San Diego - Chilling out on the 32nd Parallel

We have a contender, ladies and gentlemen.  The bar has been raised.  San Diego is in first place of possible places for us to live. 

Swami's Beach 

• It’s a city, but small and easy to get around  
• It has jobs in fantastically nerdy and innovative fields
• It has breathtaking scenery and oodles of things to do outside
• Average temp in winter – 60.  Average temp in summer – 80 (No heat, no aircon needed, just lovely sea fresh air)
• Coastal desert – so no allergy flare ups and lots of sun
• Good eatin’ – the place that made the fish taco popular
• And great people – relaxed, chilled-out, get-a-surf-in-before-work set 

San Diego has a cluster of medium-high rises. It's the inner city international
airport that stunts the growth of those buildings...those suckers fly right into town. 

When I lived in South Africa in the 90s everyone would tell me how much they loved San Diego.  I stood there a bit unsure about how to respond – yes, I am American, but no, I am not from, nor have I ever been to San Diego.  I *think* they have a zoo there? 

I had no impression of San Diego – I’m not sure I would even have been able to tell you it was southernmost city of California.  I get very confused by all the San and Santa towns of California.  Seriously, someone says San Jose, San Luis Obispo, San Clemente, San Mateo, San Marino, Santa Clara, Santa Rita, Santa Barbara, Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz … and I just stare deer-in-the-headlights and start to panic – how am I possibly supposed to keep them all straight?

Up until the 1960s San Diego was the same size as, and growing at the same rate as, Los Angeles.  Then the highway craze happened – and since San Diego is the end-of-the-road to Los Angeles’s middle-of-the-road, San Diego started to slow down.  And thank goodness, because that’s what we love so much about it.  Like slow food, there’s something to be said for a slow city.  It is a small city but still has a direct flight to London.  It’s a small city but still has ethnic diversity and a handful of brilliant educational institutions (Scripps, UCSD, Salk Institute).  Those educational institutions, complemented by the mighty fine living standards have attracted some of the world’s best technology and consumer companies.  Qualcomm, Sempra Energy, Peregrin, WD-40, Petco, Kashi and Jack-in-the-Box are all headquartered in San Diego. 

The biggest employer however is the military. Remember this scene?   “You're one hell of an instinctive pilot. Maybe too good. I'd like to bust your butt but I can't. I got another problem here. I gotta send somebody from this squadron to Miramar. I gotta do something here, I still can't believe it. I gotta give you your dream shot! I'm gonna send you up against the best. You two characters, are going to Top Gun.”  Well, Top Gun is smack dab in San Diego. Scenes from the movie were filmed all through the town.  Everybody is here: navy, army, air force, marines and coast guard. There is seal training, and elite flying training and even - you wouldn't believe it unless you saw it - the dolphin training center which trains dolphins to detect mines and other disturbances in the water.   North County ends where the ginormous Camp Pendleton begins.  Take out your maps – Camp Pendleton has a very substantial chunk of the California coastline.

While your map is out, consider the geography of San Diego.   It feels like it should be further south given it’s at the bottom of California with Mexico literally on the doorstep, but it shares a latitude line (roughly) with Dallas, TX and Savannah, GA.  Going further east you’d pass over Bermuda, and finally hit Africa somewhere around Marrakesh, continuing on to Cairo and Tel Aviv.  If you flipped the planet over, San Diego’s 32 north becomes the 32(ish) south of places like Mendoza, Santiago, Sydney and yes, there it is, explaining it all…Cape Town. 


So now I get it, the reason all those South Africans love it is because it is just like Cape Town.  Except instead of the sometimes third worldly problems of the African outpost, there’s a Starbucks and a Target and a farmers market that moves from neighborhood to neighborhood so you can always find one on any day of the week. 

The glorious green hills just east of the city.  

The beach and cliffs of Torrey Pines

Sunset over Cardiff by the sea

Let's play a quick game of word association:  If San Diego was a car it would be a ….

