My Rambling Madison-Nashville Travelog
This journal of my trip to visit my sisters is my first attempt at doing any kind of writing for a long time, so forgive me my over-indulgence and my general ponderousness. When one is trying to loosen one’s tongue, restraint must be abandoned. Anyway, the trip was fantastic. I so rarely take vacations or go anywhere, that I really had a good time, even if the trip did not involve para-sailing or visiting the Sphynx. The trip was a logistical nightmare because of my habitual avoidance of planning, but otherwise it was a blast.
Wednesday, August 9
Woke up at 4:00 AM to catch the plane at 6:00 AM to Chicago. My Mom graciously drove me to the airport, under the condition that I made her a cup of tea (her usual price for any services rendered). The flight from Chicago to Madison was delayed by over an hour for no apparent reason. I later found out that today was the day that an airplane terrorist plot was foiled and the US government responded by refusing to allow any liquids on board any flights including chapstick, toothpaste, and the like. I don’t know if this was connected to the delay or not. It could just be that O’Hare is a crappy airport.
After arriving in Madison, I took a cab to Allison’s house which surprisingly is only 2 houses down from her old house and looks almost exactly the same. Allison soon arrived from her two-hour-a-day Summer job. We immediately proceeded to get a soy mocha from a local coffee shop and a steaming plate of Laotian food (Thai food in disguise). Allison’s average cup of coffee costs approximately $5, by the way. Allison and I then rode bikes across town to the tennis courts. Normally we could have driven, but the City of Madison made the decision to replace selected segments of the sidewalk. Since driveways on Jennifer street all intersect the sidewalk, and the sidewalk in front of her house was torn up, it was not possible to get the car out from the back of the house. Tennis was a blast. Allison is pretty consistent with her groundstrokes and I was also returning the ball with some regularity, which is unusual for me. We played two quick sets which I won 6-1, 6-1. The score makes it sound like I dominated, but Allison and I had plenty of good vollies. I was just faster side to side and moving the ball around the court whereas she was mostly hitting them straight back. Anyway, it was super fun, and gave me the hope that maybe I will someday be able to hit a tennis ball decently.
After tennis, we went swimming in Lake Menoga (?). Madison has two lakes with very similar names – one is something like “Menoga” and the other is something like “Mendoda”. Apparently, these two lakes are seperated by an isthmus, and this isthmus supplied the name for the local weekly newspaper. Frankly, I am confused by the geography of Madison. Swimming was very refreshing. Dinner was high caliber pub food at a place called The Great Dane, where Allison, Dave, and I ate outside, and Dave and I sampled local beers. The porter and stout I ordered were both delicious.
After dinner, we went to Dave’s practice space to watch Dave practice with his latest trio. Dave is the singer and guitarist; his friend Nathan, who is a hardcore indie-rock guy who is a bit “anal-retentitve” and reminds me of my old colleague, Jeremy, is the drummer; the ex-bassist from the band Low plays bass. I wish that I had prepared some songs to play in advance because I got to jam with Dave a bit – with him on drums and me on guitar. Unfortunately, I am quite rusty and couldn’t think of anything to play. God, I want to be in a rock band! Allison and I watched the band run through about 8 songs, all of which were quite good. Nathan, the anal retentive one, was clearly setting the pace of the practice and he called off songs with almost wasterd time for banter. Allison and I then left to go visit Nathan’s wife. She wasn’t really prepared for visitors because she was working on her dissertation, but Allison and I scored a cup of chai tea out of it, looked at the rabbits’ a bit, and scoped out Nathan’s record collection.
Allison, Dave, and I ended the night by riding our bikes to a bar called Mickey’s and shooting pool with some ancient hippy. Somebody was supposed to meet us for a foursome of hearts but it never materialized. Mickey’s is a cool bar with a relaxing backroom so sitting down to a game of hearts is not as far-fetched as it would be in a Boston bar. Dave had his usual old-fashioned which requires the use of a mortar and a pestle to make. I'm glad that he makes the bartender work for his money. We biked back after a few rounds of pool. Is drunken bike-riding permitted? hmmm...
