We left Edmonton on December 27, 2016 at 10:45 in the morning with Scarlett, Robyn and Scott. We are here for 6 weeks with the kids staying for 3 weeks. Scarlett was amazing on her first flight at 3 months old. Robyn made up goodie bags with some treats, ear plugs and a note for those sitting around us saying this was her first flight and she might be happy or she might be scared - everyone thought it was a great idea. Kathy, Trent and their kids were on our same flight. We arrived in Puerto Vallarta at about 5 pm and went through customs uneventfully. Viviana was there to pick us up - we stuffed her van pretty full and we still had a stop at Mega to do some grocery shopping. We cut back on our list and were on our way soon. We arrived at around 7 pm (La Penita is about an hour north of Puerto Vallarta). We unloaded the van and went to Avanti for dinner. Pasta and shrimp all around - excellent and only 2 blocks away.
Scarlett (otherwise known as Bubs) had a great sleep as did the kids - they slept in until about 10 am and Jan and I had Bubs out in the Palapa for about 3 hours. We ventured to Chasite for coffee and BLT's. Scott and I then went to Occidental Cafe de La Penita to buy some locally grown and processed coffee - it is delicious. On the way back we stopped at Hinde's for $1 tacos and the best Margaritas in the world. The kids went back to the condo and Jan and I did a little more grocery shopping. The rest of the afternoon was spent at the pool with Scarlett having her first swim ever. She loved it. We went for dinner at Irma's - Scott and I had the Shrimp stuffed Chile Relleno (one of my favourite meals in Mexico) and Robyn and jan had the garlic shrimp. Irma's is the best authentic Mexican restaurant in my opinion. Everyone watched a movie but I fell asleep - big surprise. I have been sleeping a chair for the last week or so because I bruised my ribs playing hockey and can't lay down - it is interesting to say the least but my ribs are getting better.
We got up, had some breakfast and then wandered over to the Tiangus (market) which is huge and happens every Thursday. You can buy everything - used clothing, new clothing, appliance parts, food, dads, mexican souvenirs, etc. we spent about 2 hours in the market and then went to Hinde's for ... tacos and Margaritas. We spent the afternoon at the condo relaxing and swimming. Bubs had a rough evening so Scott and I went to Gigio's and picked up some pizzas for dinner. Scarlett had a great sleep though and now it is Friday morning. Adios.
Friday, 30 December 2016
Wednesday, 9 November 2016
Jasper, Alberta - November 4-7, 2016
We all (Jan, I, Robyn, Scott, Scarlett, Kate, Greg, Randi, Jake) went to Jasper for Luke and Julie Zechel's wedding. It was great to see all of the family and we had a great time. We ended the trip with Greg falling into the lake at Jasper Park Lodge. Great trip.
Wednesday, 12 October 2016
Vancouver, BC - September 30 to October 7, 2016
Randi, Kate and I drove out to Vancouver on Friday, September 30, 2016. We stayed at the Hyatt downtown. I ran a 1/2 marathon on Sunday in Richmond and then we took the ferry over to Salt Spring Island to visit with Barry, Emma, Olivia and Alistair. We had dinner with them and stayed overnight. We got back to Vancouver on Monday afternoon. We had meetings with our Mastermind group from Monday evening to Thursday at noon. On Thursday afternoon, Q rented a bus and gave us a tour of Vancouver as well as stop at his store. We drove back on Friday through a storm all the way from Hinton to Edmonton.
Monday, 4 July 2016
La Penita - June 17 - July 2, 2016
On Friday, we got up to go for a walk. The river was running high so we decided not to cross over to Guayabitos. We decided to walk through town and explore a little. We were stopped by Sergio at his coffee shop and he convinced us to stop for breakfast. His English was pretty good and was definitely a salesman. Breakfast, cleaning products, tours, a special juice that is very healthy. I tried the healthy juice - it looked like dishwater - it did not taste like dishwater but was not very good - at least it was healthy! Supposedly. Jan did a lot of laundry - the humid hot weather requires doing laundry more often.
On Saturday, we stayed at home and relaxed. I stayed out of the sun as I got a bit sunburned.
