Any night is a great night for romance, but sometimes you just can’t come up with a plan. Let me help. I can’t think of anything sweeter to do for Valentine’s Day than check in for the Red Hot Heart Package at the Hotel Preston. What fun to treat your sweetie to a romantic candlelit dinner at the Café Isabella.  Part of your package includes red wine, red rose petals, red velvet mini cupcakes and a red votive candle. What could be more perfect?

When you wake up in the morning, use our famous “you want it, you got it” button to get your favorite morning beverage. You can also order a love kit for you lovers who come for a visit, and to go with that you can even order a lava lamp from the front desk!

Dane

When I was a younger guy, one of my favorite days was Valentine’s Day with all the stuff that went with it. Ahh… The roses, the chocolate, the love songs. My plan is to work an early shift and then I’m taking Dora on a relaxing horse-drawn carriage ride. What could be more romantic? We’ll be taking in the Cumberland River and Riverfront Park, but if you like something livelier there are other routes, like the Bicentennial Mall.

The drivers are local people who know a lot about the area and will be happy to share their knowledge of places like Andrew Jackson’s church. They will be able to tell you how Tennessee became a state and how Riverfront Park was one of the biggest Union camps during the civil war. Just ask your driver about Davy Crockett and see what happens.

Dane

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!

Dane

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.

Happy viewing,
Dane

Well, it’s definitely sad being the only one doing the blog this holiday. Sabrina we miss you already. But we hope you have a wonderful holiday with your family in Alabama. And a great new year too.

And I know Sabrina joins me in wishing all you reading the blog the same thing from all of us here at Hotel Preston. We really do think of all the people who come to stay with us from all over the world like family. So we just wanted to send a little yuletide cheer to everyone.

Enjoy and happy holidays!

Dane

I wouldn’t have guessed it but we took Dora’s nephew to a haunted house last night and it actually made me jump a couple of times. I didn’t even want to go. Last year we took him and he started crying before we even got the tickets. So I figured I’d wait in the car and listen to the radio.

But they both worked on me. And Dora gave me that look. So I went. And I’ll be darned if they didn’t do a good job with the whole thing. Pretty creepy actually. I’m not sure Alex will want to go again though. Ha.

If you’re curious, it’s called Demon’s Den House of Horrors and it’s across the street from the Hickory Hollow Mall. But get moving because for some reason their last night is the night before Halloween.

Dane

It really makes me mad that with Halloween there are some people out there who’ve ruined it for kids today. When I was growing up no one worried about us going out. We went all over the place and filled a pillow case.

Today it’s not the same.  We don’t even hardly get any trick or treaters anymore. We still buy the candy, but now we know that we’re going to end up eating most of it ourselves. Or myself I should say.

Here are my top 3 “Supposed to Be for the Kids But Are Really for Us” trick or treat candies:

1.    Mini 3 Musketeers – Freeze them. They’re the best.
2.    Milk Duds – Chewy deliciousness.
3.    Kit Kat bars – The best in the crunchy category.

I guess some people don’t like Halloween. But I think they’re crazy. I mean, who doesn’t like to get dressed up as someone else once a year? And candy! I’d say it’s probably my second favorite holiday. After Christmas. Third if you count my birthday.

I would even love to go trick or treating if people didn’t freak out when a non-kid knocked on their door. When I was little it was the one time of year I could have more than just one piece of candy.

So what we do now is every year we make a stop at Dixieland Delights. It’s a Nashville candy place that has my favorite. (No, not Goo Goo Clusters, though I love those too!) It’s their turtles. You just have to go to find out what they are. Plus the people are really nice there. No trick, just treat.

Boo!
Sabrina

Looking for an unusual and far-out evening activity that even your kids will get a kick out of? Take them over to the Dyer Observatory for their Open House Telescope Night.

Seriously. It goes on once a month from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. (this month on Aug. 8th) and they let you use their telescopes to see the sun, moon, planets, and stars up close. Plus it’s free, which you can’t say about a lot of things your kids might be interested in.

Dyer Observatory is part of Vanderbilt University and is located on one of the tallest peaks near Nashville. If it’s cloudy they do tours instead and have one of their astronomers available to answer questions.

You can also bring your own telescope if you want and they’ll help you learn how to see the most with it. Though I’m going to bet their equipment is a little better.

Dane

A state reptile? The people that put that list together had a lot of time on their hands. But I guess if you’re going to have one the Eastern Box Turtle will work as fine as any.

I’m going to add a new category to that list: State burger – Fat Mo’s. Coming to Nashville and not going over to Fat Mo’s is like, I don’t know, skipping the Grand Ole Opry or something. It’s Nashville between two buns.

I can’t go all the time the way I used to, but when we do go, I’m a deluxe burger guy. They say they have the biggest burgers in town, and that seems a good bet. If you’re really hungry, you can try the super deluxe, which is a full 27 oz!

But save room for the spicy fries. And a milk shake. Maybe you need to take two trips.

Dane