Friday, May 26th – Monday, May 29th, 2017 (Memorial Day weekend)
I like the pace of Nashville. Everyone drives under the speed limit and I feel as if we’ve been let in on some secret (psst, let the rest of the world rush along as much as it pleases, but you and us my dear, we are in no such hurry!) Everyday we slept in, considered getting up, then slept in some more. That all said, Victor thinks he could never live in Nashville because the food is too tasty, too fried, and he would get too fat– but it’s true. At our favorite restaurant there, I sighted a lady walk by with the jiggliest butt I’ve ever seen in my life, just these two big round lumps of tofu delicately wobbling over to the bathroom. It was a wondrous thing to witness.
Friday
We landed in the evening then drove to the most ghetto place we’d visit all weekend, Prince’s Hot Chicken, with trash strewn over the tables, no napkins in sight, ranch that came in packets for an extra dollar and bottled lemonade with 200g of sugar or something. The chicken was good though. And it was hot. We had ordered “hot” (I think there may even be two more levels above that) but the lady was like, oh that’s hot so we got “normal”. It was still hot. In the end, half a chicken wasn’t enough when our fat selves had aspired to eat our way through Nashville, so naturally we decided why not hit up another hot chicken place? Next up was Hattie B’s Hot Chicken. The chicken here was not hot, and that was kinda my fault. I suggested “normal” after learning our lesson at Prince’s, but “normal” was actually no spice. Regardless, the chicken was good. We sat outside people watching in the warm summer night. He tallied the number of Lyfts vs. Ubers driving by, as is his engrained reflex in every new city. He was slightly disappointed.
Saturday
Started our day queueing in a big long line for Pancake Pantry, times when portable Netflix comes in handy. The place was good, but I don’t think anything too special. The neighborhood was a pleasant surprise though, a nice stroll with some cute shops. Nashville can be just like San Francisco with its strong hipster vibes in some places, I had no idea.
Rain came and went throughout our weekend. While it did suck that the race at the Nashville Speedway got rained out on, we spent the time at the Nashville flea market instead, which was, “wow so tiny, what are we going to do with the rest of our afternoon? Actually let’s go check out that building, there’s more stuff in there. Wait, if we go out this door.. omg, it just keeps going…” Guys, this flea market was huge. And really random. We got sunblock, xbox games, and I got this really nice smelling honeybee & goat’s milk lotion 🙂
It was time for dinner at the Loveless Cafe. The wait there wasn’t too bad, and we kept ourselves busy looking at their merchandise. Victor had been checking out any cookbooks he came across this trip and gained the magical ability to randomly flip to the only fried chicken recipe in any book. We played corn hole and he beat me in both the left and right handed competitions but hey, I got one in while your closest throw hung sadly on the edge of dropping in but didn’t. Sucker. The cafe was super homey, and the food was our favorite during the trip. Get the fried catfish and biscuits if you ever go. Rain poured and distant thunder sounded as the waitresses came and went through the porch door. I love the drama of pounding rain, and it felt good to hear it in person once again rather than through my headphones on Spotify’s Rain Vol. 2 playlist or whatever as I sit inside a San Francisco office. Victor ordered pie and barely ate it because pecan pie with chocolate pieces turned out to taste just like pecan pie only they added chocolate to it. I don’t know what you were expecting.
I wanted to go watch the rain after dinner but the rain stopped, perfect timing I guess, by the time we finished. As we drove to the Bluebird Cafe, we hunted for lingering streaks of lightning.
What followed was a highlight of our trip, “An Evening with Don Schlitz and Jelly Roll Johnson” at the Bluebird Cafe. When they asked how many of us are from out of town, it was a bit ridiculous seeing everyone’s hands go up (the place got famous on the t.v. show “Nashville”). But being a tourist there, who am I to complain? As for country music, I rarely listen to it but when I do, I always can’t help but to appreciate it. Country singers have a way of reeling me into their stories, and their messages linger on long after I’ve stopped listening. Songs like Don’s “The Gambler” just make me feel wiser, and I’ve always been especially drawn to people who make themselves vulnerable in one way or another. As an example, hearing Don sing songs like “Guys my size” made me feel very human, if that means anything. I especially loved the parts where Jelly Roll accompanied the guitar with his soulful harmonica. Who knew how versatile and rich a harmonica’s sounds could be, that little, unassuming instrument. A lot like our performers that evening, no frills, modest and down-to-earth, sharing this intimate evening with their lucky guests. It was an honor to see them both perform.
