100 Experiences: Items 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 (aka Nashville 2013) - Part 1

Two weeks ago, I did something I've never done. I vacationed all alone. This vacation had nothing to do with my family. I did not have to take care of anyone or anything. It was all about me. Just me. (Experience #2)

And it left me asking one thing: Why the heck didn't I do this sooner?

Let's take a step back for a second . . . I agonized over this trip. I went back and forth on whether I should spend the money (I worried I was being wasteful), whether I should take the time off work, whether I was safe traveling alone, whether I would be seen as selfish by my family, and a whole host of other ridiculous worries.

I debated between going to Nashville and Sanibel Island. Nashville had the distinction that I'd only been there once about seven years ago for a Mary Kay retreat and only left the hotel long enough for a quick concert at the original home of the Grand Ole Opry, the Ryman Auditorium. I love country music and each time I drove through it on my way to Crystal Beach last year, I kept thinking I should go back for a weekend. Sanibel Island had the beach as its big "pro." We lived in Ft. Myers when I was little and my Gardner Grandparents lived on Sanibel Island until I was in college. I'd been there a million times, but not in almost 20 years. I remember loving Sanibel, but I've spent far too much time on the Gulf side of Florida over the past 13 years and I swore I'd never go back. It's going to take some time to be able to love Florida again.

Nashville won out. (Experience #3)

Immediately, I started planning every moment I'd be in town. I had a little over three days to spend in Nashville and I was going to make the most of every single second. Let's just say I had an itinerary any professional travel agent or tour operator would be proud of.

Thursday Night

My first night in town, I had dinner with my dear friend Kalee at Chuy's at Opry Mills. If you go, get the Steak Burrito with the chorizo sauce. Trust me. The food was amazing. The only thing better than the food was hanging out with Kalee. Kalee was my first boss after college, when I interned at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in Washington, D.C., and she quickly became my friend because we're the same age, we have similar backgrounds, and we both love politics. As an intern, I worked in her office. I remember we had the best conversations that sometimes had nothing to do with work. Now Kalee lives in Nashville with her wonderful husband Jack.

Until my first night in Nashville, we hadn't seen each other in almost 15 years. And trust me, after just a couple of seconds, it was like time had stood still. You know how there are times in life when you don't realize how much you missed something until you have the opportunity to experience it again and then suddenly you can't imagine it being gone from your life again? That's how hanging out with Kalee was. Fortunately, we were able to make plans to get together again on Sunday for brunch.

Kalee and Me. 

I'm not going to wait another 15 years before hanging out with Kalee again.

Friday

Friday morning, I got up early and headed into downtown Nashville for a tour of the Country Music Hall of Fame and RCA Studio B, known as the Home of 1000 Hits. Studio B was built for Elvis and he recorded over 200 of his songs there. Many legends recorded at Studio B, including The Everly Brothers, Dottie West, Dolly Parton, Elvis, Roy Orbison, and many more. Elvis was famous for recording late at night and into the wee hours of the morning.

The best part of the Studio B tour was being able to sit at and play the piano Elvis loved and played. He once tried to buy the piano he loved so much, but was told by Chet Atkins he didn't have enough money to buy it. I haven't played the piano in many years, but sitting at that piano and playing just a few keys was magical. I could feel Elvis in the room.

Me tickling the ivories of Elvis's favorite piano. (Experience #6)

One interesting note about Studio B is that it closed on August 17, 1977. If that date sounds sort of familiar, it's the day after Elvis died. That's just a coincidence though. The closure of Studio B had been planned for awhile.

After an inspirational tour of the Country Music Hall of Fame and RCA Studio B, I stumbled into the Dukes of Hazzard Museum, run by Cooter, of course, which it turned out, was around the corner from my hotel. If you're a child of the 80s, you may have had a crush on one of the Duke brothers or Daisy Duke. I liked Bo Duke. If you're too young to remember the Dukes of Hazzard, you may be impressed to know that Daisy Duke was the inspiration for Daisy Dukes.

Who's sitting in the General Lee? ME!

