PA Friends Come To Nashville

Hello everyone. I want to thank y'all for your kind comments and concerns about my well being that I wrote about in my last post. It's nice to know there are those who care. 

My review of my eventful October continues as I share with you how in the middle of the month I spent the day in Nashville with some longtime friends. 

On the morning of Wednesday the 13th, I met Larry & Tina Kester and Diane and Dan Reagle at the Opry Mills Mall. They were visiting Nashville for the week. 

The two couples, who live in the same town in Pennsylvania as my sisters. I used to go to church with them.  

Last time I saw Larry was when he and my friend, Gene came through Kentucky on a road trip back in September 2016.  

I don't remember the last time I'd seen Tina or Diane & Dan. But I've been friends with them for decades.

We were going to hang out for the day, so I wanted to show them some things in Music City they had never seen before. 

They had been to the downtown area the day before so I had to come up with something else. I decided that I'd take them to a place that I hadn't been since 2002. 

The five of us piled into Dan & Diane's SUV and headed to Centennial Park. 

The Parthenon is one of the "hidden" attractions Nashville has to offer. 

 It's a replica of the original structure in Athens, Greece. 

Along with the replica statue of the goddess, Athena, it is home to the city's art gallery. 

We spent time on the lower level of the building learning about it's history and observing the paintings. Then it was time to head up to see the statue. 

Even though it had been nearly 17 years since I'd seen her, Athena hadn't aged a day. My friends were impressed. 

By the time we left the Parthenon it was time to get something to eat. I took them to my favorite place to eat on the West End. 

  They had never been to Ted's Montana Grill before and I hadn't been there in at least 5 years. We sat together in a booth talking, reminiscing and catching up with each other. 

As I spent time with the 4 of them, I heard their stories of adventures from the past, and how they joked and reacted to each other.  I quickly realized that I was getting a glimpse into a dynamic between the 4 of them that can only be described as a close friendship. 

 After lunch, we headed to another place unique to Nashville. As fans of the TV show American Pickers,  I thought they might like to visit the Antique Archaeology store. 

The store is located on Clinton Street in the renovated Southern Motor Works factory. 

It's a very popular tourist shopping area filled with small specialty shops and wine tasting experiences. Tour trolleys stop there all throughout the day.  

I've been there several times because it's the home of the Third Coast Comedy club. 

We went into the American Pickers store and looked around. It was full of plenty of old unique items. They were nice to look at but are a little too old for me to appreciate. I had no connection with most of them. 

We walked through some of the other shops but there really wasn't anything that any of us were really excited about. 

After about an hour we left and headed back to Opry Mills. The ladies wanted to get coffee at a shop called "Tin Cup Cafe". 

We walked in the east end of the mall by Dave & Buster's and the movie theater. A check of the map told us we had to walk to the other end. 

Being the most familiar with the mall, I took the lead and headed toward what I thought was the shortest path to our destination. 

We walked up past the food court, around the Rain Forest Cafe restaurant and back down the other side of the mall. 

When we finally reached our destination and all who wanted coffee were sipping from their cups, it was time to head back to the car. 

I decided to show off my mall expertise and led everyone through a side door that led to the "authorized personnel only" area of the building. 

Now I had taken a short cut from the Lego store to the other side of the mall several times before. But I had always started at the Lego store. But this time I was going in the opposite direction. 

As I proudly walked them through this behind-the-scenes area I quickly realized that I had no idea where we were going to come out. I reluctantly admitted this to them.  Then I took the first door that looked like it led back out to the store fronts. After walking for about 10 minutes we came out only about 10 stores down from where we started. 

My friends were all gracious. We all had a laugh and they didn't tease me too much about it. 

Eventually, we made our return to the east exit and headed back to our cars. 

They had plans for the evening and the guys wanted to go back to their hotel and take a nap. I could understand that. We had done a lot of walking and I was tired too.  

We said our "good-byes" and I headed back to Kentucky. 

In all the time I've lived in the South one of my favorite things is when friends or family come to visit me in my little corner of the world. 

The combination of being with people I've known most of my life and the place where I live the life I love is a recipe that always makes me smile. 

It was a fun hanging out with the Kesters and Reagles. I have a reminder of the day on my fridge. They are the latest additions to my souvenir magnet collection. 

And there you have the day I spent with my friends from Pennsylvania. Hope you enjoyed hearing about our day. Come back next time for more about my October. See you then.