On Sunday (Father's Day), Jan made a great breakfast, we relaxed, swam, read a book, went to the beach and had dinner at Irma's - garlic shrimp and coconut fish. We had our best sleep of the trip on Sunday night. Did I mention that we now own 4 fans (on top of the 3 ceiling fans)? A necessity at this time of year with no air conditioning - AC is not necessary in the winter months because of the great breezes.
Monday started out really slow. Read, eat, swim, sit in the sun, sit inside. Yup.
Tuesday. Ditto.
Wednesday. Busy day - walked to Muro (a hardware store) for some silicone for a window. That's it. Nope sorry - we walked back. We also stopped at Torta Carnitas (Ubaldo's cousin). They make pork in a big vat out on the street. We had a taco, sandwich and a fresca - $3. That was it for today.
Thursday. BIG DAY. Tiangus (market) day. The cleaning lady was coming today, so we left to wander the market. We bought a spout for the water dispenser, some delicious coconut water (actual coconut water), gorditas (a delicious slightly sweet pancake), carrot (zanahorias) cake and radishes. We stopped to buy some candied pecans and gummies and found out they wanted $50 - WHAT? Must have seen some gringos coming! We ended up with a large bag of gummies for $8. I stopped for a haircut - $3. One of the best haircuts ever. I also got her give me a shave. We bought some gelatinas mosaica - multi-coloured jello in a pudding for Ubaldo and Graciela. Don't remember the rest of the day - I actually don't remember what we did the rest of the day.
Friday. Eat, Read, Swim ("ERS"). Had special papas fritas (french fries) at Hamberguesas Villareal - very crispy.
Saturday. ERS. Went to Irma's for a great meal again.
Sunday. ERS. We bought some fish and grilled it with lime and seasoning on the baby Weber. Walked downtown for some ice cream.
Monday. ERS. Up to 17 laps of the pool (started at 8). Bought some camaron (shrimp), but we will have those another day. Had pancakes and cantaloupe for dinner - because we can.
Tuesday - Saturday. ERS. UP to 20 laps in the pool. It took us a while to pack up - even though we are not taking much home, the pack up to test what works and what doesn't took quite a while.
We got home late Saturday night.
Here are a few pictures:
On Saturday, we stayed at home and relaxed. I stayed out of the sun as I got a bit sunburned.
On Sunday (Father's Day), Jan made a great breakfast, we relaxed, swam, read a book, went to the beach and had dinner at Irma's - garlic shrimp and coconut fish. We had our best sleep of the trip on Sunday night. Did I mention that we now own 4 fans (on top of the 3 ceiling fans)? A necessity at this time of year with no air conditioning - AC is not necessary in the winter months because of the great breezes.
Monday started out really slow. Read, eat, swim, sit in the sun, sit inside. Yup.
Tuesday. Ditto.
Wednesday. Busy day - walked to Muro (a hardware store) for some silicone for a window. That's it. Nope sorry - we walked back. We also stopped at Torta Carnitas (Ubaldo's cousin). They make pork in a big vat out on the street. We had a taco, sandwich and a fresca - $3. That was it for today.
Thursday. BIG DAY. Tiangus (market) day. The cleaning lady was coming today, so we left to wander the market. We bought a spout for the water dispenser, some delicious coconut water (actual coconut water), gorditas (a delicious slightly sweet pancake), carrot (zanahorias) cake and radishes. We stopped to buy some candied pecans and gummies and found out they wanted $50 - WHAT? Must have seen some gringos coming! We ended up with a large bag of gummies for $8. I stopped for a haircut - $3. One of the best haircuts ever. I also got her give me a shave. We bought some gelatinas mosaica - multi-coloured jello in a pudding for Ubaldo and Graciela. Don't remember the rest of the day - I actually don't remember what we did the rest of the day.
Friday. Eat, Read, Swim ("ERS"). Had special papas fritas (french fries) at Hamberguesas Villareal - very crispy.
Saturday. ERS. Went to Irma's for a great meal again.
Sunday. ERS. We bought some fish and grilled it with lime and seasoning on the baby Weber. Walked downtown for some ice cream.
Monday. ERS. Up to 17 laps of the pool (started at 8). Bought some camaron (shrimp), but we will have those another day. Had pancakes and cantaloupe for dinner - because we can.
Tuesday - Saturday. ERS. UP to 20 laps in the pool. It took us a while to pack up - even though we are not taking much home, the pack up to test what works and what doesn't took quite a while.
