Summer...and Some Are Not

 

Sunday, July 2 - We held our one and only of the summer Happy Birthday, 'Merica Pool Party today along with these custom-made pool beers from Evill Nash Brewing up in Clarksville.   We had a fun time, and the beers were a hit!  

Monday, July 3 - We attended the Matchbox 20 concert at Bridgestone Arena tonight, along with a stay overnight at the swanky Bobby Hotel. 

Our room at The Bobby Hotel was very nice!   Worth the price?  Hard to say, but it was fun to get to hang out in downtown Nashville after a show instead of driving back home. 

We had a pre-show dinner at the new restaurant downtown, The Black Tap.  The place was very cool and the food was tremendous!  

Talk about a Collage Blast from the Past!!  We saw MB20 (gulp) 25 years ago as a "new" band in Knoxville on their first major tour.  

With over two hours of great music and great front row upper-level seats, it was an awesome show.  

Sunday, July 4 - Happy Independence Day!  We lounged around in our fancy room at The Bobby Hotel as long as we could before checking out and heading home for a quiet day. 

The band gave a cool shout-out on FaceBook to the Nashville crowd last night that included us! 

Our first two boys have been adopted from the litter of six we've been fostering lately.  We are certainly gonna miss these two sweeties.  That's Dom above showing that he's not that shy, and Dante below striking a pose that got him in the running to be adopted first.  Handsome boys!! Good luck with your new forever home!! 

Sunday, July 9 - We had a Sunday "rainy" Funday today with an afternoon trip into Nashville with Sunny.  Our first stop was the tiny Pink Door Cookies which delivers big taste in their delectable goodies.  The Rainbow Fudge Cookie and the Smores Cookie were our first two tries and they were awesome.  There's two more varieties below these for future yumminess.

Our next stop was just up the street at Fait La Force Brewing who has a great covered patio for just such a rainy, but cool and enjoyable, afternoon.  Ashlee's beer of choice was, of course, the SUNNY Skidoo Belgian Witbier.   

Along with our brews, we had some tasty European-inspired finger foods as well.  With a couple shopping stops on the way home, we had a nice little time as did "Sunny Skidoo." 

Thursday, July 13 - We hosted Paige and Ella and couple of her friends, Natalie and Harper, overnight on their way to a horse festival up in Kentucky this weekend.  The weather was perfect for some pool time and Sunny enjoyed a float and hanging with "the girls."  Thanks to our friends, Curtis and Kate, for the pool donation of the new-to-us strawberry float which actually smells like strawberries even though it's a couple years old! 

Saturday, July 15 - Another rainy weekend day had us looking for alternative fun away from the pool, so opted to partake in Burger Week here in Nashville and our choice was the Cledis Burgers and Beer Garden for its proximity on our side of Music City and the fact we could take Sunny to their outdoor seating area. We met up with our friends, Curtis and Kate and Nate, for some tasty burgers and libations.
The weather broke afterwards, and we were able to close out the day hanging out in the pool anyway! 

Wednesday, July 19 - We attended another SOLD OUT comedy show at Cedar City Brewing tonight with our friends, Curtis and Kate.  Not the best show we've seen there, but still better than driving into Nashville for a so-so experience. 

After the show it was nice to see the new Lebanon Square lights glowing all around!  Look at our little square actually looking like a nice place to visit! 

Wednesday, July 26 - We did some civic duty tonight and attended the public meeting at the Lebanon City Hall about our local train link to Nashville under the direction of WeGo now.  We are hoping for more runs into Nashville from here in Lebanon on the weekends and maybe some weeknights for special events to save from driving, parking, etc.  There seems to be some hope of adding more weekend trips, but the idea of it ever being like a subway and running 24/7 is probably never going to happen.  Still a productive and informative meeting and they had free snacks!! 

Friday, July 28 - We drove to Rosman, North Carolina, today for our almost annual mountain getaway with our friends Wendy and Charly, and Michelle and Patrick.  I found a sweet place called "The Waterfall House" that is at the end of road in a gated community.  Talk about private!  The photo above is basically in the dark walking back up from the small waterfall to the house.  We didn't get there until about dark and then the first of a couple weird things happened on this trip.  Michelle and Patrick had to basically turn right back around and go back to Chattanooga tonight because of pet troubles at home.  What a bummer.  The foursome that was left hung out enjoying the house until late in the evening before calling it a night.  

