Josh and Jill have bestowed upon us the great privilege of allowing Levi to spend three days of his spring break with us, his most humble aunt and uncle. The exchange of said nephew was made at the dining establishment we shall call, Granite City. It was a dark and stormy night and due to unforeseen traffic issues, the trio were delayed in meeting us at our appointed time yet once they were unencumbered we dined together and enjoyed an evening of good food and laughter.
Day 1 – Monday, March 12
After a hearty breakfast of scrambled eggs, buttery toast and crispy bacon we sketched out our plan for the day. We decided for our first day together we would just hang around Franklin and keep it local. I knew that Levi enjoyed estate sales and so I thought he might enjoy hitting a couple of antique stores. Our first stop was the Franklin Antique Mall where Levi scored a wooden cork pop gun which he thought was just fantastic and a Nerf gun to add to his growing collection.
Next, we headed across the street to the Arbor Antique Mall where Levi found a cane and a bowler hat that struck his fancy and gave us his best impression of Curly Howard which was hilarious. You see, Dad has been been schooling Levi in the fine comedic stylings of “TheThree Stooges” and last night we watched a few classic episodes so Curly was top of mind.
He was also really drawn to the WWII ephemera. He had his eye on an amazing canteen but after we checked it out, we concluded it was pretty rusty on the inside and since he had his heart set on filling it with water and using it around the farm it was a no go.
Nyuck, nycuck, nyuck. Oh a wise guy, eh?
All this arduous shopping had us hankering for lunch. On our way to grab a bite, we thought Levi would enjoy seeing Harlinsdale Farm, an historic, 200 acre farm that was formerly part of the Tennessee Walking Horse industry and has been preserved as a park.
We meandered around, spying a chubby groundhog and then toodled down the road to The Coffee House. We placed our orders, grabbed a table and eagerly awaited our lunch. Levi decided on a ham sandwich, a turkey sandwich for Terry while I went for the chicken salad sandwich. It was all quite yummy.
There’s been a lot of construction going on next door to The Coffee House. It is a massive project with retail, hotel, restaurant, leased residences, a parking garage and office space encompassing an entire city block. As we were leaving, Terry grabbed a photo of a crane that towered over the landscape and then texted it to Jill and asked if she could see spot Levi waving from the top. Mama bear was so not amused. She giggled but it was definitely a nervous giggle.
Next we were off to Third Coast Clay at The Factory for a little crafting. Third Coast is a ceramics studio where burgeoning artists can select a figurine and an assortment of paints and let their imagines soar. We’ve taken Lily and Elijah to Third Coast on a couple of occasions and they seemed to really love it so it seemed like the perfect afternoon activity and Levi would have a spring break souvenir. Since we watched the computer animated movie “Gnomeo & Juliet” last night, Levi selected a ceramic gnome to paint which I thought was just the perfect choice.
We decided to head home from The Factory. It had been quite a windy day with a wintry chill still clinging to the daffodils so back at home, Terry and I had a late afternoon cup of coffee to warm our bones while Levi relished in a cup of Ghiradelli hot chocolate.
After that we all just kind of fell out. In between Levi being on sentry duty with his wooden pop gun, we carbed up with spaghetti and garlicky Texas toast for dinner and then watched “The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl”.
Day 2 – Tuesday, March 13
Another jam packed day which began again with a hearty breakfast of eggs, toast and bacon before we headed to downtown Nashville for our destination, the Country Music Hall of Fame. Because so many schools were out for spring break, students wearing a school t-shirt could attend for free. That’s a great deal. We had toured the CMHF in 2002 during the family reunion and thought that Levi would really dig it.
In front of the Country Music Hall of Fame, downtown Nashville.
There was a lot to see. Almost too much for one day. We started with a Loretta Lynn: Blue Kentucky Girl exhibit and finished with a full on interactive experience with a lot of good stuff in between. Being such a tender age, a lot of the memorabilia was beyond Levi’s scope but he did light up when he saw the exhibit of Janice’s favorite singing cowboy, Roy Rogers and he of course recognized the King, Elvis..uh, huh, huh, thank ya very much.
