After the holidays, we settled into our routine. The kids were still taking virtual classes. Jay began going into school. First teaching to an empty classroom and then welcoming students back in cohorts. It seemed like the winter was cold and wet. We managed to get out few times and hike around some of the state parks and made a trip for Parker to paddle around at the White Water Center (too cold for us). The big event over the winter was that Parker and Lulu participated in a dog training course at Just Dogs Academy where they both learned some new tricks. Somehow, we blinked and it was time for spring break.
Musical accompaniment* for the remainder of this edition of the blog.
We decided to do something different for spring break. Ansel had never been to Nashville and Parker hadn’t been since 2008. On Friday, the first day of spring break, we headed west. We detoured along the way to drive through Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg. Seeing the people on the streets was enough for us to continue our trek to the Music City.
We rolled into town and checked into the Crooked Craftsman. The house was amazing and a great place to headquarter. We settled in and then drove around town so that the kids could get their bearings. A funny thing has happened over the past 18 years since Kristie and Jay left Nashville. All the streets are named the same and they seem to take you to the same places, but the routes look completely different. We were amazed at all of the changes.
Saturday, we woke up and drove to Belle Meade. Ansel wanted to do a drive by of the Chrisley’s house. Afterwards, we went to Percy Warner Park for a short hike. We had a picnic at the Brentwood Library. Dinner consisted of take out from Prince’s Hot Chicken Shack. Jay was a bit disappointed that their new location (the old one permanently closed a couple of years ago) doesn’t have the “dive” ambiance of the old place up on Ewing Drive, but the chicken was still great!
Sunday morning, we took a quick walk around Edwin Warner Park. This is the park that was across the street from Jay’s old apartment. He was happy to be home. After our walk, we went over and had lunch with our friends the Csernovicz’s. Afterwards, we drove down to Franklin to walk around. Our tour included a stop at T-Op for bubble teas. On the way back into town, we decided to stop at Jay’s favorite Vietnamese restaurant, Kien Giang (no website, but it is on Charlotte Pike of you are looking). It literally hasn’t changed. As a side note, Jay once had a celebrity sighting of Gillian Welch and David Rawlings there.
Monday featured a trip to downtown for Kristie, Ansel, and Jay to tour the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. Jay spared the girls of him reading every word written on every exhibit. Afterwards, we walked around downtown and enjoyed taking in the sights before it became crowded again. For lunch we went to Calypso Cafe. This was another one of our favorite restaurants when we lived there. We were glad it is still around. The rest of the day, we drove around Williamson County and stopped at several parks for Lulu to play. The day concluded with sushi/ramen from Two Ten Jack.
Tuesday morning, Jay and Parker walked to the TN State Museum. It was less than a mile from our house. Along the way, they walked past Mary’s Old Fashioned Pit Bar-B-Que (no website – on Jefferson Street). It is Jay’s favorite Bar-B-Que restaurant in Nashville, and he almost didn’t recognize it because he had never seen it in the daylight. They continued on and enjoyed the museum. Parker made it through the formation of the Appalachian Mountains, but one sword looked like the next as we continued. He still found a few exhibits that interested him and they enjoyed their time together. Kristie and Ansel met up with them and we walked around BicenTENNial Capital State Park and climbed the stairs up to the capital. We drove over to East Nashville where Ansel bagged some murals and got donuts from Five Daughters Bakery. On the return to our house, we stopped at Mary’s. Unfortunately, the pork was still being cooked, but Jay, being a veteran, knew that the real thing to get is the fish sandwich. He also knew that it should be ordered with mustard, onion, pickles, and hot sauce. I think that Ansel would have preferred hers plain. Parker got the ribs, which he really enjoyed. After lunch, we went back into town to walk around downtown and cross the John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge. Our trip concluded with another hike at Percy Warner Park with the Csernovicz’s followed by pizza at their house.
Wednesday, before returning to NC to relax for the remainder of our spring break, we stopped by the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center so that the kids could see it.
It was great returning to the place where it all started for Kristie and Jay. We wish that we would have been able to see more friends, but we were trying to be health conscious. Next time.
*Our house had a vintage record player with a limited selection of vinyl. This particular record was our favorite and was on constantly during our visit. It includes some fun arrangements of some familiar tunes.