Sunday
After leaving our names at Monell’s Dining and Catering, we went strolling through the lovely Bicentennial Capitol Mall. We both commented on how we hadn’t seen so much green grass in awhile. There’s none in the city and when we go back home for winter break, everything’s dead. We came across a WWII memorial, and my history is incredibly bad, so I learned a lot and made a lot of clueless comments to Victor while he made fun of how slowly I read. But the memorial was designed very beautifully, and we learned that Tennessee really did their part for the country. I left with a feeling of awe and respect.
Went back to check on our spot for Monell’s and yes, we’ve been called! How this place operates is you sit at a big table and share a meal with a bunch of strangers. When the next table opened up, a bunch of us were ushered in, and as soon as we all made contact with our seats the food started coming and would not stop. We passed everything around the table and before we knew it, had finished everything as well. It was such a well-oiled machine. Our table-mates were very friendly and easy to talk to. It wasn’t truly all-you-can eat as it suggested though. When we said yes, in fact we would like some more of that catfish, we waited until it was awkward we were still sitting at the table then left.
Though we aren’t big country fans or anything, we went to the Country Music Hall of Fame to kill time. We were actually pretty impressed and learned much about country, its origins, the different types, how it has evolved, influential people in country… There were clips of girls freaking out at Elvis’s concert and that was pretty funny. Did you know that guy owned a car with 40 coats of paint made of diamonds and fish scales? Yeah really. We had just gotten to a surprise fun part where we sat in a booth and recorded ourselves singing to Taylor Swift’s “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” (hi). I was worried for a split second when a security person stopped us from singing another round like oh god what’ve we done with our singing, but it turned out the museum was closing (aw, already?).
So we went walking around downtown. Lots of bars, some trashy souvenir and cowboy boot shops, and lots of bachelorette parties peddling on these big, how do you even describe.. vehicles with a person in the middle serving alcohol, Spice Girls blasting, ladies singing along. Not much downtown for us so we knocked off some Monday items by visiting Centennial Park and the Parthenon. Walked around the lake, watched people fly kites, and ate strawberries we bought at the farmer’s market by the capitol mall.
We felt finally really for another meal, but then began our series of dinner fails. Drove up to Martin’s BBQ Joint and waited in a pretty fast line but the people walking out kept echoing the same thing- they were out of all the good stuff. We yelped around but being 9:30 or so, choices were limited. Found a place a few blocks away but no more tables that night. So naturally that made us want it more. Well, they said, if we find ourselves a place at the bar, then we could take it. Great! So we spotted two targets, waited in the shadowy corners and pounced as they stood up. As we sat down and read over the menu, we realized everything was expensive and there was nothing we really wanted. And so we committed to driving over the bridge to Pharmacy Burger Parlor, a place recommended by a fellow diner at Monell’s. The staff there was excellent. Super booked that night and we’d get in right before closing, but because we placed ourselves on Yelp’s reservation list, they honored it. We chilled in our car watching more “Master of None” until time. The place had a cozy yet fun and lively atmosphere, and I don’t remember ever having a cream soda before. Revelation – cream sodas are so good!
Monday
Yay we finally got to try Martin’s BBQ Joint! Lunch was so easy to get in, line moved so fast we barely had time to decide what to get before we reached the counter. Tried both the dry-rubbed spare ribs and sauced baby back ribs and learned we both like spare ribs more. Yummy BBQ. Tried hushpuppies, which turned out to be fried food, should’ve guessed.
On the last day, we had already too efficiently run through our list of things to do, so we eventually found a driving range. I’ve never been a big fan of golf but this was surprisingly fun. You aren’t sectioned off though and we were forced to play among people who knew what they were doing. So I first stealthily watched a quick YouTube video along the lines of “how to hit a golf ball.” Probably looking ridiculous in my long dress and flats, with this slight fear I’m going to hit someone, I gave it my first swing. And what do you know, the club made contact and the ball skidded forth! I was delighted to deny my super supportive boyfriend who insisted on filming my first swing any embarrassing content. HAH. He told me I did “100% better than expected”. Gee, thanks sweetie.
It was only 2:30pm and I couldn’t even think about food when we drove to buy more food. Yes it was sandwiches for the plane, but it occurred to me at this point that maybe Victor was right and we shouldn’t live here or my butt would start wobbling like tofu too.