Nashville Trip - September 2017

We've spent the summer working on projects around the house that are more infrastructure-related rather than cosmetic. So at the end you look back and wonder if you've really made any improvements at all. I'm fairly certain we have, but I needed a pick-me-up.

I dragged Tom off to Nashville for 10 days and we had an absolute blast. If you remember (here's a link if you don't), I went there on a girls' long weekend last year, but didn't manage to see nearly all of the sights I wanted to. Tom and I played full-on tourist and packed our days with sight-seeing and our evenings with live music.

Of course we started our vacation with a night at the Grand Ole Opry. That night featured Ricky Skaggs, Maggie Rose, Shelly Fairchild, Joe Mullins & The Radio Ramblers, and Steve Wariner, among others. Tom was pretty happy to be there on a bluegrass/banjo night.

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We took the Old Town Trolley tour, which is a hop on, hop off trolley that goes all around Nashville, hitting most of the city's landmarks. The drivers were really well-informed and kept up a running commentary filled with history and interesting trivia about what we were seeing. I recommend it highly.

Get ready for a whole lotta scenery.

Marathon Motor Works:

The Parthenon (Centennial Park):

Bicentennial Mall State Park:

We also walked around downtown A LOT. My phone's step tracker probably though I was cheating.

Nashville Farmers' Market. This place was HUGE. And it has a food court. That's open every day. 

I loved the architecture. My camera was filled with pictures of buildings.

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At night we went to see as many live acts as we could.

Belcourt Taps:

The Family Wash:

Stephen Simmons

Jon Byrd

Jamie Rubin

The Bluebird Cafe:

Yes, we got tickets! They sang, and told stories, and brought in other friends to sing. It was amazing. Like, I didn't want to leave amazing. We were sitting so close to the singers (that's Tom's head in the lower left). Best night of the whole vacation.

Mickey Guyton

Nathan Chapman

Stephanie Chapman

Liz Rose

Jake Rose

Christy McDonald

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On my last trip to Nashville we went on a tour of the mansion at Belle Meade Plantation. It was so good - the guide told the story of the plantation in such a way that it really stuck with you. I knew Tom would enjoy it too. The tour was just as interesting the second time. We also toured the grounds and buildings.

We finished up by visiting the Belle Meade horses - Whispers and Lt. Dan. We quickly became very good friends.

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So what about the food? After all, Nashville is known for its food. Oh, we ate so much!

Nashville is famous for its hot chicken. The most well-known locations are Prince's (the originator) and Hattie B's. It's even on the trolley tour. We chose Hattie B's because...we were in the area. Note: the Charlotte Avenue location has a much shorter line, if you happen to be over that way.

The chicken comes in 6 heat levels - from Southern (no heat) to Shut the Cluck Up (burn notice). I chose medium and it was just right. Spicy-hot, but not so much that you don't enjoy it. I really liked my meal, but I'm going to be completely honest here - it wasn't life-changing. It was just good chicken.

The other southern treat I wanted to try was Kool-Aid pickles. We don't have anything like that here at home. These ones are from Peg Leg Porker, a BBQ restaurant located in the Gulch. Now these were kind of fun. The pickles are brined (is that the word?) in a dill juice/Kool-Aid mixture, so that they have a flavour somewhere between a dill and a sweet pickle. I'm going to try to make these.

Now Tom + Chee isn't a "Nashville thing", but it was a place we wanted to try because, again, we don't have this chain at home. They specialize in fancy grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup, hence the name. This one below is turkey pesto with mozzarella and potato chips - in the sandwich. Amazing.

We went to the Tennessee State Fair on our last night there, and I had to the deep-fried Oreos. What a fantastic, greasy treat.

Other places we tried that were new to us:

Cookout - 2910 Gallatin Pike, East Nashville
- great prices, generous portions

Tenn Sixteen - 1016 Woodland St., East Nashville
 - try the Bushwacker! (and the chicken & waffles)

The Family Wash/Garage Coffee - 626 Main St., East Nashville
- the best meatloaf and mashed potatoes

Sky Blue Cafe - 700 Fatherland St., East Nashville
- worth the wait in line, huge breakfast, fresh squeezed orange juice

Franklin Mercantile Deli - 100 4th Ave. N., Franklin
- get the soup and sandwich combo

Southern Engine Deli - 1200 Clinton St., Nashville
- pastrami sandwiches on sourdough - so good!

There is a store on Lower Broadway called Savannah's Candy Kitchen. It is a candy-lover's paradise. I went there last year and was pretty excited to go again.

Then there was Rocket Fizz:

And Sweet! Pick & Mix at Opryland Mills:

I probably should have bought this shirt.

Spanish Tile-Style Steel Roof

This post probably doesn't need a whole lot of explanation. Our roof was in REALLY bad shape - we've had quite a few wind storms this last year and we were starting to lose shingles every time the wind blew. Tom was pushing pretty hard for a steel roof. I was against it, until I saw the different styles available. It's not all flat barn roofs anymore (thank goodness).

This picture is from about a year ago - it had gotten much worse recently:

The roofing company we hired was Green Metal Roofing. I can't say enough good things about this company. The sales rep we met with is one of the owners - and a former roofer - so he knew a lot about the product and the process, and there was no hard push to sign. He sent us so many links to roofs they had done, as well as roofs that were done badly by other companies that they had been called in to fix.

The installers were really great, too - they stayed late the first day, working in the rain, so that they could get it all done in two days. And they loved our dogs (always a plus with us!)

The style we went with is called "Venice" and it's made to look like rows of Spanish tile instead of just one big sheet of steel. The colour we chose was charcoal.

They started by removing all of the old shingles, replacing any damaged plywood, and then building a framework for the steel tiles to lay on. This allows airflow between the steel and the house, to prevent ice forming in winter and to help cool the roof in the summer. It also gives a flat, straight surface for them to "build on". We drove around to see some roofs in person, and the companies that don't use a framework had obvious "ripples" in the roof.

Even though a steel roof is very expensive, and we probably won't get full use of the "lifetime warranty" (a silly selling point since people rarely stay in the same house for 50 years), it's comforting to know that we don't have to worry about it ever again, and that it will add to the overall value of the house if/when we do decide to sell.

Tree Planting

Exciting title, isn't it? But that's what we did this past weekend - we planted trees along the southern property line. There are already a few trees there - older maples and apple trees - but we wanted to fill it in a bit, both to define the property and to liven up the mostly bare landscape.

Driving home - and unloading them - were the best parts. :-)

And yes, I certainly did drive the skid-steer!

We chose Princeton Gold Norway maple, Jacquemontii birch, and two types of pear trees.

I'm the most excited about the maple trees. The employee at the garden centre told me that he has the same trees and the first year you hardly noticed them, but by the second year they were so striking that people were stopping their cars to take pictures. The leaves will be light green around the outside of the tree and bright chartreuse in the middle.

Tom pushed for the pear trees. They won't be edible pears, but the blossoms are so very pretty, and the leaves turn to purple in the fall. You can see a few are already changing.

Birch trees are my absolute favourite. We have quite a bit of old growth birch at the back of our property and I just love walking through it in the winter. We chose a variation that has very white bark right from the start. I can't wait to see how they look in a few years.

We also bought a white hydrangea for the front yard. We're going to relocate the beech tree near the road to add some white to the abundance of burgundy (cherry trees, another beech tree, and the smoke bush) we already have.