A jewel of a July

Wednesday, July 4 - With the Independence Day holiday falling in the middle of the week this year, we keep it pretty quiet by staying at home and enjoying our pool,  some tasty grilled steaks and corn on the cob, some really good craft beer (Moo-tella 2017 Reserve) and a legal Cuban cigar (thanks Prez Obama!) while our neighbors put on a pretty good fireworks show for us.   Not a bad way to celebrate!  

Friday, July 6 - It was definitely all about Music City tonight for us as we showed our friend, Eileen, and her daughter, Meghan, around our Nashville this weekend during their visit.

We had to dodge some off and on rain showers during our night on the town, but the view of downtown Nashville from Eileen and Meghan's room at the beautiful Omni Hotel did not disappoint.  Although finding out they didn't have a secret guests-only roof-top bar at this location was a pretty big disappointment.  We ambled over to Broadway and stepped into Robert's Western World to give young Meghan her first taste of a real honky-tonk and her first taste of a PBR!  

We did a fun and unique tour of downtown later on at the Off the Wagon Tractor-Pull Tour.  Ashlee had done this tour before with some friends visiting Nashville, but it was our first time taking it together and I have to admit it was a lot of fun.

Broadway on a tractor....only in Nashville!! 
 (Memory Song:  "Better Now" by Post Malone)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yHoa4MR0W4

Saturday, July 7 - We threw a Mermaid/Merman Pool Party today which also served as a 50th Birthday Party for our good friend, Ginny.  Happy birthday, Ginny with a G!!   It was a fun day of dress up and hi-jinks that went deep into the night.  Thanks to all our friends who came from near and far to attend.  

Ashlee took this "mermaid" thing to a new level with this awesome swim-fin that really gives you a good workout.

Sunday (FUN DAY!!) July 8 - We had a nice day back in Nashville showing Eileen and Meghan more of our city, along with our friend, Rex, visiting from Atlanta.  We started with a tasty brunch at 5th And Taylor in Germantown.  We walked off some of our big meal with a short walk to the lovely Kindness Mural.  We moved on to visits to the 12th Avenue South area including some great beer at The Filling Station, then on to Marathon Village for more drinks at Corsair Brewing and Distillery.

Next up was a visit high up on the top of the new Westin Hotel to the L27 Bar for a drink with amazing views of downtown Nashville including the  "Stix" art  sculpture at the Korean Veterans /8th Avenue Roundabout.   Rex had to head back for the long drive to Atlanta afterwards, but since Eileen and Meghan's flight was still a few hours away we headed over to the west side of Nashville and the neighborhood known as The Nations where we had a great dinner there at their Frothy Monkey location.  Thanks for our friends visiting and giving us another excuse for a Sunday Funday in our beloved home of Nashville.

Monday, July 9 - We took in a showing of the delightful, funny and action-packed  Marvel Universe sequel, Ant-Man and The Wasp. tonight at our local Roxy All-Recliners Theater.  

Look up in the sky more, folks.  Clouds are one of the best free things on Earth to enjoy.  Downtown Nashville 7/16/18.

Monday, July 16 -  We met our friends that we made on the Galapagos trip a few years back, Joe and LA, for dinner in Nashville at The George Jones as they were passing through town.  Our pal, Wayne, joined us since he went on that trip also.  We had a great time catching up that went much too late for a "school night."  This new restaurant/museum dedicated to "The Possum" was a pretty cool too.  Good food, large space and a great location down on Second Avenue.  I think we will be back, especially since we didn't get to check out the roof-top bar.

Saturday, July 21 - We saw one of our favorite singer/songwriters (our 10th time by my count), Scott Miller,  today at a non-televised "Bluegrass Underground" show in their new location, The Caverns. in Pelham, TN, at the base of Monteagle Mountain.  It was a co-headlining show with another good singer/songwriter, John Moreland.  We've been to Bluegrass Underground a couple of times including to see Scott and his other long-time band, The Commonwealth, back in 2012 when it was held at Cumberland Caverns near McMinnville: (https://collagebarrage.blogspot.com/2012/02/bluegrass-underground.html).  This time he was backed by the Ladies Auxillary, an (almost) all-female band.  