Thursday, August 10
On Thursday, Dave and Allison had to work in the morning, so I had a few hours to entertain myself. I proceeded to walk to Madison to check out the record stores and book stores. I am quite a bad tourist, since all I really care about is the record and book stores, and I am unlikely to enter any other kind of store. I didn’t really know where I was going, so I just walked in the direction of the capital building, which is visible from most parts of Madison. Wherever I walked, there were these plastic cows on the sidewalk painted in different patterns and colors, and, of course, sponsored by local businesses. The cows even lined the steps of the capital, destroying the majesty of that incredible building. It is appalling to think that someone in the local government thought it was a good idea to deface a great walking city like Madison with monstrous kitsch cows. In fact, I later found out that the cows also line Boston’s streets, and that Washington has pigs and Seattle has pegasi (!). Therefore, this tasteless decision must have been made at the higher levels of the federal government. Anyway, they are temporary so I tried not to be too bothered by it, though I am clearly bothered by it to some degree because I am spewing venom at the cows in this travellog.
Eventually I found the cool street with the shops I wanted to go in. I visited 3 different bookshops, but restrained myself and only bought one used book – a biography of Huey Long that Jon Dolan has been prompting me to read. I also hit 3 local record shops that I had visited last Summer. None of them is exceptionally good. One of them is a cool second-story punk-rock/heavy-metal record store which has great atmosphere but doesn’t carry much that I would actually listen to. I bought 2 CDs. I also bought a 6-pack of local porter to quaff, realizing that it is quite expensive buying one’s beer at restaraunts (though it far more reasonable in Madison eateries than in my parts). Unfortunately, I got lost on the way home. I wandered around aimlessly, attempting to orient myself in relation to the capital building and an electricity-generating plant I had passed on the way to town, but to no avail. Eventually, I ended up in an industrial part of town with not a soul around to ask directions from. That damn six-pack felt like it weighed about 50 pounds after a half-hour of aimless wandering. Eventually I made it back to Allison’s house at about 1:30.
Dave, Allison, and I then went out in search of pitch and putt golf. We found a really nice course, and, after waiting out a brief rain shower in a half-priced bookstore, we made it to the links. As usual, we all sucked. None of us has a clue how to pitch, chip, or putt a golf ball. The course was a nice one in that the holes were generally 120-130 yards, instead of the 80-90 yard holes at the Lexington pitch-and-putt. This distance allows you to take a manly swing off the artificial turf which is fun. We even replayed a couple of holes because there was no-one else around though nobody hit a really good shot all day.
After golf, Allison and I went to a free barbeque at the local co-operative grocery store while Dave napped. I had my first bratwurst, while Allison had the soy equivalent. I downed two more local beers down the hatch, courtesy of the co-op. Free food and drink are good things.
Allison and I then went to see a movie called “Art School Confidential”. We arrived just as the movie was starting and the first scene involved a bunch of art students sketching a nude male model. Full frontal male nudity is always a little awkward with your little sister, especially when you have a repressed psyche like I do. I knew nothing about the movie in advance but it was fairly entertaining. Not memorable, but entertaining. It was basically a satire on the idea of art, and wound up with a bizarre murder-mystery ending that thanfully was rounded up quickly. Allison tells me the director was the guy who directed Ghost World. This movie was no where in that league.
In between all these activities, I got my ass kicked by Allison in Quoridor 7 or 8 times. She dominates me at that game now for some reason. Over the course of the trip, she probably beat me 8 times out of 10. I must be losing some synapses as I age. We also played some Dr. Mario on their Nintendo, proving the addage that all the best video games predate 1990. I think Allison’s roommate Anne was home by this time. Anne had just come back from her grandmother’s funeral. Her grandmother had died a horrible accidental death after falling down, and we were all worried about Anne, but she seemed to be trying to get back to normal, so the subject was not mentioned.
