Let's FALL into AUTUMN in Vegas, Mandy

Tuesday, September 21 - We headed over to the Hollywood 24 Theaters in Nashville tonight to catch five episodes of one of our favorite classic sit-coms ever, "The Golden Girls" on the big screen.  We haven't laughed that much in a movie theater in a long, long time.   Beforehand, we had a tasty dinner at the always great Vui's Vietnamese Kitchen in nearby Berry Hill. 

Friday, September 24 - We headed to Nashville tonight to see actor/comedian, Michael Rappaport, at Zanies.  He's in one of our favorite movies of all time, Beautiful Girls, in which he's very funny. and he's uber-liberal which we like.  We had VIP seating and were even supposed to meet him after the show, but Covid shit-canned that.  Thanks, you stupid virus.  This was his first time in Nashville and he was very funny as was our local host for the evening.  With our VIP seating next to the stage Michael even incorporated us into his act by first asking if I was a vegetarian and closing the show by asking Ashlee if she'd ever done crack cocaine!  LOL.  

Saturday, September 25 - The line-up was just too good to miss Pilgrimage Fest this year, so we loaded up today for our third visit to the Harlinsdale Farm in Franklin.   We were joined by our friends Danny and Brenda (who are also letting us crash at their place nearby over the weekend) and Chris and Tarryn coming back into town from way up in Indiana.   Seems that a lot of folks are Jonesing to be outside for some good music and good time these days as it was announced that general admission tickets were SOLD OUT.   It was also comforting to know everyone in attendance was either vaccinated against Covid or a had a negative test within 48 hours of the festival. 

Our favorite performance of Day 1 was Amos Lee on the smaller of the two main stages.  We were able to get pretty close and enjoy his great vocals and tight band.  

We started the day with a good show by Houndmouth on the main stage who we've never seen play live before.  Better Than Ezra's sunset show and headliner, The Black Keys closed out the day on the main stage as well.    We had some great food in the food truck oasis and some tasty libations throughout the day as well. We also had incredibly nice weather all weekend

Sunday, September 26 - The smallest, shortest and BEST set of Pilgrimage Fest DAY 2 was Butch Walker in the American Triangle Tent.  But then again, Butch always brings it.  

The rest of Day 2 was filled with solid shows by Jamestown Revival, The Black Pumas (our first time seeing them live) and an amazing sunSET by Cage the Elephant who remain weird, remain entertaining, and remain rock-and-rollers.  We closed out the day and the weekend with veteran (makes us feel old to say that) festival players and headliners, The Dave Matthews Band.  Another great festival and another positive experience that will probably having us coming back again.

Saturday, October 2 - We had to go to Chattanooga today to get our permanent renters, Alexis and Hunter, settled into Ashlee's mom's house (goodbye for now, AirBnB), so we went a little further south first to Ringgold, Georgia, to see our niece, Ella, practice for a horse show next weekend.  This is her atop her family's newest horse, the beautiful Fred.  Great shot, Ashlee! 

Monday,  October 4 - We've gotten back to walking some at the Don Fox Park and were rewarded tonight with not only the benefits of exercise, but a pretty nice light show too. 

Friday, October 8 - Will Hoge and 3rd and Lindsley for the first of a two-night stand there.  Will's one of our favorite local artists, and I personally consider him the "Springsteen of Nashville."   We will be seeing a lot of Will again soon as he is scheduled to play on the Rock Boat Cruise that we are taking in early November.  Tonight's show was 

Saturday, October 9 - We had dinner and did a bit of ghost hunting in the supposedly haunted woods at Short Mountain Distillery in nearby Woodbury tonight with our friends Bethany, Wendy and Charly.  Dinner was good as were the cocktails beforehand.  The ghost-hunting didn't yield a whole lot, but it was a beautiful starry night with lovely temps for a walk in the haunted woods. 

Monday, October 11 - No Time to Die - man, are we gonna miss Daniel Craig as James Bond - he's the best ever in our opinion and his swan song film that we saw today at the Roxy Theaters (recliners!) here in town was awesome.  Clocking in at over two and half hours, it moved really well and was a great story.  We even liked the controversial ending (spoiler alert:  he bites it).   

