July and August 2020 - The Weirdness Continues

July and August 2020 are still going to be a big "who knows" with Covid-19 spiking again here and around the U.S. So, it's another couple of months of "not much" when it comes to getting out and about... 

Our new picnic table from Lowe's is a nice addition to our backyard oasis.  Ashlee's idea, not mine.  But I have to admit it's pretty sweet, and will be put a to a lot of use, especially during our upcoming pool party on July 4th.  

Saturday, July 4 - We hosted an Independence Day/March-to-July Catch-Up Pool Party today with over a dozen people in attendance including some out-of-towners who came a long way like our friends, Chris and Tarryn, who now live in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and Ashlee's (new-to-her) cousins: Leslie and her daughter, Lee-Ann, who drove down from Cincinnati.  We also celebrated several birthdays between March and today as well as even on graduation of Lee-Ann from college.  Congrats!!  We had a fun day of  pool time, tacos, snacks and adult libations around the pool and went well into the night when all our neighbors put on a pretty good free fireworks show for us on all sides of our property. 

Hats off to the owners of Mark's Specialty Seafood Truck for hooking us up with their conch fritter mix they use and to Ashlee for doing a great job frying them as an added snack to today's festivities.  

Monday, July 6 - We both had a rare day-off today that wasn't a holiday or a vacation day.  With the weather predicted to be cloudy, but not rainy, we decided to do some kayaking from Center Hill Lake to the base of Lower Burgess Falls.  It was a ton of fun and we did pretty well.  In fact, our paddling skills are definitely better than my selfie-taking skills.   Our matching Florida Key Brewing Company visors look pretty good too! 

Here's a much better pic of the falls and Ashlee in her new-to-her Jackson kayak.  Despite owning it for over a year now, this was sadly our first outing in it.  Well, it was dandy christening!  We are vowing to get out on the water more this fall with a return trip here when the leaves turn maybe, and another paddle up to the base of nearby Fancher's Falls as well.

Ashlee and I both got a free year of AppleTV Plus recently and we devoured Season 1 of their awesome original series "The Morning Show."  Amazing performances by all three stars and a great supporting cast as well.  Can't wait for Season 2!!   It was also great to watch it on our den TV thanks to our new Amazon Fire TV Stick that Ashlee bought.  Thanks, hon!! 

Friday, July 10 - We rewarded ourselves after a week of smoothie-dieting with a couple of fresh pies from the new pizza place here in Lebanon, 615 Pizza Company.  They were terrific!  

With the recent update of our den with wallpaper removed, new paint and redone wood floors, we also rearranged our 21-collage layout and we are pretty happy with the result!  Now the water damage from a roof leak on our newly painted ceiling is something different.....[insert expletive here]

Wednesday, July 16 - Ashlee got a VERY EARLY birthday present from me today, but I just couldn't wait to give them to her and she definitely couldn't wait to receive them.    Our friend, Mollie, told Ashlee about these awesome sterling silver cat charms from Tiffany and Company and she loved them immediately.  It seemed like a great gift idea for me, so I bought two and had them engraved for our two cats who have passed on in tribute to them: MBL (Mabel) and M.S.B. (Ms. Bea).  Happy early birthday, Ashlee!! 

Saturday, July 18 - We are officially stalkers I guess.  Today we followed Mark's Specialty Seafood food truck to a new-to-us area winery for lunch.  Avian Glen Winery in nearby Smyrna doesn't have the ambiance of some of our other favorite regional wineries, and their products are a little too sweet, but we enjoyed the visit and the free tastings. Our friend, Lisa, went with us, and we bought her lunch and she bought all of us a bottle of their blackberry wine which we all agreed was their best.  We had more of Mark's amazing conch fritters along with a spicy perch sandwich for me, and a grouper reuben that the ladies split.  We headed back home (after a quick beer stop for me in Murfreesboro) and got immediately in the pool for the rest of the day since it was salaciously hot.  

Thursday, July 23 - Doris says our first tomato grown on the patio is ready to pick!  And we did just that today.  Congrats to Ashlee on her first-ever homegrown tomato!  Hmmm,  "Doris and the Mater" - sounds like a good title for a children's book...

