Closing out the Year with Cheer

December is always a busy month for us and this year was no exception

We attended a couple of hockey games this week as part of our season ticket package.  On Tuesday 12/1 we saw the Preds score a big 5-2 win over Arizona, and on Thursday,12/3, it was just me and Ashlee this time, and we saw a tough 2-1 loss over a Florida Panther team who have a surprisingly good defense.

Saturday, !2/5 - We attended a showing of the holiday comedy classic film, Home Alone, tonight with the Nashville Symphony providing the beautiful John Williams' score live at the Schermerhorn.  They also had a chorus singing during parts of the movie which was a nice touch.  We sat behind the orchestra again as we did with Star Trek and it's such a cool perspective from that vantage point.  Our friends, Mike, Bethany, Wendy and Charlie attended with us.  We had dinner before and dessert after the show at Kitchen Notes in the nearby Omni Hotel.

Wednesday, 12/9 - We attended an in-store acoustic performance late this afternoon at Grimey's in Nashville by  British punk-folk-rocker, Frank Turner.   Ashlee even met him and we also got an autographed copy of his new album.  Afterwards we headed over to 3rd and Lindsley for dinner followed by Frank and his band, the Sleepless Souls, in a plugged-in SOLD OUT show.

Thursday, 12/10 - The digging for our new backyard in-ground pool BEGINS!!

Friday, 12/11 - We split up tonight for a while in downtown Nashville as Ashlee and her sister, Paige, went to a hilarious Amy Shumer show at the Bridgestone Arena  while I got front row for a rocking good Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue show at Marathon Music Works.  Since Ashlee and Paige's tickets included all you could eat and drink before and after the show, I volunteered as the designated driver as well.

Thursday, 12/17 - We were proud to have been a very small part of cinematic history tonight as we saw the new Star Wars film The Force Awakens at the SOLD OUT Opry Mills IMAX with seven of  our friends .  It was a record-breaking opening Thursday night  and well-deserved since it was such a good movie.

Yes, this is a real picture that Ashlee took while on a cruise this past summer and was the photo on our Christmas party invitation on Facebook.   It kinda set the tone for the party...

Saturday, 12/19 - We threw a Christmas party tonight with  a cover-all theme of Dickens/Ugly Sweaters/Pajamas/Costumes that was a ton of fun, as usual, with the highlights being a risque gingerbread man decorating contest and a hilarious game of "Utter Nonsense" which our friends, Danny and Brenda, had brought us as a gift to our recent Halloween party.

Wednesday, 12/23 - Despite the unusual winter sound of tornado sirens going off (what the??) in downtown Nashville tonight, we enjoyed a safe and cheerful evening at Drew Holcomb's Neighborly Christmas at The Schermerhorn.  This SOLD OUT event was great as usual and in this new amazing venue it was all the more special.

Thursday, 12/31 -  We decided to stay home this New Year's Eve and check out the celebration in downtown Nashville.  We got a room at The Millenium Maxwell House Hotel for a reasonable price.  We started with dinner at Puckett's, then drinks and merriment in our private room at Pub 5 with several friends, and then it was back out into the cold to hear Kings of Leon play and count down to midnight to watch the note drop in a new record crowd of over 150,000 people.

Very impressive, Nashville, very impressive!  Thanks for a safe, organized and festive event!

Friday, 1/1/ 16 - We celebrated New Year's Day with brunch at Party Fowl  with great food and libations while watching a big Outback Bowl win by UT.  Afterward we took a mile walk for ice cream at Mike's on Broadway. a little boot shopping with the tourists, a stop at Barlines for a drink and to catch up on some more bowl game action.

A November to Remember

Thursday, 11/5 - We saw the new James Bond film Spectre in IMAX  tonight with our friend, Wayne.  The film was very good and it was another great job by Daniel Craig.  It's hard to believe this was his last time in the role he seemed to be born to play.

