The thing that’s great about New Year’s Eve is all of Nashville out on the town together, everyone living it up. The thing that isn’t so great about New Year’s Eve is being out on the road, making my way home with everyone who’s living it up a little too much.
This year I’m staying put. Not at home, that’s a little too tame for me. You’ll find me right here at the finest Nashville airport hotel, safe and sound. If you decide to follow my lead, you’ll take advantage of Hotel Preston’s New Year’s Eve deal. First you’ll hit the party at the Pink Slip Lounge, later have a glass of midnight bubbly, wake up to a great breakfast (the New Year’s deal includes a $25 food and bev credit), and if you had just a little too good of a time, there’s a hangover kit (aspirin, Alka Seltzer, vitamin C, etc.) at the ready. Cheers!
After the gifts are unwrapped and the Christmas dinner dishes are done, the rest of the day can feel like a letdown, right? Not if all the family wraps up in all those new knit scarves and hats (I got three sets of gloves last year) and heads down to LP field to see the Titans play the Chargers. Buy tickets!
Even if not everyone in your family is a ball fan, you gotta get out of the house and do something on Christmas, especially if you’ve got out-of-towners. And, let’s face it, Jeff Fisher and his Titans may not quite have coal in their stockings, but they will have to deal with the AFC West powerhouse Chargers, and they need our support. So get out there and pray, for a victory that is.
After a long, exhausting shopping day at the mall, don’t you think you deserve a little fun? This season, Nashville’s historic Belcourt Theater, in Hillsboro Village, will be showing two great holiday flicks. They might not both be your cup of tea, but one or the other will probably pique your interest.
On December 3, the Belcourt will be hosting a special event, a screening of the modern Christmas classic, The Polar Express. The night is a benefit sponsored by Crye-Leike Real Estate with all proceeds going to Camp Hope. Tickets include dinner and a silent auction and children are welcome.
On the entirely other side of the spectrum, on December 19 & 20, the theater will screen Black Christmas, about yuletide horror at a sorority house. Hey, it’s the season of giving and the Belcourt offers something for everyone.
This is one of the Nashville events that I look forward to all year. I’m sure a lot of people think it’s nuts to go check out acres of cars most people can’t afford (especially in this economy), but I love it. It probably comes from a childhood filled with Matchbox cars (loved setting up the track, over and over) and remote-controlled cars. I just know it’s a great way to spend a day.
It’s all happening at the Nashville Convention Center on the last weekend in November. I like to see what the new trucks and SUVs are looking like, but I’m really curious, too, to see the 2010 hybrids. There will be reps from Motor Trend and all the major car makers, so it’s also a great opportunity to ask a lot of questions. And I don’t know what you drive, but I’m not parking my ride anywhere near the show.
Dora and I had a great dinner right here at the hotel the other night, at Café Isabella (Dora said it was the best Chicken Parmagiana she’s ever had). While we were eating, Dora asked me if we’d had many weddings, or things like that, at the hotel. If she was asking, I realized people needed to know what a great place we have for a big wedding event like that.
In the first place, the hotel caters the event, and the food is first-rate. The hotel itself looks great, the grounds are really cool. And if you’re like me, I need a place to wander off to during any big shindig, and the Pink Slip (our bar) is perfect for that. And, of course, at the end of the party, you can just stumble upstairs to your room. Can’t beat it.
Just in case you think that all I listen to is country music and honky tonk, I’m here to tell you that my tastes are far broader than that. That’s right; Dora and I are going to see one of the old masters at Andrew Jackson Hall (a great venue, BTW) on the fifth of November. I’ve been listening to Leonard Cohen for decades, can’t believe he’s coming our way.
I bought Songs of Love and Hate in my teens, after a girl broke up with me, and I knew Leonard knew how I felt. I defy you to listen to “Hallelujah,” one of his all-time bests (off of Various Positions), and not choke up a bit. And, Cohen isn’t just an amazing singer/songwriter—the guy writes poetry, novels, even spent a long time at a Buddhist monastery. Hey, he’s everybody’s man.