About half way through our tour, we were famished so scooted down to Barlines, which is part of the Omni Hotel, to grab a bite to eat. Levi had a towering cheeseburger with fries and a Shirley Temple. His first Shirley Temple by the way and now he’s a true fan. Terry had a smoked pulled pork sandwich with fries while I had the Germantown Cobb salad with grilled chicken, blue cheese crumbles, tomato, pickled onion, avocado, applewood smoked bacon with a blue cheese dressing. My goodness it was tasty.
Lunch at Barlines.
Revitalized, we tackled the rest of the museum. Here are a few of the exhibits that were on display during our visit:
- Lynn Anderson: Keep Me in Mind
- Dylan Cash, And The Nashville Cats: A New Music City
- Shania Twain: Rock This Country
- Lynn Anderson: Keep Me in Mind
- Tim McGraw & Faith Hill: Mississippi Woman, Louisiana Man
We also saw where they were preparing a new exhibit which will run for three years entitled Outlaws and Armadillos: Country’s Roaring 70’s. Here’s an excerpt from the Hall of Fame website:
Willie Nelson. Waylon Jennings. Kris Kristofferson. Jessi Colter. Bobby Bare. Jerry Jeff Walker. David Allan Coe. Cowboy Jack Clement. Tom T. Hall. Billy Joe Shaver. Guy Clark. Townes Van Zandt. Tompall Glaser. Today, all names synonymous with the word “outlaw,” but 40 years ago they started a musical revolution by creating music and a culture that shook the status quo on Music Row and cemented their place in country music history and beyond.
The Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum’s upcoming major exhibition, Outlaws & Armadillos: Country’s Roaring ’70s, will explore this era of cultural and artistic exchange between Nashville, Tenn., and Austin, Texas, revealing untold stories and never-seen artifacts.
As a teaser for the exhibit, they had a life-size reproduction of the album cover, “Wanted! The Outlaws”. Even though I was only nine year old when this album was released, I distinctly remember the Outlaw movement of the 70’s and still crank up the stereo when I hear these tunes.. My all time faves are “My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys”, “Honky Tonk Heroes”, “I’m Looking for Blue Eyes”, “Suspicious Minds”, “Good Hearted Woman”, “T for Texas”, and “Put Another Log on the Fire” or as it’s dubbed on the liner notes, the Male Chauvinist National Anthem.
Cover art for 1976 album “Wanted! The Outlaws”. If memory serves me, I think I might have given Dad this album as a Father’s Day gift circa 1976. This iconic album formed the soundtrack of my youth. So many amazing songs.
Country music outlaws. A 1974 photo from Willie Nelson’s Fourth of July picnic. Pictured left to right: Willie Nelson, Leon Russell, Waylon Jennings, David Allan Coe and Tracy Nelson. Photo Credit: Grease Bros.
Needless to say we were plum tuckered out by the time we left, ready to kick back and relax. Levi and I hunkered down and watched the movie “Echo” and dug into leftover spaghetti. We also managed to squeeze in “Night at the Museum:Secret of the Tomb” and a few episodes from the early 200’s sitcom, “Malcom in the Middle” which Levi has recently discovered.
Day 3 – Wednesday, March 14
Since we played hard yesterday we decided to just lay low and chill until it was time for Levi to head home this afternoon. We did however, do a little something unexpected this morning. We piled into the car bright and early and delivered several platters of pastries to the Franklin Police Department as a thank you to the 158 officers and support staff that serve and protect. Gotta love our men and women in blue.
Back at home we settled into movie madness. First up, “Night at the Museum” and after that we finished up the series with “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian”.
For lunch, Terry grilled cheeseburger sliders for us which we paired with chips and I also managed to cobble together a Shirley Temple for Levi.
It was a lovely, early spring day with just a nip in the air so we decided to get outside and kick around. We walked around the neighborhood, checked out the lake and the geese and simply meandered before loading up the car and meeting Josh at Granite City for an exchange of goods, i.e. Levi. Levi was terribly happy to see Josh and I know Josh was thrilled to have his little buddy back.
Enjoying a late afternoon stroll.
Click on images below to enlarge.
