THE BIG TWO-OHHHHHH!!!

Friday, April 30 - We headed east this evening toward Cookeville to the little community of Baxter to spend the weekend with our friends, Wendy and Charly, at their sweet little cabin they bought last year.  Tomorrow is Wendy's birthday, so they invited us up to celebrate and relax at their new place.  It is a great place with two decks and very peaceful surroundings.  

Saturday, May 1 - We head to the cool little town of Granville today to spend the day sippin' some shine and munching on some cornbread at a festival being held there.  We've only driven through this area, so it was a good chance for us to check out this neat area almost surrounded entirely by water.

Hooo-weeee!! That's a lotta fun for five bucks!!  The Granville Cornbread and Moonshine Bash was a ton of fun.  We had good food, tons of samples and cocktails from several Tennessee distilleries, live music and other small town delights today.

Another great visit was to the brand new (it opened today!) Jim Beam Whiskey Decanter Museum in Granville.  This is a private collection belonging to Charles Barrett who graciously gave them to the town as they were willing to display them...all 1,600 of them!!  We even got to speak with Charles for a few minutes as he told us of his forty years of collecting these beauties from all over the country.  Thanks so much, Charles, for your time and your generosity.   

Monday, May 3 - We enjoyed another Rick Steves Monday Travel Show online tonight as he explored some of Europe's natural wonders with us.  We got several good ideas from the show and can't wait to start hopping over the pond again! 

Saturday, May 8 - We headed downtown late this afternoon to check out the new shopping and dining complex known as 5th and Broadway.  It takes up the space once covered by the old convention center in a prime area downtown across from the Bridgestone Arena and the end of famous Broadway and its honky-tonks.  It's impressive to say the least.  Tons of places to eat and some unique shopping too.  We had an early dinner at Oke Poke in the Assembly Food Hall.  These Hawaiian poke bowls filled with shrimp (Ashlee's) and teriyaki chicken (mine) were delicious and filling.

We sorta saved room for some dessert at Jeni's Ice Cream...the line was short which is very rare at any of their locations let alone a busy new downtown location on a Saturday night - our "single" cones were massive and more than enough.

Well, it's back to business in downtown Music City looks like.  The party buses, wagons, etc. were packed tonight with folks tonight.  Hope they've all been vaccinated! Yikes!!  After eating and a bit more looking around, we chose to get the hell on up outta there!! 

Sunday, May 9 - In honor of Mother's Day today:  we give you some recent kitten adoptees who happen to have some very familiar names.  We miss you, Evie-baby! 

Hey, that's close enough in the spelling to honor my mom as well!  We miss you, Nore! 

Wednesday, May 19 - Happy 20th Anniversary to us!!! Man, where did the time go?  We had planned on being in Costa Rica, then Florida, then just decided to make it a staycation at home and in Chattanooga this year.  Too much Covid, too many work issues, too much life going on I guess...

Not my best picture...but, my baby looks as great as ever!  Here's where it all went down 20 years ago today as the rain came down and we were forced to move our planned outdoor wedding inside The Renaissance Commons in the Chattanooga Art District which turned out to be a pretty nice ceremony after all.   We had a great dinner nearby at Tony's Pasta (who catered our wedding) and marveled at how the time has flown by.  

Thursday, May 20 - After taking care of some AirBnB biz here in Chattanooga today, we had a great lunch at an old favorite of ours, Urban Stack, which we haven't been to in ages.

The light-switch project (see previous blog entry) is now officially DONE!! 

Friday, May 21 - Pool time!  Finally!! Our two new floats for this season are awesome! 

Saturday, May 22 - more pool time!!

Sunday, May 23 -  We loaded up this morning, met our friend, Bethany, in Gladeville, and then continued along I-840 to Arrington to finally check out the Tennessee Renaissance Festival.  Since it's in its 35th year, figured we oughta check it out...and it was fun!  Kinda hot, but fun. We really enjoyed seeing Castle Gwynn up close even though we still could not go inside because of Covid.  Started in 1970, and it's still not finished!   Most of the festival is set up under shady trees which really helps and although we didn't get to see everything (the jousting is in the sun), we did enjoy the visit.

By the time we were ready for lunch at the festival, the lines were so long at the food vendors, we just decided to head out and eat lunch in a more timely and comfortable place.  Jack Brown's Burger and Beer Joint on the square in Murfreesboro was just the ticket!  We had some tasty burgers and good craft beers (in the air-conditioning!) and it was Bethany's first visit, so we were happy to introduce her to one of our regional favorites. 

Tuesday, May 26 - Ashlee has planted over 70 flowers in our front and back yards over the last couple days, turning our home into a wonderland of flora and blooms including this beautiful orange hibiscus touched with some early morning rain.

We

Wednesday, May 27 - Woo! Hoo! Our first AirBnB booking for Evie's Northshore Bungalow in Chattanooga!! We hope to open for rentals by July and this booking is for late September!  Thanks, Katie!! 

Friday, May 28 - We headed down to Murfreesboro this evening to pick up a daybed for our new AirBnB and enjoyed this beautiful rainbow as we drove along I-840.  We had a delicious dinner at BoomBozz Craft Pizza and Taphouse also.  So good, in fact, we lost track of time and got to the store to pick up the day-bad 10 minutes after they closed at 8 PM...doh!  Hey, we got Covid 19 on the run folks. Maybe it's time to stay open to at least 9 PM on a Friday night, dontcha think? 

Sunday, May 30 - Hey look who won the Indy 500 today for the fourth time! Not bad for an old fart!! Hey, look who met 10 years at the Indy 500.  I thought this Facebook post was pretty funny commemorating Helio's win and Ashlee's early selfie with him. 

Monday, May 31 - We spent Memorial Day at Club Rob and Ashlee's doing some floating (still kinda too cool to swim), grilling and chilling with some friends.  Bring on summer!!