Nashville Nine

1.On the way up, through Alabama, stopping in Cullman for BBQ at Johnny's BBQ and watching the 25 or so stares as we walked in. Johnny's is one of those old time joints that still stocks t-shirts and Big Red in the display case at the front. I had a BBQ sandwich topped with slaw. There was a rebel flag and cannon down the street.
2.That Junior Kimbrough record we listened to as the Tennessee hills arrived on the radar.
3. Accompanying my Grandmother and her boyfriend to their St. Patrick's Day party. Talking to some guy who went to school with the Bear. "He was a mean cuss, I'll say that. Hell of a football coach."
3 1/2. Irish dinner at the party-Corned beef, lamb chops, boiled cabbage and Irish soda bread, a hybrid of poppy seed and rye bread from what I could tell. Irish coffee for dessert.
4. Robert's Western World (Downtown Nashville)-Another "Ya'll ain't from here are ya" on the way in from the doorman, a skinny kid with a ruddy Braves hat from Huntsville, AL. Robert's, I'm guessing, is where a lot of the old school country guys "practiced" for what was probably spare change back then. Long, narrow venue, kinda like the old Engine Room, nicely littered with framed photos of the stars, signed dollar bills, and boots...lot's of boots. PBR in the can if you want. Drunk old people dancing at the front to Muddy Waters, Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, etc.
5. Printer's Alley-The old Bourbon Streetesque seedy alley of downtown. Blondie from the Clermont used to strip there.
6. Hatch Show Print-Simple but classic concert posters for everyone from The Carter Family to Korn. I passed on the $10 Korn poster.
7. San Antonio Taco Company-The Taco Stand of Nashville, with a porch facing Vanderbilt. The guacamole tacos were a nice pairing with Pink Floyd's The Wall.
8. My grandmother's magazine collection-Apparently she subscribes to W. The "Art" issue I thumbed through while waiting for the Vanderbilt game to start featured everyone from Richard Prince to Juergen Teller to Stephen Shore to Jeff Koons. Further proof that my grandmother is cooler than yours.
9. Vanderbilt beating Washington State (and watching it happen with my grandmother, who went to Vanderbilt). Second only to watching Duke get beat the day before we left.