We got home late Saturday night.
Here are a few pictures:
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| The Estuary - with the fish store beached in the background |
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| Palapa Bar |
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| Some of our art (we bought fully furnished including some great art) |
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| Iguana at the top |
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| Living Area |
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| Kitchen |
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| From the front patio doors looking in |
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| Bathroom |
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| Laundry room |
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| Sunset on our first night at our new place in La Penita |
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| Shopping for the new place - no room left in the SUV so Jan's lap was needed! |
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| Esther |
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| We got a baby Weber |
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| Eating at Hamberguesas Villareal (on the street - literally) |
Thursday, 16 June 2016
La Penita - June 14-16, 2016
We got up about 7 am on Tuesday and had a coffee and lounged around. Did a little unpacking of our purchases and then went for a long walk. We walked up to the foot bridge over to Guayabitos and down to the beach. We walked along the beach and stopped at La Hiucholitos for breakfast. I had huevos y chorizo (eggs and chorizo) and Jan had heuvos y tocino (eggs and bacon) - I had a beer - when in Mexico ... we walked back through the residential area of Guayabitos, over the foot bridge and back to our place. We hopped right into the pool. A little more unpacking and organizing, a cerveza, a rum and coke and it is early afternoon. I built our new baby Weber BBQ and we had BBQ chorizo and salad for dinner. Early night.
On Wednesday, I went for a long run along Guayabitos beach to the far end - probably too long as the run/walk took me about 90 minutes in the heat. First run here and didn't take a drink or money to buy a drink. My new water shoes worked great though and walked through the ocean frequently to cool down. Ubaldo's son Ernesto came over to help hang some hooks for us. We relaxed and sat in the sun and the shade most of the day - with a few dips in the pool. We went for dinner at Hamburguesas Villarreal (Ernesto's wife's place). We had a shrimp burger and a shrimp burrito with a coke and a Pacifico (which Ernesto went to the corner store to buy) - excellent and cost: about $10 all in. Quiet evening until ...
We had our first major thunder storm of the season on Wednesday night - nothing like the "boom" and lightning over the ocean of a tropical thunder storm. It rained hard. The power went out and we didn't sleep much because we didn't have the fans going (no power). We moved to the living room and slept on the couch because it was cooler with the patio doors open.
On Thursday, we woke up late (about 9:30) because we did not get much sleep in the night. Power was back on in our building but not in the other building or the building with the water pumps - no water. Oh well ...
We had a coffee and then headed out to the tiangus (the local farmer's market). It was smaller than when we are here in the winter and not much in the way of crafts or tourist things. We did have a tres leche (3 milk) cake - my favourite and a zanahorias cake (carrot). We then went for breakfast at Irma's (yup after dessert). We shared a shrimp omelet and a flan (yup another dessert) - both were delicious. We walked back through the tiangus and picked up a few kitchen items like a lime juicer, cutting board and scouring pads. The rest of the day was spent by and in the pool. WE had 5 large iguanas come visit us as well as Esther the cat. Ubaldo is a great source of information and spanish.
We had spaghetti and salad for dinner in the palapa and played yahtzee. The forecast is for more thunderstorms but it appears they keep getting pushed back a few days. We could get used to this life ... Early night again.
Maybe some pictures tomorrow ...
On Wednesday, I went for a long run along Guayabitos beach to the far end - probably too long as the run/walk took me about 90 minutes in the heat. First run here and didn't take a drink or money to buy a drink. My new water shoes worked great though and walked through the ocean frequently to cool down. Ubaldo's son Ernesto came over to help hang some hooks for us. We relaxed and sat in the sun and the shade most of the day - with a few dips in the pool. We went for dinner at Hamburguesas Villarreal (Ernesto's wife's place). We had a shrimp burger and a shrimp burrito with a coke and a Pacifico (which Ernesto went to the corner store to buy) - excellent and cost: about $10 all in. Quiet evening until ...
We had our first major thunder storm of the season on Wednesday night - nothing like the "boom" and lightning over the ocean of a tropical thunder storm. It rained hard. The power went out and we didn't sleep much because we didn't have the fans going (no power). We moved to the living room and slept on the couch because it was cooler with the patio doors open.