Here's a cool reverse panoramic view of Scott and the band performing in the huge room in The Caverns.  It was a great show and the sight lines and acoustics in this place are excellent.

We were very impressed with the new locale for "Bluegrass Underground" they are calling The Caverns.  Someone'has sunk a lot of money in this place.  I would say this won't be the last show we see here.  It's not as deep underground as the room at Cumberland Caverns, but the entrance (photo above) is big and easy to manage.  And they can now sell beer!  Just remember to bring a jacket and close-toed shoes...it's cold in the cave, even in mid-July!!

We had some time to kill before the show in Pelham, so we made a few interesting stops beforehand around the area.  First up was a delicious lunch at the Murfreesboro location of Jack Brown's Beer and Burger Joint.  We then stopped by Rutledge Falls in Manchester and agreed we need to come for a swim here sometime.  Finally, we made a stop at the second gate entrance to Arnold Air Force Base in Tullahoma to check out some of the cool old retired jets they have on display there.  Not only are they interesting displays that you can walk right up to and even touch, they are also each set as memorials to fallen soldiers throughout U.S. military history.

Sunday, July 22 - We drove up to Hendersonville today to the Streets of Indian Lake Theaters (all recliners!) to catch an early showing of the Fred Rogers of  "Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood" documentary, Won't You Be My Neighbor?.  It was interesting, funny and very moving.  Warm up the Best Documentary Oscar for this one, we think.  We had a tasty lunch afterwards at Crowler USA in the same shopping complex.

Wednesday, July 25 - We saw another one of our favorite musical acts for the umpteenth time tonight as the band, O/A/R, took to the famous Ryman Auditorium stage in downtown Nashville.  Ashlee flew home from a business trip in time for us to the catch a few songs of the second opener, Matt Nathanson, who we've seen and enjoyed once before.  Matt worked the crowd and the room superbly, even channeling Michael Franti with a jaunt upstairs into the balcony during my favorite song of his, "Headphones."    O/A/R started pretty late after two openers, so we stayed for about an hour before the late night and the annoying drunk people around us made us need to head home.   (Editor's Note:  It might be our age, but  the live music scene that we've enjoyed for so many years now has really become a chore recently with later and later shows, and more and more (not always drunk) rude people talking loudly during shows and/or creating other distractions around us.  We seem to be a real magnet for these people, but I am sure it's not just us and it's everywhere.  I think the number of live shows we attend will start to decline sharply in the future, if it hasn't already. What a sad reality...)

Thursday,  July 26 - We were there for opening night of Mission: Impossible - Fallout in IMAX at Opry Mills with our pal, Wayne tonight. We thought the movie was excellent.  Just another hit for Mr. Hollywood, Tom Cruise, who is still doing most of his own stunts at the age of 56.  He broke his leg filming this one, learned to fly a helicopter and completed a halo skydiving jump from 25,000 feet.  Someone really earning his millions in Tinsel Town!   

Saturday, July 29 - We had a fun and active Saturday today that started with a visit to the Madison Model Train Show where our friend, Charly, had a table set up selling some of his collection.  We are just starting to get into the hobby and are planning an outdoor garden train.  We found a nice G-scale starter set and bought some extra track for it from Charly.  Ashlee even won a couple of cool door prizes.

Our next stop was St. Thomas Sports Park where the Tennessee Titans were holding their second open practice for the upcoming season.  They were in full pads today and it was pretty hot, so a lot of breaks were given.  It was cool see # 77, Taylor Lewan, on the field, fresh from his signing of a new 5-year contract.  We met our friends, Danny and Wayne, there and we all had a good time checking out the goings-on.

We got the thrill of getting the autograph of new Titans Head Coach, Mike Vrabel, as practice ended.  Seems like a good dude and he was a helluva player. Let's hope that all translates to success for our boys come this fall.

Our Titans foursome headed to lunch after the practice ended to the nearby Old School Farm to Table Restaurant (and Farm).  We had a delicious lunch in the old converted schoolhouse that consisted mostly of products grown right outside on the farm.  We will definitely have to get back here for dinner soon.