Friday, August 11
Friday was the day slated for travelling to Nashville. The logistics of this vacation were truly attrocious, but it didn’t take away from my fun in any way. Flying at 6:00 AM on Wednesday, returning at midnight on Monday, driving 10 hours each way back and forth to Nashville… The whole trip reeks of Craig Milley planning, or non-planning. Allison had the best attitude about the bad logistics. When Dave and I went to the library to get some CDs for the car, we debated about skipping the Nashville trips, and I was racking my brain for possible excuses that would appease Robin. Allison had the good sense to give us a pep talk and quash this line of waffling. Allison had a little responsibility for the bad logistics because she had assured me that Nashville was only 6 hours away from Madison. The claim sounded suspicious to me but I never checked it out on a map – again my geographical skills failed me!
The car trip was a long one, but it was quite tolerable with three people. We worked our way through 3 crossword puzzles of reasonable difficulty. We also played a few rounds of 20 questions. Dave resented my choices of Sinbad (that bad comedian from that Cosby Show spinoff “A Different World”) and Chaucer (“never heard of him…”). Oh well. Next time, I am going to give him an even harder one! The tunes were good also since The Eldermobile is equipped with a CD-player. I wanted to crank the tunes, but, as always in group situations, the volume is a touchy subject. Dave and I sung our way through Vee Vee and agreed it is one of the best indie guitar records of all time.
We arrived at Robin’s around 11:00 PM or so, downed a few beers, and went to sleep. Robin’s house is really beautiful. Her furniture is gorgeous, her color-choices exquisite, and everything is of course kept spic-and-span. Before bedtime, I took a crack at perusing Robin’s PhD dissertation. I had no chance of even comprehending the first sentence with my miniscule scientific knowledge. Robin must be truly brilliant. Each paragraph in that 150+ page dissertation looked like it would take a lifetime of research to come up with. Robin downplays this, and tries to convince me that scientific research is just a greased railroad track down which one must drive her train down for 5 years in order to get a PhD. There may be a grain of truth in this, but the fact that she is doing this type of research blows my mind.
Saturday, August 12
Saturday was game-day. In the morning we played Clue Master Detective which Allison won. As always with Clue, the game is about using a good notation system for keeping track of all the information, and nobody ever figures out a good notation system until halfway through the game. After a lunch of delicious burritos , we went out “big-ball” bowling. (There has to be a less embarrasing way of distinguishing that sport from candlepin bowling) We bowled three strings. Surprisingly I did the best of anyone. I got my share of strikes and broke 140 one string. I am sure Adam would do better than me in the long run, since he is experienced.
We then made a cursory trip into Nashville. Dave and I poked around the music stores for maybe half-an-hour. There is a couple of music stores in Nashville where the 80’s and 90’s never really occurred – you walk in, and you still see vinyl – unopened vinyl, at that – on all the walls, alongside that extinct beast, the cassette tape. Dave didn’t find any good vinyl deals (he was looking for Townes Van Zandt records), and he’s not the type of guy to overpay for records. On the way back to Robin’s place, we tried to satisfy Robin’s pregnancy-controlled cravings by searching for a “Mexican possible” stand that she remembered. We eventually located the stand, which has no sign visible from the road, and had a round of delicious popsicles. It is more accurate to call the joint a “Mexican popsicle-stand” than a “Mexican-popsicle stand”, however. I didn’t detect any mexican spices or any other hints of cultural authenticity in my coffee flavored popsicle. Well, I take back my observation: Dave got a “prickly-pear” popsicle which involved spitting out a mouthful of prickles after every bite. That’s pretty damn authentic!
For dinner, we all went to a Mediteranean food restaurant in a strip mall. Dave and Allison split a meager looking veggie platter, while Robin, Adam, and I ate delicious meaty kebabs. After dinner, Adam and I took on the females in a game of 90’s trivial pursuit and beat them. Strangely, 50% of the questions seemed to revolve around Bill Clinton’s mistresses. The Sam Adams Brewmaster Collection flowed freely (at least down my gullet) as we played. Robin’s screened porch is a such a beautiful place to sit at night and play games and talk. Ma said she would sit out there all day long if she had such a porch, and I think I would do the same thing. A party of rowdy Mexicans two houses down, provided some ambience.