On Thursday, we woke up late (about 9:30) because we did not get much sleep in the night. Power was back on in our building but not in the other building or the building with the water pumps - no water. Oh well ...
We had a coffee and then headed out to the tiangus (the local farmer's market). It was smaller than when we are here in the winter and not much in the way of crafts or tourist things. We did have a tres leche (3 milk) cake - my favourite and a zanahorias cake (carrot). We then went for breakfast at Irma's (yup after dessert). We shared a shrimp omelet and a flan (yup another dessert) - both were delicious. We walked back through the tiangus and picked up a few kitchen items like a lime juicer, cutting board and scouring pads. The rest of the day was spent by and in the pool. WE had 5 large iguanas come visit us as well as Esther the cat. Ubaldo is a great source of information and spanish.
We had spaghetti and salad for dinner in the palapa and played yahtzee. The forecast is for more thunderstorms but it appears they keep getting pushed back a few days. We could get used to this life ... Early night again.
Maybe some pictures tomorrow ...
Tuesday, 14 June 2016
La Penita - June 11-13, 2016
We arrived into Puerto Vallarta at 4 pm on Saturday with 4 large suitcases, 2 carry ons, a laptop bag and a huge purse - it's like we are moving here! Oh wait, we are! We are buying a condo here in beautiful La Penita. We had to come down to sign the papers to close the deal.
We arranged a ride with Sarah who picked us (and all of our luggage) up at the airport. We stopped at the vet to pick up her dog who got into an altercation with another dog (she helps and fosters many dogs from JEEP Rescue here in La Penita). We then stopped at Mega to pick up some groceries. Sarah was a wealth of information on our 1 hour ride to La Penita.
We arrived at our condo - Paraiso del Mar (Paradise of the Sea) to be greeted by Jeanie, our real estate agent. She let us in and we got settled a bit and then walked downtown to eat at Irma's - chile relleno, garlic shrimp, a beer and a coke (all for $15). We walked back in the dark and then dropped into bed. Unpacking can with until mañana (tomorrow). There are 19 units in our condo complex but we are the only ones here at this time of year. I will post some pictures in a later post.
We were up early on Sunday, had some coffee and toast and then unpacked. The condo came fully furnished with some great artwork. We made a list of some of things we still need here. We headed downtown to buy a few things including a fan - a fan is a must at this time of year. During the winter, there are great breezes with the windows open that air conditioning is not needed. This time of year, air conditioning would be nice, but fans work just as well. Very hot and humid. Had some lunch downtown. We relaxed for the rest of the afternoon and evening - went into the pool a couple of times. Watched Sons of Anarchy - we started watching while in Europe 3 years ago and have one season left.
We were up early on Monday. Jeanie picked us up at 7 am to go into Puerto Vallarta to get an RFS (whatever that is) which we need to buy property in Mexico. Puerto Vallarta is in a different time zone - one hour later. We arrived to find out that it was a 1-2 hour wait (typical in Mexico) but they put our name on a list and we were able to leave and go to Costco. We bought ALOT of stuff at Costco almost filling up Jeanie's SUV. Back to the SAT office where the process was relatively smooth (but I suspect would not have been without Jeanie). We then stopped at Sam's Club (bought some stuff), Walmart (bought some stuff), El Tio Sam's (bought a BBQ), Home Depot (bought some stuff) and back to El Tio Sam's (for a BBQ hose which we could not get at Home Depot) - and we fit it all into the SUV - Jan rode all the way home buried under stuff. We stopped for lunch in Puerto Vallarta and then home. We stopped in Bucerias at Telmex to get internet hooked up, but it was closed. On our arrival home, we unpacked the SUV and then walked downtown for dinner - we had tacos, enchiladas and tostadas (they were average) but all of that cost us $5. Tried to watch Sons of Anarchy but fell asleep. Hasta luego (see you soon) ...
We arranged a ride with Sarah who picked us (and all of our luggage) up at the airport. We stopped at the vet to pick up her dog who got into an altercation with another dog (she helps and fosters many dogs from JEEP Rescue here in La Penita). We then stopped at Mega to pick up some groceries. Sarah was a wealth of information on our 1 hour ride to La Penita.
