Today is the first day of the holiday that I leave the rucksack at home. The rucksack is full of guidebooks and maps and spare clothes for S and the folder in which I keep all the documents I printed for the holiday (confirmation of car hire and accommodation and insurance policies, stuff like that, none of which I've needed). E could probably carry that in her ever present bag, but I like to take my bag because also in it are our passports. Carrying my bag allows me to take our passports everywhere we go and allows me to check they're still there every ten minutes or so.
But today I leave the bag and the passports behind. Because if the worst happens and someone comes and steals them just so they can claim British citizenship (or whatever passport thieves like to do), I would be delighted. We would have to stay in Nashville forever and that would be wonderful.
We head to Centennial Park which is pretty central but on the other side of town. There's a full scale replica of the Parthenon there. I don't know why and don't bother to read up on it so I'm both impressed and merrily bamboozled by its presence.
In the park today, there's a free festival on. We figure we'll stay for a couple of bands before heading off for some lunch and to see a bit more of the town. But live music is one of the main reasons we're here and the calibre of what we see is so high that we stay from start to finish. And it's not all country music. There might be a country tinge to most of it, but it's basically just good music. Highlights include Chasing Summer and Andy Davis, both of which you should check out if you can.
There are also loads of kids activities and workshops. S picks up a guitar and stands behind a mic and rocks out with the other kids making an intolerable racket. She also meets the mascot of the local radio station. It's a moose and S is smitten.
The headline act is Robert Randolph and the Family Band. There's a real buzz about them and Robert Randolph himself is said (by Steve, our host) to be the best pedal steel player of modern times. A pedal steel is a sort of table top guitar which is played with a slide and worked by lots of levers and pedals. I've only ever heard it in country music but the way this guy plays it makes everything sound like a cross between Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Wonder. Seriously, you should check him out. The festival switches from being a good time, to being a party and it is awesome. People in this town really love their music and make no bones about getting involved, dancing along and showing their appreciation. It's a great thing to see.
The weather is perfect all day long. S is lathered up so she doesn't catch the sun. My blue eyed, red headed wife doesn't catch the sun. Black haired brown eyed, I am now a redneck. I have to get better at this. Though with the British summer stretched out before me like a barren wasteland of grey cloud, rain and cold, maybe I don't need to bother.
S falls asleep on the way home and by the time she wakes up, it's late but we head out to find somewhere to eat. We find a barbecue place that's been recommended as kid friendly. But it's late on a Saturday night and the place is about as kid friendly as, well, a bar on a Saturday night. There's that said of threat and chaos that I remember from when I used to go out on Saturday nights. There are tough looking biker types and the place stinks of beer. Still, E eyes a free table in the corner and thinks we'll be fine. There are no other kids about. In fact, there's no food about. Everyone's just on the road to getting hammered. I make a rare judgement call and get us out of there. E disagrees but we leave. I say it looked like it was about to go off. She says it didn't. She clearly hasn't seen as many Westerns as I have.
Everywhere else is closing up so we nip to the supermarket and whip up spaghetti, meatballs and salad. Cooking for yourself is one of the perks of Air BnB. We're shopping and cooking and eating like proper Nashville residents. We could properly live here. But sadly, nobody's stolen our passports. Yet.
In my head I'm now planning a trip to Nashville!
ReplyDelete