TN Things I Love About You
People who know me well know that I have a pretty eclectic taste in music. Outlaw country? Sign me up. 90s hip hop? It’s all good baby baby. 70s funk rock? Play that funky music, white boy. Lucky for me, I married someone who shares my affinity for all types of music. And together, we became fans of Old Crow Medicine Show early in our relationship. So imagine how excited we were back in 2014 when we learned they were going to be playing House of Blues Dallas, which was just down the street from our loft. I bought tickets immediately and we eagerly anticipated the day we were going to get to walk two blocks to see this show.
Unfortunately, just two days before the concert, Justin got roped into a deposition scheduled at the same time and I was suddenly dateless. He encouraged me to go any way, so I called up my friend, Thais, to see if she would be willing to go even though I knew she knew nothing about this band. It’s a good thing she likes me.
I knew I liked Old Crow’s music, but seeing them in concert was insane. They were high energy the entire show. Most concerts throw in a slow song now and then so the performers can catch their breath. Not these dudes. Each member played multiple instruments, and they had a runner switching out the instruments on the stage constantly. They were all just incredibly talented musicians with a suspicious amount of stamina. It was the best concert I’d seen and it made me feel even worse that Justin missed it. So ever since that night, we’ve talked about seeing them together — specifically at the Ryman Auditorium for their New Year’s Eve show.
Well, as it turned out, 2022 was the year. We had enough miles to fly to Nashville for free and we had parents willing to keep our son for a couple of days, so I scooped up two tickets the day they went on sale in July (and they were already nearly sold out). For months, I looked forward to this trip. I planned where we would eat, what we would do, what I would wear. A month leading up to the trip, I made sure I sanitized everything and loaded my family with vitamins to keep everyone in the house from getting sick. I wanted nothing to spoil this trip.
Then, just one week before, Southwest Airlines imploded. Guess where all our miles were. We watched FlightAware intently for days seeing how many flights out of Austin Bergstrom were cancelled and how many arrived in Nashville. We kept hoping things were going to be back to normal by the 30th, but the news stories kept coming. So the day before we planned to leave, Justin said, “What if we just drove?” I wasn’t in love with the idea of spending 12 hours in the car. But I was also not in love with the idea of driving all the way to Austin Bergstrom only to have our flight cancelled and THEN spending 12 hours in the car. So that was how we ended up cancelling our flights and leaving a day early.
As we loaded the car, I had to admit I was a little excited. We used to be a lot more spontaneous before we were parents and this brought on a sense of adventure we hadn’t had in a while. But within a few hours, Waze had us taking a lot of twisty two-lane roads behind the Pine Curtain up the middle of a line of thunderstorms. We kept saying, “Are you sure this shaves off an hour and a half?” And Waze kept saying, “How dare you question me?” My anxiety was through the roof and I was wishing we could teleport. Thanks to his years as a wandering cameraman, Justin is an established road warrior, but even he was ready for a break when we decided to stop for dinner in Texarkana. It was pouring down rain, and it seemed half the town was packed under the porch of this Texas Roadhouse on a Friday night. As we scarfed down too many rolls with cinnamon butter, we took out our phones and checked the radar up against our route, trying to decide the best place to stop for the night. Justin was confident we could make it to Little Rock, so I reluctantly agreed to soldier on — even though that Holiday Inn Express next door looked a lot more inviting than another two hours in the rain.
We rolled into Little Rock around 11:00 that night. Justin had insisted we stay at a hotel on the river. I wasn’t sure why it mattered; we were planning to leave right after breakfast the next morning. After we got everything loaded into the room, he asked if I wanted to go out and have a drink. Man, I wanted to rally for his sake, but I was beat. My soul had left my body about 14 times in the last few hours of that trip. It wasn’t until the next morning when it wasn’t dark and rainy that I saw why he’d been particular about where we stayed. We were in a very cool part of town. I hadn’t been to Arkansas since the first Clinton Administration and didn’t remember much, but Justin had been there recently for work and had found this area and had wished I’d been there to explore it with him. Suddenly, I felt bad for not taking him up on his offer to have a drink. But one thing I love about him is his flexibility, and he’d already found a diner he was excited about for breakfast just down the street called @ The Corner. It was legit.