We arrived at our condo - Paraiso del Mar (Paradise of the Sea) to be greeted by Jeanie, our real estate agent. She let us in and we got settled a bit and then walked downtown to eat at Irma's - chile relleno, garlic shrimp, a beer and a coke (all for $15). We walked back in the dark and then dropped into bed. Unpacking can with until mañana (tomorrow). There are 19 units in our condo complex but we are the only ones here at this time of year. I will post some pictures in a later post.
We were up early on Sunday, had some coffee and toast and then unpacked. The condo came fully furnished with some great artwork. We made a list of some of things we still need here. We headed downtown to buy a few things including a fan - a fan is a must at this time of year. During the winter, there are great breezes with the windows open that air conditioning is not needed. This time of year, air conditioning would be nice, but fans work just as well. Very hot and humid. Had some lunch downtown. We relaxed for the rest of the afternoon and evening - went into the pool a couple of times. Watched Sons of Anarchy - we started watching while in Europe 3 years ago and have one season left.
We were up early on Monday. Jeanie picked us up at 7 am to go into Puerto Vallarta to get an RFS (whatever that is) which we need to buy property in Mexico. Puerto Vallarta is in a different time zone - one hour later. We arrived to find out that it was a 1-2 hour wait (typical in Mexico) but they put our name on a list and we were able to leave and go to Costco. We bought ALOT of stuff at Costco almost filling up Jeanie's SUV. Back to the SAT office where the process was relatively smooth (but I suspect would not have been without Jeanie). We then stopped at Sam's Club (bought some stuff), Walmart (bought some stuff), El Tio Sam's (bought a BBQ), Home Depot (bought some stuff) and back to El Tio Sam's (for a BBQ hose which we could not get at Home Depot) - and we fit it all into the SUV - Jan rode all the way home buried under stuff. We stopped for lunch in Puerto Vallarta and then home. We stopped in Bucerias at Telmex to get internet hooked up, but it was closed. On our arrival home, we unpacked the SUV and then walked downtown for dinner - we had tacos, enchiladas and tostadas (they were average) but all of that cost us $5. Tried to watch Sons of Anarchy but fell asleep. Hasta luego (see you soon) ...
Thursday, 2 June 2016
Grand Rapids, Michigan - May13-18, 2016
We met with some of the most amazing retail minds in Grand Rapids for 5 days! Enough said.
Sunday, 27 March 2016
Nashville March 20-27, 2016
We landed in Nashville on Sunday around 5:30 pm and Barb and JP picked us up from the airport. We ordered pizza and visited that night with Barb, JP, Patsy, Bill, Betty, Darrell, Marg and Ted.
Monday - Jan and I got up and went for a walk. We ended up at Cracker Barrel for coffee. We came back and had breakfast with the gang courtesy of JP and Barb. We then went for a walk in the afternoon and ended up at the Nashville Palace near our hotel for about 3 hours. Live music (Ron Crites played while we were there) from 11 am to 2 am. This is what I was looking for in Nashville. Ron sang the oldies from George Jones (he used to open for him), Waylon Jennings and the like and he played for 3 hours straight - no breaks. We went for dinner at the Opry Backstage restaurant and I had ribs - billed as the best in Nashville - they were great - but every restaurant says they have the best in Nashville. I guess I will need to try them all and come to my own conclusion, We then went to and Elvis tribute show by John Beardsley - he played all the classics for 2 hours. It was fantastic. Had a nightcap with the gang and went to bed about midnight. Great first day in Nashville ... Grand Ole Opry tomorrow.
Tuesday - We went to Cracker Barrel for breakfast and then visited with the gang for the rest of the morning. In the afternoon, we went to the Gaylord Hotel - a massive hotel complex with a man made river running through it and tropical gardens. Very nice. We then headed to the Outlet Mall and did a little shopping and had a beer and wings for a snack. Dinner was at Aquarium restaurant in the mall - as you can probably tell, a massive aquarium was the centre piece ... and then off to the GRAND OLE OPRY! Barb ended up getting us in the front row! We saw Larry Gatlin, Pam Tillis, Craig Cameron, William Michael Morgan, Del McCoury, Darius Rucker, Tristan McIntosh (from American Idol) and Charlie Daniels. IT WAS AMAZING!!! Nashville and particularly the Grand Ole Opry has been on my bucket list and it did not disappoint. We are going back on Saturday. We visited with the gang after the show at the hotel and had a nightcap or 3. Great second day in Nashville ... tomorrow we are heading to Lynchburg to visit the Jack Daniel Distillery.
