More Nashville

How did we end up in Nashville anyway? Well it was actually a choice between Hickory NC and Nashville TN. Strange I know. Dinah had months ago put in to take the week off of our anniversary. We haven't had a vacation at all since last year's anniversary. She didn't care what we did, we could sit around the house for a week, she just didn't want to go to work. Not me. I'm already home all week. Being home everyday just doesn't sound as enjoyable to me. I already do that. So I thought if we could get away just for two days, somewhere four hours or less away, it would at least seem more like a vacation and be more enjoyable for me. And vacation for Dinah means sleeping in, loooong naps, someone making the beds and clean white towels everyday. We didn't have to actually do something.

For awhile now I had been thinking about buying a pair of Kevlar reinforced jeans for riding my motorcycle. I can't afford good riding gear or leathers but the riding jeans are in my price range and significantly better than regular everyday jeans. I found two companies, Draggin Jeans in Hickory NC and Diamond Gusset Jeans in Bon Aqua TN, about 45 minutes from Nashville. I was leaning toward the Draggin Jeans until in March when we were unable to meet with my folks in Lexington so Mom wanted to reschedule for the first weekend in May. Since we were already taking time off and since Nashville is kind of in the area of Lexington, my choice was made for Diamond Gusset Jeans and a two night getaway in Nashville.

So our last day in Nashville we got the breakfast buffet at the restaurant, free with my Priority Club status, and it was above average for Holiday Inn breakfasts. Then we headed out to find the Diamond Gusset store in Bon Aqua. Tensions ran fairly high since the directions and map from their web site did not work. Finally I called the store, got new directions and we managed to get there. When I told them about our problems the response I got was, yeah we hear that a lot, it happens to a lot of people. But they were just sales clerks not the store owners so they had little interest in correcting it.

The jeans were great. It was nice to be able to try them on in the store rather than order blindly over the Internet and hope for the best, especially with my size. The jeans were slightly cheaper since we bought them at the store. And best of all, the jeans are made here in the USA!

On our way back, Rose was quite ornery, I think because she was quite hungry. I asked at the hotel where we should eat if we could only eat one lunch in Nashville. She gave a me a recommendation but we got distracted by a brew pub on the way there. It's hard for me to pass up a brew pub. So into the Blackstone Brewery we went.

I believe that Dinah had the American Pale Ale and I had the Mai Bock. Bocks are my favorite of favorite beer styles and I will go out of my way for one. Oh the memories of Huber Bock, a once upon a time favorite. Mine was great and I think Dinah enjoyed hers too. It was a driving lunch so I had a one drink maximum. With the beers I ordered their hot soft pretzels. They were so good yet not very pretzely, more like good buttery bread shaped like a pretzel. They were served with two mustards, a smooth and a stone ground which went well with both the pretzels and the beer.

Dinah ordered a wood fired thin crust pizza with pepperoni, mushroom and garlic. It smelled amazing but truth be told, as much as I love garlic I do not like it on pizza. The pepperoni itself was outstanding. I was excited to get the mushroom burger because our waitress said I could get it medium-rare. The best! But it came out medium-well and that made it only a so-so burger.

After that it was time for naps. We all needed one, especially Rose. We had planned on taking Rose to see the new Disney movie Earth while we were in Nashville since it would likely not be playing in our rural neck of the woods, but Dinah and Rose both slept right through all of the matinee showings. Oh well. I learned later there were many scenes of animals eating each other, though not graphic, and that maybe the movie is not that well suited for a soon to be three year old. Worked out for the best then.

I'll save dinner for the next post.