Thursday, October 14 - We jumped on a plane to VEGAS, BABY!! after work today with our friend, Bethany.  We got in pretty late, but still walked around a little in The Venetian where we were staying to take in that Vegas Vibe.  Our shared room was big and roomy and even had a decent view of the High Roller Ferris Wheel all light up at night. (photo above)  

Friday, October 15 - The weather was beautiful during our whole stay albeit a bit cool for the pools at The Venetian.  This was our first time in Vegas during the fall.  I actually worked (some) from the room today while the girls shopped and wandered around The Strip.  We got together for a happy hour beer at Trustyworthy Brewing located in The Grand Canal Shoppes mall later that afternoon. 

We got dressed up nice and headed out to an early dinner and we did  it Old-School Vegas, baby!   The Golden Steer Steakhouse is a historic spot that's been a mecca for famous names for decades (our table was near Elvis' famous corner table).  The ambiance inside was awesome.  The wait staff were excellent.  We had our Caesar salads made right at the table!  The food was amazing as well.  What a fun and cool old piece of nostalgia.  Now if we could have only rented this awesome vintage convertible sitting out front!! 

A rare photo of me not in cargo shorts/pants.  Most people I know would be shocked.  But it was worth it for The Golden Steer.  Note the awesome Old Vegas ambiance background! 

Speaking of vintage!  He writes the songs, baby!  After dinner, we went to the Barry Manilow concert and we were in VIP seating right ON STAGE!!  Well, stage right, that is.  He is in residence at The International Theater at the Westgate Resort and he's trying to break Elvis' (there's that name again) record for consecutive shows there (back when it was The Vegas Hilton).  Barry was great and had tons of energy for being 78 years young!   We all had a great time especially when he popped out right in front of us during the show.

Saturday, October 16 -  Besides, Barry, our other main reason for coming to Vegas this time was today when I started my $1,500 WSOP poker tournament that I won entry into online the year before last (thanks, Covid) and finally got to cash in today to play live. I played the Monster Stack No Limit Hold 'Em Event # 30.  It was a long, grueling day but I managed to get my starting stack up to 120K at the dinner break.  But two devastating cooler hands in a row did me in late tonight and I was out.  Frustrating and disappointing, but still a fun experience again.  I shall return!! 

Sunday, October 17 - The girls had a spa day today and did some more shopping, so I rambled around and had some good craft beer and played a little more poker (again to no success...oh well). We've been amazed at watching the new MSG Sphere under construction as part of The Venetian domain.  It's going to be a state-of-the-art music venue and we can't wait to see who they might bring in for it! 

Monday, October 18 - It turned into another day apart for us today as I decided to change my flight so I could get back to Nashville early and attend the Monday Night Football Game.  The girls kept their late flight and I was able to pick them up from the airport after the game which worked out kind of perfectly.  The one thing we did share today was watching the amazing Oscar-winning documentary, My Octopus Teacher, on Netflix on our separate plane rides home.  I watched it first and was astounded at how moving it was and recommended it to Ashlee, and then she and Bethany in turn watched it coming home as well.  
Thanks for the good times as always, Vegas.  We shall return! 

 

Friday, October 22 - We dropped by the opening day of our new craft beer bar on The Lebanon Square called The Cedar Tap today.  It was crowded and the food was a bit limited and underwhelming, but the beer was good.  Things will hopefully improve in all aspects.  A great addition to our little town!  Cheers! 

Saturday, October 23 - Our tour of local J. Alexander's restaurants continued tonight in Cool Springs with dinner at that location.  With the 2-hour wait for a table, we had to sit at the bar, but the food was just as good there!  Time to go to Memphis at hit the trifecta! 

Sunday, October 24 - We were lucky to grab a couple seats tonight to the last of the SOLD OUT shows for the incredible 8-night-stand by Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit at The Ryman.  It was worth it.  What a knock-out of a show!  The opener, Adia Victoria, is a lanky, sultry blues-singing devil.  She was outstanding!  And Jason's just a living legend and his band are amazing!  Despite not knowing a lot of his songs, every one played was phenomenal.  Best show at The Mother Church in a long, long while! 
Before the show, we had some excellent pizza at our first visit to Slim and Husky's in the ultra-crowded (and ultra-cool) 5th and Broadway complex across the street.