            Beth – an old, used/loved, jeep – airy and sunny and ready for some outdoor adventure

            Andy – America's best car -  not flashy, but engineered well.  (Is there a car model that encapsulates that?)

3 words: 
            Andy:  outdoorsy,  chilled,  highways

            Beth:  chilled coastal communities

San Diego against our criteria:

1) Is it a college town?          yes, well, sort of - it isn't all about the colleges

2) Does it have liberal politics?       Not really - it is gay friendly and eco-conscious, but kinda conservative 

3) Is it sunny?           Yes, but there is a thing called June Gloom

4) Is it sporty?           Ridiculously so

5) Career prospects?       I think so - biotech  pharma

6) Airport access?     non stop to London on BA - 2 small terminals.

7) Foodie?      yes, and getting more so everyday.

8) Aesthetics?     sea, hills, what more do you need?

9) Easy to make friends?  very easy. we made some new friends easily

Things to do in San Diego

1. Walk the trails and beach at Torrey pines, spotting sharks amongst the surfers in the sea below the cliffs  - check out the nearby Gliderport for extra aerial fun - bring a picnic

   

   Torrey Pines - not just a famous golf course

   

   Watching people glide on the thermals at the Gliderport
2. Rent or bring your bike down to Coronado and cycle the 9 mile paved cycle path on Silver Strand
3. Check out the Del Mar fairgrounds website to see what is happening on any given day – roller derby, wine tastings, circuses, horse shows oh my
4. “Seal Tour” amphibious vehicle tour of the bay 



It would be a strange day if you didn't see the seals and sea lions

5. Swim in san diego state's awesome outdoor pool  



SDSU pools - one for laps and one for just floating around - no kids allowed (Amen)

6. The zoo really is amazing - it was the first to have cageless exhibits and the innovation didn't end there - these folks know how to teach and entertain at the same time



Polar bears in their huge exhibit at the Zoo

7. A day drive to Borrego Springs to see what Palm Springs might have looked like in the 1950s and to check out the awesome metal sculptures littered by the roadsides

Borrego Springs metal sculpture

Where to Eat:  

1. Kitchen 1540 – a nice bistro style joint in the Auberge hotel in Del Mar.  They'll do a tasting menu for you off the cuff if you ask nicely. http://www.laubergedelmar.com/kitchen1540/   

   

   Hamachi with dill sorbet at 1540
2. Flavor – cougar den with a view (tuna crisp with truffle)  http://www.flavordelmar.com/
3. Urbn pizza – northpark  http://urbnnorthpark.com/
4. Any of the Malarkey joints – we liked Burlap the best of the bunch especially for its awesome description "asian cowboy"  http://www.burlapeats.com/
5. Carnitas Snack shack – pork schnitzel on pulled pork  http://carnitassnackshack.com/



I don't think there is a better pork sandwich anywhere

6. Georges at the Cove (downstairs or if you are lucky Tbl3) http://www.georgesatthecove.com/california-modern

Palm Springs : Mid Century Marhhhhvelous

We came to America to escape the grey clouds of London so where better to start our real canvassing of sunny western cities than the sun drenched California desert?  

I don’t know what planted the seed in my head about Palm Springs.  I had mixed visions of large pink stucco geriatric compounds on the one hand and fabulously retro cocktail bars by glistening blue pools on the other. I needed to find out which side of the balance between old fogey and swinging hipster was truer, and whether Palm Springs could be a final destination for our nesting.

Before we arrived we shared our pre-existing notions of the place: palm trees, old people, 60s throwbacks, manicured desert-scapes, Sinatra melodies floating on the wind, pristine golf courses, good looking people doing good looking things, stunning plates of California cuisine.

As we drove into town from a dusty route across the desert, past the Sultan Sea and the Coachella Valley which has become famous for its music festival, we were thrown by the shabbiness of it all. The streets were full of palm fronds, the pool of our rental house black with sand and leaves, caution tape across the supermarket parking lot.  A war zone.  It took us about 12 hours to learn that a freak wind storm had struck the valley and these scenes were out of the ordinary.  In fact, in just a couple of days, the valley’s usual pristine appearance was restored.  Phew. 