Sunday, August 13
On Sunday, the five of us hitched up the wagons and went to visit Stasia. Robin’s car, with its speaking navigation system, guided us there, even though it didn’t recognize most of the dirt roads which crisscross Stasia’s rural paradise in Kingston Springs, Tennessee. Stasia and Scott both looked great. They have eliminated most of the animals they used to keep back in 2001 when Alex, Corrie, and I last visited: No snake, not cats, minimal chickens, and only one dog. Little Cameron was shy at first, concealing her face within her long blonde hair-curtain. Eventually, she warmed up to me, when Scott, Stasia, and I took the minivan ride to Carl’s Perfect Pig. In the car, she started singing all the nursery rhymes that Calvin also knows, and talking in that marvelous 2-year old style of speech which I treasure so much.
Carl’s is another not-so-good restaurant choice for vegeterian food. Scott and Stasia mawed down racks of ribs. I ordered a genteel pulled pork sandwhich, while the two vegeterians made due with french fries and assorted fried vegetables. We all agreed that fried ochre is the most palatable form of ocher. Cameron eats better than Calvin -- Would you believe it? (All children eat better than Calvin). After lunch, we didn’t stick around Stasia’s house too long because Cameron needed a nap, and we were clearly interfering with it.
Back at Robin’s house, we rounded out the day with some ping-pong and a barbeque dinner. Adam and Robin are incredibly good hosts, and prepared quite a feast. It took them hours, while the rest of killed our time watching a two hour history of the Ku Klux Klan which seemed to never end. Nashville was one of the hot spots for the Klan back in the day. Adam puts a lot of effort into his food. He made some elaborate pasta salad, which Dave and Robin got really excited about, but which was a little too complex for my tastebuds. I had a delicious burger which Adam informed me contained his magic ingredient – oats.
After dinner, Dave wanted to really get on the road, but Robin wanted to play a little David and Goliath. Of course, I am always up for a game of D+G, but the timing was a bit awkward. We played two hands and kept track of our scores in our head. After that, we hit the road at about 7:30. Adam is a really genuine guy and it felt good when he said it was one of the best times he had in recent memory. (He said something similar when I met him for drinks in LA a couple weeks back which also made me feel good)
We spent the night in a Motel 6 with no amenities whatsoever except for a television on which we watched a bit of Andy Griffith.
Monday, August 14
Monday was the drive back to Nashville. Driving back from somewhere is always a bigger drag than the drive to the place, but we managed it. Stopping overnight at the Motel 6 was the key. The drive between Nashville and Madison (through Illinois mostly) is an incredibly boring drive. It is flat and featureless, and there aren’t even any fast-food joints on the highway. We kept holding out for decent food until all of us were ravenously hungry around 1:00 and ready to devour each other. We eventually made it back to Madison without eating anything, and we hit Noodles, which is the same restaurant we hit on Friday before heading out. Let me just say: Noodles is the best fast food restaurant in the world! You go to the counter and order a noodle dish from their Mediteranean, Asian, or American menus. In 5 minutes, they bring to your table a delicious steaming bowl of noodles, macaroni-and-cheese, or something else. I ordered the Beef Stroganoff from the American menu. I have never ordered beef stroganoff in a restaurant before, and it was the best I had ever had in my life. I ordered it again on the return trip. I think I will have to learn how to cook it, because it might be my new favorite food.
After lunch, we all went for a walk in the Madison botanical gardens. The garden is very nice and contains a new Thai pavillion donated from the Thai government, for some unknown reason. This was a very pleasant way to end the trip.
Allison drove me to the airport and I felt quite sad having to say goodbye. I love my sisters so much and wish they lived near me again, but I know they have their own lives and are unlikely to live near me ever again. The flight from Madison to Chicago was delayed for hours (perhaps because of toothpaste tube terrorism threats). The flight landed just in time for me to make my connection from Chicago to Boston. On the flight, I read a bit of Naomi Klein’s No Logo, which I nicked from Allison’s house. Other books I read on the trip include Douglas Hofstadter’s history of Social Darwinism in American Thought, and a history of the band Guided By Voices. Ironically, I am listening to GBV as I write this travel-log on August 18th, so this is as good a time as any to bring closure to this over-indulgent travel-log. Finis.
