Nashville

The only bummer about heading to Nashville with my daughter for her school audition last week is that I searched Santa Barbara high and low, for two months, for a new travel purse. I searched LA too. I never found one. I am a bag lady, and having the right purse is a priority.

It's so odd--this penchant of mine--because I really don't care about fashion, or clothes, and have no idea how to wear makeup, and often just sweep my hair up because I hate static... But purses!

Is it because of all the pens and notebooks, chocolates and knitting needles I can tuck away inside, making me feel like Jane pretty much anywhere I go?

Is it the promise of going somewhere? I do like going places.

Anyway, we headed to Nashville with my old clunky purse, which meant I was ducking into leather stores all over the city, but honestly... all I found were cowboy boots.

If you've never been to Nashville, then you should say yes next time you're asked to tag along. Parking is super expensive, and Broadway and Third reminds me of the Las Vegas strip, but other than that, it's a beautiful town. Music everywhere. Wonderful restaurants. Nice, southern people. Welcoming rental car attendants, coffee shop barristas, and college girls with puppies.

Being with my daughter is always an adventure. Just like I used to do handstands and cartwheels everywhere, she seeks out good acoustics and plays and sings anywhere she is allowed.

And if the puppies and the music aren't enough for you to plan a trip, I bet you didn't know there's a parthenon in Nashville! Oh, my.

A parthenon with fabulous acoustics.

With a giant gold Athena inside...

I am not making this up. One can not make up a giant, gold Athena. Nashvillers being as sweet as they are, they (the security guards) asked Mad to play her ukelele and sing in the room right beside their beloved Greek goddess.

It was magical--the sound spun all over that space, up, down, around, bouncing off those eight pounds of gold and her mighty shield.

Madeleine's audition and day at Belmont turned out just the way it should have... And we were able to see a show at the Ryman...

But if you don't finish your stay in Nashville at church, then I say don't go. After all that music, and food, and meeting new friends, our morning at St Ignatius Orthodox Church was literally the best few hours of our entire time in Tennessee. Like a balm, the prayer of that place still lingers inside of me...

Cheers, friends!

Published: February 18, 2015 | Filed under: Far

Comments (2)

Jim said:

February 18, 2015 @ 4:34 PM

sounds like a lot of fun! Who'd you see at the Ryman? I'm jealous!

janegmeyer replied:

February 18, 2015 @ 5:38 PM

Ha! We saw Trampled by Turtles! A bluegrass band. I thought of my dad all night long--a man who loves stomping his feet and yelling out yeehaw while singing! The theater was packed and somehow, even though we bought the cheap seats, we ended up smack up front and center. Mad and I had had such a full day, and it was Saturday night, with church the next morning. We stayed for about 2/3rds of the show then slowly made our way back to the B & B for nighty night. Jim, you would have loved it. The mandolin, the fiddle, the cello, the three guitars, all strumming along at breakneck speed. Very fun...