The windstorm had knocked 'a few' lemons off our backyard lemon tree so naturally I made lemonade

Our mid century modern rental house delighted us to no end -- built of simple lines with one guiding principle: – to provide shade and cool while fully embracing its environment.  And what an environment it was.  Out our immense windows we gazed at an 11000 foot snow capped mountain with canyons and rocky craggs  towering over palm trees, themselves towering over a bursting lemon tree, in turn towering over a lush green lawn that perfectly bordered a sparkling blue in-ground swimming pool. 

the front of our butterfly style mid century

The back of our mid century...killer view and i'm not just talking about my husband

We learned that Palm Springs is not the small desert community that we thought it would be – but actually a collection of desert cities including Cathedral City, Rancho Mirage, Palm Desert, Indian Wells and La Quinta.  A ridge of mountains frames this strip of towns on one side, while the famous San Andreas fault (you actually see the fault!) and route 10 frame this narrow corridor on the other side.  It was popularized by Hollywood in the 1950s.  At the time, actors had call back parameters and needed to be within a 4 hour drive to LA.  Transportation and communication logistics were not what they are today – so Palm Springs was about as far as you could venture to get away from it all. 

The springs, and the palms that sprung up in those springs are real.  In fact, as you hike off into the canyons you come across these ancient palm groves – scenery that brings to mind all sorts of exotic places from Africa to the middle east , it’s like you’ve wandered into some Disney adaptation of what a middle east palm oasis should be.  Is this really natural you keep asking yourself?  You see, your mind is playing games with you – and I’m not just talking about a heat-induced mirage.  The connection to Hollywood is to blame for this confusion.  All those Hollywood people saw the potential and Hollywood came out to the springs to shoot films – the natural palm oases saved Hollywood a lot of money in airfare – suddenly it was Morocco, and Arabia, and Egypt.  The settings for all those exotic films of the 50s and 60s…yep, they were shot in palm springs.

We hoped the Don Draper retro thing, merged with a large population of gay men would make Palm Springs particularly fashionable.  A friend once told me that there is such a thing as unfashionable gays, and sadly they are all in the springs.  Think aging gay men and the cast of Jersey Shore combined as some horrible black wife beater and tight cut off denim shorts hybrid.  It’s really not pretty.  As for the wealthy straights that live in the greater desert communities, it’s the breast augmentation and botox set.  I’d say they were friendly, but I couldn’t really tell since their faces are in permanent botox comas. 

Another problem with the town is that it is chock-a-block with Canadians.  French speaking Canadians at that.  And from their antics I would say over-viagra’d, over whiskey’d Canadians.  I suppose Palm Springs is to western Canada what Florida is to eastern Canada. 

Everyday. Late January.
North of the Equator.

I asked Andy to give me his 3 words to sum up the town:

Retro. Old. Sunny.  

I can’t tell if that is net positive or negative.

My three words would be:  Sunny. Vintage. Potential.  

Palm Springs against our New and improved criteria:

1) Is it a college town?          No, in fact it is devoid of anything academic except art.

2) Does it have liberal politics?       Oddly for being 25% gay, it does not.  

3) Is it sunny?           Hell ya.  A bottle of factor 50 per week sunny.

4) Is it sporty?           Yup – canyons, bike trails, golf courses, great public lap pool

5) Career prospects?       Not really. 

6) Airport access?     Pretty easy to fly to LA, some American cities, no international

7) Foodie?      Not really, no.  (but it is hinting to become foodie)

8) Aesthetics?     Yeah, pretty good on the eyes - Good views of the mountain, great architecture. 

9) Easy to make friends?  The fact that we didn't probably answers this question.  

As the 6 weeks went by there were highs and lows but the balance unfortunately tilted to the 'no go'.  On our criteria the springs failed miserably…so why do we long for it now that we have left?