Wednesday, August 9
Woke up at 4:00 AM to catch the plane at 6:00 AM to Chicago. My Mom graciously drove me to the airport, under the condition that I made her a cup of tea (her usual price for any services rendered). The flight from Chicago to Madison was delayed by over an hour for no apparent reason. I later found out that today was the day that an airplane terrorist plot was foiled and the US government responded by refusing to allow any liquids on board any flights including chapstick, toothpaste, and the like. I don’t know if this was connected to the delay or not. It could just be that O’Hare is a crappy airport.
After arriving in Madison, I took a cab to Allison’s house which surprisingly is only 2 houses down from her old house and looks almost exactly the same. Allison soon arrived from her two-hour-a-day Summer job. We immediately proceeded to get a soy mocha from a local coffee shop and a steaming plate of Laotian food (Thai food in disguise). Allison’s average cup of coffee costs approximately $5, by the way. Allison and I then rode bikes across town to the tennis courts. Normally we could have driven, but the City of Madison made the decision to replace selected segments of the sidewalk. Since driveways on Jennifer street all intersect the sidewalk, and the sidewalk in front of her house was torn up, it was not possible to get the car out from the back of the house. Tennis was a blast. Allison is pretty consistent with her groundstrokes and I was also returning the ball with some regularity, which is unusual for me. We played two quick sets which I won 6-1, 6-1. The score makes it sound like I dominated, but Allison and I had plenty of good vollies. I was just faster side to side and moving the ball around the court whereas she was mostly hitting them straight back. Anyway, it was super fun, and gave me the hope that maybe I will someday be able to hit a tennis ball decently.
After tennis, we went swimming in Lake Menoga (?). Madison has two lakes with very similar names – one is something like “Menoga” and the other is something like “Mendoda”. Apparently, these two lakes are seperated by an isthmus, and this isthmus supplied the name for the local weekly newspaper. Frankly, I am confused by the geography of Madison. Swimming was very refreshing. Dinner was high caliber pub food at a place called The Great Dane, where Allison, Dave, and I ate outside, and Dave and I sampled local beers. The porter and stout I ordered were both delicious.
After dinner, we went to Dave’s practice space to watch Dave practice with his latest trio. Dave is the singer and guitarist; his friend Nathan, who is a hardcore indie-rock guy who is a bit “anal-retentitve” and reminds me of my old colleague, Jeremy, is the drummer; the ex-bassist from the band Low plays bass. I wish that I had prepared some songs to play in advance because I got to jam with Dave a bit – with him on drums and me on guitar. Unfortunately, I am quite rusty and couldn’t think of anything to play. God, I want to be in a rock band! Allison and I watched the band run through about 8 songs, all of which were quite good. Nathan, the anal retentive one, was clearly setting the pace of the practice and he called off songs with almost wasterd time for banter. Allison and I then left to go visit Nathan’s wife. She wasn’t really prepared for visitors because she was working on her dissertation, but Allison and I scored a cup of chai tea out of it, looked at the rabbits’ a bit, and scoped out Nathan’s record collection.
Allison, Dave, and I ended the night by riding our bikes to a bar called Mickey’s and shooting pool with some ancient hippy. Somebody was supposed to meet us for a foursome of hearts but it never materialized. Mickey’s is a cool bar with a relaxing backroom so sitting down to a game of hearts is not as far-fetched as it would be in a Boston bar. Dave had his usual old-fashioned which requires the use of a mortar and a pestle to make. I'm glad that he makes the bartender work for his money. We biked back after a few rounds of pool. Is drunken bike-riding permitted? hmmm...
