The Wedding(s) Blog #9 (Hot Chicken, Anniversary, Crazy Rain & Downtown Franklin)

     We're one wedding down with one more to go on our Great Wedding(s) Road Trip of 2018.To review, my nephew Zach married his bride Nadia Kelly Sunday June 10th at John Folse's White Oak Plantation in Baton Rouge. It really was practically perfect in every way.      

Mr. & Mrs. Zachary Richmond

     Now, our caravan of Texans that includes mom, Julia (my lil' sister), Teresa and me is in a holding pattern until the next BIG day... My son Jack's wedding to his fiancé Allison Grant in Nashville. T & I are holed up in Music City. Mom and Julia are bunking near Crossville at some lake with a beach or two.

      I'm guessing mom and Julia are doing their thing. I know we are, as we're definitely "when in Rome' kind of folks. Here's the latest in the Readers Digest version.

Franklin, TN.

     First outing, Franklin Tennessee. I lived in Franklin back in my Tennessee days. The downtown area was always fun with lots of shops, restaurants and more.
      This is the heart of Williamson County known for its country music stars and boutique stores.
      We visited early before the crowds began. Our goal was park, eat, walk, get car & get out before the humidity  didn't match the 90-degree temperature. We got close but by the time we'd finished lunch at Meridees, which back in my day was just a fun bakery but now's an open all day eatery with crazy pastries, pies, breads and sandwiches, I'd taken showers less wet than the absolutely soaking outside weather.

Meridee's/Franklin, TN

     Meridee's was well known back in the early 1990s for amazing pastries. Back then, it closed at 11am. Now, it's open til almost 11pm. 

      I had the Ultimate Club. If you need to know anything about me, I am a CLUB SANDWICH OFFICIONADO. I can't resist them. I'll tell you a secret too. That is, always add mustard to a club if you want the ULTIMATE gastro-experience.

      T had an incredible French Dip. The bread was soft, but crunchy. The meat was sliced the thinness of card stock. The au jus was drinkable.  

       We took home some of their chicken salad, parmesan/sundried tomato bread and pecan pie. The chicken salad.. I've had better. The bread... pretty dern good. The pecan pie... we should've gotten a second slice.

     You know you're from west Texas when, you stop you're indoor fun to go outside to capture the rain on video.

      Next day.... Father's Day! Oh, we had a great full day that included time with Jack and Joe on the course and at the local eateries and the big rain. It was indeed a really great day.

Lower Broadway/Nashville

      Next for us... Anniversary day! We had a plan. We kind of kept to it. Our first goal was to go to downtown Nashville. 

      You gotta know that getting to downtown Nashville is akin to standing in line at the dentist's office for a root canal. As Teresa likes to say, 'gear down.'

       Then when you get down there, good luck finding a parking place. On street parking is apparently available IF you get their before sunrise. Otherwise, get ready for waiting at a garage and be prepared to go undergound for a slot that's barely wide enough for  two bicycles parked pedal to pedal.

      Still, it was our anniversary and we were bound to get downtown. We had a plan.

Jack's Bbq/Nashville

     First stop, Jack's Bbq on Broadway. We found this hole in the wall, on arguably Nashville's most frequented street, a few years ago. We went because the name is "Jack's." That's my son's name. So we figured, good or bad... we'll eat, take a picture and call it good.

     Turns out... It's GREAT!. So for anniversary day we decided to return and it definitely did NOT disappoint. We parked three floors underground, walked a few blocks, had a great lunch, walked around a bit and got the heck out of the cluster of tourists.

     The funny thing though about walking around a city like Nashville is, you never know what you're going to see. All we did was take a right out the front door and it was photo op after photo op OR weird conversation after unexpected conversation.

Tootsie's Alley/Nashville

     First, we stumbled across Tootsie's Alley. As the story goes, this is the alley Grand Ole Opry performers and/or their bands/mates/etc  would cross to drink while the performers performed.

     It just so happens that up that alley, on the left and behind the second door we met the tour manager for "Third Day." I don't know who they are, but we met 'em.'

     After the alley, it was all a 'small town guy in a big city' experience. As T said, "Take a picture of that. You don't see that every day in Snyder, America."

Nashville TN

           

Elvis on Broadway/Nashville

Home of the Preds/Nashville

     So as you can see, T pointed out a lot of stuff. It's not everyday Elvis sings to you on the street. It's not everyday a massive crane casts a shadow over your sidewalk and it's not every day the Bridgestone Arena/Home of the Nashville Predators is across the street.

      The city's changed a lot, a whole lot since my days as a morning co-anchor on WSMV, by the way the oldest TV station in Nashville. WSM actually means "We Serve Millions" because the station was started by an insurance company. But by the time I worked there, I'd tell people: "This is Bill Robertson from WSMV.... William, Sex, Murder, Violence." They'd say... "Oh yeah."

        We wrapped up our day the way we began with the local food. Although we've never had it, we've always heard …. "Don't miss the Nashville HOT chicken."

Hattie B's Hot Chicken/Nashville

      Our last anniversary agreement was, get Hattie B's HOT Chicken. It's a Nashville hotspot. So we said... bring it.

      We told Jack and Joe our plans. They said, "Call ahead, get it to go. Don't wait in line." We followed their advice.

 

      By the time we arrived the line was around the block. Our phone-in paid off. I walked right in. But while there, I watched this incredible person at the register.

       All the while I was waiting, she was dealing with folks who'd been waiting in 95 degree heat for HOT chicken. They weren't happy.

 

       Whoever this young person is, she was warm and cool at the same time. She was warm in that she broke the angry ice with every customer. I watched and listened to her ask about hometowns, states, teams... everything. But she did it in a way that didn't slow down the line. She talked to the people from Austin while running their credit card. She talked to the couple from Nebraska while getting their beer. Absolutely no one was slowed down, but everyone felt welcome. She was cool because she could've killed about 20 people while I was there, but she just smiled and answered all their questions. Whoever you are young lady, you have the gift.

        Well, that's about the end of anniversary day. We're about to re-heat our  HOT chicken with pimento Mac n' cheese, creamy red potato salad and black eyed pea salad.... When in Rome.

Bill Robertson