Saturday, 11/7 - We finally got to try out Biscuit Love in The Gulch in downtown Nashville today with our friend, Wayne.  The lines are always long here, but it was worth the wait because it was pretty darn good, even for a $9 biscuit.

Saturday, 11/14 - I played designated driver tonight for Ashlee and our friend, Bethany who attended a crazy drag-queen show in downtown Nashville.

Afterwards we played UNO and had a couple brews at The Beer Pale in north west Nashville.

Tuesday, 11/17 - We attended another Preds game tonight that was a big 3-2 win over Anaheim.  It was a wild night with fights galore and even  a broken  stick got caught  in the net!

Friday, 11/20 - We flew to NYC today with our friends, Mike and Wayne.  We rented an apartment in a great location and our friend, Rachel (as well as Mike's new love interest!), joined us from Toronto.  We started the trip right with some good pizza delivered from Vezzo's around the corner.

That evening we strolled just a few blocks to see Duke vs. VCU at Madison Square Garden.  This was our first time in The Garden and we were very impressed with the venue.  Our beloved Dukies got the win over VCU and our seats were pretty nice (and cheap!).  After the game we strolled over to Times Square and stopped in the giant Toys-R-Us store to ogle the wonders.   

We checked out the Spyglass Roof-top Bar in the Archer Hotel.  The night was clear and the views were great but  the bar was a bit lacking (what? no ginger beer for Moscow Mules?). 

We checked out some amazing Christmas lights and windows at Lord and Taylor's and Macy's to finish off the night. 

Saturday, 11/21 - We all had a great take-out breakfast from Penelope's just around the corner (sweet potato biscuits! yum!).  First on the agenda today for all of us was a visit to the nearby Saturday Night Llive Exhibition which was great.

We even got to sit on the Wayne's World couch!

Live and "in the flesh" !

After SNL, it was "A Day of Broadway"  for Ashlee and me with a matinee performance of Fool for Love with Sam Rockwell and Nina Arianda AND then an evening performance of China Doll with Al Pacino.   Granted, this weren't our favorite Broadway experiences, but they were memorable.

We also finally saw The Naked Cowboy in person (photo above).  And we finally ate at a Shake Shack (the original one) near Times Square.

Sunday, 11/22 - Ashlee's dear friend and co-worker, Eileen, recently broke her leg in a nasty fall at her home near Philadelphia, so Ashlee decided to take the opportunity of being nearby to rent a car and visit her today as I attended another Duke game at MSG vs. Wisconsin.   Ashlee's visit and drive went well and Duke won again.

We caught this beautiful sunset walking back from the car rental place to meet the others for dinner back near the apartment.  No matter how many times we've been to NYC there is always something beautiful and different here.  Later that night we saw the so-so comedy film "The Night Before" but at least it was in a sweet all-recliner theater.

Monday 11/23 - We packed up and headed out this morning with me bound for home for a few days of work while Ashlee headed straight for The Gulf with a week's rental of a house near the beach in Destin, Florida, with her family.

Wednesday, 11/25 through Sunday, 11/29 - I drove down to Destin, Florida late today to meet up with Ashlee and her family for Thanksgiving.  This is our third year in the row to spend Turkey Day on the beach and we are really enjoying it.

Ashlee found another great house to rent in the beautiful Destiny East Subdivision.  It's in a great location with just a quick walk or golf-cart ride to the beautiful white beach here in Destin.  

The weather was perfect during our stay with some of the warmest temperatures we've ever encountered here in November.

This beach life suits us very well!

The Call of Fall (aka A Fun October)

Friday, October 2 - We saw the The Walk tonight in IMAX and it was simply amazing.  I hear Oscar nomination buzz! 

Wednesday, October 7 - We caught a good set by Sister Sparrow and the Dirty Birds tonight (another free show thanks to tickets won of NowPlayingNashville.com) at The High Watt in downtown Nashville. We had a tasty  dinner  before at The Slider House.  They also had a great opening band from Asheville called Holy Ghost Tent Revival.