Thursday, August 10
On Thursday, Dave and Allison had to work in the morning, so I had a few hours to entertain myself. I proceeded to walk to Madison to check out the record stores and book stores. I am quite a bad tourist, since all I really care about is the record and book stores, and I am unlikely to enter any other kind of store. I didn’t really know where I was going, so I just walked in the direction of the capital building, which is visible from most parts of Madison. Wherever I walked, there were these plastic cows on the sidewalk painted in different patterns and colors, and, of course, sponsored by local businesses. The cows even lined the steps of the capital, destroying the majesty of that incredible building. It is appalling to think that someone in the local government thought it was a good idea to deface a great walking city like Madison with monstrous kitsch cows. In fact, I later found out that the cows also line Boston’s streets, and that Washington has pigs and Seattle has pegasi (!). Therefore, this tasteless decision must have been made at the higher levels of the federal government. Anyway, they are temporary so I tried not to be too bothered by it, though I am clearly bothered by it to some degree because I am spewing venom at the cows in this travellog.
Eventually I found the cool street with the shops I wanted to go in. I visited 3 different bookshops, but restrained myself and only bought one used book – a biography of Huey Long that Jon Dolan has been prompting me to read. I also hit 3 local record shops that I had visited last Summer. None of them is exceptionally good. One of them is a cool second-story punk-rock/heavy-metal record store which has great atmosphere but doesn’t carry much that I would actually listen to. I bought 2 CDs. I also bought a 6-pack of local porter to quaff, realizing that it is quite expensive buying one’s beer at restaraunts (though it far more reasonable in Madison eateries than in my parts). Unfortunately, I got lost on the way home. I wandered around aimlessly, attempting to orient myself in relation to the capital building and an electricity-generating plant I had passed on the way to town, but to no avail. Eventually, I ended up in an industrial part of town with not a soul around to ask directions from. That damn six-pack felt like it weighed about 50 pounds after a half-hour of aimless wandering. Eventually I made it back to Allison’s house at about 1:30.
Dave, Allison, and I then went out in search of pitch and putt golf. We found a really nice course, and, after waiting out a brief rain shower in a half-priced bookstore, we made it to the links. As usual, we all sucked. None of us has a clue how to pitch, chip, or putt a golf ball. The course was a nice one in that the holes were generally 120-130 yards, instead of the 80-90 yard holes at the Lexington pitch-and-putt. This distance allows you to take a manly swing off the artificial turf which is fun. We even replayed a couple of holes because there was no-one else around though nobody hit a really good shot all day.
After golf, Allison and I went to a free barbeque at the local co-operative grocery store while Dave napped. I had my first bratwurst, while Allison had the soy equivalent. I downed two more local beers down the hatch, courtesy of the co-op. Free food and drink are good things.
Allison and I then went to see a movie called “Art School Confidential”. We arrived just as the movie was starting and the first scene involved a bunch of art students sketching a nude male model. Full frontal male nudity is always a little awkward with your little sister, especially when you have a repressed psyche like I do. I knew nothing about the movie in advance but it was fairly entertaining. Not memorable, but entertaining. It was basically a satire on the idea of art, and wound up with a bizarre murder-mystery ending that thanfully was rounded up quickly. Allison tells me the director was the guy who directed Ghost World. This movie was no where in that league.
In between all these activities, I got my ass kicked by Allison in Quoridor 7 or 8 times. She dominates me at that game now for some reason. Over the course of the trip, she probably beat me 8 times out of 10. I must be losing some synapses as I age. We also played some Dr. Mario on their Nintendo, proving the addage that all the best video games predate 1990. I think Allison’s roommate Anne was home by this time. Anne had just come back from her grandmother’s funeral. Her grandmother had died a horrible accidental death after falling down, and we were all worried about Anne, but she seemed to be trying to get back to normal, so the subject was not mentioned.
Friday, August 11
Friday was the day slated for travelling to Nashville. The logistics of this vacation were truly attrocious, but it didn’t take away from my fun in any way. Flying at 6:00 AM on Wednesday, returning at midnight on Monday, driving 10 hours each way back and forth to Nashville… The whole trip reeks of Craig Milley planning, or non-planning. Allison had the best attitude about the bad logistics. When Dave and I went to the library to get some CDs for the car, we debated about skipping the Nashville trips, and I was racking my brain for possible excuses that would appease Robin. Allison had the good sense to give us a pep talk and quash this line of waffling. Allison had a little responsibility for the bad logistics because she had assured me that Nashville was only 6 hours away from Madison. The claim sounded suspicious to me but I never checked it out on a map – again my geographical skills failed me!