Thursday, July 23 - Thanks Disney+ for the up-close look at the amazing Broadway musical, "Hamilton" on our TV tonight..  It was a lot better view (and the original cast) from what we saw in Chicago back in 2018  from the nosebleed seats that still cost and arm and a leg!  

And....we're fostering again.  Meet, Audrey, on the left, and Hank(y Panky) on the right.  Ashlee agreed to watch over these little guys until they find homes which shouldn't take long because they are adorable and sweet.  Audrey had a bit of medical drama, but is doing better now.  Thanks to our cat-rescue organization, Beanie's Kitten Care, for the great pic of Audrey at the vet.  Ashlee got this adorable shot of Hank as he is ready to go outside and face the great big world immediately.  Nothing scares him! 

Friday, July 24 - Doris got here first float of 2020 today as we finally got here favorite peacock cleaned off and pool-ready.

Saturday, August 1-We kicked the new month off with a sit-down-at-a-restaurant dinner at Homegrown Taproom over in Donelson.  The place was super-clean and the staff all were observing Covid-19 safety protocols (unlike at Cherokee Steakhouse a few weeks ago...yikes!).  The food and libations were great and our friend, Nate, met us there as well.  It ALMOST felt normal....

Saturday, August 8 - We took a road trip today to try out some fresh-water snorkeling in the Conasauga River in the Chattahoochie/Oconee National Forest in SE Tennessee just north of the Georgia state line.  The water was incredibly clear and it was a ton of fun.  We saw several small trout, darters and tad-poles, and I even found a life-jacket whistle and a shiny quarter on the river bottom!  This would be something we would do again if we get the chance perhaps on a less crowded day than a hot Saturday when this popular area is also being used as a swimming hole thus scaring off many of the jaw-dropping 76 varieties of native fish in these waters.  

We were very fortunate to snag one of these sweet stable suites to stay overnight in after our snorkeling adventure at the beautiful Walnut Hill Farm in nearby Dalton, Georgia. These rooms are usually reserved for family and friends of folks getting married at this beautiful venue, but since Covid-19 has put a squash on big-gatherings like weddings, the owners put these rooms up for availability on AirBnb.

Our room was plush and beautiful, and if you are going to have "just one life" it might as well be with a giant shower like this one!  

We headed into town for dinner and after a bit of searching (and a beer or two at the Dalton Brewing Company), we stumbled up on the Baja Coop where we had some awesome burrito bowls. 

Sunday, August 9 -  After a leisurely sleep-in, we headed home but made a couple stops on the way.  Our niece, Ella, had a riding lesson at Willow Tree Farms in nearby Ringgold, Georgia, so we stopped for a visit with her and Ashlee's sister, Paige.  Here's Ella atop Blue who is a real beauty.

Willow Tree Farms is a pretty neat place with not only horses, but a variety of other animals including these adorable  Scottish Highland mini-cows, Teddy and Clair, who were enjoying the hot day in a pretty little creek that flows through the property.

And they got llamas too!! 

Our second stop was for lunch at Market South in Chattanooga (aren't these cool hanging plant fixtures?) where we had some beer from Five Wits Brewing and some tasty lunch choices from their high-end food-court.  They were doing a great job with Covid protection procedures, but you can tell they are hurting in terms of business retail.  We sure hope they survive because it's such a great place. 

Saturday, August 15 - We were back in Chattanooga today checking our newest great-nephew, Ronin, who was born recently to our nephew, Matt, and his wife, Sherrae.  Afterwards, we stopped by the tiny Big Frog Brewing over in nearby Red Bank for a couple of libations and met up with our friend, Bill, who was in town sadly for the recent passing of his sister.  Life starts, life stops with a few good beers in between I guess.

 

Sunday, August 16 - We got sort of a last-minute invitation today by our friends, Wendy and Charly, to head up to Center Hill Lake near Cookeville and go out on their newly-acquired-to-them pontoon boat.  The weather was great and we couldn't pass that up!  We had a fun day swimming and relaxing on this beautiful lake.  We also got to tour their sweet little weekend cabin near the lake they recently purchased.
We got home in time to entertain our own couple of guests as Ashlee's cousin, Allison, and her husband, Greg, were passing thru town.  We got some tasty salad and pizza from the new and nearby 615 Pizza and talked and laughed late into the evening out on our patio.  It was a good (and rare) day of hanging out with friends during these crazy Covid times.