It was time for some work next as we headed home to start trimming tree limbs from around our house (and saving ourselves the $1500 quote we got from our local tree service company).  Ashlee ordered a little electric chain saw off Amazon mounted on a telescoping handle that actually worked pretty well.  With the help of our friends, the aforementioned, Charly,  and his wife, Wendy, we got everything done in a short amount of time.  I borrowed some hard-hats from work for safety and even though the girls looked cute in them, they actually did a lot of work dragging limbs to the back of our property after Charly, who bravely climbed on our roof, had sawed them off and I pulled them down to the ground.   It was a good team-effort and we celebrated our accomplishment with a cook-out and libations the rest of the evening.

Some, some summertime is here!

Saturday, June 2 - So, there's no replacing the amazing Mabel, but the next best thing is not a new kitten BUT TWO NEW KITTENS!!  Holy crap, I hope this works out OK!   Meet Doris Lemon (being held by me) and Byron Finch (posing for the camera) who we adopted from the Chattanooga Humane Society (the same place where we got Mabel 17+ years ago).  I gave the OK for Doris, but Ashlee in her wisdom (hmm?) decided to go for two instead of one.  Her reasoning is actually pretty solid.  We figure they can play with each other and maybe not harass 15-year-old Ms. Bea in the house too much.  We shall see, I guess.  I do have to admit they are both great little cats.  Doris is a little purr-factory and Byron does have markings similar to Mabel and a very sweet personality.  I think we will be better for it in the long run, and their cuteness and cuddlyness sure takes a lot of the sting out of losing our precious Mabel.

We saw an amazingly good show from Fitz and the Tantrums tonight at the new venue, The Signal, in Chattanooga.  Great sight lines and excellent acoustics make this place an easy choice to come back to whenever we can.  We've seen these guys before and love them, but never from this close up.  Their energy and positive vibes are quite enjoyable.  The confetti storm during their closing number, "The Walker," was a hoot!  They had a great opener also: a young band called Spirit Animal with a very unique sound and style.  Before the show, we had a tasty dinner at the fairly new Edley's Bar-b-cue in North Chatt.  We've actually never been to an Edley's before even though it started in Nashville and has three locations there.

Tweeting the love for Chatt-town

Sunday, June 3 -  We visited the new American Draft beer hall set up in a rail car at the Chattanooga Choo-Choo today with our friend, Chris.  It is such a neat place with an excellent selection of craft beer that you pour yourself.  What a cool concept.  We will definitely be back to see place again and again!   Beforehand, we liked Edley's Bar-b-cue so much from last night that we went again for an excellent brunch.  

Wednesday, June 6 - We went to see the Broadway musical, Waitress tonight at TPAC in downtown Nashville with Ashlee's mom, Evelyn.  It was better than any of us thought it would be with great songs, hilarious comedy and a good story all around.

Fun photo op before the show tonight.

Tuesday, June 12 - We attended the SOLD OUT show of Al Stewart at The City Winery in downtown Nashville tonight.   Ashlee hadn't really ever heard of him, but was a good sport to  go for my sake and enjoyed the show.  Honestly, I only knew a few of his songs including his biggest hit "Year of the Cat" which came out way back in 1976.  His show was very good, and  at 72 years old, this living legend Scottish folk balladeer, is amazingly spry and sharp in voice and guitar playing dexterity.  It was an acoustic show, but his accompaniment by  an amazing musician named, Dave Nachmanoff , who played flute, harmonica, bongos and sax throughout the night.  On his signature "Year of the Cat" song, the memorably cool piano part was played by his opener, Nashville native singer/songwriter, Jude Johstone, who is very talented despite her original songs as an opener that were a bit of downer.  We had a tasty dinner as well during the show and this was our first time sitting in balcony seats which were nice and roomy with a great view of the stage.

Thursday, June 14 - Our friend, Bethany, bought us dinner tonight at our local Speedy Burrito followed by some great homemade Mexican ice cream for dessert a few doors down at Adelita's (our first visit), and in turn we treated her to a showing of Oceans 8 at the Roxy Theaters with their awesome recliner seats.  The movie was well-done and enjoyable.

Saturday, June 23 - We went and checked out the hilarious Tag movie tonight at the Roxy Theaters here in Lebanon.  We laughed our butts off as we kicked back in the recliner chairs to enjoy this amazingly true and funny story.  

Thursday, June 28 - We saw the entertaining Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom tonight in the recliners at our local Roxy Theaters.  A pretty good sequel if we do say so ourselves.

