Vacation was nice, not relaxing but fun. Traveling with a 7 year old boy and a 17 month girl wasn't what it was cracked up to be. The drive was only about 7-1/2 hours to Franklin Tennessee but when you have a screaming little girl that does nothing but scream for an hour strait, it makes the drive seem like 15 hours. The never ending "I'm hungry" and "are we almost there?" started about 20 minutes into the trip. We left about 4 pm on Monday and arrived in the Nashville area about 11:30 local time. It's really a pretty easy drive other than the kid issues.

Tuesday, we headed over to my Aunt's house and really just visited and chilled out which was badly needed after the long drive. My aunt lives in a pretty cool planned community that has parks, lakes, a community center complete with media room, art room, game room (with free video games) and a huge pool. The community also includes a few shops, doctor's offices and the retail area is expanding to include a grocery store, drug store and other shops. The homes are all less than 5 years old but they were built to look like they have been there for decades. All in all, a really cool place to live it seems. We also took a stroll though the downtown Franklin area which is a quint old civil war town where one of the bloodiest battles of the war took place. There is a ton of history in the area.

Wednesday was site seeing day. We picked up my aunt and headed toward downtown Nashville. On the way to town, we took a little country music home tour and stopped in front of Alan Jackson's house (or should I say mansion) to snap a picture. As I got out of the car, a white SUV was pulling up to the gate and leaving the grounds. Guess who was driving the SUV? Non other than Alan Jackson himself. He just kept driving and gave us a wave as he pulled out of the driveway. After our little brush with a country music star, we headed to The Parthenon. Nashville built an exact scale replica of the Greek Parthenon for the Tennessee Centennial celebration in the late 1800s. It was build as part of a large display of temporary buildings for the celebration and was to be torn down after the exhibition. After the celebration was over, the city decided to keep the Parthenon for future generations to enjoy. The temporary structure was rebuilt to be permanent and is now used in part as a museum that includes artwork dealing with the Greek Parthenon. There is also a huge statue of Athena on the second floor which is said to be the tallest indoor statue in the U. S. All in all, it was a neat visit.

After the Parthenon, we headed into the downtown area to eat and to explore a bit. We walked down the main tourist drag and ate at The Wildhorse Saloon. The Wildhorse is also a concert venue and what a coincidence but Hootie and the Blowfish were performing there that night. After lunch, which by the was was not bad but nothing to blog about other than the couple of Yazoo pale ales I had during the meal, we headed down toward Tootsie's Orchid Lounge. Tootsie's is a dive bar that is across an alley from the Ryman Auditorium better known as the original home to the Grand Ole Opry. I guess the acts that were to perform at the Ryman would have a couple of drinks at Tootsie's and then warm up in the alley before they performed. My aunt said I had to at the very least walk inside to take a look. I did one better than that, I had a shot of Jack, then looked around. On the way to Tootsie's, we had to pass at least 8 other small bars and all of them had live music and it was only 2:30 in the afternoon on a Wednesday afternoon. If we didn't have the kids with us, we could have had a blast going from one bar to the next listening to the bands all day and all night long. In some of the bars, the bands start at 10am everyday! After the walk around downtown which did include a quick stop at the Ryman, we headed back to drop my aunt off at home and head back to the hotel. On the way to drop my aunt off at home, she got a text from my cousin saying they saw Keith Urban and Nichole Kidman at the mall and they got pictures to prove it. The were shopping at Bath and Body Works. Of course, Lisa and I had to go to the mall to see if there were any other celebrity siting to be found and there was not. That evening, we had some very tasty pizza for dinner from Pie in the Sky Pizza.

On Thursday, we were on our own because my aunt had to work a 12 hour shift at the hospital. We headed to Opryland hotel and the Opryland mall and spent the day wondering around. The hotel is as cool of any hotel I've ever been in and the mall was huge. While at the mall, we visited the Stingray Reef. We all got to touch the stingrays and I actually fed them which was a strange event to say the least. We were all exhausted after walking for 5 hours or so and shopping so back the hotel we went. I took Shawn down to the pool and before we knew it, both kids were fast asleep.

