Nashville, Day 1 of 4

Keane picked me up a little early from work on Thursday...

Keane drove all the way to Nashville.  We had no reservations for the night and we weren't planning on making it all the way there Thursday night, but we did.  We got there at about 12:30 a.m. and found a fairly cheap hotel for the night.  We drove through downtown on our way to the hotel and heard the loud music and the cheers of the crowds, but we were both a little tired and irritable, so we decided to save the doing for tomorrow.

On Friday morning, we made our way to a town about 20 minutes south of Nashville called Franklin.  Come to find out, Franklin is where some big-timers live (Taylor Swift, Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, Alan Jackson) but we unfortunately did not run into any of them and did not make time to see their gorgeous homes.  We did a little shopping and walking around the downtown area.  We then made our way back to Nashville, driving through Belle Meade and viewing more pretty homes along the way.

When we got to Nashville, we went boot shopping downtown and after checking out about four stores total, we ended up at the "big boot" with the deal "Buy 1, Get 2 Free."  So we did just that.  We settled for boots $199.00 and under, and walked away with three pairs of boots!  We also found a little gift store and bought Kaden and Kylie piggy banks.

We took our merchandise back to the car and then went into the first bar we came to, literally.  It's called Bootleggers Inn.  It is probably my favorite little honkey tonk dive bar that we found in Nashville.
 

There are so many bars in Nashville...I'd say we only went to a total of 9 our whole trip.  At this particular bar, we made friends with the bartender on his birthday.  His name was Brandon and he shares the same last name as Keane.  They said that's why they got along so well.

We also listened to a good singer, Nick Cross, and then followed him over to a bar called The Silver Dollar Saloon.  But before we left Bootleggers, Keane bought his favorite hat of all times, off the bartender, from the bartender's head.  This is how it went:

Keane: How much for a hat like that, man?
Brandon the Bar Tender: They're $20.00 but I think we're out of the black and grey ones.  We have these green ones, etc.
I really like the black one.  I'll give you $15.00 for yours.
I'm not selling mine.
Come on, man.  I'll give you $15.00 for it.
If I sell it, it's still sale price because it's broke in.
It's sweaty and gross!
Brandon throws the hat on the bar and sells his sweaty, broken-in hat for $15.00 to Keane.
Keane was proud of his purchase.

Keane had asked Nick Cross to play Steve Earl, but Nick Cross said that he'd much rather play Steve Earl songs with his band who he would be playing with at The Silver Dollar Saloon.  He promised that if we went across the street to listen to them play, he's play Steve Earl first...for Keane.

 

 

 

We headed over there and waited until the band set up, found a bass player, and strummed their guitars.  But a few songs went by and no Steve Earl.  Finally, Keane noticed Nick Cross pointing out toward the crowd, and realized he was pointing at him.  When he got Keane's attention, he pointed to his new hat to say, "I didn't recognize you!"  Keane took off the hat, Nick Cross pointed at him again, and said, "Next song."  And the next song was Steve Earl's Copperhead Road.

 

We made our way down/up the street to Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville for lunch where we met Chassidy Staton whose boyfriend was on a trip opening for Kip Moore and Kacey Musgraves!  She was a fun waitress and she said we made her day, or Keane and his sense of humor did.  She said her guess was that we were from Australia.  "It's always the easy ones that trick you."  So when she returned to Keane's Australian accent, she got a big kick out of it.  As well as when she tried talking us into getting the chicken which she had just eaten for her lunch, and Keane told her that she still had chicken on her face. 

 

We then went to Whisky Bent Saloon and listened to another band and drank another beer.  There was a girl setting up for the afternoon show, and I asked her if she was singing.  She said she played the fiddle, and I promised her we would be back to watch her fiddle.  We unfortunately didn't make it back in time.

After this, we needed a nap, or else we knew that we weren't going to be seeing much more of Nashville that day. 
 

 

Our Nashville adventure is to be continued...