Although we wanted to wander a little more, we had a lot of ground to cover before our dinner reservations, so we promptly hit the road. Now, I don’t know everything that was going on in Nashville that weekend, but I do know that hotel prices were insane and everything was packed. When we pulled up to valet around 4:00, we could barely find a place to park. I’m convinced that the only reason that we got attention as quickly as we did was because they spotted Justin’s grandfather’s boots perched on the luggage rack. They had a full 10 minute conversation with him about those.
One of the things we like to do when we visit somewhere touristy is to find out which restaurants the locals like. This trip was no different. We had dinner at Black Rabbit that night. It was hard to know what to order because we hadn’t eaten since breakfast that morning and everything looked amazing. I ordered the rabbit rolls thinking it would be a small appetizer, but it ended up being three manly sliders. Don’t worry; I ate them all and treasured every buttery gluten-filled bite. I had hoped to have room for the bolognese because — in my opinion — if you care enough about bolognese to put it on such a small, curated menu, you’re not messing around. We ended up splitting it, and my theory was correct: it was heavenly and we devoured it. We’d been excited about the cocktail menu because it was clear they took great pride in their craft cocktails. But we ended up only having one a piece because that’s all it took to achieve cruising altitude. I had the Two-Trick Pony: a delicious mix of Tennessee whiskey and apple brandy that went down smoother than should be legal. Justin, being the licorice fan that he is, ordered The Hoffa Connection, which combined Old Forester 100 and absinthe. We vowed to come back with more money and a hollow leg.
Since the night was still young, we thought we’d head over to Robert’s Western World. I’ve been many times over the years, and I’ve always enjoyed the dive bar aesthetic and the excellent live music. However, when we stepped out of Black Rabbit, it was raining. We booked it to Broadway as fast as we could only to find a line outside not only Robert’s, but every place on Broadway. So we peaced out of there and headed back to the hotel. We settled on a hotel bar drink by the roaring fire in the lobby of the Omni. I regret nothing.
The next morning, we’d booked tickets to the National Museum of African American Music. We hadn’t been to Nashville since 2015, and this museum just opened in 2021, so we were anxious to check it out. It was fantastic. I’ve been to a lot of museums in my life, but this was the very first one that allowed me to create my own playlist. For just $1, you could purchase a RFID wristband that you could brush up against the interactive exhibits and add to your own custom playlist that you can download when you get home. I was like a kid in a candy store. My only complaint was that the only Houston rappers they mention are the Geto Boys. I mean, where’s Bun B? Fat Pat? Tobe Nwigwe? I hope they’ll be added by the time I come back.
We finished up at the museum around lunch time, so once again, I proposed we go to Robert’s Western World. They have good, cheap, greasy food and there’s always good music. But even at lunch time you couldn’t fit anyone else in there without a lubricant. So we gave up and headed down to Acme Feed and Seed. As we approached the end of Broadway, we noticed that the Iowa vs. Kentucky game was already letting out of Nissan Stadium and swarms of people were coming over the pedestrian bridge. Fortunately, we got to the restaurant before they did. I wasn’t too hungry, so I just got the mac and cheese and green beans. Justin had the Redneck Lo Mein, which looked and smelled so good I had to have a bite. Then, Justin struck up a conversation with some Kentucky fans that strolled in and they hit it off — as he so often does with strangers. After lunch, we headed up to the roof and sat with a couple of lovely Iowa fans as we sipped the drinks that the Kentucky fans had bought us downstairs.
We could’ve easily spent the rest of that lovely afternoon on the rooftop, but I often get restless wanting to cram in as much as possible on short trips, and I was dying to walk over to Pinewood Social. We’d been there on our trip in 2015 and played bocce ball on the lawn with my parents. I’d wanted to come back and bowl there, but once again the football fans beat me to it and all the lanes were taken. Instead we settled for sitting at the bar and eating some delicious tater tots with smoked paprika aioli. I knew I needed some afternoon caffeine if I had a prayer of staying up past midnight, so I had an Americano. Justin broke out of his bourbon cocktail rut and tried a Common Goals at the bartender’s recommendation: a mixture of gin, creme de cacao, and peach bitters. He was surprised how much he enjoyed it, but I’m not sure he wants me to tell y’all that.