CROWDtoberfest!

Thursday, October 8 - Tonight we got stuffed for a good cause at the Taste of Wilson County with our friend, Joy. Proceeds from tickets sales went to help United Way efforts in the area.



Saturday, October 10 -  We stopped by a very crowded Oktoberfest in the Nashville neighborhood of Germantown today and had a brat and a few brewskis to celebrate the day.

We then walked over to the new awesome, new Ascend Amphitheater in downtown Nashville with several friends to catch a show by the always-great, Grace Potter. It was Lake Street Dive opening for her just like they did when we saw her (and The Nocturnals) headline at Red Rocks in Colorado last year.  It was another great show and we were in the pit and very close to the stage as the short video below will attest:

Sunday, October 11 -  Today we saw the great film, The Martian in 3D with our friend, Wayne.

Thursday, October 15 - We drove down to Chattanooga today to catch Brett Dennen with our friend, Lavonda at a great new little venue there called called The Revelry Room which is replacing over beloved Track 29 near the Choo-Choo.   Brett was under the weather a bit, but still great.

After the show we had food and drinks on the upstairs outdoor patio of the site of our first date over 25 years ago, The Pickle Barrel!!  Some things (and places) never change!

Friday, October 16 - Before heading back to Nashville we had lunch at Main Street Meats with Ashlee's mom, Evelyn.  It was delicious.  Best hamburger we've had in a while!

Sunday, October 18 - More of The Year of Seeing Living Legends Live (The Rolling Stones, Jimmy Carter, Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson) continued tonight as we saw Don Henley perform at The Ryman.  Our friend, Bethany, is a huge fan and upgraded our seats to the 3rd Row!  Thanks so much, Bethany! Speaking of Bethany, we had a housewarming the day before for her that was a lot of fun.  Being the old curmudgeon that he is, Uncle Don, didn't allow pictures during his show so I snapped these cool old radios he had hanging above the stage before it started.  The show was good and you forget just how many solo hits this man has had away from The Eagles.  The self-proclaimed queen of sad songs, Shawn Colvin, opened the show.

Tuesday, October 20 - We attended Nashville Predators Opening Night of the 2015/16 Season  (at least for us).  We decided to buy a 20-game Passport this season along with Wayne, Danny and Brenda, mostly so we could get access to the upcoming All-Star Game being held in Nashville this season.  It was an  OT/shootout win  of  5-4 over Tampa Bay and our seats behind Pekka Rinne in the defend-twice goal are excellent. Yes, it's early, but they are already in first place!!

Saturday, October 24 - We headed down to Atlanta for the weekend and our first stop was the Carter Presidential Center and Library.  We've been to Atlanta countless times, but never stopped here.  It was prevalent to stop here this time since we got to briefly meet President Carter at a book signing in Nashville earlier this year.  Our friend, Rex, met us and we spent a good hour inside this fascinating place.  President Carter truly is a great man.  We had a few drinks and snacks afterwards at nice nearby place called Barcelona in a cool little neighborhood called Inman Park. We took a quick jaunt afterwards on the new Beltline, a walking/biking/skating path that will eventually encircle all of  Atlanta.  Next it was off to a light dinner and some great live jazz music at Venkman's, a trendy new restaurant inside a historic soda pop factory building.

Sunday, October 25 - We got up this morning and headed over to the new College Football Hall of Fame in downtown Atlanta.  This place opened in 2014 and it is terrific with tons of interactive displays and activities.  As you walk in they have every helmet from the 768 college teams in the U.S. displayed on a huge wall.  What a fun place and definitely worth another visit.

The # 1 reason we came to Atlanta this particular weekend was to FINALLY get our Indy-Car Ride in.  We've been trying for two years to do this in Kentucky but bad weather and sickness had prevented us from making our scheduled rides there.  Our last chance with the expiring Groupon we bought was this year and when no 2015 scheduled dates in Kentucky worked for us we choose to take the ride at the beautiful and huge Atlanta Motor Speedway.  It was worth the wait!!  We each did 3 laps in a ride-along at 170 MPH!!  That's faster (and smoother) than the NASCAR ride we did in Nashville a couple years ago.  We highly recommend this.

