Correction

I really try to be truthful in this blog but apparently I made a grave error in my last entry..several of Keith's paper airplanes DID MAKE IT DOWN TO THE HOTEL LOBBY because he is a skilled and expert paper airplane maker and flyer. I stand corrected. Thank You.

Going Solo and Rockin it With My Baby

Let me just say that if you have not been to Nashville you have got to get there. It is a wonderful city, America at it's best. It is a big city with a small town vibe. It has southern charm with a northern sensibility. It has tattooed and pierced hipsters and lean young men with silver belt buckles and cowboy hats. Fantastic young women with streaks of purple in their hair, denim short shorts, colorful tube socks and cowboy boots. You can fly your freak flag or be a good old country girl/ boy and it's all good. I like it here..a lot.
Today was our day to do our own thing. We agreed to each follow our own bliss for the day and then meet for dinner and a night of honky Tonkin. Keith got going first, no surprise. My boy was busy. He went to the Country Hall of Fame Museum, the original Grand Old Opry now called the Rymen Auditorium, where he played on the stage and got his picture taken.he went to Roberts Western World and had a fried bologna sandwich that he said was heavenly. He met a guy at a bar named Michael who wanted Keith to be his drinking buddy for the day. The dude said he lived off his royalties from music but we think he probably is a hopeless alcoholic and is on disability. In any case Keith declined his offer. Keith walked for miles through the city, he had a great time. I enjoyed hearing about his adventures. One one of the many wonderful qualities that Keith has is that he makes friends wherever he is. He talks to everyone and is genuinely interested in others people's lives, so it doesn't surprise me someone wants to hang with him all day.
I took my time this morning. After talking with a young women at the front desk about where to find interesting and unique shops Intook antaxi across town to a cute and artsy area. I spent the afternoon browsing through the shops and bought just one thing. An art piece made out of recycled Nashville licensed plates. It will look good in my kitchen. I had lunch in a cafe called Provance. I had a vegi sandwich that had avocado, sprouts, tomatoes, cucumbers, and mango chutney on whole grain bread, along with it I had some fruit salad. Very nice. Today was about 95 degrees and super humid. By mid afternoon I needed to get out of the heat. I was soaked, just dripping with sweat, not pretty. I grabbed a cab back to the hotel to rest up and cool off.
I had made reservations for a restaurant I had read about called the Watermark. I made a great choice, we had a fantastic dinner, it was food prepared perfectly. I started with fried green tomatoes that were served over a small amount of creamed corn and topped with some lobster. Get the picture? Soo good. Keith had ..wait for it.....heirloom tomato soup. It was good too. For our entrees I had filet mignon medium rare, white cheddar potato gratin, and creamed spinach. The spinach was the best I had ever had, my filet was tender and really flavorful and my potatoes were creamy and crunchy at the same time. Keith had a pork chopped that had a delicious grilled flavor and was served with mashed potatoes, spinach, and a peach and jalepeno chutney. I think his chop was the best pork chop I had ever tasted. I had proseco, 2 glasses for those of you counting and Keith had several glasses of beer. The service was impeccable, the chef came out to greet us and thank us for coming. It was a great dining experience. Oh yeah for dessert Keith had a King Alphonse Cordial and I shared my gelato which was a sccop of strawberry, a scoop of honey ricotta, a scoop of vanilla bourbon. They made the gelato there and it was very good. After dinner we went back to Broadway street and cruised the clubs, once again we heard some great music.
Our hotel suite is on the top floor about 15 stories up.You get vertigo when you look down into the lobby which all the rooms face. Keith spent about 30 minutes making paper airplanes and flying them off our balcony down to the lobby. None of them made it all the way down but he had so much fun doing it! I got a glimpse, not for the first time, of what he must of been like at the age of 10 or 11. It was wonderful. So tomorrow we are off to Memphis, our final stop before we drive back to Atlanta on Friday. We have gone over 2000 miles so far.
We love you Mom. Peace Out.