It’s a great place for a relaxing vacation by the pool.  And it looks like it might break the hip barrier in the next decade.  Keep an eye out.  In the meantime, if you should find yourself there:

Restaurants – all of these are on or near Palm Canyon Drive in Palm Springs.  We ate at places in the other desert communities and they were all ‘ehhh’ – steak places and chain restaurants abound.

Pizza at Birba


1. Cheekys – for breakfast or lunch.  They have a ‘bacon flight’ that changes every week – 5 different strips of bacon.  We went at least once a week.  It is that good.  Try to go on a weekday or you’ll be in line over an hour.   http://www.cheekysps.com/ 
2. Birba – next to cheekys and owned by the same people – cocktails and pizza.  Really really good pizza – thin crust, unusual toppings.   http://www.birbaps.com/#     
3. Citron at the Viceroy – great bar or restaurant (if you’re hungry) by a small pool in this boutique hotel.  All the glamour you’d expect and none of the pretentiousness – very welcoming.  I think they have a singer songwriter on Wednesdays and Saturdays.   http://www.viceroypalmsprings.com/dining/bar.html
4. Sidebar at the Riviera hotel – more glam and larger than Citron, but less atmospheric.  More lively jazz/soul live music.  http://www.psriviera.com/sidebar-lounge.aspx  
5. Lulu’s – California Modern comfort food eatery.  A bright buzzing place on the strip that is Palm Canyon Drive.  You’d end up here without us telling you to go.  Menu is average but you don’t go for the menu.  Breakfast, lunch or dinner. Cheesecake Factory-esque huge menu with all types of cuisine.  http://www.lulupalmsprings.com/
6. Tinto – just opened up in the Saguaro hotel  Awesome basque style tapas.  This made us think Palm Springs was moving in the right direction. http://www.jdvhotels.com/dining/riverside/tinto  
7. El Jefe – same chef and hotel as Tinto/Saguaro – this is their Mexican cantina.  Awesome Mexican small plates and cocktails.  http://www.jdvhotels.com/dining/riverside/eljefe
8. Kings Highway / Ace Hotel – This was a Denny’s in a Holiday Inn or Motel Six.  Now it is a hipster paradise.  You can swim (read ‘look glamorous’) in their pool with a day rate.  They have gay bingo and drag charades on Monday or Tuesday  http://www.acehotel.com/palmsprings/dining?__utma=75537667.93718..
9. Mister Parker at the Parker – we had to go here since it was on that Bravo reality TV show about the hotel. The room is awesome, and I’m glad I got to see the hotel, but the restaurant is not great.  Go for a cocktail instead.  http://www.theparkerpalmsprings.com/dine/mister-parkers.php

Activities:

Day trip to Joshua Tree National Park

Joshua Trees

 Cable car up to the top of the Jacinto mountains

Cable Car Vertigo

Golf – we loved Escena and Desert Dunes and the splurge at Firecliff at Desert Willow. 

Early morning tee off at Escena   

The Smoky (but not so drink-y) Mountains

Dressed in flannel for a night out in Dollyland

They say that 40 is the new 30.  With my outrageously silly group of friends, 40 may be the new 12.  What better way to celebrate one of the group’s entries to the next decade than a splash out weekend in the land of Dolly Parton themeparks?     

We looked into this trip months before going – we’d heard that there was a theme park for Dolly Parton in Tennessee somewhere but few of us had ever heard of the town, Pigeon Forge, a hamlet of 5000 people where the park is located.  And none of us was prepared for the spectacle of the main drag as we drove into town.  Mile after mile of over the top themed mini golfs, go kart tracks several stories high, and humongously outrageously tacky dinner show theaters. 

Our huge mountain cabin

The setting of our cabin

As we planned the trip from far away locales we saw that the accommodation choices were vast – hundreds and hundreds of cabins in gorgeous mountain settings.  How could you possibly decide which one to rent when they all had hot tubs, king sized beds, pool tables, etc?  But then we saw it - it was love at first site – the cabin of our dreams – 6 stories high, private mini golf, home cinema with matching leather recliners on a raised platform. 

