they opened their doors. 

Cafe Amelie is known for their chicken and andouille gumbo which was outstanding, but their take on poutine with a Cajun flare was amazing as well.  Again,  I think I won the menu ordering competition.  Sorry, Ashlee, but at least I let you try everything I ordered! 
The flight home was short and not bumpy (despite some icky weather) and we landed at rush-hour but had no trouble getting home in a normal amount of time.  Another great little trip in the books! 

Sunday, February 23 - We met up with our brother and sister-in-law, Andy and Paige, and our niece, Ella, today down in Kimball to check out the new Top of the Rock Restaurant and Brewery just outside the fancy new Jasper Highlands Development up on Jasper Mountain just off I-24.  I have been wanting to check this place out for a while now since they brew their own beer (a first for the county I grew up in) and brunch here today sounded like a good idea.  What a beautiful place and what a great meal! Everyone's food was great and the beer was good as well!  We will definitely be back here as soon as possible....say on my birthday weekend next month! 

The views at the restaurant and surrounding bluffs are second to none.  This view south toward South Pittsburg shows Long Island that splits the Tennessee River and the Shelby Rhinehart Bridge in front of it.  Dedicated to the late, great UT women's basketball coach, Pat Summit, in a clever pun on her name, this view is an impressive remembrance.  Can't wait to come back in the spring and fall to enjoy these views even more.

Tuesday, February 25 - We went to see the new film, Call of the Wild, tonight at the Roxy Theaters (recliners!) here in Lebanon thanks to "$5 Tuesdays."  It was a simple, enjoyable movie that we both enjoyed and made us both want to go back to Canada and Alaska.  

 Big thanks to Ashlee for biting the financial bullet and investing in a very fancy and modern Mirror Fitness System for our home.  It's delivery also made us clean up our messy sun porch so we could have a place to use it!  We are starting out slow, but it's a useful and easy-to-use tool in our effort to lose weight and get in better shape as we grow older.