A Night in Nashville

After Avery long and eventful day we arrived in Nashville. We are stayinfpg at the downtown Hilton in a delux suite and it's really swanky. Its kinda fun. Fifth across from our hotel we can see from our window the arena. Brittney Sp,ears is playing there tonight so there are oddles of teenage girls all hoochied up. It is a riot to see. Ok back to the trip. We asked Philnthe bell hop where we go for a casual but good meal within walking distance. Our hotel is in a greatblocation right in the middle of everything. Here is a lesson for all travelers. Do not ask a 18 year old who has only lived in the area For a couple of months where to eat unless you are 18 too.
Phil recommended a place called Demos, about 7 blocks from the hotel. As soon as we left the hotel it started to rain, then pour, then thunder and lightening, then a deluge. I had an umbrella but it was raining so hard my umbrella went inside out. We got to Demos and realized pretty quick that this probably wasn't going to be great but decided to make the best of it. At least we were out of the rain. We ordered our meals, I'm not going to go into detail, let me just say it was the worst pasta we have had in a long time, maybe ever but my manhattan was good so not all was lost. Our waiter was adorable his name was Colt( he said it was his real name) and of course he is a musician trying to make it in Nashville. It was fun talking with him, I hope he makes it. After dinner we headed to Broadway St where all the clubs are. WE HAD A BLAST! First we went to a place called the Stage, it had a country/ rock feel. The band was good and we stayed for about 45 minutes. The band in these clubs all play for tips. There are about 4 blocks of clubs all a little different. People just go from one to another. Next we went to "Roberts Western World" where they play traditional western swing. The band was a bunch of old timers and they were great, Keith was in heaven and we were having a great time. We saved the best for last. The final club of the evening was called " Layla's Bluegrass Hillbilly and Country Inn" They featured bluegrass music and were wonderful. We bought two CD's there from the band and bought the band a round of drinks. Really fabulous. We had such a fun time and it kinda smoothed over our snarkiness that popped out occasionally during the day. It was kind of romantic and really fun. Tomorrow we are going to do our own thing during the afternoon, find a good place to have dinner then hit the clubs in the evening. Thatsball for now, good night Mom. Peace Out.

A quicky

We just got to Nashville and Keith says I only have 5 minutes to spit out a blog before we hit the streets. After the hours park we left for Makers Mark IT TOOK US FOREVER to get there. It is not easy to find and we had a few spats as HE WOULD NOT TAKE DIRECTION from me. But we made it and it was worth it. It was hidden away in this beautiful valley. Go on their website and you can see how lovely it is. I love makers mark bourbon, think it's the best. The tour was interesting, il learned it's one of the few bourbons that doesn't use rye and before you make bourbon you have to make beer! Cool right? We saw it in it's various stages, the barrels, the botteling process, and the dipping the bottles in wax. At the end we did antasting of the original bourbon and Makers Mark 46 their new product. I am a fan. It was hot humid and muggy and by the end I was glad to get in our air conditioned car and on our way to Nashville. It took us about 3 hours to get here. Keith and I have been together non stop and we are starting to get a little cranky with each other. Don't anyone worry it's just companion fatigue. Perhaps tomorrow we will have some time apart. We really are having a blast. Oh I forgot to tell you about lunch. We could not find a place to eat for the longest time. We first tried this town of Springfield and all their little restaurants went out of business. We finally went 10 miles to the next town called Lebanon ( in Kentucky.) and found one place which was an ItLian joint. I had a meatball sub and he had the chef salad. Mine was tasty, but I would have been happy with ANYTHING at that point. Keith liked his salad. The people were very impressed that we were from Cali. When we checked into the Hilton tonight Keith has his guitar looking like a pro. Some guy askednto see it and gushed all over it. Keith thinks he is so cool now. Jeez. Gotta get ready before big daddy has a cow. Love you Mom. Peace out.