The town of Pigeon Forge makes a claim at being America’s Family Vacation Hub and we have to agree that this is a fantastic place to take your little ones;  so much to do, so much wholesome fun.  What it is not, is a town to have a debauchery-flavored splash out.  We learned at our grocery market stock-up trip that we were in a dry county – beer and wine only.  I have a hard time with this beer is ok, but whisky isn’t statute.  I mean, what, you can’t get drunk on beer and wine?  Maybe I’m a lightweight when it comes to booze but I get pretty obnoxious after just 2 glasses of wine.  So we called friends who hadn’t arrived yet to stock up on the harder stuff and filled our cart with enough sugar to ensure that if we weren’t going to be drunk, at least we’d be on a sugar high.

The first night was a quiet one – we drove the strip from top to bottom.  It was Christmas and the Christmas lights were spectacular.  Though it took us collectively about 15 minutes and 5 brains to understand why the decorations were of parrots on telephones.  Ahhh… 4 calling birds, I get it, each block has a different element of the 12 days of Christmas. 

It took us much less than 15 minutes to notice that theme for most of the dinner shows was war of some sort.  North vs South, Hatfield vs McCoy, Lumberjack vs Lumberjack.  Is this how middle America indoctrinates their children for future military service? 

The second day was the big birthday bash and we started out with a champagne breakfast Tennessee style cooked by yours truly at the cabin.  First there was the “Tennessee Mimosa” – bourbon and orange juice.  Then there was the “Tennessee eggs benedict” – flaky buttermilk biscuits with smoked pulled pork and cheesy southern gravy sauce.  The pulled pork came from a place called “Smokin’ Eds” recommended by the folks who rented us the cabin. Wow.  We met Ed, literally in the parking lot behind his restaurant, smokin’ some pig.  Us being the inquisitive nerds that we are, we interrogated Ed for the better part of ten minutes about the giant smoker (it resembled a locomotive);  he seemed to thoroughly enjoy showing us every inch of the smoker.  Breakfast was finished off with the birthday cake – you guessed it – “Tennessee Yellow Cake” – honey-bourbon cake with chocolate frosting and toffee sprinkles. 

On the tram on our way to Dollywood

After an energy packed complete breakfast, we loaded into the family car and headed off for Dollywood.  It’s one of those theme parks where you park off in a large lot and then take a shuttle to the actual park – so you never get a good view and the initial thrill until you are dropped off.  In truth we were a bit disappointed.  I guess I was the only one who knew that the park existed before the Dolly Parton branding was applied to it.  It was simply some ‘life in the 1800s smoky mountains’ theme before Dolly, but really, there is very little Dolly specific kitsch.  What we did find truly entertaining was the crowd.  It’s hard to describe what this crowd was like so I will leave you to imagine it yourselves.  You know how most rollercoasters warn riders of removing their hats, sunglasses and wallets?  Well at Dollywood they also needed to tell you to remove your ‘doo rag’.  I can’t make up stuff like that.

The boys beginning to fit right in at Dollywood

For the big birthday dinner, and feeling like we hadn’t had enough Dolly, we booked Dolly’s Dixie Stampede dinner show.  This is one of those big stadiums where a horse and rider show takes place in a giant ring while you eat a many courses dinner served without any silverware.  Here they took the dry county thing even further – not even a drop of beer to be found.  We may or may not have brought in some spirit to liven up the drinks – I can’t recall.  The show was brilliant – there are some very talented equestrians out there with crazy imaginations.  The food was dreadful.  And again, other than Dolly’s name on our big plastic boot shaped drinking cups, there was no Dolly Parton.

Back home we finally had a cocktail and a mini golf tournament after breaking open our sad piñata.  It was actually early to bed because the boys had a road race to run in the morning. 