Monday, August 17 - We hung out with our pals, Wendy and Charly, again today in downtown Nashville to check out the newly-opened and swanky  rooftop bar, White Limozeen, atop the very cool and new Graduate Hotel.  We had dinner and drinks at this Dolly Parton-inspired everything-pink haven for bachelorette parties, but still had a good time despite being out of our element a bit.  They did an impressive job with social distancing and Covid-19 spread prevention which we appreciated.

My pricey cocktail at White Limozeen was the Velvet Tuxedo, a milk punch whiskey libation that was quite tasty, but the flower in my ice cube was the coolest thing about it.  Ashlee had their fancy and delicious take on a pina colada called Another Day in Paradise.

I call this one "Dudley Down Under."  Our cats are so artistic! 

Friday, August 21 - Ashlee's cousin, Allison, and her husband, Greg, were coming back through on their trip today and flying out of Nashville tomorrow morning, so since the weather was iffy, we decided to meet back up downtown rather than on our patio.  We picked them up from their hotel and headed to East Nashville to check out Camp, a new national-park-themed bar set up where our favorite speakeasy, No. 308, used to be.  Their drink selections were named after national parks and all of them were great, but my "Glacier" - their take on a white Russian - was served on its own giant slab of ice (i.e. glacier), so I think I won (and Allison since she ordered one also) for best choice.

Ashlee and Greg split the American Samoa tropical drink which was pretty cool as well and very tasty evidently.  We also had a second round that included Mammoth Cave for me, The Everglades for Allison, The Grand Canyon for Greg and The Hawaii Volcanoes for Ashlee.

Saturday, August 22 - We got take-out from a new restaurant in Mt. Juliet today call The Lost Cajun which is evidently a nationwide chain.  They messed our order up a bit, but the food was good enough to get it again sometime.  

Sunday, August 23 - We went to a concert, yes, a concert tonight! We saw Nashville-based singer/songwriter, Matthew Perryman Jones, at City Winery - Live music again...finally!!   This was our first time seeing this talented balladeer and this was his first full show of this crazy year as well.  (This great pic was stolen from City Winery's Facebook page, but I figure it's good advertising for them.) MPJ was fantastic as was his backing vocalist and steel guitar/harmonica player. He had a great opener as well, Hannah Miller, who is also based here locally.  This gives us such hope for the future of live music until this pandemic crap is past us. 

Musical memory, MPJ's opening song:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zkyt-Mb2iiQ

I stole this shot from Ashlee because it's just so good! 

Saturday, August 29 - We headed over to Mt. Juliet today to their very nice Charlie Daniels (RIP) Park to catch up with one of our favorite food trucks, The Grilled Cheeserie, for lunch, but were drawn in by the Tennessee Tatercakes  food truck instead.  We had to try this new-to-use street food and it was excellent!  Ashlee got the Mexican-style and I got the buffalo chicken (and pimento cheese - sorry, Grilled Cheeserie, we will catch you on the flip side).  A tatercake is basically a mashed potato pancake lightly fried and then topped with all sorts of goodies.  Our friend, Bethany, met us and we all had a nice meal outdoors at a picnic table there in the park.

 After a little pool time that we weren't expecting to get with predicated rainy weather, we headed to Watertown (now in a downpour) tonight to catch the new silly comedy sequel, Bill and Ted Face the Music, at the Stardust Drive-In Theater (who just celebrated their 17th anniversary! Wow!).  Why don't we come here more often?  What a fun place!  Excellent!!  The rain let up and the movie was silly, but enjoyable, as was our inexpensive dinners there.  Thanks to Bethany for sticking with us on this endeavor as well for a pretty fun Saturday from start to finish.    

Man, do we miss traveling during all this Covid mess.  So much so, that we bought a piece of the infamous carpet from the Nashville Airport as a door mat They are replacing the well-known and well-trodden carpet currently and since our feet have graced it many times, it seemed like a fun thing to have, plus it keeps it out of the landfill.  Stamped with their BNA airport code, this rug pattern was adored around the world and now we own a piece of it.  It only sat by the pool for this photo op (for now).  It's current location will be at our front door.