Friday morning we went to Dotson's for breakfast. Dotson's is located in downtown Franklin and is frequented by several of the country music industry stars. I had a good ole country breakfast that included, eggs, biscuits, sausage gravy, potato casserole, grits and country ham. The breakfast wasn't bad at all but I could make grits just as good and the portions were smaller than what I am accustom to up north. The big draw for me was the country ham. I had never had country ham and was curious to see what the difference between it an the typical ham I know and love. All I can say is the ham was major salty due to fact it is salt cured. Wow, was it salty. I would compare it to a giant piece of bacon with a bone in it. Not bad but different! After breakfast, we went on a plantation tour of Carton Plantation. The tour was pretty neat. The house was used as a hospital for the confederate army during the battle of Franklin during the civil war. The family was at home during the battle and assisted many of the doctors in treating the wounded. There was so much blood in the house that you could still see blood stains on the floors in the bedrooms! It is said that the morning after the battle they found 4 dead confederate generals laying on the back porch which was the second most generals lost during any battle during the war outside of the battle at Gettysburg. Considering the battle at Franklin lasted only about 5 hours and the fighting at Gettysburg last a few days the loss of life and generals was as bad a loss as the Confederate side saw during the entire war. The entire story is interesting. It is also said that the plantation is haunted to this day. After the tour and since it was approaching triple digit temperatures, we headed back to the hotel to swim for the rest of the afternoon.

Friday evening we had dinner at a place next to our hotel called Jonathan's Grille. Really nice sports bar/restaurant. I had the grouper dinner which was as good as I have ever had and Lisa had a steak which was much better than any of the steaks we had during our Chicago trip last month. The best part of the meal is that we found out there were half price appetizers and 2 for 1 draft beers during the time were were there. I don't think I've seen 2 for 1 happy hours since I was too young to be drinking! I need to move to Tennessee!

Saturday, we packed up and headed over to my aunts to spend an hour or so with her before the long drive home. The kids were much better on the way home by the way. I really want to go back a visit again soon. There is so much more that we could have explored. I really want to take a few more of the plantation tours and maybe a Franklin street tour the next time I go for a visit.

Sunday was spent getting back to normal life. I did a bunch of yard work, Lisa went grocery shopping and did some laundry and then we had dinner over Todd and Jill's place.

Alan Jackson's HouseLisa, Aunt Peggy and I at the Wildhorse SaloonKatelyn eating her lemon ParthenonAthena (more woman than I would care to handle) Shawn and I feeding the stingraysNo FearKatelyn at Opryland HotelFront of Carton House PlantationBack porch of CartonLargest privately owned confederate cemetery at Carton PlantationSlave quarters at Carton

Pretty busy past weekend. I took the day off and went golfing at The Legacy and played very well by my standards considering I have only played 27 holes all season. I shot 85 at a pretty difficult course and beat the others I played with which is always nice considering they play a lot more golf than I do. After golfing, we went to the LPGA tournament that was going on in town and followed around Natalie Gulbis and Paula Creamer for obvious reasons; not to mention they were playing in the same group and Paula shot a tournament record 60 on Thursday.

Saturday, we cleaned up around the house a bit, did some yard work and began the packing process for our trip. Sunday, I went to work to finish up a project and then we finished up cleaning up and packing. For dinner, we ate at The Melting Pot. The food was decent but the concept was a bit strange for us. I don't think we will be visiting anytime soon. For the money, there are much better places to eat in the area and they do the cooking for you. I'm not sure that fondue is the best food choice for nice restaurant experience. It is also a major pain to sit and watch the time to see when your particular food was finished. The last thing you would want to do is bit into an undercooked piece of chicken because you though you were cooking beef!

Hootie was Da Bomb!!!

This weekend was a little strange. We took Thursday off to extend the extended weekend and relax a bit. Relaxing the weekend was but it was also busy if that makes any sense at all! Thursday was the night of our community fireworks display so I cut the grass in the morning and started up the smoker a bit later than I should have. I decided to smoke a pork shoulder roast and two chickens....what a nightmare. The problem was that I couldn't keep the heat high enough to cook efficiently (read timely). The temperature is supposed to be near 180-190 for smoking and I was lucky to see 135 degrees most of the time. The 4 hours is was supposed to take ended up being 7 hours and still not completely done. At the 7 hour mark, I decided to finish up the cooking on the trusty propane grill. The finished product was still good but the heat issues were frustrating to say the least. After dinner, I put on a small firework display in the driveway and then we watch the community display.

Friday we took a drive to Cabela's. Cabela's has a conversion kit for my smoker that would turn it from a charcoal fueled smoker to an electric controlled smoker. Unfortunately for me, they don't stock the conversion kit at the stores. After Cabela's we headed to wander around Ikea. We ended up buying a few odds and ends, nothing too exciting. Then we spent the evening sitting on the patio watching neighbors shooting fireworks.