Saturday, October 31 - We hosted a fun Halloween Party tonight at our house with a Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) theme.   The tequila was flowin' (maybe a little too much for me) as were the good times with several guests in attendance and most in excellent make-up and costume per the theme.  Congrats to Ashlee on planning this fun and festive soiree.

Making "The Pilgrimage" to good music

Saturday, Sept. 26 and Sunday, Sept. 27, 2015  

This weekend we attended the first-ever Pilgrimage Music and Arts Festival over in nearby Franklin, TN.  We opted for VIP Access at the festival along with several friends (Wayne, Mike, Danny and Brenda) who went with us including some of our new out-of-town Galapagos-trip companions: Joe, L.A., and Rachel.  It was a great time and hopefully the start of a great new fall tradition here in middle Tennessee.

We started the day seeing Neko Case who we have missed a couple different times at Bonnaroo.  She was great and her soulful voice is just as good live.  The set-up  of the four main stages was great and the layout of this new festival was very good.  Sound engineering was solid and you could tell musicians like Better Than Ezra's Kevin Griffin (a local resident and festival founder) put a lot of thought into this event.

"Even on a cloudy day"  as lead singer Matthew Shultz (crowd "walking" here) says in the Cage the Elephant's song, "Shake Me Down."  These guys from Bowling Green put on the best show of the day in our opinion.  Amazing energy!

Sheryl Crow was spot-on in her afternoon performance.  Our VIP access gave us a great viewing area near the stage for the show.  One of the cool aspects of this festival is that so many great artists (like Crow) live in this area, so it's something they are happy to perform at and proud to be a part of in their own backyard.

This quick shot of Weezer performing in the pouring rain in the early evening does no justice to the cool vibe flowing here despite the inclement weather.  The rain stopped after their set and we saw Wilco close out the great first day.

  The VIP treatment gave us great food by Nick and Jim's BBQ; top-shelf liquor, quality beer and wine throughout the festival;  some cool swag including nice T-shirts and  a festival poster; flush-able toilets (always worth extra!); a nice lounge area and very close access to a couple of the main stages.  Despite some iffy weather it was a great first day! - Pic by Ashlee

Day 2 started with better weather and a late morning set by the one and only Big Sam's Funky Nation (video clip below).  There's not a coffee in the world that will give you this much of a jump-start in the morning!

The outfit-coordinated and excellent young band, John and Jacob, who now make their home in Nashville, put on a solid set next.  This kids are going somewhere I tell ya!

I swear the band, Dawes, gets better every time I see them.  What a great group.

When there was a late addition to the already-amazing line-up of Steven Tyler, we didn't give it  much hurrah.  He recently cut a solo country album in Nashville (and has moved here), so his 30-minute set seemed like something worth missing if it was just going to be him trying to screech out some of his new country tunes.  Good thing we stopped by!  It was easily the set of the day and it was only 30 freaking minutes! He did TONS of old Aerosmith tunes and a great cover of "Take Another Little Piece of My Heart" by Janis Joplin.  What can I say...the dude sings like a lady! [rim-shot] Here's a quick clip from his great set...

The amazing St. Paul and the Broken Bones drew a big crowd at the Harpeth River stage as the sun was setting.

I call this one "Twilight and Willie."  Our year of see living legends (The Rolling Stones, Jimmy Carter, Dolly Parton) continued with the Red-Headed Stranger taking the stage to close out the festival.  Seeing Willie Nelson this close was amazing.

Man, what an outstanding festival!  There is already talk of a Year Two and we hope to be there and hope it retains the great line-up, easy access and cool vibe of Year One.  Well done, Pilgrimage Festival, well done!