THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY IN NASHVILLE

 

So hard to believe we've celebrated Thanksgiving already!  Maintaining our family tradition since the kids went off to college, we vote on a city where we all four spend the holiday together .. this year Nashville got the nod.

Firstly, it is a non-stop flight from LAX on Southwest.  That is big, especially traveling this particular holiday.  The trick to avoiding the madness?  Go on Tuesday and come back on Saturday.  Have not experienced glitches -- in fact on the return trip we arrived 30 minutes early.  (Southwest says next time they run late, we'll be even...) I love having adult children who can meet up with us.  Texting from various airports re travel schedules and finally all being together for the first time in many months is just great!   

 

Our first full day was jam-packed with activities, a list of possibilities I had collected for some time.  We started out at the
The Hermitage, long the home of our seventh president Andrew Jackson and his wife Rachel who hailed from a prominent Nashville family.  Regrettably she died days before he was inaugurated and he remained single the rest of his life.  The home is over 8,000 square feet on 1,120 acres.  Jackson was an entrepreneur before becoming president and quite successful from a number of businesses.  Several generations of Jacksons lived on the premises and are in the family plot on the grounds.

Fall here

 

Hey, wait for me!!

 




A few miles away is the vast complex known as Gaylord's Opryland, including a huge hotel, convention center, performing venue and the ubiquitous outlet mall.  Lunch was a taste of southern bbq at Whitt's, a small local chain.  Vinegar-based and dry (as opposed to "wet" with sauce), the food was quite good but the slaw was a bit tart for my taste ...

Late in the day after seemingly circling the city, we ended up driving through the beautiful Belle Meade area and on to the Loveless Cafe.  Pretty much everyone has a photo on the wall here -- known for their unbelievable biscuits and fried chicken.  Yep, just had to try some.  Oh my, good thing I don't live it the south!  This small cafe serves between 4,000 and 7,000 biscuits a day, with some 400,000 visitors during the course of a year ...  

For Thanksgiving Day, football is an obvious choice as is a movie.  Again a vote and Lincoln was the winner .. and what an incredible movie it is.  Pretty much a casting director's dream as there are a huge number of speaking roles and cast surprises.  No spoiler alerts here, save to say Daniel Day Lewis will likely be an odds-on favorite for Best Actor.

Roasted quince

Traditional meal

For dinner, the choices were a bit limited.  Rather than one of the steak houses we could enjoy at home, we opted for the highly rated 1808 Grille in our hotel, The Hutton (a great choice, by the way).  Of course there was the traditional turkey but also crab cakes, lamb and other delicious goodies.

Banana Beignets with Hazelnut dipping sauce ..

We ventured well inland on Black Friday, some 75 miles to Lynchburg.  Why?  So we could tour The Jack Daniels Distillery, largely unchanged since 1875 when Jasper "Jack" Daniels created the sour mash whiskey that they brew today.  Approximately 400 employees turn out some 156 million bottles annually, all made on the premises.  Remarkably no tasting is allowed as that particular county is dry!  But plently is sold there ..

With the original Jack ..

Well that's just not right.

Showing the way whiskey progressively ages ..

From Lynchburg it was on to Franklin,  a wonderful bustling town founded in 1799 and no more than 30 minutes from Nashville.  The shops were full and the town was a shopper's paradise ... only if you are of the female species.  My son remarked it is where husbands die from boredom.  Fortunately the hubby managed to survive.

It's beginning to look a lot like ...

Est. 1799

Broadway ... the main drag downtown

We finally found ourselves cruising downtown that evening.  The Ryman Auditorium was already sold out so a visit to the real home of country music will have to wait.  But dinner was another story ..

Jack's BBQ on Broadway is rated #1 in this town.  And it brought back many a memory from the last time I ate here.  It was September 13, 2001, to be exact and I know this because we were on the drive across country after 9/11.  Of course there were no smart phones at the time so we relied on friends at home doing research for us.   We were told about Jack's and it is as good today as it was then ...

