Howdy y'all
An early start for us this morning. We had a plane to catch.
Our flight wasn't scheduled until lunchtime so rather than stay overnight, we got up early and allowed plenty of time. It was Friday morning, after all. Of course, allowing plenty of time meant we had no hold ups whatsoever and ended up arriving at LHR shortly after 9am.
A slight delay meant we didn't leave till 1.45pm but it was a smooth and trouble free flight, arriving in Nashville shortly after 4pm.
We thought the Avis clerk was having a laugh when she directed us to our vehicle in the quiet section of the car park. Thankfully it was the VW Beetle she had assigned us and not one of the adjacent golf buggies. But the Beetle had not much more than a letterbox to access the boot and it was soon clear that loading each of our suitcases was going to be impossible.
It was a boring Subaru for us then, rather than the fun convertible. Never mind - it’s hardly convertible weather and I don’t suppose we will be driving far.
We were soon on our way into the city then, as always getting a buzz from the signpost gantries showing names which are so familiar, We took the turning to Clarksville and were surely not the first ones to observe that we’ve probably missed the last train…
It didn’t take long for the travelling companions to settle themselves in our hip and happening hotel.
Our room is vast and rather empty with a weird glass walled bathroom. Yes,,,,it’s a good job we have no secrets! It’s very quiet, thankfully because it seems that Nashville is one big party.
We began our party with BBQ at Pucketts, where a short wait for a table enabled us to become acquainted with a couple of Canadians who had left temperatures of -25 at home. They were regular travellers here and confirmed - and added to - our list of places to go, things to do.
The BBQ here is a dry rub, tasty but brought to life by the Memphis style sauce: sweet no heat. Delicious. (Missing our travelling friend and BBQ afficionado, Mary but she taught us well!) Sadly we were too early for music, but as we’d been up since goodness-knows what o’clock, we were simply happy to be here, awake.
It was a short walk back to the hotel - Nashville is very compact - passing the site of a former landmark where, my hero observed, the coffee was probably instant. The party is just starting on the roof, but right now, our huge, comfortable bed is more inviting!
