Turner was triple jumping his way to the hoop and even Bruno was a monster on the offensive glass (we found out that his calves were no joke or accident). Turner and Danny even got a few dunks (fitting that the only two black dudes on the court were the ones that got dunks). It was a perfect way to conclude an all together awesome day in Louisville, Kentucky. After the game we left the court sweaty as all hell and headed to the busiest Qdoba in America (according to Margot) for a nice post game dinner before we would head out to Nashville. While I am a staunch Chipotle supporter, I will admit that this Qdoba certainly hit the spot, but mainly because we hadn’t eaten since breakfast (which was Mark’s BBQ) and just played basketball for two hours. So anyway we ate and showered back at Margot’s, said our goodbyes and thank you’s to Margot and her parents, then headed off to our next destination: Nashville (to see my Sister!).
The drive was only a two and a half hours, so it felt like nothing at this point. The only eventful part of our drive to Nashville was crossing over into the Central time zone (and also crossing into Tennessee), which was actually great for us because we definitely appreciated the extra hour to sleep. After settling into my sister’s apartment (which was fun for me because this was my first time visiting her in her new home), it didn’t take us long to fall asleep after finding our sleeping arrangements (and also after watching “In the Mix” starring Usher and Sam and I’s future co-wife, Sloan from Entourage). Bruno was also coming to Nashville to visit a friend of his, so he ended up spending the night at his friend’s place (this was helpful because we were at capacity in my sister’s apartment). I really liked her apartment, and all of the pictures from home and of our family and friends made me feel like I was back at home in Seattle. After sleeping in a bit and lounging around, we headed out down the street from the apartment to Pancake Pantry for brunch (INSERT PICTURE), a famous Nashville spot. This was big because it was the first restaurant that we ate at from the book my Mom and Dad had gotten us detailing hundreds of road trip places to eat across the country. The food did not disappoint. There were over a dozen different kinds of pancakes, and just our table sampled at least four or five different kinds. Turner was especially enamored with the cinnamon cream sauce that you could pour along with syrup. We left Pancake Pantry extremely satisfied and full, and climbed into the cars to head to buy a tent for the middle portion of the trip. We knew going in that the first part of the trip we would spend staying with friends and family, and there was much more certainty and structure in our game plan. For the middle part of the country, we are approaching it with the following goals:
- Drive as much as possible
- Stop briefly at cool restaurants or landmarks
- Watch the NBA finals
With these goals in mind, we wanted to get a tent so we could simplify our sleeping arrangements and focus on making good time to get to the West Coast where destinations of interest lay (Grand Canyon, Vegas, and California coast). In any event, we bought our six person tent, which we figured would be a perfect tent for our four XL person group (except me, I’m more of a medium). Sam rolled over four times in the tent, and if we had four Sam’s we figured it would be a tight squeeze in this four person tent. So we grabbed the tent and headed back across Nashville to visit my sister’s school that she is teaching at in East Nashville. We drove to and around her high school she is teaching at (Stratford High), and also drove through some nearby neighborhoods that were affected by the flooding Nashville experienced earlier in the year. From there we drove to nearby housing projects where many of Teryn’s students live, and even ran into one of her students in the process. For me it was great to connect the experiences that Teryn has described to me during his first year teaching experience at Stratford to the area that she is living and working in. She is so invested and interested in helping her students and I admire her so much for her dedication to her teaching and students even though it may be a temporary situation.
From there we drove downtown and parked along the waterfront and walked to Broadway Street. There we saw a number of bars with live music and a generally festive atmosphere with aspiring musicians playing street side hoping for tips. Teryn explained to us how the flooding from the nearby river had risen high enough to get to knee level at a historical fort at least 30 feet above the water level at the time we were visiting. After seeing downtown, we headed back to my sister’s apartment, but not before stopping at a sports bar for some wings and other food. Food (especially wings and BBQ) has been an essential part of this part thus far, and we have truly been spoiled by the quantity and quality of the food we have been able to enjoy so far. After a couple hours watching LIFE in HD on Teryn’s TV, we headed back out for more food at this awesome Mexican restaurant, Cantina Laredo (I think). We enjoyed yet another feast along with some tasty margaritas. It was a great ending to another great day. After dinner we headed back to the apartment to plan our next day, which was still up in the air. Not too much planning was done, though, because we were tired. So tired that Matt Turner, Danny, and I all managed to fall asleep together on a max two person blow up bed.
Stay tuned for more…
Matt A.
That is awesome, congrats.
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