Nostalgia in Nashville

Last weekend, I headed out to Nashville with Ed to meet my brother and two dear college friends, Phil and Courtney, to celebrate my birthday. I'd been a bit homesick for Nashville, home of my alma mater, and it was great to be back, particularly in fall. I'd rented house that seemed to be nice online, but we were all taken aback by how huge it was when we pulled into the drive on Friday night! It was a true log cabin - the outside walls were made of huge logs held together with thick layers of cement (I think it was cement), and there was no plaster or drywall inside so you could appreciate the logs from all angles! There was also a pool with a lovely patio and outdoor bar, a pool table, several dart boards, a hot tub, a half-court basketball court, and lots of space both inside and out. We stuffed ourselves at Cracker Barrel, bought tons of beer, and spend the evening relaxing in the hot tub. Things were off to a good start. 

Phil and Anthony play bocce ball in front of the house as they wait for everyone to emerge from the house. 

We had big plans to go to the Pancake Pantry the next morning, but we'd all stayed up much later on Friday night than we'd intended to. As a result, we didn't get to the restaurant until almost noon, and the line was out the door (typical) but also stretched most of the way down the block (excessive). It was a simply gorgeous day - low 70s with clear blue skies - so we drove to Centennial Park instead and ate at a small barbecue shack. Hog Heaven can't really be described as a hole in the wall because there aren't really any walls. It sits on the outside border of the park. You order from a window and sit at picnic tables on a patio enclosed by chicken wire. The food is divine, though, and it's right across the street from Vanderbilt.

Free bricks!

I was itching to walk around campus, so after lunch Ed, Courtney and I gave ourselves a thorough tour while Anthony and Phil hung out in the park. Some parts of campus looked exactly the same, but some were unrecognizable. The dining hall, Rand, has been completely redone, and the fusty old quadrangle so beloved by all of us when we lived on campus years ago had been leveled to make space for a huge new building. At the edge of the construction site were several pallets of bricks that had made up Kissam Quad. "Free to Alumni" said the sign. You know you loved college when you can't resist the opportunity to take home a dirty brick. Courtney and I decided to stop with the car on the way home to pick up a few, not wanting to carry them with us around campus.

Our walk was lovely. Vanderbilt is a national arboretum and is beautiful any time of year, but it is breathtaking in fall. Courtney and I oohed and aahed over the leaves and shared all manner of memories uninteresting to anyone but us that Ed was nice enough to listen to. After walking around main campus, we crossed the street to Peabody, where Courtney and I met and took all of our education classes. There have been some major changes there, too, and we gaped as we toured the new buildings. I found myself glaring jealously at the freshman lounging around their dorms, wishing I was in their shoes.

Outside Furman Hall

Reading on the porch of the house

Courtney and I bought some Vanderbilt gear from the campus bookstore, then we rendezvoused with everyone back at the car, picked up our bricks, and headed to the grocery store for snacks and more beer. We had "cocktail hour" on the back patio, chatting and munching quietly but mostly gazing around us and enjoying the peace. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw movement and jerked my head around to see three deer. Everyone hurried to the front of the house, were they seemed to be headed, and we watched in delight as the herd swelled to ten, all does with one mostly-grown fawn. They were drinking from the pond near the front of the house, but they didn't stay long, not caring for our company. I found myself thinking wistfully about my apartment back in New York, which I had always loved but which does not have herds of deer wandering through it.

 After some naps, which everyone felt we needed after doing very little all day, we headed back into Nashville for a night on the town. We had dinner at a restaurant I used to love - which seems much less like haute cuisine after a few years of life in New York - then Phil steered us downtown toward the neon lights. We rubbed shoulders with women in cowboy boots, men in tight jeans, and a surprisingly robust population of hipsters and punks with dyed hair and tattoos. Bleached blonde, ratted hair and thick black eyeliner were very much in. Our first stop was a bar called Robert's and listened to a rockabilly band who played great, old-fashioned country songs. Next, we went to a place next door called Layla's, which featured a slightly more modern band who played old country classics interspersed with Tom Petty. Our final stop was Lonnie's a karaoke bar. Courtney, Phil, and I all had fond memories of Lonnie's. It's definitely a dive, and plenty of talentless people step up to the mic, but like New York, Nashville attracts a fair amount of talent. One of the great things about Lonnie's is sitting through two or three terrible songs only to be blown away by the unassuming girl who knocks it out of the park. The latter party was conspicuously absent from Lonnie's that night, however. We were treated to one stellar performance, one really good performance, and about 50 groups of drunk sorority girls and frat boys tunelessly yelling the lyrics to Taylor Swift songs. One nice thing about it, though, was that Phil and I decided that we couldn't help but be better than the cacophony if we signed up. So we did, and sang the last song of the night, "Summer Nights," from Grease. I'd always wanted to sing at Lonnie's, and it was great to finally do it! Courtney said that the hostess, who'd been rolling her eyes at every group that stormed the stage for the last hour and a half, smiled at us.

Sunday morning was...rough, to put it delicately. But I had absolutely no regrets. With much ado, I got my brick through security at the airport and flew home next to Ed, happy to have been able to celebrate my birthday in one of my favorite places with some of my favorite people.

2005 (pay no attention to the date stamp - I didn't know how to set it...)

2012