Friday night found me at the Grand Ole Opry for a taping of the 88-year-old radio show and post-show backstage tour. I had 5th row seats for one of the best shows I've ever seen. It opened with the Queen of Country Comedy, Minnie Pearl (well, an impersonator). Bill Anderson (member since 1961), Kristen Kelly, Riders in the Sky (members since 1982), Jesse McReynolds (member since 1964), Shelley Skidmore, Jim Ed Brown (member since 1963), Mike Snider (member since 1990), Chuck Wicks, Crystal Gayle, surprise appearances by Lone Star and Little Jimmy Dickens (member since 1948), The Whites (members since 1984), and The Isaacs.

One of the great things about the Opry is that they encourage you to come up close to the stage to take pictures of your favorite artists. When I took the picture of Crystal Gayle below, I was kneeling just in front of the stage.

If you're going to attend the Grand Ole Opry, you must take the backstage tour. You can take this tour in the afternoon, which I guess is fine, but if you have any desire to meet the stars, do it after the show. As we were on our tour, Crystal Gayle walked up, signed autographs for everyone, and took some pictures. She signed my show poster, listing her as one of the performers, and I got the picture below showing her famous floor-length hair.

Crystal Gayle and her famous floor-length locks.

At the end of the tour, I was able to stand in the center of the Grand Ole Opry stage where 1000s of performers have stood before me. What I loved about the center of the stage was that when the Opry moved to the new location in 1974 from the Ryman Auditorium, they cut a circle of the flooring from the entrance of the Ryman stage and placed it in the center of the new stage. The thinking was that  every artist to ever perform at the Ryman had walked across that piece of Ryman flooring, so they'd all now be part of the new Opry stage as well.

6-foot circle of oak from the Ryman Auditorium. I stood there. (Experience #5)

When I finally crawled into bed on Friday night, I slept better than I've slept in ages. I was exhausted, but happy and filled with wonderful memories.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of my Nashville adventure, including exploring the honky tonks, a tour of the Ryman Auditorium, more Kalee time, the rest of my pictures, and much more. Coming later this week.

Laughter is an Instant Vacation

I'm just back from Watervale and too exhausted to put the week into words, although I can assure you I've got some good stories for you.

In the meantime, take three minutes out of your day and take a little vacation of your own. As one of my favorite inspiration websites, Simple Truths, points out, Laughter is an Instant Vacation.

Watervale All Summer Long

It's this time of the year more than any other time that I get homesick, or maybe vacation-sick is more accurate, for Watervale.

I actually start counting the days until I can just go lay on the beach uninterrupted save for the sounds of the waves, seagulls, and my thoughts. For as extroverted as I am, I need that time to just go and be. To read books, sleep, lay on the beach, kayak, drink wine, hike, star gaze, and talk only when I absolutely must. I leave my watch at home. I have no alarm clock. I get no cell phone reception. There is no tv or wi-fi. It's Heaven.

I didn't get to Watervale last year because I had to go back to Florida, so it's been close to 2 years since I last saw a Watervale Sunset™.

Dave and I were talking tonight and I felt especially vacation-sick for Watervale, so I decided I needed a photo album of Watervale memories. Enjoy.

Oh, and for the record, there are 163 days left until Watervale.



I'm also including the video of James Taylor's Carolina In My Mind, which always reminds me of Watervale. The audio and video are a little off, but I love this live version for than any other version. I especially love the backstory. Again, it reminds me of Watervale.


On further thought (after hitting publish), All Summer Long by Kid Rock reminds me of Watervale even more. Kid Rock really nailed the essence of Watervale in my teens and 20s. In fact, the first time I heard it, I was driving home from getting a massage one night and I was convinced that the singer was someone intimatelyl familiar with Watervale. I couldn't believe it was Kid Rock until I remembered he was from Michigan. I called Dave on my cell phone after the song was over and all excitedly asked if he'd ever heard this song and was it someone from Watervale singing. Once he got over being woken up, he laughed at me and said it was Kid Rock, All Summer long was all over the Northern Michigan radio stations, and frankly, he was a bit sick of it and it was only March. I never tire of this song and video, which is also almost exactly what Watervale looks like.

So I changed the title of my blog post.

OMG! Michelle Obama Wore SHORTS!

Yes, seriously.

