DISCLAIMER: THIS POST IS ALL ABOUT ANI’S DADDY AND MOMMY, WITH MINIMAL MENTION OF ANI. IF YOU PREFER TO HEAR ONLY ABOUT THE SWEET BABY AND NOT THE BIG PEOPLE, SKIP THIS POST ALTOGETHER.
Ah, Nashville. How I miss thee… Your Music Row with all manner of bars to be had. Your western wear store next to the 80’s/90’s dance club. Your tricked out F250’s bouncin’ down Broadway next to your Cadillac Escalades with spinners. Your Country Music Hall of Fame (where yes, both Stuart and I did learn a thing or two). Your Ryman Auditorium, also the home of your Grand Ole’ Opry. Your fabulous arena, where you so kindly hosted a great Coldplay show. Your Black 13 Tattoo shop… Wait, what’s that you say? A tattoo shop? Close to music row? Close to the hotel that Stuart and Christina stayed in? Too close in fact for them to avoid?
My baby's first. I'm so proud.
Can't see what it is? I'll never tell!
Oh, yes. Nashville was a good time. And don’t worry. We were completely rational when we got these. We both just really wanted them and have been plotting them for a while. What better time to do it than on a fun trip, in a great place, with your hubby?! (Don’t worry mom. Nobody can see it unless I chose to show it! And yes, I’m sure it doesn’t come off.)
Tatts aside, we had a FAB time. We really did. It was a little crazy to not have baby big head with us (seriously, the noggin’ is huge!), but we managed. After’s Friday’s fun at Black 13, Saturday found us up early, walking music row. We decided to be uber-tourists, so we headed to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. You know what?! It was GREAT. I really loved it and learned stuff. Like Hank Williams, Sr. (not Jr.) had spina bifida, which is likely why he started the whole drinking thing. Like Hank Williams, Jr. almost died falling down some sort of mountain in the 70’s. Like Kitty Wells is the “Queen of Country”. Like Elvis had a, not kidding, car with paint that had crushed diamonds and gold in the paint. And like Tim McGraw and Faith Hill contributed to the museum. And judging by the size of their name on the donor list, A LOT. What can I say? I expanded my mind and musical knowledge, all in two short hours.
Sunday, Popcorn, Gmas/Gpas... It's either Hee Haw or Lawrence Welk.
GGGOOOOLLLLL...D.
After that mind broadening experience, we headed to the Ryman Auditorium and darn it if we didn’t learn some more! Primarily that it almost got torn down, that Minnie Pearl (my fave on Hee Haw) was a rich girl in real life, that the price tag on her hat happened as a fluke but became her signature, that her plaque in the aforementioned Hall of Fame has no deceased date because “Minnie Pearl will never die”, that you can go down the alley next to the auditorium on show night and perhaps catch your big break like The Everly Brothers (I suspect you have to have singing talent, though. I’m a bit lacking in that department), that if you don’t get the tour that includes the backstage bit, you’re paying $12 too much, but again, stuff learned! Oh, and I REALLY, REALLY want to go to a Grand Ole’ Opry show.
A man who missed his calling.
Oh, and Hatch Show Prints. Really, really want a room in our future home to be decorated in all Hatch Show Prints.
After all that learning, Stuart and I had to go back to the hotel and let our brains rest. THEN, FINALLY, the piece de resistance of the day. COLDPLAY! We took off a couple hours before the show, headed to the bar across the street and enjoyed a few cold brews (cheaper there than inside the stadium!), enjoyed major people watching (frat boys, southern belles, cowboys, oh my!), and then headed on over. I’ve got to say, the….show….was….SUPERFABULOUS. I can’t tell you how much fun it is to go to a show where you know pretty much ALL the songs. I mean, bad voice aside, I’m a singer And certainly a singer where the good voices drown out my own. What can I say? I felt like a dancing AND singing queen that night. Good stuff.
VIVA LA VIDA BABY!
Sun and beer soaked at the show.
