We went to Memphis Nashville, and Knoxville , Tennessee.

The last weekend in May, John & I flew up to Tennessee for a first visit to Nashville.

 A friend of Brenna's was getting married, Brenna was in the wedding, and her friend was kind enough to include us. We didn't really know her that well...so at first we weren't sure that we'd go...but the more I thought about it, the more I thought "Why not?" We had never been to Nashville...but we have been to Tennessee and I have always enjoyed it . I like the weather, the landscape, etc. I figured TN at the end of May would probably be pretty nice. (it was!)
Another thing to consider was the fact that we had not been to Tennessee for about 9 years. The last time we were there our nephew was getting married. We have seen John's sister and her husband since then...but always in other places. Over the years my nephew and his wife have had two daughters...so it would be a chance to meet our great nieces. We've seen them growing up on Facebook, but looked forward to getting to meet them in person. Once we thought about all the reasons TO go...there really wasn't any reason NOT to go!
We got to town the day before the wedding

 which gave us some time to do a little bit of sight-seeing.

 We stayed at a hotel just a few blocks away from Vanderbilt University. We decided to wander through part of the campus on our way to dinner down in that part of town. It was a beautiful campus...what we saw of it anyway.

 Beautiful trees,

 nice old buildings and since school was out it was very quiet.

 The place we went to eat was an old diner that was supposed to have the best burgers in town. We were not disappointed! It reminded us of a place that used to be in Downtown Melbourne....Pop's Casbah...the whole set-up of the place....the counter, the step up to the back dining room, and the over all feel of the place. It was like going back in time.:) Somebody told us this is the place that inspired Jimmy Buffet to write "Cheeseburger in Paradise"
 We ate and then slowly walked through the campus back to our hotel. On the way we passed by this place

 that had a line around the building...good thing I'm not a fan of Hot chicken...John would never wait in line for that!!! hahaha Every time we passed that place (when it was open) it had a line.

Saturday morning Brenna and Josh decided to sleep in a little, but we got up early to take a walk.
We decided to walk downtown towards where the pedestrian bridge was.

It was quiet....there were a handful of runners and walkers around....but overall it was dead. It was kind of nice to be out walking before it got too hot and having the road to ourselves.

hardly any cars on the road

We walked down to the end of the bridge, looked around for a few minutes and then turned around and made our back.

Home of the Tennessee Titans

walking back towards downtown

Natural Born Grillers getting ready

Down near the stadium we saw people setting up for a Barbecue Cook-off happening later that day. They were just getting things going....but I bet it smelled really good later that day!!!!! Watched the people  down there for a few minutes and then headed towards the hotel.

                   I liked all the signs painted on the sides of the buildings....some older than others

and the signs in general  :)

Like I said...there was hardly anyone out and about...things looked pretty quiet. Little did we know what it would be like when we came back 3-4 hours later...hahaha We decided we were going to come back later and stop by The Johnny Cash Museum

empty streets at 10:00 am...hahaha

.....at least that was the plan......

 We got back to the hotel and made our plans for the day. Brenna was due to be at the wedding venue by 11:00am; so she was getting her things together for the day.
John, Josh and I had plans to stop in at the Elliston Place Shop for lunch. (another place I had read about in my guide to Nashville)

If you go to a soda shop to eat...you have to get a milkshake! hahahaha Josh got a Reeses Peanut Butter Cup Shake and John went for a real, old fashioned Banana Shake. 

 It was made with a plain milkshake base and fresh bananas and it was delicious! Not too sweet...just perfect creamy banana flavor. I had a taste of Josh's and a few good sips of John's. I could have easily slurped down a whole one all by myself....but I decided I'd save room for a piece of wedding cake later on...hahaha.
 Our plan was to head back downtown to check out the Johnny Cash museum. John is a fan...I like some of his music...but for me one or two country songs in a row and I'm good...hahaha It's not my favorite genre...which is why it was kind of funny for us to be walking around Nashville.

When we got back to the museum there was a long line of people waiting to get in. John does not like to wait in line for much of anything...and we weren't that interested...so John announced that we'd just go in and check out the gift shop. (Josh was like..."Huh... You mean We're not going in????")