The birthday girl with her piñata in our private mini golf room

After Andy’s mini triathlon last April he has enjoyed running, so when we found out there was a Santa Hustle, we had to enroll him in the race.  Skip was a cross country nerd in highschool but hadn’t run in something like 10 or 20 years.  And Mark is just a race event junkie, so was very happy to join up and begin the talk of getting personal bests.  Andy was a little concerned that the guys would want him to keep up but in the end he enjoyed their company and coaching and finished 9^th in his age group of several hundred runners.  Best of all for us was that they had to dress up like Santa for the race – complete with fake beard. 

And they are off

 

Post race santa hottubbing

Liz in the elegant barn dinner room

Our final dinner was supposed to be the more grown up sophisticated affair of the weekend.  Ever the culinary detective, I had searched the area for a good quality dining establishment.  I was so excited to find a Mr and Mrs Smith recommendation and Conde Nast ‘best hotel in north america’ just 40 minutes away.  Wow.  How was there such a gem in friggin’ eastern Tennessee?  And how had I never heard of it when I was forced to work down there on a project years ago?  The place is called the Inn at Blackberry Farms and it looks delightful on their website.  Calling them up to book dinner I felt like it was a scene out of LA Story where my background was being checked to see if I was good enough to dine there.  You all know that I have eaten as some of the most ridiculously fabulous restaurants in the world – often flying to a different country just for a meal.



Carolina wreckfish at Blackberry Farms



These restaurants always treat me like a friend.  Blackberry Farms was a snooty pretentious booking experience.  That should have been a red flag.  We booked an early dinner, but even with the early seating we knew it would already be dark so I phoned ahead to see if we could arrive an hour early and have a drink so we can see the grounds in the daylight.  Umm, no.  We would not be allowed to enter the gate before our dinner reservation.  That should have been the second red flag.  Stubbornly, we still went.  When we got there we arrived at the hotel reception and I had to sign for dinner.  Then they escorted us to the barn where the restaurant was.  It was stunning.  Rustic and elegant.  Ok so maybe this place will be ok.  The teenage servers were awkward.  The amuse bouche was a slice of French bread with some red pepper cream cheese.  The menu and the food were good, but the service, or lack thereof was pathetic. 



I felt horrible for forcing this on my friends.  The only real entertainment was watching the other diners – they looked bored too.  And then it happened.  I looked beyond Skip’s shoulder to the woman at the next table and there she was reading her menu with Lorgnette glasses.  I had to look up that word ‘Lorgnette’.  These are the glasses on a long stick that you hold in front of your face.  I literally lost it in uncontrollable laughter as I saw this woman lengthen her lips and stare down her nose at the menu with those glasses.  I’m laughing now as I type this, 2 months later.  It wasn’t worth the cost, but I will never forget those glasses for as long as I shall live.

behind Skip...look closely...

In the end I would recommend a trip to the smoky mountains, especially for families.  Though I have only 1 recommendation for where to eat or drink –  Smokin’ Eds - proof that the smokey mountains are for smokin', not drinkin'.  

Nashville – A Grand Ole Place

Nashville has either a really good or a really bad reputation depending on which side of the I-love-Country-Music fence you sit on.  While I may be known to rock out to a little ‘Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy’ or ‘Friends in Low Places’, it has always been that when I get to the country music stations on the FM dial, I pass by, and quickly.  So it was with great apprehension that we decided to take a ten-day pit stop in the country music mecca of the USA. 

Preconceived Associations:

She says she was expecting:

• A suffocation of country music
•   Cowboy boots and cowboy hats everywhere
•   Flat farm lands around town
•   Rednecky people with little education or culture
•   Good southern cooking
•    Jack Daniels, more Jack Daniels and Budweiser

He says he was expecting:

• A soulless capital city
•  Country music recording studios, but no actual music ‘scene’ – just the production and money side
• Poverty
• 10 days with little to do but work

Upon Arrival – First Impressions

Similar to Santa Fe our preconceived notions were incorrect.  And similar to Santa Fe, we rolled into town after dark, though this time in the even more agonizing pouring rain.  It was the Monday after thanksgiving and our rental home was between Vanderbilt and Belmont Universities – so that meant everyone was getting back into town and everyone was in the grocery store.  It was a horrendous entry to town and we felt very very sour about the city. 

