The mist as we left the Gap.
This is not meant to be product placement. We're all about trying to be local, but in desperate times, this = the cleanest bathrooms, best playgrounds off an Interstate, and decent ice-coffee!
Very fun dramatic play in the back seat!
A few moments in the foyer of the Country Music Hall of Fame.
Alex was the only one to catch on to the architecture of this building (the Country Music Hall of Fame!).
The main drag in Nashville.
"Daddy, they didn't finish this city."
View from Shelby Street Bridge.
Shelby Street Bridge.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Perhaps the title of this blog should be “the way we were yesterday” as I can’t quite get things together in my head for the actual day.
Neil got the pinch and the punch for the first of the month.
Today’s stats. 320 miles. 5 hours in the car. Middlesboro, Kentucky to Jackson, Tennessee.
It was a long day. We started on 33 South and passed by trailers, trampolines, convicts in striped trousers cleaning up trash, countless booths and stores for buying fireworks, makeshift yard sales/boot sales in empty abandoned store lots, and three police cars. Everyone drives the speed limit in Tennessee from what we observed, at least.
Neil and I tried to listen to some country music on the radio. We’re not natural fans and the only reason we were planning on a stop in Nashville is because, well…it’s on the way to Memphis. So, we tried to get ourselves all psyched up. Alex was all revved up – all we had to say is that this is where people go to get famous (I should fill you in a bit – Alex has given up the bearded dragon dream and replaced it with a ukulele. That or a banjo, or a guitar even). So, Nashville, in theory, was perfect.
Back to the music and the local radio stations. There we were, 20 minutes into our journey, listening to some of the classics like “Take this job and shove it” and “Today’s the day I get my gold watch and chain.”
Then we heard the scream….”Me no like this music!”
Somewhere out there I know you are reading this, Dad. You’ll appreciate the fact that just as we were beginning to get into the rhythm of country music, our daughter’s wail convinced us to change the station. Worse even. The next thing we knew – we were in Princess CD land. Sigh.
Next, we took 40 West from Knoxville to Nashville. I-40 goes from North Carolina to California. We could stay on this for the whole trip even…and we contemplated just that. The speed limit is 70 even! We’ll see what happens.
Lunch at Shoneys – Shoneys is one of those ubiquitous southern restaurants. It’s buffet style and the people there were very cheerful. And then, somewhere on I-40 we lost an hour due to the time change.
Nashville. Alex and I were in line for the Music Hall of Fame. I wasn’t that keen, but it seemed like the thing to do and I thought I might get inspired. Alex was all set, too. Up until we were the next in line and he said, “I’m so excited – we get to play the instruments, right?” Ah…no. That was it. We were out of line and on the street wandering around Nashville with Neil and Eleni.
Some streets probably were not meant for the four of us to walk on…we saw some homeless people under the Shelby Street Bridge (and then we proceeded to walk up on the bridge). We walked down the main drag and had ice cream at Mike’s ice-cream place. I have no idea if this matters in history, but Alex loved his Tennessee Root Beer and that is what mattered at the moment.
There is country music playing on every street corner. Alex wanted the guitar in every shop window and Eleni just wanted new sunglasses (somehow she lost hers in the 5 minutes she was in the Music Hall of Fame gift shop).
Neil and I bought a country music CD, and this time we listened to the whole thing. Both kids fell asleep in the car for two whole hours! We thought we were going to get off the soulless 40 West, but with the kids asleep….we just kept driving! In the peace, we enjoyed a Goo Goo Cluster made famous in Nashville. And better yet, we enjoyed the classic songs (“On the Road Again” and “I walk the Line” and so on), and we were listening to “Coal Miner’s Daughter” just as we passed the exit for Loretta Lynn’s museum about just that. We stopped in Jackson and found a Days Inn with pool next to a museum or something about Casey Jones’ Railroad.
The kids spent a glorious hour in the pool, and their bedtime story was looking at maps. All is well.
Lunch at Shoneys – Shoneys is one of those ubiquitous southern restaurants. It’s buffet style and the people there were very cheerful. And then, somewhere on I-40 we lost an hour due to the time change.
Nashville. Alex and I were in line for the Music Hall of Fame. I wasn’t that keen, but it seemed like the thing to do and I thought I might get inspired. Alex was all set, too. Up until we were the next in line and he said, “I’m so excited – we get to play the instruments, right?” Ah…no. That was it. We were out of line and on the street wandering around Nashville with Neil and Eleni.
Some streets probably were not meant for the four of us to walk on…we saw some homeless people under the Shelby Street Bridge (and then we proceeded to walk up on the bridge). We walked down the main drag and had ice cream at Mike’s ice-cream place. I have no idea if this matters in history, but Alex loved his Tennessee Root Beer and that is what mattered at the moment.
There is country music playing on every street corner. Alex wanted the guitar in every shop window and Eleni just wanted new sunglasses (somehow she lost hers in the 5 minutes she was in the Music Hall of Fame gift shop).
Neil and I bought a country music CD, and this time we listened to the whole thing. Both kids fell asleep in the car for two whole hours! We thought we were going to get off the soulless 40 West, but with the kids asleep….we just kept driving! In the peace, we enjoyed a Goo Goo Cluster made famous in Nashville. And better yet, we enjoyed the classic songs (“On the Road Again” and “I walk the Line” and so on), and we were listening to “Coal Miner’s Daughter” just as we passed the exit for Loretta Lynn’s museum about just that. We stopped in Jackson and found a Days Inn with pool next to a museum or something about Casey Jones’ Railroad.
The kids spent a glorious hour in the pool, and their bedtime story was looking at maps. All is well.
4 comments:
Well, I finally found the blog (kept spelling Kirsti with an e at the end). Glad it is going well so far. The kids got a kick out of seeing Eleni and Alex on the computer. Their personalities definitely come through. Can't wait to see how the trip continues. Wishing you all the best! The Coen Clan
I think after a while (that means 3 songs), I would have screamed the same thing about the music.
Kareen
I love Eleni's attitude, by the way, has she talked to you ever since (ha ha)! What you should go to is the biggest waterpark in the USA!. It's called Noah's ark waterpark in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin! Even though we haven't been there any waterpark is fun!I love you princess!
-Zoe!!
Thinking about the Mighty Mississippi . . . .From an article about the National Park Service's Wild and Scenic Rivers System: "Rivers flow through the heart of America and Americans. They have been the pathways of explorers, the conduits of commerce, and the muse of poets and painters. They have lit the lights and turned the turbines of a nation straining at its seams to grow. 'America is a great story, and there is a river on every page of it,' Charles Kuralt once famously said.'"
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