John and Josh looked around at some of the memorabilia  and even bought a couple of t-shits...I lasted through half of one song (hahaha) and opted to wander across the street to the GooGoo Cluster store. I thought about buying one that sounded delicious...with chocolate, nuts and toffee bits...that is until I looked at the calories. One  approximately 5 inch candy was 500 calories....per serving!!!!! Three servings per package. I have no  doubt that most people polish off the entire thing....getting a total of 1500 calories!!!!!! YIKES!!!!!! I bought 3 postcards instead...hahaha

Here's what the streets looked like now! Everyone was up and out by 2pm....hahahahaha

We saw quite a few of these pedal bars going by...looked like a lot of Bachelorette  parties in town for the weekend....every bar looked packed, the sidewalks were full of people...there were people everywhere...and I'd say  about 90 % were drinking.( I felt like I was in Daytona for Spring Break.) It was definitely interesting...................A few locals commented that Nashville has kind of morphed into the "New New Orleans" or Las Vegas in the south....I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not....but it's good for business apparently.

 Now...it was a holiday weekend, but I can't imagine what it's like downtown on a game day weekend...or when all the students are back in town...it must be packed all the time. everyone certainly seemed to be enjoying themselves.

 It was a fun afternoon and we all enjoyed watching the crazy crowds and looking around. No of us were drinking...so we didn't go into any of the bars.....I can only imagine...hahaha
All in all we had a fun time and worth the time. If you actually like country music, you'd probably enjoy it more than I did...hahah  We headed back to the hotel to start getting ready for the wedding....more on that next time.

Founder's Day (has come and gone)

The beginning of May always means that Melbourne Beach Founder's Day 

is about to happen. Although for our friend Heather it signals her birthday...conveniently celebrated with everyone in town at FD. Haha

There is always a small Arts and Craft Show. The locals come out with their "beachy" themed wares....cute signs, stained glass, art work, etc. A friend of ours makes shell frames, mirrors, crosses,etc. nothing too tacky...she is a designer There always seems to be a nice variety of things.
I bought a beautiful plant...that I am trying hard not to kill....

 Had to laugh when a friend from the library told me about her friend who sells jewelry every year. Beacuse it's so close to Mother's Day she usually does very well....especially after the Street Party! hahaha People have usually been drinking beer and wine during the afternoon/evening...when the street party ends...some of them (especially the men...hahha) realize they still don't have a gift for Mother's Day and there she is right near by with her jewelry. Most of the craft booths shut down at 6pm...she purposely waits until the end of the night...she makes more money in that last hour than she does all day ! hahaha

Beer tent...always draws a crowd hahaha

time for a snack...the grilled fresh corn was tempting...but burger won out

Brenna and Josh and the EV Drivers club had a tent ( at my suggestion I might add 😄)

 at the celebration and about 10-12 (if I remember correctly) different electric cars on display. They enjoy talking to people and answering questions and educating them on the benefits of going electric. They attracted a lot of attention...(.especially the red Tesla)

 and answered a lot of good questions. I have no doubt that several of those who stopped by were persuaded to go ahead with their decision to buy the electric car they had been considering.

Activities included a fishing contest off the pier, a surf contest down at the beach park, assorted live music and some kids events. Bounce Houses and the playground are always full of kids having fun. There was a most beautiful baby👼 contest....we were skeptical...hahah good way to make the moms who didn't win mad...hahah but I was told you just put the babies name in  the "hat" and a winner would be randomly picked. We missed the kid's Talent Show sort of on purpose...hahahaha

There was also a Hat contest...since it coincided with the Kentucky Derby 🏇🏇this year. Brenna added a few touches to a hat she's had for years....and won 1st place 👏We got a good laugh about that.....competition wasn't too stiff... not that the hat didn't look good...it did .

 We were near the stage area and a teen aged boy came over and tapped her on the shoulder and told her she ought to stop by the booth...because "she might've won" . (I'm guessing he was earning volunteer hours for school 😄). We thought he was going to joke with her and ask if he could borrow the hat...hahaha...but he told us he was one of the judges and in fact she had won.

It was kind of cute. She went..... collected her ribbon and got her picture taken for posterity. It was fun.

So basically it was a day of good hometown fun and a chance to sit and watch all the locals enjoying themselves.

Lots of refreshments near by

 Ran into friends and patrons from the library. It's funny to see them trying to figure how they know me...then it "clicks"...oh the Library Lady...hahah
The weather was perfect...and it was a fun day...you gotta love those hometown festivals!