Bourbon and Horses all day long

Last night we had dinner in Llexington atvaplace a couple of blocks from our hotel called DeSha's. It has been there a while at at one time was the place to go. It is still ok, actually we had a nice meal. I started with a sweet manhattan, my family's signature drink. This one was about 3 times the size of a Joe Betro Manahatten. I knew I was in trouble when I saw it but I was very thirsty. Along with my cocktail I had grilled scallops and grits along with a salad. The grits were delicious. They were a little cheesy and there was a midly spicy sause served with them. The scallops were pretty good, I would have liked anlittle more caramelization on them but I don't want to be picky. It also came with asparagus which was well asparagus.Keith had fried grouper which I tasted and it was yummy. He started with sausage vegetable soup and it tasted very much like the on I make which means it was very good. We had a long day and the drink hit me like I knew it would. We got back to the room, callednroom service for our evening ice cream and I was asleep before 9 pm.
This morning after breakfast we went to Kentucky Horse Park. The place could easily be an all day thing it goes on endlessly.there are museums,many different horses thT you can ride ( we did NOT). they have guided tours that take about 3 hours which we skipped. After the museum which was blessedly airconditioned We did see a show that highlighted several breeds. It was fun, glad we saw it. I like horses, but I'm not a horse person.Keith said he " loved" horses. I had no idea, I learned something. More on Kentucky later.
Hi Mom, miss you. Peace out.

Cruising Through West Virginia

We got going at about 9am. It was a nice easy morning..no parasites and egg mcmuffins for breakfast. We decided to take the back roads through West Virginia for the first leg of the drive. We knew it would take much longer but it's about the journey and not the destination. Lexington Kentucky was our goal for the day and it didn't matter to us what time we got there.

West Virginia is the most densely wooded state we have been through thus far. They don't call them "the mountaineers" for nothing. The terrain and surrounding mountains are steep. The leads are pretty windy, it's a very good thing I brought motion sickness pills. We drove through miles of these small communities, some are named but I would not exactly call them towns but I guess they are. They have post offices and several churches, most look like less than a hundred people live there, but still these small hollows always have more than church, usually Methodist and or Baptist. Being Sunday morning we could see sometimes 4 to 6 cars and sometimes as many as 20 cars parked out back of the churches. This really is the bible belt. There are Jesus slogans everywhere you look. As Keith said with this much poverty alls they may have is their faith. There is extreme poverty. Really broken down mobile homes and houses that look as if they are ready to collapse but are clearly inhabited. Front porches and yards loaded with " stuff" I may think it's junk but to them it may be treasures. What I found interesting was that there many nice homes as well and they were not in separate areas. So we saw ramshackeled homes next to homes that were lovely and freshly painted with well tended yards. I could not help thinking what it would be like to grow up here. For sure everyone knows everyone else's business. If you were different in any way I imagine it would be difficult. On the other hand it is beautiful country and the closeness of the community could be a comfort during hard times.
Coal is king in West Virginia and we drove by many coal mines and coal processing plants. Huge mountains of the stuff and long shoots to transport it form the site to to where they did whatever it is they do to it. There are clear differences between Virginia and West Virginia. We saw tons of State Police in Virginia, as you know I met one myself. We saw none in WV . In Virginia the roads are pristine, in WV there is litter lining the roads. In Virginia they have really nice rest stops with clean bathrooms. In West Virginia we had to pull over and pee in the woods ( just keeping it real). The have and the have nots, sadly nothing new. Still natural beauty is everywhere there too.
As we pulled off the highway into Lexington Kentucky it started to pour down rain. Not just a regular downpour but heavy sideways rain where you could not see even with the windshield wipers going on full speed. I found our hotel without any drama and here we are. From the land of steep mountains to the gentle rolling hills of Kentucky, the journey continues. More on Kentucky next time. Till then...Hi Mom and Peace out.

