The MARCH into APRIL and Springtime!

Sunday, March 5 - We had a nice Sunday fun day today with drive down southeast to put some fresh flowers on Evelyn's grave at the Stateline Cemetary on Nickajack Lake.  Sunny did her best to impress Mama Carroll. 

On the way home, we got a little hike in just before sunset. Here's Sunny and Ashlee overlooking Big Falls at Old Stone Fort State Park in Manchester.  We also got a nice view of Blue Holes Falls just upstream here on the Little Duck River.  

Afterwards we enjoyed a couple brews (a golden ale for Ashlee, a stout for me) out on the very nice patio at Common John Brewing in Manchester as well.  This was our first visit here together.  We appreciated them being open so late on a Sunday and very dog-friendly.  

Wednesday, March 8 - We attended the first-ever SOLD-OUT comedy showcase at Cedar City Brewing with our friends, Curtis and Kate tonight.  It was good deal as a Mug Club member here.  We got four great comedians and a pretty funny host for our $10 tickets.  Rumor is this might become a regular thing here which sounds great to us! 

Sunday, March 19 - It was a full house (or backyard) for Sunny's one-year birthday party today with six of her golden retriever friends from up in Portland where she's boarded sometimes.  Two other smaller dogs were in attendance as well - Coco of the Danny and Brenda clan, and Lizzy from up in Gallatin with her owner, Bridgette.  A handful more humans came too for a nice afternoon, despite some frigid early March temps.  But the Solo Stove and some hot toddies kept us pretty warm overall.   Thanks to Ella, our niece, for the great picture here. 

Sunny and her birthday gifts!!  What to open first?!?!? 

Friday, March 24 - We headed down to check out Yappy Hour at Mayday Brewing in Murfreesboro tonight after work.  There were a lot of sweet golden retrievers on site (some were available for adoption) and the weather was perfect to hang out on the patio with them and have a couple of craft brews too. 

Sunday, March 26 - We attended the SOLD OUT Jason Isbell documentary Running with our Eyes Closed tonight at The Belcourt Theater with Jason and the filmmaker, Sam Jones, in attendance.  Thanks to our pals, Wendy and Charly, for coming along.  Beforehand, we had a great dinner at the nearby restaurant, Sushi 88.  The film was excellent and the Q and A session after the showing was interesting with both artists.  

We headed into Nashville earlier in the afternoon to do a little shopping and exploring.  We stopped by the great new West Nashville location for Bearding Iris Brewing and enjoyed a couple of pints out in the warm sunshine.  Next, we headed over to the 12 South area where I had another craft brew while Ashlee did some dress shopping.  We got parked at The Belcourt for free early and had a pre-dinner drink at Hopdoddy just around the corner from the theater. 

Monday, April 3 - She's back open and as pretty as ever!  

Thursday, April 6 - We went to see the new film, Air: Courting a Legend, tonight with a few of our friends at the local Roxy Theaters (recliners!) and it was great.  Definitely an early front-runner for Best Picture this year.  Ben Affleck is such a great director, and the cast was excellent.  

Saturday, April 8 - We stopped by The Cedar Tap up on The Square today for a craft brew and some lunch provided by the food truck on site, Down N the Bayou.  The food was excellent.  So nice to have great stuff like this so close to home!  

Sunday, April 9 - We had Easter brunch with a few of our friends today at Geist, a cool restaurant out in the Germantown area of Nashville.  The food and cocktails were amazing!  This is definitely a place to repeat visit any chance we get.  

Wednesday, April 12 - We attended another SOLD OUT Comedy Showcase at Cedar City Brewing Company tonight again with our friends, Curtis and Kate.  The lineup this time wasn't as strong as the first time, but still enjoyable and, again, a great event for our little town here .  

Saturday, April 15 - I guess we spent a little too much time enjoying our first pool float of the season this afternoon and not realizing downtown Nashville would be nightmarishly busy tonight to the point that we literally could not find parking anywhere near Bridgestone arena for the sold-out show of local comedian who's made it big, Nate Bargatze, tonight with our friends, Danny and Brenda.  After 45 minutes after the show start time and still not even able to get an Uber to pick us up, we just had to just give up and go home.  Bad planning on our part I guess since suddenly, we're Atlanta. Hey, TDOT, run the light rail, Music City Star, all the time, you idiots!! 

We were able to have dinner at least beforehand with Danny and Brenda at Emmy Squared over in Germantown where the pizzas and apps are divine. 

  

Sunday, April 16 - The off and on week of comedy continued today with our attendance of a 25th Anniversary showing of The Big Lebowski at the Hollywood 27 Theaters in Nashville again with our friends, Danny and Brenda, again.  It's now literally and figuratively a classic with, of course, "a lotta ins, lotta outs, lotta what-have-you's..."

Tuesday, April 18 - Well, lookey at what we got today!  I guess the Air Canada schlubs came through after all after losing our luggage for days on end during our cruise to the bottom of the world over New Years.  Of course, it's gonna be a while until the CHEQUE actually arrives.  "ABOOT" 3 to 4 weeks probably, eh??  Thanks, hosers.  

Tuesday, April 25 - For some (hunky) reason Ashlee wanted to see the new (hunky) war drama film, The Covenant, starring (hunky) Jake Gyllenhaal.  So, we headed over to The Roxy Theaters (recliners!) for discount ($6!) night to check it out with our friends, Lisa and Toney.  The film was excellent and enjoyed by all.  

Wednesday, April 26 - I patted myself on the back pretty hard tonight after watching a YouTube video of how to simply fix our patio heater that hasn't worked in a while, but I stayed warm doing it as we enjoyed a little nighttime ambiance with it this evening.  

Thursday, April 27 - We went to a live taping of the popular NPR comedy quiz show "Wait Wait Don't Tell Me" at TPAC in Nashville tonight as a belated birthday present for me.  Sorry you married a nerd, honey.  We were a little gun-shy going back downtown after our last fiasco a couple weekends ago, but it went very smooth, and the show was a lot of fun.  

Friday, April 28 - We headed down to Chattanooga tonight to cheer on our niece, Ella, as she went to her first junior prom.   She was stunning in her shimmering dress.  Nice shot, Paige!  Thanks for the borrow.  Afterwards, we had dinner at the always fabulous (and always affordable) Tony's Pasta in the Arts District as well as some yummy desserts next door at Rembrandt's. 

Saturday, April 29 - We attended an Open Gate Day at Lula Lake and Falls up on Lookout Mountain today. The last time we were here (27+ years ago) Ashlee dropped me off on the side of the road, and I snuck on the property illegally to get a picture of the falls.  Man, were we young and dumb back then!  Nowadays, the area is under a land trust and open to the public on designated days.    It's still a 2-mile hike to the falls from the parking area, so Ashlee opted out since we had Sunny with us, and she's not known for her endurance.  Sunny did a good mile in and back, and then she and Ashlee went to lunch with some friends, and I doubled back to see and photograph the falls and she picked me up a couple hours later. Deja vu for sure!

 
Our next stop was Play. Wash. Pint. - a secured dog park in the hip new South Main Street area of Chattanooga where vaccinated, well-behaved dogs can romp and play all day for $10 and the "hoo-mins" can have decently priced craft beer!  What a great idea!  Hello, Nashville, are you listening??  Sunny had a ball (and a bath)!