The car trip was a long one, but it was quite tolerable with three people. We worked our way through 3 crossword puzzles of reasonable difficulty. We also played a few rounds of 20 questions. Dave resented my choices of Sinbad (that bad comedian from that Cosby Show spinoff “A Different World”) and Chaucer (“never heard of him…”). Oh well. Next time, I am going to give him an even harder one! The tunes were good also since The Eldermobile is equipped with a CD-player. I wanted to crank the tunes, but, as always in group situations, the volume is a touchy subject. Dave and I sung our way through Vee Vee and agreed it is one of the best indie guitar records of all time.
We arrived at Robin’s around 11:00 PM or so, downed a few beers, and went to sleep. Robin’s house is really beautiful. Her furniture is gorgeous, her color-choices exquisite, and everything is of course kept spic-and-span. Before bedtime, I took a crack at perusing Robin’s PhD dissertation. I had no chance of even comprehending the first sentence with my miniscule scientific knowledge. Robin must be truly brilliant. Each paragraph in that 150+ page dissertation looked like it would take a lifetime of research to come up with. Robin downplays this, and tries to convince me that scientific research is just a greased railroad track down which one must drive her train down for 5 years in order to get a PhD. There may be a grain of truth in this, but the fact that she is doing this type of research blows my mind.
Saturday, August 12
Saturday was game-day. In the morning we played Clue Master Detective which Allison won. As always with Clue, the game is about using a good notation system for keeping track of all the information, and nobody ever figures out a good notation system until halfway through the game. After a lunch of delicious burritos , we went out “big-ball” bowling. (There has to be a less embarrasing way of distinguishing that sport from candlepin bowling) We bowled three strings. Surprisingly I did the best of anyone. I got my share of strikes and broke 140 one string. I am sure Adam would do better than me in the long run, since he is experienced.
We then made a cursory trip into Nashville. Dave and I poked around the music stores for maybe half-an-hour. There is a couple of music stores in Nashville where the 80’s and 90’s never really occurred – you walk in, and you still see vinyl – unopened vinyl, at that – on all the walls, alongside that extinct beast, the cassette tape. Dave didn’t find any good vinyl deals (he was looking for Townes Van Zandt records), and he’s not the type of guy to overpay for records. On the way back to Robin’s place, we tried to satisfy Robin’s pregnancy-controlled cravings by searching for a “Mexican possible” stand that she remembered. We eventually located the stand, which has no sign visible from the road, and had a round of delicious popsicles. It is more accurate to call the joint a “Mexican popsicle-stand” than a “Mexican-popsicle stand”, however. I didn’t detect any mexican spices or any other hints of cultural authenticity in my coffee flavored popsicle. Well, I take back my observation: Dave got a “prickly-pear” popsicle which involved spitting out a mouthful of prickles after every bite. That’s pretty damn authentic!
For dinner, we all went to a Mediteranean food restaurant in a strip mall. Dave and Allison split a meager looking veggie platter, while Robin, Adam, and I ate delicious meaty kebabs. After dinner, Adam and I took on the females in a game of 90’s trivial pursuit and beat them. Strangely, 50% of the questions seemed to revolve around Bill Clinton’s mistresses. The Sam Adams Brewmaster Collection flowed freely (at least down my gullet) as we played. Robin’s screened porch is a such a beautiful place to sit at night and play games and talk. Ma said she would sit out there all day long if she had such a porch, and I think I would do the same thing. A party of rowdy Mexicans two houses down, provided some ambience.
Sunday, August 13
On Sunday, the five of us hitched up the wagons and went to visit Stasia. Robin’s car, with its speaking navigation system, guided us there, even though it didn’t recognize most of the dirt roads which crisscross Stasia’s rural paradise in Kingston Springs, Tennessee. Stasia and Scott both looked great. They have eliminated most of the animals they used to keep back in 2001 when Alex, Corrie, and I last visited: No snake, not cats, minimal chickens, and only one dog. Little Cameron was shy at first, concealing her face within her long blonde hair-curtain. Eventually, she warmed up to me, when Scott, Stasia, and I took the minivan ride to Carl’s Perfect Pig. In the car, she started singing all the nursery rhymes that Calvin also knows, and talking in that marvelous 2-year old style of speech which I treasure so much.
