Blogs from Tennessee, United States, North America - page 4

Pedro and family picked Lori up at the Nashville airport today. After a quick walk through Music Row we headed to Jack's BBQ for lunch. We sat out on the screened in patio area. Leo was sure that he should have some brisket and the other meat specialties from Jack's. We stopped at a park and did some quick GeoCaching. Next we stopped at the Grand Ole Opry for a quick look around and some pictures. We headed to Burgess State Park. Waterfalls and a nice hike around the park. We all were going to HAVE FUN and enjoy the trip. Leo loves his hiking!... read more

The Memphis BBQ Food Scene is very much a large part of The River City. A BBQ joint is seemingly on every corner and fills every nook and cranny of Memphis. Although larger cities probably have more BBQ places, Memphis certainly has the largest rib joint to per capita percentage in the nation. With just under one million residents in Memphis and surrounding suburbs, that is a bold statement, just like some of the sauces we tasted! Just thinking about it can make your mouth water….superbly slow-cooked meat with a sauce that is just this side of heaven. Meat that literally falls off the bone, having been subjected to several hours of magical heat made possible utilizing the finest wood available. Such is the artistry of preparing barbequed ribs. With great pride many states claim to ... read more

In the posthumous Thomas Wolfe novel You Can't Go Home Again the protagonist is George Webber, a writer ostracized by his home community because of his unflattering portraits of the people of the town. The real-life background was more complicated. Wolfe's first novel Look Homeward Angel was one of the most thinly veiled autobiographies masquerading as fiction. The fictional town was Altamont, but the real-life hometown of Wolfe was Asheville. In his second novel, Of Time and the River, the people of Asheville were not included, and they were even more miffed at their exclusion. Wolfe did not go back to Asheville to visit family for 8 years after the publication of Look Homeward Angel, and barely reconciled with the town before his premature death from neurotuberculosis at age 38. Toward the end of You Can't ... read more

So far the trip has been amazing and we have not had lots of separation anxiety from Nathan when he stays behind to sleep in the camper with Uncle Mike, Auntie Jenn, Ellie, and Grayson. It seems like it is the beginning of Nathan learning his independence when he says his nightly goodbyes that he is going to be fine, and he still needs help from Mike and Jenn so it is not that bad like if he was with non-family. It is really cute to see when Vivian sees him when we get to the campground in the mornings and she runs and gives him a great big hug! Rosie says she wants to sleep in the camper "next time" or when she is 6 years old too like Nathan. At the campground we saw ... read more

Today was going to be a big travel day and Tory and Jenn took Rosie and Vivian in the Tahoe while Steve and Mike took Grayson, Ellie, and Nathan in the Ford truck pulling the camper. We packed up the remainder of the camper and headed out for the drive to Townsend and Cade’s Cove. It took about 5 hours to get to Jenns parent’s house, Kirby and Donna (Paw and Maw.) With 5 kids there were many bathroom and food breaks at Dunkin’ Donuts, the side of the road, and McDonald’s for lunch. The 3 big kids talked the whole ride and were on pretty good behavior while Rosie and Vivian watched movies happily during the drive. We got to Kirby and Donna’s house in Townsend and were greeted and treated very well. We thought ... read more