Randy and Mariann hit the road

BARBECUE AND BANDS

Greetings from the road! When we first discussed what we hoped to accomplish on this journey, live music and regional foods were high on the list. It seems like the first part of our trip is heavily focused on both those interests. After leaving Cleveland and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, we arrived in Nashville, TN, known as Home of Country Music and more recently “Music City”. I can understand the new moniker because we heard country – both classic and new, pop, rock and roll, jazz and blue grass. The bars/venues start early in the day. Every 2 or 3 hours, the bands change. According to one bouncer, the later the band plays, the better the band. I could not prove that was a true statement. Maybe they just sound better because you’ve been drinking all day. That was the tough part. I always felt obliged to purchase a drink at each establishment you visited. Forty years ago, I could last all day long…. two beers and I needed a rest. We are definitely out of practice for day drinking! We ended the evening at a Jazz Bar listening to a great band who’s lead singer was a leather pant, stiletto heeled, 79 year old siren whose ruby red lipstick and faux lashes completed the look! She was great, but their bartender was even better! Randy claims to have had the BEST Negroni he’s ever had….which says a lot because the first one he ever had was in Italy and was made by the president of the local Negroni association! I had a great mocktail and was super happy to still be awake!

Day two, we woke up to hear that Nashville could be in for some intense weather. Hail, the size of grapefruit was expected to fall early that afternoon. We had parked out on the street in front of the hotel. The receptionist said the car would be fine there. After hearing the weather warning, we decided we would pay for parking and get our 3 week old car under cover in a parking garage. When we went out to move the car, we discovered we left the passanger window wide open overnight. OMG! Our car was filled with stuff, including an envelope with cash in it! It was all there, untouched! That speaks volumes for Nashville! It doesn’t say much about Randy and I however!

That day, we started with the lightest beer we could find and chose the music we wanted to listen to with a bit more discretion. We visited cowboy boot and hat stores…..you can’t believe the inventory that they carry. That probably explains why there are so many women walking around with blisters in their new boots! It certainly seems like theres a lot more women walking around then men. We saw so many bachelorette groups, usually dressed in color coordinated outfits. Pink and white seemed to be the most popular colors. I certainly hope when they all return home, they get to be their individual selves again.

That night, Randy needed a break from the twang. We headed out to a different neighborhood call the Gulch and stopped at The Station Inn for some iconic blue grass. The 3 person band was awesome, probably the best live music we had seen. It was a great finale for our visit to Nashville.

The next day we woke and headed toward Memphis. We stayed at a very eclectic and cool hotel. They had the most interesting lighting features! We’ve actually been doing pretty good avoiding chain hotels and restaurants. The restaurants are easy to avoid, lodging is a bit more of a challenge but I think its been only 1 out of 7 nights in a chain hotel.

We had a great day in Memphis. We spent the afternoon at the Civil Rights museum. Neither Randy or I remembered that Martin Luther King was murdered in Memphis. The museum is housed at that same spot, the Lorraine Motel. The museum was super powerful. At the same time as we arrived at the museum, a bus was dropping off a mens college lacrosse team. We were in the exhibits at the same time and while you might expect to see cell phones out or hearing lots of chatter, the museum and the lessons we were all learning were quite somber. As we were walking back to our hotel, we said it should be on everyones must see list.

So if Nashville is known for country, Memphis is the home of the blues. We heard two incredible bands. We sat next to some women from Memphis who were enjoying a staycation at the Peabody Hotel. We had lots of fun chatting with them and wiggling in our seats to the beat. They were probably the only locals there and they were having a ball. We took a break between bands to grab some dinner and we were able to get a table at the best Rib restaurant in the city. Randy’s AI friend told us where to find the best ribs. ( actually, the AI assistant has been super helpful so far on our journey) Charlie Vergos Rendezvous restaurant has been grilling ribs since 1948. Its off an alley, in a basement. I can say without a doubt that they were the best ribs I’ve ever had. They use a dry rub and serve their signature sauces on the side. The wait staff looks like they’ve been doing their job for decades, with the younger men following behind them learning the trade. As we were leaving, I noticed that the grills and their chefs were stationed near the exit. I thanked them and said that they were the best ribs I ever had! They motioned for me to come over so I could tell them directly. I asked how many they cook in a week? 7,000 lbs!

We left Memphis and headed to southern Illinois. We had to be to our next destination by 5:00 pm. Since we had all day, we decided to take all back roads – truly back roads through Tennessee and Kentucky. It was really good to see what life in the country and small towns look like. The thing that struck us both was the number of churches that are present. I grew up in a neighborhood with a lot of churches. We had Russian Orthodox, Jehovah witnesses, Methodist, Presbyterian, Reformed, Episcopalian, Roman Catholic and Calvary Baptist all within a 5 block radius. But here in the midwest, you have newer sects. Lots of new age, mega style churches as well as lots of the traditional ones. It almost seems impossible that there is a large enough population for them all to thrive.

Our Baseball boys

One last story line for this blog and it’s the most important of our journey so far! In 2004, we volunteered to host a college baseball player for our local summer league the Golden Eagles. We ended up taking two young men. Rebecca was away for half the summer with the Univerisity of Hawaii on a small island in Tonga – No electricity or communication – but thats a story for another time. Since Ben never had a brother, we had room, and wanted to fill a gap that Rebeccas absence made, we thought it would be fun to welcome the boys. Both boys were from southern Illinois. We had such a great summer with them. They fit effortlessly into our household. It was wonderful having them with us. Sadly, after 22 years, we had lost contact with them. Amazingly, we managed to reconnect through linkedin and trying an old phone number while we were traveling and we were able to see them both. We spent Friday night having dinner with Joel, his wife and daughters as well as his parents. It was so wonderful hearing about their lives and remembering some of the funny memories that we created that summer. The next day, we met up with Brad, his wife Carolyn and son Brooklyn. Brooklyn is a junior in HS but knows he wants to study meteorology and study storms. He gave us some pointers in case we run into some mid west weather systems, which we did! Thank you Brooklyn! Brad showed us their present community which has been completely revitalized and is now home to cute restaurants, farmers markets, cute shops and a bakery just like the ones we all grew up with! We had lunch at an awesome restaurant that was located in an old factory building. We had a dill pickle pizza and a loaded baked potatoe pizzas – both were awesome! After lunch, they took us to a St. Pattys celebration in the town where he grew up. What a party! I’m not sure if everyone was Irish, but everyone was celebrating like they were. It was so much fun! We were introduced to their best friends, which became our best friends,LOL. Brad was a great ball player and it was like we were walking around with a celebrity. Everybody knew him, which made teasing him all the more fun!

We realize how fortunate we are that both Joel and Brad made the time to see us so last minute. We also know that this won’t be the last time that we see these two young men and their families. Now that we know where they live, they can’t get rid of us that easy…..and we can’t wait to have them visit us at the lake!