Wednesday - we left for Lynchburg, Tennessee around 9 am for the 1.5 hour drive to the Jack Daniel Distillery (note that Daniel has no "s" on the end). Marg and Ted's son works for Brown-Forman (the owners of Jack Daniel) and he arranged a tour and lunch for us. The tour was really interesting. Jack Daniel started the distillery in Lynchburg in Moore county 150 years ago because of the water source - the water comes from an underground spring. It is particularly interesting that the distillery is located here because Moore County is a dry county - the only place to buy any liquor is at the distillery and they received a special dispensation to be able to do so. It was interesting to know that that from 1909 to to 1938 (29 years), prohibition was in effect and they essentially just sat on the distillery until it was legal again. All Jack Daniel is made here from this water source. The alcohol is distilled and put into barrels to mature. They do not touch the barrels once the alcohol is placed in the them. They have 88 barrel houses which hold up to 600 barrels each. They are as high as 7 stories and best whiskey is taken from the top floor. They do not age Jack Daniel - they let it mature - there is no time frame for it to sit in the barrels - it is ready when the taste, texture and colour are just right. The barrel houses have no temperature controls and so the top floors get up to 130 degrees F and that is where the best whiskey comes from. They have only a few different whiskeys. Green label which is the lowest quality and they call the college whiskey as it is lower quality and less costly. The black label accounts for 97% of sales. The single barrel select is what comes from the top floor and is there best whiskey and not every barrel from the top floor is single barrel select, it has to exhibit certain characteristics. Gentleman Jack is a double filtered whiskey. They burn oak to create their own charcoal in the rickyard. They then filter all the whiskey through this charcoal. They also have some blends like Tennessee Honey. Very interesting.
After the tour, we walked into Lynchburg to have lunch at Miss Mary Bobo's. What a unique experience! We had a 1 pm seating - all 100 people get seated at 1 pm. There are 9 rooms in the house - we were in the Fanning room. Diane, our hostess, showed us to our room and joined us for lunch. She was a hoot and a wealth of information. Miss Mary Bobo's started out as a roaming house. On the table when we arrived was our lunch - fried chicken, meatloaf, ochre, mashed potatoes, green beans, mac and cheese, biscuits and the most delicious apples cooked with, what else, Jack Daniel. Jack was our server and was in school although he doesn't make it there often as he loves fishing - he goes every day. When we asked what he caught, he said he doesn't usually catch anything but loves fishing. It was delicious and my best meal in Nashville. We then walked around town and popped into a few shops. The Barrel House Shop was great with all kinds of Jack Daniel stuff.
When we arrive back in Nashville at 5:30, we stopped at the Nashville Palace - we drank, ate (I had a fried bologna sandwich) and listened to Eileen Rose and the Silver Threads and Nathan Belt until midnight. Another great day in Nashville. Tomorrow we are heading to downtown Nashville ...
Thursday - We had a lazy morning visiting with the gang and then headed to downtown Nashville around 3 pm. We did a tour at the Ryman and then headed to Broadway where all the bars are. We barhopped until 12:30 pm - The Stage, Tootsie's Orchid Lounge, Full Moon Saloon, Coyote Ugly, Lala's and more. So much fun. Darrel even got to play guitar and sing with the band at Tootsie's.
Friday was a lazy day again in the morning and early afternoon. Marg and Ted left today for Louisville, Kentucky where their son lives. We went to the Nashville Palace in the afternoon - more live music and beer. We walked to John A's for dinner - I had catfish and Jan had ribs - both delicious. Then back to the Nashville Palace for more live music and beer. Got home around midnight.
Saturday - lazy morning and early afternoon - we had breakfast at Cracker Barrel. We headed to the outlet mall in the afternoon and did a little shopping, listened to some live music (yup, even at the mall) and had some dinner. We then walked over to the Grand Ole Opry in the evening - second row tickets. We saw Jeannie Seely, Love and Theft, Mike Snider, John Conlee, Ashley Campbell (Glen Campbell's daughter - really good), Parker Millsap (amazing), Larry Gatlin, Cole Swindle (yup), Opry Square Dancers, Riders in the Sky (Rawhide and Happy Trails), The Whites and ... the legend and country royalty ... Loretta Lynn! After the show, we went to the Nashville Palace for some more live music and beer. Got home around midnight and had a nightcap with the gang. It's now about 1:30 in the morning ... we fly home tomorrow.