Imagine my surprise this morning when, barely awake, I opened my online newspaper of choice, and discovered an article on whether it was appropriate for First Lady Michelle Obama to wear shorts. Before reading the article, I thought "Huh, that's odd. She's usually so appropriate, why would she make such a poor choice when meeting a foreign leader?" I mean, would the media really be covering this if it weren't some major foreign relations snafu?

Evidently, yes, although it seems it wasn't an article, so much as a poll asking if it was appropriate for Mrs. Obama to have worn said shorts. It seems that she made this most egregious fashion faux pas while on vacation with her family at the Grand Canyon. You know, it's not exactly a temperate climate out there at the Grand Canyon. With an average daily temperature in August of 104, I'd say as long as folks don't go naked they are just fine and dandy with me.

I happen to be out of town this week, sort of on vacation, and it's hot. Damn hot. Drying my hair is optional and my makeup hasn't seen the outside of my suitcase. Now I understand that the First Lady is in a slightly different situation, but she's still on vacation with her family. Do people expect her to wear heels, hose, and a shirtwaist dress while traipsing through the Grand Canyon?

Since I'm on vacation, I haven't been paying much attention to the news, so I turned to MSNBC for more on this story. They called the shorts "short shorts" and they also had a poll and a video. Now I don't mean to argue with MSNBC, but these are short shorts:

And these are not:
Michelle Obama's shorts are age and body appropriate. They are also appropriate for the activity she is participating in.

To the media, I beg you. We've got real problems in this country. Health care reform, 2 wars, and an unstable economy to name just a few. Can we please focus on what's really important? This stuff just makes you look stupid and petty.

And if we can't do that, can we at least all focus on my major concern today? Should I have my nails painted "Overexposed in South Beach," "Kinky in Helsinki," "Vodka & Caviar," or "Feelin' Hot-Hot-Hot"? at my mani/pedi this morning?

Watervale Reads 2008

A large part of Watervale for me is reading. Without the distractions of home and work, I almost read more in 7 days than I do the entire rest of the year. I always bring a huge stack of books – usually 7-10. And I read them all cover to cover. Mostly political, historical, and current events books. I don’t really do the “beach read” type books. They just aren’t my style. I prefer something more along the lines of House of Bush, House of Saud (a book I read at Watervale 4 summers ago). I spend most of the summer carefully selecting my Watervale Reads and eagerly anticipate that moment when I can crack open the spine of the first book.

This year was different, however. Despite having my books pre-selected as always, I left home with only two of them - the third and fourth books from The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series. Knowing I would run out of books by Tuesday, I went to the tiny bookstore in Frankfort, conveniently called The Book Store, (there is no Borders or Barnes and Nobles anywhere around), where I had a difficult time finding just the right political tomes for my Watervale Reads. In fact, I could only find one I hadn’t read, Dreams From My Father, which is how I ended up with American House. The good news is I’ve already got my Watervale Books 2009 picked out and ready to go.

This is the final list of Watervale Reads 2008.

Girls in Pants – The Third Summer of the Sisterhood by Ann Brashares
Forever in Blue: The Fourth Summer of the Sisterhood by Ann Brashares
American House by Deryl D. Holmes
Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance by Barack Obama

The Sisterhood books are part of a charming series of books written for today's young women. They focus on the lifelong friendships of 4 girls during their high school and early college years. The girls think of themselves as sisters and face the challenge of their first summer apart, in the first novel. Despite the 20 year difference between me and the main characters, I found myself reminiscing about my own friendships and the friends I have thought of as my sisters. Now I'm ready to see the movie.

American House is the first effort by Deryl D. Holmes and tells the fictional story of American House Hotel in South Frankfort, Michigan. Part of what I thoroughly enjoyed about this book was how much the author incorporated the real history of the Frankfort, Michigan area. Today, South Frankfort is known as Elberta, Michigan. Unfortunately, this book can't be found on Amazon or anywhere on the web.

Dreams From My Father was originally published in 1995, shortly after Barack Obama graduated from Harvard Law School. During his years at Harvard, he was elected the first African-American editor of the Harvard Law Review, which garnered him a great deal of press interest and a publisher asked him to write a book. Dreams From My Father is that book. Although I drank the Barack Obama Kool-Aid long before there was any to drink, I had never read Dreams From My Father and I am surprised at how much new insight I have gained into our next President.