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Morning Surprise, Afternoon Delight, Caught In the Act

Well we have had quite a day in Virginia. Last night we got to bed around 2am but I could not fall asleep. Finally around 5am I dozed off. At 8:30 Keith woke me up so we could get a move on. We had an ambitious day planned. He had already been up for a couple of hours and done some laundry. Yes, the boy is a morning person, I have never been. But I got up and chugged some bad coffee. Three and a half hours is not enough sleep but I figured I could catch a nap in the car. So I'm getting ready and I hear my beloved say "oh shit is this a tick?" the answer was yes it is! Located about 4 inches below his belly button ( yes there) was a little brown tick latched on as if it's life depended on it. Out came the tweezers, and I am happy to say the operation was a success. We hope no lime disease is in his future. We think he may have picked it up when he was exploring his cousin Lisa's woods. It probably crawled up his leg and landed where it did. Enough said about that.
After the complimentary continental breakfast we headed out at around 10:30. After looking at the map we decided to skip Monticello cause it would have taken us out of our way and added an additional 4 hours at least to our day. We were very excited about seeing the Luray Canyons and we knew the drive through the Shenandoah Valley would be beautiful. Ever since I heard John Denver sing about this place I have pictured it and longed to see it. Oh my gosh it is beyond description but I'll give it my best shot. Picture green rolling hills and with full trees, rivers running through and ancient mountains on all sides. Everywhere you look there is a postcard. Cows and horses dotting the landscape along with dark red barns as well asnstructures that were probably once farm houses but have long since been vacated. All of it something I will never forget. It goes on forever.
Rice crispies and fruit only goes so far so at 12:30 we stopped in Sperryville VA. Sperryville is a small town, very historic and well just a sweet little place. We came upon a little eatery called "High On the Hog" I knew that was the place for us. Their tag line is" a taste of south in your mouth" I am not making it up. I had the pulled pork sandwich with a side of coleslaw and Keith had a fried fish sandwich. We enjoyed our lunch in their patio where a stream was running by the side and shade trees cooled us off. My pulled pork was as good as a pulled pork sandwich could be. The meat was juicy and sweet with just the right amount of sauce and it was wedged between a soft sesame seed sandwich bun. Perfect. The slaw was refreshing and crunchy and had a good amount of pepper, yummy. Keith said his fish sandwich was "good" high praise coming from him. After lunch we got back on the road and arrived at Luray Caverns at about 2pm. The Luray Cavernsare a U.S natural landmark and the largest caverns on the east coast. We took the tour which lasted about 90 minutes. The cavern is enormous, goes on forever. The stalagmites and stalactites were so spectacular it was hard to believe they were not made by Disney. It was really cool down there but humid at the same time. To get down in to the cavern we went down a long stairway then we wound our way through it. There were guides placed at points of interest. Young well scrubbed and clean cut men and women all locals . They shared facts and interesting bits of history. After the tour we made are way up the very long staircase which conveniently dumps you out at the expansive gift shop. As my mother would say " just a bunch of junk". Still,mi bought a few souvenirs. really, I am not a shopper, and I have not bought much of anything on this trip so far. I would like to pick up some folk art if I find something interesting. I'll keep looking.

We still had about 3 hours to drive before we got to West Virginia where we wanted to spend the night. I got behind the wheel, I like to drive,Keith has been doing most of it, his choice. So I'm getting my groove on listening to NPR weekend programming which we love. The Roads are great not much traffic at all. The posted speed limit is 70 but jeez in Southern Cali we never go the posted speed limit. Never! But this ain't Cali and I got pulled over by the Virginia State Police. He clocked me going 82 but gave me a ticket for 80 so I would not have to appear in court for reckless driving. He was very nice. I told him he had a beautiful state and he agreed and said he had never been to mine, I told him mine was beautiful too. So I put the sped control on 70 , even though Keith told me I could get away with going faster I stayed at 70. We got to our hotel in Beckley West Virginia after 7. We were too tired to go out so we got turkey burgers and ice cream . Just fine. So far we have travelled since arriving in Atlanta 1514 miles. We still have a week to go. Tomorrow Kentucky.
Peace out. Hi Mom we love you!