MABEL NOODLE: 2001 - 2018 - RIP, SWEET GIRL

May 28, 2018 - After over 17 years together, we lost our beloved Mabel. today.  We will miss you so much, beautiful girl. Thanks to our cat-sitter and friend, Anjie, for this amazing portrait  shot of "Baby Mabes"  

She was a beauty from the start with big curious eyes, a strong personality and a loving heart that liked to cuddle...once she accepted us, of course.  We got her from the Chattanooga Humane Society and was the first real decision we made as a married couple.  Ashlee had her eyes on a pure white kitten, but Mabel came bounding out of a group of kittens with a "take me home, now!" look on her face and the rest is history.

Mabel loved sitting in boxes and even riding in boxes.  She would stay in a box as you dragged it around on the floor at dizzying speeds...yet, pretty much hated car rides of any kind.

Cuddling was her specialty.  

More box time.  Mabel led a pretty great life.  The two biggest "scares"over our time with her was the time she passed out after smelling some weed killer out on the patio and being accidentally locked in a closet for 3 plus days while we were at Bonnaroo.  Sorry about that, baby.  

My favorite picture of them all.  Did I mention she didn't like riding in cars??  Man, if looks could kill!

She fought oral cancer for almost 6 months as we tried  expensive chemo treatments in Knoxville and Chattanooga (she was a trooper about being in the car then).  When she started to lose her balance and ability to eat, we knew it was time to make a very hard decision...the hardest we've ever had to make as a married couple.

Mabel loved us equally, but I know Ashlee misses her snuggles very much since our other two cats are not into it very much.

I have always loved how mystical this picture looks.  She's so very serious and concentrating on something.

Mabel was even a local award winner although the subject matter could have been a bit embarrassing...but not to her!

Mabel's best friend was Ms. Bea who showed up as a stray many years ago and slowly became the best of buddies.  The quilt they are laying on was made by my dearly departed mother, so this picture is of immense value to me.  And, yes, I am sure "The Nore" would frown on cats laying on her quilt she made for me! 

Mabel's biggest enemy was Zippy.  Another stray that she never really got used to not matter how hard he tried to be friends.

Some toleration of Zippy occurred later on, especially if there was a mutual interest...like watching it rain.

Good lord she was cute!

We love you, Mable, and miss you so much.  Thank you for your love and attention for all those years.

Yes, you MAY continue to have fun in 2018

Friday, May 4 - This bathroom poster tells it all...we saw Andrew McMahon in the Wildnerness  tonight in a sold out show with several other excellent guest musicians for nearly 3 hours of incredible music at the brand new venue, The Cowan, at the new Top Golf Live in downtown Nashville on a stage with a hilarious and very creative Mr. Rogers Neighborhood theme.    Beforehand, we had a tremendously tasty dinner at Butcher and Bee in nearby East Nashville.

Thursday, May 10 - We attended the Opening Night of the 2018 Nashville Film Festival at the Regal Hollywood 27 Theaters and were thrilled to see Steven Tyler walk right past us shortly after we arrived.  He was there to promote the documentary/concert film Out on a Limb which focuses on him and his recent endeavors into country music while living here in Nashville.

After watching the SOLD OUT film which we thought was pretty good (we could have used more documentary about the ultra-interesting Tyler and less concert footage), we got an additional treat of Tyler not only answering questions from the audience, but also performing four songs with his new Americana-based solo band, Loving Mary, who are tremendous.  They opened with their original song, "We're All Somebody from Somewhere" and closed with the Aerosmith classic, "Walk this Way."  What a great night, and a great deal, as we got all this for mere $25 each.  Thanks, NAFF!

Friday, May 11 - We went over to the far side of Nashville tonight along with Ashlee's mom, Evelyn, to check out "Hoppy Hour"at the Cheekwood Botantical Garden to see the new giant glowing bunnies art exhibit by Amanda Parer called "Intrude."  It was perfect weather for a stroll through the beautiful grounds with low humidity and clear skies.  The exhibit has traveled world-wide and while the nine giant bunnies are cool to look out, their overall message is a bit more ominous as the artists' home country of Australia struggles with an overpopulation of rabbits.

