May for days and June real soon and look who's 21 and legal now!

Monday, May 2 - After picking up Ashlee from the airport coming back from a cousins/girls cruise, we stopped by Phat Bites in Donelson for dinner and to wait out some of the rush hour traffic heading east toward home.  This place has been around for ages, but we've never been here, but our interest was peaked recently when we saw that the Food Network show, "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" had been here.  It's definitely a "dive" with a funky, Bohemian vibe, but the food was fresh and tasty.  Ashlee opted for the huge fish tacos and I had the excellent Cajun pasta.

Wednesday, May 4 - Thanks to the no-strings-attached "Concert Week" from Live Nation where tons of shows were just $25 with no fees or taxes, we went from five "maybe" shows to five "definite" shows as I scarfed up lawns seats at Ascend Amphitheater to see St. Paul and the Broken Bones/Fitz and the Tantrums; Train; David Gray; and O/A/R; plus decent lower-bowl seats at Bridgestone Arena to see NeedtoBreathe/One Republic!!  I guess our summer just go busier! 

Thursday, May 5 - Happy Cinco de Mayo! We kept it simple (and delicious) today with some take-out from Alberto's Taqueria # 2.  Who care if it's in a gas station? Their elote en vaso is awesome!

Saturday, June 7 - We missed this one in theaters earlier this year, so we went old-school and "rented" the movie, Cyrano, tonight off of Apple.  We loved it.  Great story, cool modern music and beautifully filmed.  It would have been nice to see this on the big screen for sure. 

Tuesday, May 10 - The pool is open for full-time business once again!!  We got a couple of new huge fun floats from Sam's Club to celebrate the reopening and the ushering in of summer 2022!!

Wednesday, May 11 - We went hear the great voice of LP tonight at The Ryman.  We've seen her here before, but only as an opener.  This was her first headlining show.   We had great seats in the front row of the balcony.  This was also our last rescheduled show because of Covid.  She put on a great show!   Beforehand, we had dinner and drinks at Assembly Food Hall across the street with help from some gift cards we got with a recent Nashville Predators ticket purchase.

Sunday, May 15 - We headed over to the west side of Nashville to try brunch at the Blue Moon Waterfront Grille which sits/floats in the Rock Harbor Marina just off the Cumberland River.  The food was very good and the boat drinks we ordered (photo above) were excellent as well.  We spent the rest of the day lounging in our pool as the temps were warm and the sky was sunny. 

Wednesday, May 18 - We flew up to Boston after work to start our 21st anniversary trip.  Not much to report tonight other than we finally got there (flight delay); finally got our rental car (a decent Jeep Cherokee with a sunroof); and finally got to our hotel room near the airport around 2 AM EST (a decent Doubletree - and the cookies were warm at least).   

Thursday, May 19 - Happy Anniversary from Boston!! 
And nothing says "Bahh-stan" like a morning run to the Dunkin' Donuts
(cuz "dey rahhck!"  - Jim Gaffigan).  We both did a little work from the hotel room this morning, waited on rush hour and the rain to (mostly) go away, and then headed south and then curled back northeast into and up through pretty Cape Cod.  

Our first stop was for local craft beer and a late lunch at Cape Cod Beer in Barnstable, Mass.  Both were tasty.  Our next stop was to check out The Three Sisters (photo above), three decommissioned lighthouses that served Nauset Beach starting in 1890.  They've since been replaced by the one taller Nauset Light whose beacon signal tells ships which lighthouse it is instead of these three little beauties.  They've also had to be moved due to beach erosion and saved by the National Park Service and are now on the National Register of Historic Places.  Thanks to AtlasObscura.com for the info and help finding these honeys. 

Our next stop was our hotel for the next couple nights at the end of the Cape Cod road in Provincetown.  We were staying at the swanky (adults only) Brass Key Guesthouse Hotel.  It's a beautiful place that  reminds of our favorite place to stay in Key West, The Eden House.  Makes sense since P-town is basically known as the Key West of the North.  We enjoyed a little of the daily happy hour with free wine and cheese before heading out for a stroll around town. 

Provincetown - history, art, and nature all rolled into one.  We parked our car and wouldn't need it for the next couple days since almost everything in P-town is walkable from our hotel.  

P-town is funky and fun like Key West, and maybe even a little more laid back.  We popped into a few shops even some were not open yet.  The in-season basically starts next week. 

We went "touristy" I guess for dinner tonight at The Lobster Pot...sorry, I meant
"Da Lahb-stahh Pahht."   We thought it was quaint and fun despite what some frequent visitors we met called it.  And the food, drinks and dessert were fantastic.