Saturday, July 29 - After a lazy morning and a tasty breakfast casserole (thanks, Patrick!), we headed out to do a little exploring.  Our first stop was the Sassafras Mountain Lookout Tower right on the North and South Carolina border (Elev. 3553').  It's the highest point in South Carolina and the eastern seaboard's continental divide.  The 360-degree view was a bit hazy, but still amazing.  Gotta come up here and do a sunrise or sunset sometime! 

We headed into Brevard next and did a little shopping and browsing in their numerous cool downtown shops.  And posed for a few photo ops as well.  White squirrels are a thing here in Brevard and this cutie outside the White Squirrel Shoppe was ready for a picture. Somebody yelled, "Just grab his nuts!!"  So...we did!  He does look a bit concerned!  LOL. Afterwards, we had lunch at the very good Corky's Dawg House. 

We had planned on going to the popular Sliding Rock swimming hole this afternoon, but the temps weren't super warm, and the area was crowded, so we knew it would be too, so we opted to go back to The Waterfall House and play around in our own tiny "Sliding Rock."   I did slide down the right bottom side once.  It wasn't that great, but it's still a beautiful little private creek to relax in. 
Our evening hanging out at the house got interrupted by a long power outage from nearby storms although we didn't even get any rain.  The house generator didn't kick on as expected by the owners, so we didn't have water (electric well pump), internet or land-line phone either.  When power was finally restored, we were able to play a fun little murder mystery game that Ashlee purchased in Brevard this afternoon before turning in for the night. 

Sunday, July 30 - We packed up this morning to get ready to drive back home.  We took another few good looks at The Waterfall House front porch view (photo above and video below) to remember this beautiful, private place.  I could definitely see coming back here.  

Before leaving North Carolina, Ashlee and I stopped at the swanky new-to-us Sierra Nevada Brewing (East Coast Facility) in Mills River.   Wow, they really dropped some serious coin on this place!  It's beautiful and large sitting right on the French Broad River.   We didn't eat although we heard the food is great and the restaurant was already busy just after opening.  Instead, we had a few fresh pints relaxing out in the Back Porch/Beer Garden area.  This awesome place is definitely on our visit-again list! 
We tried stopping at the new largest-ever Buc-ee's in Sevierville, TN, on our way home, but the place was a just a friggin' madhouse, so we opted for the Crossville location where we stocked up on their amazing sandwiches and Buc-ee's goodies and swag. 
Another great little trip to the mountains!! 

Saturday, August 5 - After a rainy day stuck inside the house cleaning, we scooped up Sunny and headed down to Murfreesboro to Cedar Glade Brews for a beer or two and some tacos from the Mission Taco Truck that was one site.  The food and beers were great, and we enjoyed sitting inside, out of the humidity at one of the few places around that allow dogs inside.  And that's why we keep coming back!! 

Wednesday, August 17 - We attended another SOLD OUT Comedy Night at Cedar City Brewing tonight with our friends, Kate and Curtis.  This was our first time sitting upstairs which wasn't bad and gave a good bird's eye view of all the comedians including the hilarious, Elijah J. McNutt (photo above).  "Free McNutt!!" 

Saturday, August 19 - It was a "hang around the house" kind of weekend for everybody! 

Saturday, August 26 - We walked up a few blocks this morning to an estate sale at a cool old house across the street from Cumberland University's baseball field.  We didn't buy anything (we have plenty of our junk in our house), but it was interesting to look around.  

It's so hard to choose what you want at Starbucks sometimes... (great pic, Ashlee!) 

Thursday, August 31 - We had our fantasy football draft tonight online for the 24th Year of the Burgess Falls Fantasy Football League.  I am proud to say I am also the defending champ for the first time ever in a league that I have run for almost a quarter of a century.  I am sure I will be back down in the middle of the pack as usual this year, but there's always hope this time of year!