When I was just a tyke, my parents took us out to California. I don’t know if I’ve been as excited for a trip in my entire life. We went to Disneyland, the La Brea Tar Pits (how that ever got to be a popular tourist destination, I’ll never know). But, for some reason, the Walk of Fame really sticks in my memory. Maybe it’s because when I stood on George Reeves’ star, I felt like Superman for just a minute.
I’ve got to say, I do get the same kind of rush when I’m on Nashville’s Music City Walk of Fame, one of Nashville’s best attractions, in my opinion. When I’m surrounded by all the greats—Randy Travis, Martina McBride, Little Richard, Elvis (of course), and so many more—I’m reminded of all the great music I’ve seen in this city of mine over the years.
The Walk is an easy one-mile stroll that connects to downtown’s Music Row, and it’s a great way to while away an afternoon, and start up good arguments about who was the greatest.
One of the only things that makes the end of summer in Nashville less painful is that fall brings October, and October means Oktoberfest – a great event anywhere, but Nashville does it right. The big one is in Germantown, of course, and is hosted by Church of the Assumption and Monroe Street United Methodist Church. It’s free and is one of Nashville’s best.
There’s live music on three stages, including Die Musik Meisters, Music City Swing, Steff Mahan Band, and Ted Guillaum, polka dancing, street performers, arts and crafts booths. There’s “Fun Land” for the kids and a tour of historic churches (for those who like that sort of thing). Last year there were also some booths with some cool German antiques, something I haven’t seen before.
Saving the best for last, there’s all that German food and beer. Give me a grilled bratwurst on a fresh-baked roll with spicy mustard, a stein of pilsner, fresh-baked streudel for dessert, and I got no complaints.
How do you know summer is nearly over? (Sad, I know.) Because a bunch of guys on skates start beating the heck out of each other over at the Sommet Center. That’s right, it’s nearly Predators time!
Get in gear with a little pre-season taste of the carnage to come when our hometown heroes take on the Atlanta Thrashers on Sept. 17. And this is going to be a year you’re not going to want to miss. With maybe the best young defense in the league, things promise to be hot on the ice.
If you’re new to the Preds, here are some players to keep your eyes on: Shea Weber, Ryan Suter and Dan Hamhuis. Weber and Hamhuis tore it up at the orientation for the 2010 Canadian Olympic team and Suter did the same with the U.S.
So come on out on the 17th and see the blue-ring brigade in action. I have a suspicion it’s going to be the start of something downright beautiful.
I’ve been going to the state fair since I was knee high to a grasshopper. Never did I think I’d see the day when the fair became hip. OK, I should reserve judgment until I’ve been there, done that, but the hype definitely seems to suggest my fair has modernized some.
I look forward to the usual shenanigans: racing pigs, mule pulling, cow milking, sorghum making, all the cooking competitions. But get a load of what you’ve missed if you haven’t been to the fair in a while: a Family Fun Zone, footprints you can follow all over the fairgrounds to all kinds of surprises; Kid’s country for youngsters; and Game Hype Experience with Wii, Xbox360, and Ps3 games. There’s even a Guitar Hero Competition.
And it wouldn’t be 2009 if the event wasn’t in on the environmental movement, so check out the Greenway Energy Expo. Throw in 4-H, Volunteer Village, ALL-YOU-CAN-RIDE wristbands, and you’ve got yourself a better than fair fair.
The thing that’s great about New Year’s Eve is all of Nashville out on the town together, everyone living it up. The thing that isn’t so great about New Year’s Eve is being out on the road, making my way home with everyone who’s living it up a little too much.
Just in case you think that all I listen to is country music and honky tonk, I’m here to tell you that my tastes are far broader than that. That’s right; Dora and I are going to see one of the old masters at 
