Aging like fine wine, look who's 49!!

Monday, August 16 - We went to see James Taylor and Jackson Browne at The Bridgestone Arena tonight with our friend, Bridgette.  This is our fist time seeing ol' JT, but we have a tense history with ol' JB who played The Ryman  several years back without belting out one hit...we were kinda steamed! This time he did some hits and was pretty darn good.  James Taylor was excellent as well.  We had burgers before the show in the arena at a Rotier's kiosk.  They were tasty and we now regret never going to the original location on Elliston Place (circa 1945) before it closed recently.  

Tuesday, August 17 - We were back at The Wilson County/State Fair tonight with Ashlee's co-worker and our friend, Danny, and his wife, Kim, who had neither ever been to the fair here, plus our local friend, Bethany.  Our first stop was the yard-bird exhibits and I apologized to this fellow above about all his cousins out there roasting on a stick.  Delicious!  We did have some great food including a thick-cut baloney sandwich and some deep fried Oreos. And the temps and humidity were actually reasonable enough for us to stay a good while and see most of this giant well-run fair. 

Tuesday, August 24 - We saw the new Respect film tonight at our local Roxy Theaters ($5 night, free popcorn and recliners!).  Since we never got to see Aretha Franklin play live, I guess this is as close as we are gonna get.  The movie was well-done, but did seem to avoid some touchier subjects and wash over some glaringly negative aspects of Franklin's life that weren't so good.  

Friday, August 27 - We headed out tonight to catch the comedian drag queen, Aunt Mary Pat, at the Lipstick Lounge in East Nashville.   We've been a fan of his/her hilarious routine on social media for a while now.  The show was fun, but we were definitely out of our element a bit.  We had dinner beforehand at East Side Bahn Mi that was simply outstanding!  We also had a beer afterwards at Crazy Gnome Brewing completing our East Nashville Night.  

The first birthday present of this year's Ashleextravaganza arrived today.  It was this cool clear toy candy cat hand-made at Shane Confectionary up in Philadelphia.  They are the oldest candy shop in the U.S.  Time to do some kitty-nibbling!! 

Saturday, August  28 - As the AirBnb windfall continues down in Chattanooga, we worked most of the day down there today getting it ready for the Labor Day weekend visitors.  After three positive reviews from three consecutive stays, we had an open weekend and it was time for a little deep-cleaning, lawn care and other chores.   

Sunday, August 29 - Well, we were supposed to see Harry Connick, Jr. at the new FirstBank Amphitheater outside Franklin tonight, but Mother Nature had other ideas.  After a two-hour weather delay and a command to evacuate the site due to lightning, we gave up and headed out only to hear Harry took the stage around 9:30.   Too late, too wet, too bad.  The new facility is beautiful, but getting in and out is a bit of a nightmare, and this particular situation was not handled well.  We may have to give this place a few years to work out the kinks before we come back...if it's even still around.

Wednesday, September 1 -  Forget fancy, expensive birthday cakes.  The cake that makes Ashlee (and me) the happiest is this Chantilly Cream Vanilla Bean Sheet Cake from Trader Joe's.  There's not a better-tasting, moister cake around and we will fight you if you disagree!!   Probably going to go get another one before Ashlee's birthday because this one isn't lasting long,

Friday, September 3 - We stopped by the new Seven Cedars Butcher Block today on the square here in Lebanon and got some beautiful locally-raised beef steaks for grilling out over the upcoming long holiday weekend.  

Saturday, September 4 - We spent a fun day day and evening in Nashville today serving as tour guides to Ashlee work friend, Karen, and her boyfriend, Tony, who were wrapping up a long cross-country trip with another visit to Music City.  Before meeting up with them, we had a great lunch at Homegrown Taproom in Donelson.  Our first stop as tour guides was the always-fun Marathon Motor Works Complex where we had drinks at the newly-updated and expanded Corsair Distillery and Taproom.   We then wandered around the rest of the complex checking out some shops and the cool displays of the old car manufacturing equipment and then into the (new? it was to us) Tennessee Legend Distillery for a tasting of their wares which were surprisingly good.  I grabbed us a bottle of their Dirty Cream liqueur for our future coffee additions at home!  Delicious! 

We did some food-touring next including a stop at the Martin's BBQ down in Nolensville where it all got started.  Finding some Nashville hot chicken for Tony was next on the agenda and after finding out it would be an hour and fifteen minute wait for some of it at Prince's on Nolensville Road, we decided to head to East Nashville instead and check out the long-time staple there, Bolton's Spicy Chicken and Fish.  A few tears and snot-bubbles later, we had some really HOT chicken at this classic institution.  It's cool to know that Anthony Bourdain actually stopped here during his adventures in Nashville.  Prince's may be famous, but Bolton's is where it's at! 

Our next planned stop was nearby.  The always-fun CAMP Bar presented by the 308 Bar is a staple for us with out-of-town visitors.  Their national-park themed cocktails are always fun and all about presentation.  We represented the Smokies, Mammoth Cave, Glacier and Yosemite NP in our selections tonight.  

Our last stop of the night was right next door at the legendary Dino's (Restaurant?) and Dive Bar.  This was another Anthony Bourdain stop when in Nashville. and it was somewhere Tony and Karen had actually been before on their last visit here.  But we never have been in here despite being in Bar 308/CAMP several times.  It's definitely a dive, and we just had drinks since we'd been eating all day, but it was fun to say we've actually been inside now before it gets closed down with all the changes in East Nashville lately...you just never know.  

Wednesday, September 8 - Tonight's the night for BFFFL Draft # 22 - Ashlee and I settled in on the couch tonight for another draft in the Burgess Falls Fantasy Football League.  I stole her star from last year by picked up Derrick "King" Henry with an early draft position while Ashlee stewed with a much lower draft pick.  In the end we were pretty satisfied with our teams and look forward to another season on the virtual gridiron against each other and our friends. 

Sunday, September 12 - Happy Birthday, Ashlee!!!....wait, where is she....?  With all the Covid mess over the past year-plus, Ashlee was Jonesing for a cruise.  Her and her girlfriend, Mollie, found one they just had to take and I told her that was fine with me since I couldn't go.  It's her birthday after all.  She had a great time and had so much built up credit and freebies on the cruise, she didn't even use the Celebrity Cruise gift cards I got her.  Just save 'em for the next one I guess!!