16 A.D.
Let’s go Grayboys! Dun dun du-du-dun! Let’s go Grayboys! Dun
dun du-du-dun!
Yesterday evening we waited for the sun to set a little and
headed out for a walk around the disparate neighbourhoods to the north. Instead
we ended up going halfway along the freeway and coming back again like a couple
of pedestrian plonkers – stoopid sidewalks that end up disappearing after
several hundred metres! We did eventually find a pleasant little housing
estate to walk around, the type of place where they have those mailboxes at the
end of the drive that mischievous teenagers in the 1950s put cherrybombs in
before running away hooting with laughter. We just smiled admiringly and
strolled on by, enjoying the peace and quiet of Anytown, USA.
In our room we have the biggest air conditioning unit in the
world – it even has a sleep function which we left on overnight. The Knights
Inn's version of “complimentary breakfast” consisted of cornflakes, multi-coloured
cheerios (going up in the world!), toast, and some do-it-yourself pancake
grills which had the remains of previous peoples’ pancakes around the edges. We
wisely avoided those.
Nashville ain’t just famous for country music; it also has more
churches per capita than anywhere else in the country. The place is bustling
with academies that train preachers to go off and spread the word (but not via
a second-rate travel blogs like what I do). We strode off across the river, keen
to be back on the sightseeing trail, but we had just one tiny problem...it was predicted
to hit 108 degrees today. ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHT??? That’s an all-time record
for this city! Roll on cold and rainy New Zealand!
We headed towards the capitol building, taking in the
bicentennial park on the way. This featured a rather moving World War II memorial
for all the young Tennesseans who went off to fight in Europe, as well as a
stars-on-the-floor monument featuring plenty of country and western performers’
names. The wartime connection continued as we got further towards downtown and
ducked into the war museum, but this was more a strategic move to get some
aircon down the backs of our shirts. Afterwards we sat outside eating our
apples and were approached by a friendly-sounding, dodgy-looking guy who said
he needed a favour. “Are you 21?” he asked me, unaware of the continuing saga
surrounding ID that I’ve been writing about. Before he could get into his spiel
about how he’d left his Florida state ID back home, I told him I wasn’t from round
here and therefore I didn’t have any ID whatsoever. And he bought my lie which
an exclamation of, “Dang!” before sloping off to look for some other sucker to
buy him some beer.
Downtown Nashville is pretty tiny and all of the main bars
and honky-tonk shops are on Broadway, which is not even half the size of Lord Street.
Rather tellingly, the first bar we passed on the corner featuring a live band
had a song pumping out into the street entitled Take this job and shove it.
Hmmm. In the souvenir paradise of “Dixieland Delights” they had every kind of gift
with Elvis printed upon it, but I wasn’t sure why they had a whole section
devoted to Beatles merchandise. Oh, thanks to everyone who voted in the poll,
by the way.
We took in a few more stores on Broadway, threatening to
return in the evening for some beers and steaks and whatever else it is that
cowboys do for entertainment. Speaking of cowboy boots, there were some
absolute beauties in one place we ducked into, but none of them were priced
under 200 dollars. Same went for most of the hats, but judging by the picture below, you probably
won’t lose any sleep over me not buying one.
It had only just gone 1 p.m. when we concluded we’d seen
pretty much all we wanted to see, and the sun was leaving us sweltering even in
the shade. And so, we headed back to the Knights Inn, Tim with his shirt off
and me even daring to undo the buttons on mine (and if you’re expecting to see
a picture of that you can forget it!) When we reached the hotel, we noticed
that the pool was totally empty, and so we took the opportunity to strip down
to our shorts for a quick dip (and if you’re expecting to see a picture of that
you can forget it!)
Hurry on sundown!
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