We woke up the next morning, the sun had come out and we were ready to start exploring.  Over the next ten days we would see the sights, eat the food, and fall in love with this grand ole city.  It may not have made it onto our list of probables – but it does get added to that list of ‘would consider if someone gave me a juicy job offer there’. 

Upon Exit – Lasting Impressions

A Davidson at home in Davidson county.

I often tell people the world truly does revolve around me – I mean what else could explain the great luck I have had meeting Andy, having a job that lets me roam the country and see the world, having such great friends, etc.?  In the case of Nashville though, the seat of Davidson county, I see the world as my oyster.  Every single license plate on every single car bears my name.  Numerous roads, hospitals, court houses and even prisons named after me.  A megolomaniac’s dream.

Nashville is a surprisingly modern city – with double-digit growth since the 90s.  Some tremendously risky/lucky/courageous mayor decided to adopt the ‘build it and they will come’ mantra.  He brought in a sports team for each major sport – The Tennessee Titans (football), the Nashville Predators (hockey), the Nashville Sounds (baseball), the Nashville Soul (basketball) and even a soccer team, the Nashville Metros. 

With two major universities – Vanderbilt and Belmont – and huge huge huge wealth from the country music industry, the city is more upper middle class and upper upper class than you can imagine.  Where most cities have those few streets ‘where the rich folks live’ we found ourselves in many different sections of town oohing and ahhing at the mile after mile of colossal homes.  True they may not be our style, but no one could naysay how glamorous they were. 

The city itself is a small metro – a couple of high rise buildings but very easy to drive downtown, that is if you can avoid the motorways.  Here’s a tip – turn off your satnav and just follow the grid system.  Rolling hills and rivers define the cityscape.  Only a couple of miles out and you hit gorgeous horse country.  Various people have willed their land to the state to create stunning parks and walks and bridleways.  It’s cold in winter, but not quite cold enough to snow.  So we experienced the city with a light jacket, no bugs and no need for air-conditioning. 

Seeing as how our preconceived notions revolved around themes of country music, I was sure to check the listings to see who was playing while we’d be in town.  Ironically, we were visiting Nashville during the week of the country music awards – and as these were being presented in Las Vegas, none of the local celebrities were in town.  This explains why our pilgrimage to the Grand Ole Opry was not for some amazing legend of country music, but for the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes Christmas show.  It was a fantastic early glimpse into the people of Nashville.  These were not hicks at all, in fact in my long maxi dress and leather boots, I was the one under-dressed.  Velvet and lace and pearls were the fashion of the crowd;  Men with sweater vests and bow ties and dark smoking jackets.  Children dressed up in their Sunday finest patent leather shoes.

The Grand Ole Opry originally broadcasted from the Ryman Auditorium, said to have the second best acoustics in the world (after the Mormon Tabernacle).  In the 70s or so it moved out of town to a bigger, but less charming building of its own.  Around that an amusement park, Opryland was built.  The amusement park has already seen the end of its life, replaced by an outlet mall.  But the Gaylord Opryland Hotel is still there.  Spectacularly vegas-like in its construction, but without gambling, the hotel is constructed in Disneyland style celebrating plantations and the white house with a delta river through it complete with tour boats.  We chose the steak place “Old Hickory” for dinner and had a fantastic meal introducing us to Foyot sauce.  What’s Foyot sauce you ask?  Well it’s bearnaise sauce done with veal jus.  Yummy yum yum.

