CharlieDigital
Banned
Robertsan's recent thread about his manly Scandinavian fishing trip inspired me to post my about my own, much less manly trip to Nashville, Tennessee (and you know, in the spirit of the end of summer vacation and all). I'm an East Coast guy (aka East Coast Liberal Elite, if you don't know me from PoliGAF threads), so there was a bit of culture shock ("I see white people") to be sure. Not to mention I wasn't expecting much; I mean come on, when you're from a state as awesome as New Jersey, how can any other state measure up? Regardless, I was willing to give TN a chance and I was looking forward to a weekend of pulled pork sandwiches and gastrointestinal indulgence in fine Southern cuisine.
It started out kind of shitty. I was stuck in Boston-Logan Intl Airport as I was told that Secret Service basically shut it down as Air Force One flew in (as well as various other dignitaries) for Kennedy's wake. On top of that, I had really terrible gas from a tuna sub I ate for lunch (never again...never again...). I've never been shanked in the gut before, but I think I can imagine what it would feel like.
I did make it out of there, eventually...5 hours behind schedule.
Sunday morning, my wife had to do some training at some school. I slept off my sleepless night and alternately took turns on the shitter, cleansing my system of that foul seafood sandwich.
Later in the day, we made our way to a country music/BBQ cook off that just happened to be on this weekend.
I didn't take a whole lot of pictures this day, but here's one of me pulling the tap on some Bayou Billy's Homebrew Soda:
Their tagline is pretty awesome: Put Some South In Your Mouth :lol
I was still trying to decide which was whiter: Nashville or Salt Lake City? I decided that, in the end, even though Nashville seemed to have a bit more diversity, the fact that there was so much country music and so many cowboy paraphernalia stores around, that I would consider Nashville the whiter of the two. Also: I hate country music.
Unfortunately, I was tagging along with the wife, so I couldn't get any pictures of the hot women for GAF to gawk at (sorry)! But be assured: if you're seeking hot, white women, they are in abundance in Nashville.
In the end, we couldn't figure out how this BBQ cookoff was supposed to work and neither of us really like country music (Taylor Swift doesn't count). We ended up just getting some pulled pork sandwiches from the vendors down the strip.
Day 2 was the real highlight for me. We couldn't decide what to do with ourselves but had stumbled upon a flyer for Cheekwood Botanical Gardens. Photo-GAF: if you ever get the chance, don't pass it up. GO THERE. It's gorgeous and makes for a great day of photography (not to mention it's very relaxing):
There's a pretty awesome Japanese style Zen garden in the West Gardens:
There must have been some cross promotion with Travelocity or something:
A stunning resemblance!
The main mansion was beautiful as well, however, photography wasn't allowed. The backstory is that it was once owned by one of the early investors in Maxwell House Coffee (The Cheek family). At one point, it did occur to me that if they needed a real life location to film a Resident Evil movie, this would be it.
It's even a bit creepier because they have their scarecrows display out now. I failed to capture the creepiness, but I imagine you'd shit your pants if you were to wander there alone at night...
There's also a whole section of the garden, the sculpture trail (including a pet cemetary), that we didn't do...maybe next time. Also, there's supposed to be a Dale Chihuly exhibit next year if you're planning on making a trip to Tennessee!
If you're ever in Tennessee, don't pass up the chance to stop by Cheekwood. Bring some comfortable hiking/walking shoes, a bottle of water, a nice camera, and some time. You can also spend some time figuring out how you would film a Resident Evil movie on the premise and where you'd set the classic scenes.
The End.
It started out kind of shitty. I was stuck in Boston-Logan Intl Airport as I was told that Secret Service basically shut it down as Air Force One flew in (as well as various other dignitaries) for Kennedy's wake. On top of that, I had really terrible gas from a tuna sub I ate for lunch (never again...never again...). I've never been shanked in the gut before, but I think I can imagine what it would feel like.
I did make it out of there, eventually...5 hours behind schedule.
Sunday morning, my wife had to do some training at some school. I slept off my sleepless night and alternately took turns on the shitter, cleansing my system of that foul seafood sandwich.
Later in the day, we made our way to a country music/BBQ cook off that just happened to be on this weekend.
I didn't take a whole lot of pictures this day, but here's one of me pulling the tap on some Bayou Billy's Homebrew Soda:
Their tagline is pretty awesome: Put Some South In Your Mouth :lol
I was still trying to decide which was whiter: Nashville or Salt Lake City? I decided that, in the end, even though Nashville seemed to have a bit more diversity, the fact that there was so much country music and so many cowboy paraphernalia stores around, that I would consider Nashville the whiter of the two. Also: I hate country music.
Unfortunately, I was tagging along with the wife, so I couldn't get any pictures of the hot women for GAF to gawk at (sorry)! But be assured: if you're seeking hot, white women, they are in abundance in Nashville.
In the end, we couldn't figure out how this BBQ cookoff was supposed to work and neither of us really like country music (Taylor Swift doesn't count). We ended up just getting some pulled pork sandwiches from the vendors down the strip.
Day 2 was the real highlight for me. We couldn't decide what to do with ourselves but had stumbled upon a flyer for Cheekwood Botanical Gardens. Photo-GAF: if you ever get the chance, don't pass it up. GO THERE. It's gorgeous and makes for a great day of photography (not to mention it's very relaxing):
There's a pretty awesome Japanese style Zen garden in the West Gardens:
There must have been some cross promotion with Travelocity or something:
A stunning resemblance!
The main mansion was beautiful as well, however, photography wasn't allowed. The backstory is that it was once owned by one of the early investors in Maxwell House Coffee (The Cheek family). At one point, it did occur to me that if they needed a real life location to film a Resident Evil movie, this would be it.
It's even a bit creepier because they have their scarecrows display out now. I failed to capture the creepiness, but I imagine you'd shit your pants if you were to wander there alone at night...
There's also a whole section of the garden, the sculpture trail (including a pet cemetary), that we didn't do...maybe next time. Also, there's supposed to be a Dale Chihuly exhibit next year if you're planning on making a trip to Tennessee!
If you're ever in Tennessee, don't pass up the chance to stop by Cheekwood. Bring some comfortable hiking/walking shoes, a bottle of water, a nice camera, and some time. You can also spend some time figuring out how you would film a Resident Evil movie on the premise and where you'd set the classic scenes.
The End.