Saturday morning began the work part of the weekend. We decided (I actually decided to appease Lisa) to paint Katelyn's bedroom. Lisa's parents took Katelyn for the night on Friday so we could get the painting done uninterrupted. We got the taping done on Friday and a coat of primer and one coat of paint finished on Saturday before we left to go to the Mudhens game. The paint went on extremely light, so light that I sent Lisa out to Lowe's to pick paint that was a couple shades darker. By the time Lisa called me to say she was having problems deciding on a color, the paint on the wall had darkened up nicely so she came home without the new paint. The original paint was going to work just fine. On the way to the game, we stopped by Home Depot to pick up another gallon of paint for the second coat.

The Mudhens lost the game. Katelyn was her usual self and we left before the post-game fireworks began. Once Katelyn got to the car, she relaxed a bit and allowed us to pull over and watch the fireworks display.

Sunday, I put the last coat of paint on the room and Lisa and I put the room back together. That pretty much did it for the weekend.

This week I am golfing on Friday and then heading over to the LPGA tournament being held this week in town. Tuesday we are going to the annual "Jamie Farr Kroger Classic" dinner gala. The entertainment this year is Hootie and the Blowfish. Am I getting old or what? The entertainment at these events always seems to be a singer that I was too young to remember or someone that I remember my parents enjoying. I actually remember Hootie and listened to their music. I must be pushing 40 years old!

Other than that, no big plans other than getting ready for our short Nashville trip next week.

Below are a few pictures that I mentioned either in this post or previous posts:

Basil/Pesto Pictures

Fresh Basil from the garden

Pesto (green food is so appetizing)


Finished product on Pasta

Slowest Smoker ever!

Pork roast on the smoker (at about 5 hours)

Finished Chicken

New Patio Furniture

Katelyn enjoying the patio furniture

Katelyn's new room color

Summer has been pretty busy so posts have been sporadic at best. Since the last post, we attended our trade show in Chicago. One of our salesmen (Terry) and myself went in on Friday, which was two days before the show started, to make sure the booth was set up correctly and to make sure we weren't getting ripped off in labor. Seems that if you are at the show during booth set up, it gets done much quicker than if you're not. We ended up saving almost 50% of our labor cost for set up compared to the last show we exhibited at in Chicago!

Friday after we were done working, we ended up getting lost walking in Downtown Chicago looking for Rush Street trying to find something to eat. When we finally found Rush Street, we ended up eating at Hugo's Frog Bar. I've eaten at Hugo's once before but I was so damn tired by that point, I didn't care what or where I was eating. I had the crab cakes which were by far the best I have ever had!

Being in Chicago a couple of days early with not much to do gave me the chance to hang out with Lisa's brother Brad for a bit on Saturday. I went out of McCormick Place to check on the booth and to finish up what needed to be done cleaning up and Brad headed down to our hotel. Once we all met up at the hotel, I got to have one of Brad's homemade brews which was much better than the Mr. Beer batches that I had done in the past. The fact of the matter is that Brad's beer is as good as any micro brew produced beer I have ever had (don't get a chip on your shoulder Brad)! That afternoon, Brad and I headed out to Goose Island Brewing Company for Lunch and had several of their beers. The Midway IPA was very tasty and went down a bit too smooth. We had a few appetizers, a few beers and a few more beers and then headed back to the hotel where we both proceeded to take a little siesta on the couch to sleep off the alcohol. We woke up just in time to catch the Manager's reception and to have a couple more liquid libations on the hotel. Brad headed back home and I went to the Randolph Street food festival.

The food festival was your typical street fair with a several food vendors and beer carts. The place was very crowded so we had a beer and explored the restaurant scene in the neighborhood. We ended up picking a French place called Marche. Marche was probably a bit too romantic to be there with another guy but the food was great. I had the special that day that was shark on some sort of lentil, fennel gravy mixture and also had a side order of french fries that were the best I have ever had. The fries were ultra thin and fried in animal fat (the secret that the waiter divulged to us). That evening we discovered a bowling alley that was in the same building as our hotel. This wasn't any ordinary bowling alley either. It was more like a really nice bar that just happened to have a bowling alley in it. The bars were loaded with LCD televisions and comfortable seating in the form of overstuffed couches and chairs. Even the bowling alley had overstuffed couch seating and ultra modern chairs and side tables for drinks. We had a couple of drinks there and then I headed back to the hotel for the evening.