Most of our last day was scheduled around watching the classic rivalry of Ohio State vs. Michigan.  Son Sam graduates OSU in May and flew back from Nashville to attend the game.  After another airport run for Hannah's flight to NY, we settled in close to the airport for the game.  Victory is so sweet!   

After this trip, I now know firsthand why Nashville is consistently ranked among the best cities in the U.S.   Highly recommend a visit there and thanks to all my friends for their tips on what to see and do...

Yippee, two full days in Boston with complete freedom to explore this fun city ... then on to Cleveland for a wedding.  The endless election is now over and we can finally focus on something else!

First the hotel ... wow, am I happy with this choice:  The Revere on Stuart Street.  Quite modern in feel and taste, we have a 23rd floor view and lots of nice amenities.   Just two blocks from Boston Common and close to the theaters and Newbury Street shopping, the location is excellent.



First food stop:  
Regina's Pizzeria in Boston's North End.  There are no doubt endless discussions about where to get the best pizza here, but Regina's is consistently voted #1.  Works for me ...

The biggest question is what toppings to have.  Certainly pepperoni and the hubby wants mushrooms.  When I decided to add onions to the mix, our server asked:  "Do you want white, red or cahhhmalized?" in that quintessential Boston accent.  Yum.



We then walked toward Fanueil Hall/Quincy Market, braving some light rain and brisk winds.  Basically a food court from one end to the other, the lunch crowds were rather light.  During the summer, the experience is quite different with wall-to-wall people both indoors and out.

Yep, where everyone knows your name ...!

An afternoon movie was in order ("Argo" -- highly recommended) and dinner that night was in Chinatown at East Ocean Seafood (25 food rating on Zagat).  Fish tanks in the entry display the day's catch of various shellfish and seafood.  Pretty sure we were the only non-Asian patrons this night so that speaks volumes for the authenticity of the food. 

 

For soft-shell crabs

I wasn't expecting to encounter snow on this trip but the northeast got another storm post-Hurricane Sandy.  Walking around and keeping the umbrella from turning inside out is not easy.  Day 2 began with another movie ("The Sessions"; wow!).  With the weather in the 30's, periodic snow flurries and brisk winds, what else to do but take a tour of Fenway Park!

The visitors' locker room - kind of a dump!

View from the press box

Where the famous Ted Williams' home run landed

I am a genuine baseball fan and seeing this venue from the inside out, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary, was a real thrill.  Among the fun facts:  It has the oldest seats among all baseball parks and the only ones that are still wooden.  If they modernized the seats, they would have 3,000 fewer; thus they remain -- albeit not very comfortable.

There is one red seat in right field, memorializing a 502-ft home run by legendary Ted Williams.  And, of course, the Green Monster with its ancient scoreboard that is still manually operated.  We were told on the tour that several hundred million dollars in improvements spent by the current owners guarantee this stadium will still stand at least another 30-50 years.  

All we need is sun and a game to watch!

Our last night was at Sorrelina, a bustling Italian restaurant in the Back Bay area, and just a 10-minute walk from the hotel.  We enjoyed a very delicious dinner, somewhat marred by rushed and uneven service.  We did take the time the time to speak with management as we've learned that restaurant personnel welcome both positive and negative feedback.  Best to speak up or how would they know?   This instance, as per usual, was met with appreciation and an invitation to come back for better service.

Fig, burrata and prosciutto

Fresh pasta with braised wild boar ragu

The smoker -- probably 15 ft. end to end

Now in the hubby's hometown of Cleveland; first night is the rehearsal dinner hosted by the groom's Houston family.  What was the dinner?  Authentic Texas BBQ!  We're talking transporting a massive smoker up from Austin and cooking for 2 days on the premises.  Beyond yum.

Only been in biz since the '40's ...

Saturday lunch was at local landmark Geraci's, which has been featured on Triple D with Guy Fieri.  We dined with the hubby's cousin who has been tracing their family back 9 generations -- roughly 200 years!  Can't wait to show my kids their roots so they know from whence then came ...