Sunday - we said bye to everyone - Barb, JP and Patsy are driving to Alabama today to visit with JP's sister and then back to Florida and Betty, Bill and Darrel were off to Houston (both driving). We fly out around supper time tonight.
What a great trip! We had the best time. The Nashville Palace - a honky tonk bar not far from our hotel became our second home. They had live music everyday from 11 am to 2 am and $3 beer ($2 during happy hour from 4-8 pm). This is definitely Music City - there is music everywhere (even the mall). The trip was made even better by the people we were traveling with - Barb, JP, Betty, Bill, Darrel, Patsy, Marg and Ted - Thanks for the great time! Next week will not be near as fun!
Monday - Jan and I got up and went for a walk. We ended up at Cracker Barrel for coffee. We came back and had breakfast with the gang courtesy of JP and Barb. We then went for a walk in the afternoon and ended up at the Nashville Palace near our hotel for about 3 hours. Live music (Ron Crites played while we were there) from 11 am to 2 am. This is what I was looking for in Nashville. Ron sang the oldies from George Jones (he used to open for him), Waylon Jennings and the like and he played for 3 hours straight - no breaks. We went for dinner at the Opry Backstage restaurant and I had ribs - billed as the best in Nashville - they were great - but every restaurant says they have the best in Nashville. I guess I will need to try them all and come to my own conclusion, We then went to and Elvis tribute show by John Beardsley - he played all the classics for 2 hours. It was fantastic. Had a nightcap with the gang and went to bed about midnight. Great first day in Nashville ... Grand Ole Opry tomorrow.
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| Sunset in Nsahville |
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| Beautiful Blossoms |
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| General Lee |
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| Cracker Barrel |
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| The Gang at Nashville Palace |
Tuesday - We went to Cracker Barrel for breakfast and then visited with the gang for the rest of the morning. In the afternoon, we went to the Gaylord Hotel - a massive hotel complex with a man made river running through it and tropical gardens. Very nice. We then headed to the Outlet Mall and did a little shopping and had a beer and wings for a snack. Dinner was at Aquarium restaurant in the mall - as you can probably tell, a massive aquarium was the centre piece ... and then off to the GRAND OLE OPRY! Barb ended up getting us in the front row! We saw Larry Gatlin, Pam Tillis, Craig Cameron, William Michael Morgan, Del McCoury, Darius Rucker, Tristan McIntosh (from American Idol) and Charlie Daniels. IT WAS AMAZING!!! Nashville and particularly the Grand Ole Opry has been on my bucket list and it did not disappoint. We are going back on Saturday. We visited with the gang after the show at the hotel and had a nightcap or 3. Great second day in Nashville ... tomorrow we are heading to Lynchburg to visit the Jack Daniel Distillery.
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| Grand Ole Opry |
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| Larry Gatlin |
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| Pam Tillis |
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| Craig Campbell |
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| Del McCoury |
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| William Michael Morgan |
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| Darius Rucker |
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| Tristan McIntosh (American Idol) |
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| Charlie Daniels |
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| Grand Ole Opry |
Wednesday - we left for Lynchburg, Tennessee around 9 am for the 1.5 hour drive to the Jack Daniel Distillery (note that Daniel has no "s" on the end). Marg and Ted's son works for Brown-Forman (the owners of Jack Daniel) and he arranged a tour and lunch for us. The tour was really interesting. Jack Daniel started the distillery in Lynchburg in Moore county 150 years ago because of the water source - the water comes from an underground spring. It is particularly interesting that the distillery is located here because Moore County is a dry county - the only place to buy any liquor is at the distillery and they received a special dispensation to be able to do so. It was interesting to know that that from 1909 to to 1938 (29 years), prohibition was in effect and they essentially just sat on the distillery until it was legal again. All Jack Daniel is made here from this water source. The alcohol is distilled and put into barrels to mature. They do not touch the barrels once the alcohol is placed in the them. They have 88 barrel houses which hold up to 600 barrels each. They are as high as 7 stories and best whiskey is taken from the top floor. They do not age Jack Daniel - they let it mature - there is no time frame for it to sit in the barrels - it is ready when the taste, texture and colour are just right. The barrel houses have no temperature controls and so the top floors get up to 130 degrees F and that is where the best whiskey comes from. They have only a few different whiskeys. Green label which is the lowest quality and they call the college whiskey as it is lower quality and less costly. The black label accounts for 97% of sales. The single barrel select is what comes from the top floor and is there best whiskey and not every barrel from the top floor is single barrel select, it has to exhibit certain characteristics. Gentleman Jack is a double filtered whiskey. They burn oak to create their own charcoal in the rickyard. They then filter all the whiskey through this charcoal. They also have some blends like Tennessee Honey. Very interesting.