Our second country music pilgrimage would be to the Ryman itself.  Browsing the listings for what would take place while we were in town I ran across Arlo Guthrie and Judy Collins.  Having been raised to listen to Alice’s Restaurant every thanksgiving at noon, I was excited to see Arlo.  I didn’t know who Judy Collins was but I didn’t really care.  The Ryman is great – it feels more church than concert hall constructed of large wooden pews (Opryland is also pews), and while we were in the second to last row the steep close seating meant we could see and hear everything.  Arlo was the perfect entertainer – singing maybe 15% of his hour and telling stories the rest.  You couldn’t help but think you were taking part in American History – in this fantastically old theater with this fantastically old gentleman telling you stories about his daddy Woodie Guthrie writing “This land is your land, this land is my land…”  Judy Collins, another legend on the pre-TV-radio-show-stage, was not our cup of tea.  I’ll take the ‘if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all’ on this one. 

There are two centennial parks in Nashville.  The first one, for the 1897 centennial is huge and glorious with its own Parthenon.  Yes, you see Nashville was once known as the “Athens of the South” because of its universities.  (I wonder why Athens, Georgia wasn’t the Athens of the South…it too has a major university).  I guess they were proud of the nickname and full of cash despite the civil war.  It is an art museum today.  For the second centennial in 1997 a huge swimming pool and ice-skating rink was built, among other things.  We did laps in the giant 100 meter pool on a Tuesday morning and had that building pretty much to ourselves.

There are rather a lot of churches in Nashville.  Our in car satellite navigation was set to some weird setting where we got a warning ‘ping’ whenever we were near a church.  On our drive from the west this was kind of cute.  In Nashville it became quickly annoying – so much so that we dug out the instruction booklet and set out to reprogram the thing.  It was like we had our very own carol of the bells kicking off the festive season in our car.   I mean it when I say rather a lot of churches. Oddly we read that there is something like 10% of the population that is Muslim in the city and yet we saw no Mosques.  I asked about this and was told that until the 90s, the city didn’t even ‘allow’ a synagogue to be built.  That seemed odd for such a friendly place. 

Our third and final pilgrimage to country music was to walk the strip of the Broadway honky tonks.  They make their drinks strong, and you don’t have to pay very much.  The bands play covers of songs you know.  The vibe is welcoming.  You can get a seat at the bar or a nearby table with a good view.  Maybe this is a sign of my maturity, but this beats a crowded nightclub any day of the week.  We saw couples dancing, and even a drunk group of british men on a stag night.  You could get very used to this indeed.

He says:

In three words:  Churchy Tacky Fun

It was much nicer and wealthier than expected with a cool but small downtown.  With so many major motorways crossing in town it was scary to get around by car. The south side is full of the most fake ludicrously tacky antebellum style homes. On the other hand, it seems to have a lot of university and student areas which means it has these smaller self contained and fun neighborhoods. 

She says:

In three words:  Grand, glamorous and gentile.

The houses are huge and elegant.  I’m not sure it’s my style necessarily – very few modern lines, but it’s lovely to look at.  There are good restaurants with more opening – its not resting on a few institutions from the 80s.  This is a city of Now. 

Recommendations should you find yourself here:

1) Catbird seat – fantastic fine dining and a newcomer on the scene – you sit at a u-shaped bar around the Noma-trained chefs eating whatever tasting menu they decide for the night.  A fantastic sommelier pairs the food with wines and cocktails with minute attention to detail sometimes ‘rinsing’ a glass of wine with a spirit first to infuse the taste in.  Truly, utterly awesome.  You’ll need to book well ahead of time.
https://thecatbirdseatrestaurant.com/

2) City House – on everyone’s ‘best of nashville’ list this is an Italy meets Tennessee joint where the pizza might have a Japanese green paired with a Tennessee cheese.  We ordered the broccoli salad as a starter and have never had such a fresh combination of texture and flavor.  A great warehousy type room in a hard to spot from the road Germantown neighborhood. 
http://cityhousenashville.com/

3) Nash trash tour – jump on a pink schoolbus at the farmers market (have to book ahead of time – this is a popular tour) and bring your own beer for this lively tour of Nashville.  You may not learn much more than the tourguide’s crush on Burt Renalds, but you will have a good time. 
http://www.nashtrash.com/