BB King and Downtown

Monday, 26 April, 2010

BB King and Downtown

Waking up to yet another grey, cold morning was not in my plans. Fortunately for me, my beloved Barbara had made a nice, steaming hot cup of coffee, and soon a marvelous breakfast was in front of me! She never ceases to amaze me.  The Weather Channel was promising that, finally, really, today would be different. Wink, wink. A few sprinkles in the morning, and then it would clear off and become the kind of day that we drove South to appreciate.

Well, it is what it is, and we're a hearty family from Northern Michigan, so a little drizzle isn't gonna get the best of us, no way, no sir! We set out for the nearest local library to get our Internet fix, and (not really) catch up on all those hundreds of oh so important emails that we really weren't missing. Not that we both weren't twitching a bit, but we are on holiday, and the cyber world will just hafta fend for itself for awhile. But thank the Cyber Gawdz that I had put my StarFleet Commander game in a mode that me untouchable. After all, would hate to have all my hard work in building fleets, and such, become rubble merely because I neglected to take care of them. *giggle*

After spending not too long at library, we trudge ahead, thru the "sprinkles" that somehow seemed much more like sleet and freezing rain, determined that our day would not be marred by something so inconsequential as inclement weather. Nashville really has put a lot of thought and planning into it's Interstate system, and we crisscross the city in a mere 15 minutes. Into a parking garage, and get Ace settled in the car, then GPS and PDA in hand, we hoof to the nearest intersection. Our simple plan was to get to know the city by Geocaching, and it appeared that we would not be disappointed, not in the least.

But even before we could begin hunting for caches, we decide that we need to hunt for lunch. An army travels on it's stomach after all. As soon as make that decision, then the alll important consideration of just where to have lunch was immediately solved, by simply looking ahead. Aye yup, right there in front of us is BB King's Blues Club! We are saved! Barb and I love the Blues, and especially BB. A couple of years ago, we had great seats at Interlochen, when he played there for his 80th Birthday Tour. It was a true privedlge for us to be in his audience, so we figured we would return the favor and let him make lunch for us.

Apparently, BB doesn't do the cooking at his restaurant, but it was a great place anyway! On weekends it hosts many great bands, including BB himself. The decor was Southern Funk with a side of Soul, and the food was pretty good too. We enjoyed chatting with our waiter, and he gave us several tips about where go while in town. After we left, we wandered thru some of the establishments and enjoyed the local culture.

Then we decide to do the Nashville Downtown Walking Tour, and cache along the route. The Historic district has a lot of history to ofer, and not all of it is sanitized, nor pretty. But then, a lot of every city's past has a few skeltons rattling around in the closet. In Nashville, the majority of skeltons seems to be in Printer's Alley. And since the printing presses left a long time ago, the more adult oriented establishments have taken root. For some odd reason Barb didn't seem to be interested in visiting any of them to get some more local "history"? Which actually was just fine be me as well, but I did feel it my duty to offer her options. Not easy being me, after all.

So back to the map, and our promenade. We spent half an hour scouting for a bathroom, before we ran into a Subway, probably the only time I've even been quite that ecstatic at seeing one! Downtown Nashville has a lot to offer a pedistrian tourist... and also a lot of hills. Combine that with the now persistant chilling wind and rain, and after about three hours, I felt that really, it's ok, I've seen enough for now. My leg muscles were cramping, my bum knee was squawking, and no matter where we were going, it was uphill, and into the rain and wind. Nope, I just wasn't enjoying the experience just then. Oh, but look! The wind subsides, and the clouds break, and all of a sudden, we are (finally) looking downhill! Yes, I might just live yet...

We slog back to car, and collect Ace to give him a stretch down by the river. And yes, we searched for some caches along the entire way. some we found, some we didn't. After another grueling, pissing chilly and damp hour, I wave the white flag, and plead for mercy. The rain and cold had taken it's toll on my old body, and I had simply had enough. Not that Barb, of course, would ever admit that she was cold and that it was icky out, but she wisely demurred to my requests for a warm cabin, and dry clothes. Even Ace seemed to be happy as we arrived at the car to head back.

It should be noted, however, that the day really was an adventure, and we made the most of it! We got to explore places previously unknown, and get a feel for the history of what makes Nashville the city that it is today. What the weather lacked in warmth, the locals made up for, and even though we were quite wet and too damn cold  when we left, we both had smiles. I don't think you can ask for more than that from a city.