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| Jack Daniel |
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| Jack Daniel |
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| The Rickyard |
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| The Water Source for Jack Daniel |
After the tour, we walked into Lynchburg to have lunch at Miss Mary Bobo's. What a unique experience! We had a 1 pm seating - all 100 people get seated at 1 pm. There are 9 rooms in the house - we were in the Fanning room. Diane, our hostess, showed us to our room and joined us for lunch. She was a hoot and a wealth of information. Miss Mary Bobo's started out as a roaming house. On the table when we arrived was our lunch - fried chicken, meatloaf, ochre, mashed potatoes, green beans, mac and cheese, biscuits and the most delicious apples cooked with, what else, Jack Daniel. Jack was our server and was in school although he doesn't make it there often as he loves fishing - he goes every day. When we asked what he caught, he said he doesn't usually catch anything but loves fishing. It was delicious and my best meal in Nashville. We then walked around town and popped into a few shops. The Barrel House Shop was great with all kinds of Jack Daniel stuff.
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| Miss Mary Bobo's for lunch |
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| Miss Mary Bobo's |
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| Miss Mary Bobo's |
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| Lynchburg, Tennessee |
When we arrive back in Nashville at 5:30, we stopped at the Nashville Palace - we drank, ate (I had a fried bologna sandwich) and listened to Eileen Rose and the Silver Threads and Nathan Belt until midnight. Another great day in Nashville. Tomorrow we are heading to downtown Nashville ...
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| Eileen Rose at the Nashville Palace |
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| Ryman Auditorium |
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| Ryman Stage |
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| The Stage on Broadway |
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| At the Stage on Broadway |
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| Tootsie's Orchid Lounge |
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| Darrel playing with the Band at Tootsie's |
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| Broadway in Nashville |
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| Broadway |
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| Elvis and Jan |
Saturday - lazy morning and early afternoon - we had breakfast at Cracker Barrel. We headed to the outlet mall in the afternoon and did a little shopping, listened to some live music (yup, even at the mall) and had some dinner. We then walked over to the Grand Ole Opry in the evening - second row tickets. We saw Jeannie Seely, Love and Theft, Mike Snider, John Conlee, Ashley Campbell (Glen Campbell's daughter - really good), Parker Millsap (amazing), Larry Gatlin, Cole Swindle (yup), Opry Square Dancers, Riders in the Sky (Rawhide and Happy Trails), The Whites and ... the legend and country royalty ... Loretta Lynn! After the show, we went to the Nashville Palace for some more live music and beer. Got home around midnight and had a nightcap with the gang. It's now about 1:30 in the morning ... we fly home tomorrow.
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| Opry Square Dancers |
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| Jeannie Seely |
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| Love and Theft |
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| Mike Snider |
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| John Conlee |
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| Ashley Campbell |
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| Parker Millsap |
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| Larry Gatlin |
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| Cole Swindell |
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| Riders in the Sky |
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| The Whites |
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| Loretta Lynn |
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| The Opry Stage |
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| The Gang at the Nashville Palace |
What a great trip! We had the best time. The Nashville Palace - a honky tonk bar not far from our hotel became our second home. They had live music everyday from 11 am to 2 am and $3 beer ($2 during happy hour from 4-8 pm). This is definitely Music City - there is music everywhere (even the mall). The trip was made even better by the people we were traveling with - Barb, JP, Betty, Bill, Darrel, Patsy, Marg and Ted - Thanks for the great time! Next week will not be near as fun!
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