Dinner was great at The Lobster Pot, but Ashlee's sundae for dessert was amazing!  We were tired from our long day yesterday, so we headed back after dinner and enjoyed our nice room the rest of the evening. 

Friday, May 20 - We slept in this morning, enjoyed the complimentary breakfast at the hotel, and then took another leisurely stroll through P-Town, almost always in the shadow the notable 252' Pilgrim Monument, the tallest all-granite structure in the U.S.  We didn't get a chance to climb it...yet.   We stopped for some libations at Provincetown Brewing before heading to the pier to catch our ride. 

Our "ride" was a whale-watching boat tour with the Dolphin Fleet Company. 

Now look, we've been on a half dozen or so of these all over the U.S. and the world, but this one will probably never be beat.  Un-freaking-believable!  We happened up on a couple of humpback mothers and their calves who were feeding in this one area near our ship for what seemed like hours!!  What a show they put on.  Here's a nice whale tale pic...

and another one...

oh, and another one...

How about one of a whale feeding - never seen that before in person! Wow! 
The video below is probably just OK.  We've got tons of footage!!!  

The ride back was pretty and smooth, and we got good looks at all three lighthouses in the area including Race Point, Wood End (photo above) and Highland. 

We were starving when we got back from the whale watching, so we decided to skip happy hour at the hotel and go straight to dinner at the Patio American Grill.  My roasted local haddock (foreground) and Ashlee's shrimp and chorizo penne pasta were both excellent.  We enjoyed sitting outside to eat even though the breeze made it a bit cool.  We got lucky on the boat with warm temps and no wind. 

We headed back to Room 103 exhausted again from a fun day in P-town.  Our room was right next to the giant hot tub and regrettably Ashlee forgot to pack a swim suit.  I DID NOT FORGET!! The soak was tremendous! 

Saturday, May 21 - Our short time in P-town was over way too soon.  But we vow to come back!  What a great place!!  We enjoyed complimentary breakfast again at the hotel and headed south with a quick stop at the Chatham Lighthouse in the charming town of the same name (also worth more of a visit next time as well). 

As we eased closer to Boston and the airport for our (already) delayed flight home, it did give us time to stop at the very first ever Dunkin' Donuts in Quincy, Mass. (circa 1950).  We had a quick lunch here (and a donut or two, of course) before heading on into the busy chaos of Logan Airport and Boston. 

Saturday, May 21 - The flight back from Boston was delayed some more but we finally got off the ground around 6 PM EST, but not because of the fog still hanging around late in the day, or the weird incident of a woman being taken off the plane by the police when we landed back in Nashville.  Crazy!  

Sunday, May 22 - We went to see the new Downton Abbey A New Era film tonight at the Roxy Theaters (recliners!) here in town. We absolutely loved it...even the sad part at the end.  Can't wait for another one!  

Thursday, May 26 - We went to opening night of the new Top Gun Maverick movie in IMAX with our friends, Toney and Lisa, out in Cool Springs at the AMC Thoroughbred Theaters We also had dinner at J. Alexander's beforehand which as usual was delicious. The film was tremendous! Well worth the almost 2-year wait since Covid.  We can't wait to see it again locally here at our Roxy Theaters (recliners!) and in 4DX as well. 

Friday, May 27 - With temperatures too cool for the pool, but mild enough for a walk.  We went and checked out the latest Rock the Block at the Lebanon Square tonight.   It was overly crowded thanks to the square not being closed off to traffic (WTF?).  So, we dropped by The Cedar Tap for a drink and some flatbread pizza while Ashlee finished an ice cream cone from around the corner.  Oh well, onward and upward. 

Saturday, May 28 - The cooler than usual weather gave us a chance today to do some kayaking at Center Hill Lake up the Taylor Creek arm to Fancher's Falls.  Man, what a beauty!  Well worth the hour-long paddle there and back.

Sunday, May 29 - Well, the tanning part is a bit of a stretch for us, but you get the idea.  It was a slightly cool holiday weekend in the pool for us, but we still had a lot of fun with good libations, good food off the grill and good friends stopping by for a visit.  

Monday, May 30 - Happy Memorial Day in the pool!  It was a little warmer today and we had a nice time in and out of the pool along with some friends who stopped by.  The highlight of the day may have been sampling the Hard Mountain Dew which everyone kind of liked.  Hold me back if they ever make Hard Sun Drop!!