Carl’s is another not-so-good restaurant choice for vegeterian food. Scott and Stasia mawed down racks of ribs. I ordered a genteel pulled pork sandwhich, while the two vegeterians made due with french fries and assorted fried vegetables. We all agreed that fried ochre is the most palatable form of ocher. Cameron eats better than Calvin -- Would you believe it? (All children eat better than Calvin). After lunch, we didn’t stick around Stasia’s house too long because Cameron needed a nap, and we were clearly interfering with it.
Back at Robin’s house, we rounded out the day with some ping-pong and a barbeque dinner. Adam and Robin are incredibly good hosts, and prepared quite a feast. It took them hours, while the rest of killed our time watching a two hour history of the Ku Klux Klan which seemed to never end. Nashville was one of the hot spots for the Klan back in the day. Adam puts a lot of effort into his food. He made some elaborate pasta salad, which Dave and Robin got really excited about, but which was a little too complex for my tastebuds. I had a delicious burger which Adam informed me contained his magic ingredient – oats.
After dinner, Dave wanted to really get on the road, but Robin wanted to play a little David and Goliath. Of course, I am always up for a game of D+G, but the timing was a bit awkward. We played two hands and kept track of our scores in our head. After that, we hit the road at about 7:30. Adam is a really genuine guy and it felt good when he said it was one of the best times he had in recent memory. (He said something similar when I met him for drinks in LA a couple weeks back which also made me feel good)
We spent the night in a Motel 6 with no amenities whatsoever except for a television on which we watched a bit of Andy Griffith.
Monday, August 14
Monday was the drive back to Nashville. Driving back from somewhere is always a bigger drag than the drive to the place, but we managed it. Stopping overnight at the Motel 6 was the key. The drive between Nashville and Madison (through Illinois mostly) is an incredibly boring drive. It is flat and featureless, and there aren’t even any fast-food joints on the highway. We kept holding out for decent food until all of us were ravenously hungry around 1:00 and ready to devour each other. We eventually made it back to Madison without eating anything, and we hit Noodles, which is the same restaurant we hit on Friday before heading out. Let me just say: Noodles is the best fast food restaurant in the world! You go to the counter and order a noodle dish from their Mediteranean, Asian, or American menus. In 5 minutes, they bring to your table a delicious steaming bowl of noodles, macaroni-and-cheese, or something else. I ordered the Beef Stroganoff from the American menu. I have never ordered beef stroganoff in a restaurant before, and it was the best I had ever had in my life. I ordered it again on the return trip. I think I will have to learn how to cook it, because it might be my new favorite food.
After lunch, we all went for a walk in the Madison botanical gardens. The garden is very nice and contains a new Thai pavillion donated from the Thai government, for some unknown reason. This was a very pleasant way to end the trip.
Allison drove me to the airport and I felt quite sad having to say goodbye. I love my sisters so much and wish they lived near me again, but I know they have their own lives and are unlikely to live near me ever again. The flight from Madison to Chicago was delayed for hours (perhaps because of toothpaste tube terrorism threats). The flight landed just in time for me to make my connection from Chicago to Boston. On the flight, I read a bit of Naomi Klein’s No Logo, which I nicked from Allison’s house. Other books I read on the trip include Douglas Hofstadter’s history of Social Darwinism in American Thought, and a history of the band Guided By Voices. Ironically, I am listening to GBV as I write this travel-log on August 18th, so this is as good a time as any to bring closure to this over-indulgent travel-log. Finis.
posted by itchy at 3:09 PM
2 Comments:
Does biannually mean twice a year or every two years. In the former case, I will consider your invitation a compliment -- in the latter case, it seems like I am an unwanted guest :( I hope you made it to Montana OK, as far as anyone in Montana is OK. By the way, how did you get the hickname, Stoneballs?
What a nice foray into the realm! Though I must admit that your travelog is longer than your actual vacation was... When can we expect another random posting on all things social and moral?
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