Wednesday, May 16 - We continued our attendance of the Nashville Film Festival tonight with a Tennessee Premier screening of  Leave No Trace starring Ben Foster.  No stars in attendance, nor the director, but a beautiful film nonetheless.  We stopped by Brothers Burger Joint in Berry Hill near the theaters for a tasty dinner beforehand.

Thursday, May 17 - It was another amazing night at the Nashville Film Festival for us.  Unfortunately, we had two conflicting films we wanted to see tonight.  The first was the Michael Franti written-and-directed music documentary, Stay Human.  This was the Southern U.S. premiere of the film.  We got there in time (despite iffy weather and terrible traffic) to see Michael out in front of the Hollywood 27 Theaters and Ashlee even got a selfie with him and I got to shake his hand!  Still one of the sweetest guys we've ever encountered!  His feature started at 6:30 and we had tickets to it, so we slipped in to take in a little of it before our other film started at 7 PM.  What little we saw of the film was beautiful and stirring.   We can't wait to buy it or rent it ASAP to see the entire piece.  

Even though we couldn't stay for his whole documentary film, Michael Franti did serenade us in the movie theater before it started with a beautiful acoustic version of his hit, "(Say Hey) I Love You."  What a treat!  

Our conflicting film we wanted to see was the festival's special presentation of the documentary, All Things Must Pass: The Rise and Fall of Tower Records directed by, Tom's boy, Colin Hanks, who was in attendance.  We love him in the sit-com, "Life in Pieces," and couldn't pass up the chance to see him in person.  It was a tough call, but we have met Michael Franti before, so we made the difficult choice hoping for the best.  We are so happy we did!  Colin sat two rows behind us during the film.  The documentary was well-done and fascinating, and Ashlee even got a selfie with Colin as well after the Q and A session after the film.  He seemed humbled and pleased by the audience's reaction to his film which was a 7-year endeavor for him.

Colin Hanks talks with the media before the screening of his new documentary here in Nashville.

Friday, May 18 -  We finished off our week of NAFF with the Tennessee premiere showing of Hot Summer Nights with today's Hollywood "it-boy," Timothee Chalamais.  The movie was OK, but definitely not our favorite of the festival.  The highlight of the night was dinner beforehand at Vui's Kitchen in nearby Berry Hill.  The food was simply outstanding!

Saturday, May 19 -  Hooray!! It's our 17th Wedding Anniversary!  We took advantage of the good weather and our pool to make it a rare stay-home celebration.  We did wander into downtown Nashville so Ashlee could take advantage of "Yoga and Mimosas" on the roof-top of Acme Feed and Seed with our friend, Ali (who saved me from having to do yoga, thanks, girlie!).  I did meet up with them afterwards up on the roof for a libation.

We walked back over the Cumberland River to our parked car after the yoga and mimosas and listened to the waters make music on the pedestrian bridge.  Very cool and this also shows what a beautiful day it was.  We hopped back in the car and headed to brunch at Fort Louise in East Nashville.  What a quaint little place and the food was top-notch!

Our last stop before heading back to the pool to drift the afternoon away was to check out the new Mewsic Kitty Cafe, a unique adoption agency where you can interact with the felines before making your choice.  We visited a similar place in NYC a couple years back (March 2015) called the Meow Parlour.  The cats here were adorable including this big lazy who let us give her some belly rubs while sprawled out on the table in front of us .  We weren't in the market for a new cat, we just like to hang out with them!

As I mentioned, the rest of the day we lounged in and out of the pool, had  a few libations and some great stakes and grilled corn for dinner.  A nice and relaxing way to spend an anniversary day!

Saturday, May 26 - We headed up to Clarksville tonight for a visit to Beachaven Winery for their weekly summertime "Jazz on the Lawn" with our friends, Wendy and Charly.  We haven't been here in several years and my last visit (pre-blog) was not a good one as I mixed cold medicine and wine for a pretty bad result.  No bad mojo tonight, however, the weather was perfect, the crowd was cool and the band was pretty good with a lot of good cover songs (none of which were jazz).  

Monday, May 28 -  While I try to keep this blog as upbeat and as positive as I can, today was one of the toughest days in our life together as we had to say goodbye to our oldest cat, Mabel, due to oral cancer.  See her full tribute in the next blog post...