As the sun started sinking low over the Nashville skyline, I panicked a little thinking we’d stayed too long and were going to be late for our dinner reservations. But I forgot that the sun sets before 5:00 that far east. Nevertheless, we decided to walk back to the hotel to get ready to head to one of my favorite spots in Nashville: Skull’s Rainbow Room. Now I’d been plotting to have New Year’s Eve dinner there since August. Unfortunately, they only take reservations two weeks out. I knew this was going to be a highly coveted location that night, so I stayed on top of that reservation schedule like a duck on a June bug and managed to score a 6:30 spot. As I suspected, Printer’s Alley was already vibrating.
On a mission
Stepping into Skull’s always feels exclusive. It has an intimate, cave-like, speakeasy vibe. It’s long and narrow with very few tables, so when the hostess seated us at a bistro table right next to the stage, we felt like celebrities. All of the planning to get there was worth it. The service was excellent. The lobster bisque was pure velvet. The filet was perfectly tender and flavorful. And the espresso martini I had for dessert managed to keep me awake for the concert. Everything was so perfect it almost kept me from lamenting the fact that the meal cost more than my outfit.
But the real reason we’d made this trip and driven this many miles and waited all these years was now upon us. It was 8:00 and the doors of the Ryman had just opened. There’s nothing quite like stepping into the Ryman at night. It’s just one of the most unique venues out there; you can feel the history when you walk in. That’s one of the main reasons I wanted to see Old Crow Medicine Show here instead of waiting for them to make their way back to Texas. The Ryman does have its own quirks. The seats are rigid old church pews and the seat numbers are rather close together, so you have to get friendly with your neighbors. And during the course of a three-hour concert, my butt fell asleep more than once in such cramped quarters. But those are the trade-offs you make when you go to the Mother Church.
I can’t explain how excited I was when Ketch Secor stepped onto the stage. I sang, danced, and grinned from ear to ear the whole time. As I said before, OCMS puts on a very energetic show. That is still true. And they still played multiple instruments. I tried to count how many instruments Ketch played but lost count after seven. Nevertheless, they still managed to surprise me. Who expects a bluegrass band to play “Rock and Roll All Nite” by Kiss? And then this dude comes out and starts doing a twirling routine. Yes, the kind with a baton like a drum majorette.
Do you see this man bowing with a baton in his hand? I ain’t playin’.
And when he finished launching his baton halfway to the ceiling and catching it flawlessly behind his back, he took a bow, picked up an accordion, and joined the rest of the band without missing a beat. It’s that kind of off-the-wall showmanship that makes them such a blast to watch.
Before we knew it, the countdown to midnight started and the balloons dropped. That was the most fun I’ve had ringing in the new year in quite some time. We thought we might have it in us to hit at least one venue on Broadway, before heading back to the hotel but…
Hard pass
Back to the Omni it is. That was the best choice, really, since we had such a long drive the next day.
Fortunately, we didn’t have to contend with inclement weather on the drive home. Mostly just grumpy, hungover drivers. But we were having good conversation, we had our new playlists to listen to — thanks to the NMAAM — and one of the songs we discovered had become Justin’s top pick for his funeral (“If You Believe Your God Is Dead, Try Mine” by The Swan Silvertones). So that’s always useful info.
The way things were going, we were hoping to make this drive in one day, since we were both ready to get home and see our son. But, Justin did have a crucial stop he wanted to make. We had to go to the world’s largest Bass Pro Shops in Memphis. Not because of some redneck bucket list item, but because a friend of his designed the treehouse there and he wanted to see it in person. And really, how often do you see a giant outdoor superstore in a glass pyramid?
Like the Luxor and Opry Mills Mall had a baby
This was an impressive and disorienting structure. There’s an entire resort on the inside in addition to the superstore, a bowling alley, a glass observation deck, and a Wahlburgers Wild. It was dinner time, and we were trying not to stop again, so we decided to have our first-ever Wahlburger. I had the signature burger, and I have to admit that it was pretty tasty. We thought about braving the line to check out the observation deck before we left, but my mom texted and said our son was running a fever. That motivated us to get back on the road.
I’ll admit the drive started to feel really long after that. I lobbied to stop for the night multiple times in Texarkana, Marshall, Nacogdoches … but Justin was confident he could get us home. In fact, he would like the record to show that he didn’t even stop in Arkansas. And with the help of loud music, sunflower seeds, and a box of Hot Tamales, we rolled into the driveway at 2:00 a.m.
The next morning, I made the mistake of checking to see if our original flights were ever cancelled or delayed. And I tried not to feel some type of way when I learned they were all right on time.