Sunday, July 6, 2008

July 1st, or, When we Ventured Below the Mason-Dixon Line


Good Morning,
July 1st, we left Cincy for the greener pastures of Kantuhkee and then the Volunteer State.  Now, we did not realize that Ken Griffey, Jr's home run the previous night would set the stage so well for us, but it did.  It really got the final few days of our vacation started off with a bang.
Once in Kentucky, we went to Churchill Downs (home of the Kentucky Derby).  The grandstands were HUGE.  But surprisingly, the horse "park" itself was right in the middle if town.  I figured it was off in the country someplace.  That was a cool piece of Americana to see.  The kids didn't really care, though.  I guess it's time to force the world of playin' the ponies on them...
After the racetrack, we made our way across the street to University of Louisville.  I'll nutshell it for you. 
 
The campus was, uh, different.  Some pretty buildings and some odd modern buildings.  The grounds, though, were seemingly in disrepair.  It was a bit of a bummer, but an important place to visit.
Next, we visited the Louisville Slugger factory and museum. 
 This was supremely cool and very interesting.  Both kids wanted to visit this place again.  Lou and I really enjoyed it, too.  Alison even got a personalized bat.  Unfortunately, we could not stay long, because we needed to head on down to Nashville and see some old friends of mine.
Finally, we got back on the interstate and headed deeper into the south (Lou was none too happy about our direction).  
Tennessee came quickly, and the rest of the family got a lot of sleep on the way.  We got to Nashville around 4:30 and met up with a good old friend of mine, Dale Addy, and his wife April.  They were a terrific taste of Southern Hospitality.  Unbelievably, though, we did not take any pictures with them!  UGH!!!  Dale and I did a lot of hanging out together for a while in 1990 in Orange County.  His mom and dad were both very important in my life at the time, as I was trying to figure out what direction to go in terms of career.  Dale's mom ran a daycare out of her home, and that was one of the main reasons I decided to change my major to Child Development.  Anyway, April and Dale run their own graphic design firm out of their home.  They are both super-talented.  They are also very successful, and more importantly, they love where they are in life (in every way).  I am super-thankful that we were able to get together for just a few hours.  The Addys took us to a local hole-in-the-wall called "Jacks" on "Honkeytonk Row."  This was right around the corner from the "Old Ryman Theater," which used to be the home of the Grand Ole Opry.
After filling ourselves with some very good barbeque, we walked around this area of downtown and down to Fort Nashborough.  We saw a lot of really interesting and historic things, as well as some interesting newer things, such as where the Tennessee Titans play, where the Nashville Predators play, and where "Nashville Star" is filmed.  
Really quickly about April and Dale...April is from Tennessee.  They have been married for 13 years and have a great dog named CJ.  They work with local businesses, including Belmont University and Nissan, as well as working with international corporations (one in Sweden that makes special wheelchairs).  Very cool, indeed.  They also gave us a Southern Care Package when we arrived that consisted of 12 vanilla and 12 chocolate Moon Pies and 15 Goo Goo Supremes.  Those "delicacies" are made in Tennessee.  They also gave us a CD of R&B music that they worked on.  Very nice.  We had a great time.  BTW, the kids LOVED the desserts.  Thanks DALE...
After rolling ourselves back into our car and rolling out of Downtown Nashville, we headed to Franklin to stay with my friend, Todd Stallwood.  Todd and I lived together for a while in 1991&92 with my parents in Burbank, CA.  He is from Indiana, but is a Southern Boy, through and through.  After leaving SoCal, he moved to Nashville and has been there ever since.  
todd lives in a smaller house on two acres in the country, so his mom was extremely gracious in allowing us to stay at her house.  She lives in a neighborhood that looks like it is a movie set.  Her house was BEAUTIFUL and very large.  Lou described the house as, "picure-perfect.  It looks like todd rented a model home for us to stay in for a few days."  Mrs. Stallwood also made Lou and me stay in her master bedroom.  Her hospitality definitely is beyond words.  
We visited with Todd for a few hours and fell asleep.
-Dave

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