Sunday evening was the start of the trade show. I really didn't do much during the day but did take a little walk in the area that surrounded the hotel to see if there was a place for the group to eat that evening that was relatively close to the hotel. I ended up making reservations at Shula's Steak House. The trade show was busy. Brad came downtown to walk the trade show with Lisa who arrived with the others that would work at the booth. Lisa was attending classes. The Sunday trade show hours were 4 pm-7pm and the place was packed. The fact that free food and drinks were being served probably helped fill the exhibit hall. After the show, we headed back to the Hotel for clean up and then off to Shula's. Here it goes....Shula's sucks! Over priced, bad service and the steaks were not all that great. I've had better steaks in my backyard and I could have received better service at McDonald's. I had a "cowboy steak" better known as a big ribeye. The steak was not good. I wouldn't say it was over cooked but it was dry and not what I would have expected for $40. I also ordered a side of creamed spinach and lobster mashed potatoes. The spinach was pretty good but the mash potatoes were just that....mashed potatoes without any flavor of lobster at all. Lisa had a pretty good sized strip steak that was a little better than my steak but still not all that good. Based on the price, the food quality and the $83 tip that was imposed on us because we had 6 or more in our party I wouldn't recommend this place to anyone.

Monday was the start of the full blown trade show. 9:30-4pm. Traffic was good at the show and the conversations we engaged in with the attendees was pretty good compared to other shows I have participated. I think that this show may actually pay off. Time will tell. After the show, we had a few drinks waiting for Lisa to arrive back from a late class and then headed to dinner at Carmine's. We were about 15 minutes late for our reservations and had to wait for awhile for our table. Once we got seated, the menu took awhile to navigate because there was so much to choose from. I ended up with a seafood salad and Lasagna. The seafood salad was excellent but so big, I didn't finish even half of my meal.

Tuesday was the last day of the show. Lisa, however had a late seminar and had another one on Wednesday so she and I stayed Tuesday night while the others traveled home. By Tuesday, we had ran out of a lot of our product samples so I had more sent overnight to the hotel. When I went to the security office to pick up the samples, I bent over and yep, you guessed it, I tore the entire seat out of my pants! It seems that I have gained a bit of my lost weight back and I'm in between pants sizes. I either have pants too big or too small and this pair was just a bit too small. My back was hurting that day so I probably was using more leg to lift than normal and just rip. I though I tore something in my back when I heard the rip but then I began feeling the nice breeze so I knew the back was fine. Thank goodness I over packed and had another pair of pants I could wear.

Tuesday evening, Lisa and I took a walk down Michigan Avenue and stopped in a few stores. Bought a "prize" for Shawn from the Lego store and took a walk through the American Girl Store. The American Girl store is a goldmine. Tons and Tons of little girls getting their doll's hair done, having lunch with their dolls, buying clothes that match their doll's clothes and well you get the idea.

That night we ended up at The Tavern on Rush for dinner. We sat outside and had the best meal of the entire trip. Lisa's steak was very good and my Jambalaya was good as well. After we ate, we took a cab to Navy Pier and wandered around then back to the hotel and to sleep early. Lisa had a morning seminar on Wednesday and then off we went back home.

When we got back, the yard was in a bit of disrepair with all the rain we had while we were gone but the flowers all bloomed and plants grew like weed. The basil I planted needed to be harvested so I did that on Sunday and made Pesto. It's amazing what basil mixed with olive oil, pine nuts, garlic and Parmesan cheese tastes like!

Last weekend, we made a quick visit to the family in Northeast Ohio. My Mom is now in a condo in Strongsville and my brother has his own place in Middleburg Heights. Mom's new place is pretty nice and Mike's isn't too bad either for his first place. The visit was a bit strange with all the new environments everyone was living in now. Even though I never lived in Mom and Dad's last place, it always felt like home. I just couldn't get comfortable in the new place though but maybe time will help with that.

This past week, we bought new patio furniture. The last patio set was bought as a house warming gift by Mom and Dad when Lisa and I bought our first house about 11 years ago. It was definitely showing it's age. This time we opted for the love seat, lounge chairs with ottoman and coffee table set up. It looks nice but I haven't taken pictures to post yet.

Lisa also found a smoker at a garage sale last week so I'm now the proud owner of a charcoal fueled smoker that I will use for the first time tonight. I'm going to smoke a pork shoulder roast and a couple of small chickens. Tonight is also the night for our community's firework display so Lisa's Mom and Dad are coming over for smoked food and to watch the show. I may head for the boarded and buy a few fireworks as well.

That should pretty much put anyone that is still reading this blog up to date with our happenings! Have a great holiday weekend.