Deb's 2 cents from Nashville

Hey All!
We’ve had a great week! We left Green Turtle Bay on Monday, visited some interesting marinas and are now headed north again on the Cumberland River. We’ll stop at Green Turtle Bay to stay again for a couple more days on Tuesday & Wednesday, to get some laundry done and borrow their courtesy van for a run to Kroger…almost out of Sesame Nut Mix!
Last Monday night we stayed at Lake Barkley Marina. There were two marina workers there…one kid to catch our lines and a lady in the office/ship’s store to check us in. The ship’s store consisted of a shelf of snack foods, a refrigerated cooler with 7 kinds of iced tea, a display of a variety of shot glasses…”Bottom’s Up” (and you can imagine what’s pictured on that glass!), a selection of Lake Barkley Tee-Shirts, and 4 aisles of fishing lures! (I’ve never seen so many different kinds of rubber worms!) We were one of only 2 transient boats and there was no activity at all on any of the permanent slips, so we spent a nice quiet evening there. This is where they put us next to another boat called “Headquarters”…what are the odds?
On Tuesday, we moved South on the Cumberland River to Clarksville, TN where we stayed on a free dock within walking distance from historical Clarksville. Here’s a weird thing…the river flows north, but we were heading south…up river…very confusing. The free dock was new and it was nice and clean, but we’d heard some things about safety that made me nervous (people untying boats in the middle of the night, etc.) I think I worked myself up into a bit of a state and had BK tie up all sorts of “special” lines, had him put on the chain with the padlocks, and even tie the small door shut that comes from the swim platform (can you say paranoid?) Turned out to be a very nice place (my paranoia was unfounded) and we’ll be staying there again on our way back down river! (It helps that there’s a great brew pub with awesome pizza within walking distance!) P.S. The “special” lines, the chain & padlocks along with tying the back door shut will still be implemented!
Our next stop for Wednesday night was Harpeth Shoals Marina which had some great stuff written about it in Quimby’s. But once again…we got there and didn’t see any other boaters (lots of boats…no people). We were on a gated dock with a coded entry and we decided to walk to the office to check in and settle up. So out the gate we go…walk around the lagoon to the office and find nothing but locked doors and dark windows. Bob had a phone number for the office but when he called, he got a message: “Hi…sorry I can’t come to the phone right now, please leave a message and I’ll call as soon as I get back from picking up my kid from day care.”….. “B-E-E-E-E-P!” ;o) In the meantime, we realized…yep…can’t get back on the dock and our boat because we don’t know the code that opens the gate and the only people around are the guys putting in docks and “Nope” they don’t know the code. But the guy did offer to shuttle us over on his little work barge and we took him up on it, hanging on to the little crane as we crossed! I tried to get him to come back and get us for dinner, but he just smiled. “Ha-ha…real funny.”
On Thursday we pulled into Nashville to their municipal dock and we were literally docked at the foot of the city! When we decided to make this little side trip to Nashville, I was thinking “Yeah…it would be nice to see Nashville”… but I was mostly just excited for Bob more than anything. Well – I gotta tell y’all (that’s how they talk here)…I LOVE this city! Music City! We took a trolley tour, visited the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, had yummy b.b.q. and listened to SO MANY bands perform live! We were here 2 days and both days we wound up in town walking from bar to bar listening to awesome bands! I never knew I liked country music as much as I do. The musicians would call out for requests and out of MY mouth comes… “How about ‘Ring of Fire’?!” Bob’s like…hello?...Johnny Cash? Really? One band started to sing George Jones… “He Stopped Lovin’ Her Today”… and I’m a bucket of tears…”Oh, don’t play that song…it always makes me cry!” (But you have to say “cra” in a Southern accent.) Then I start singing along with them! (I know the words?...huh?...who knew?)
As Bob told you, we saw a little mini concert at the Country Hall of Fame & Museum… a tribute to Blind Alfred Reed… and once more… it was a great show! (You just can’t beat live performances!) You could tell how much all the performers just absolutely loved playing music and sharing it with anyone who’d listen. The man who organized this tribute, Tim Obrien, started out the show by saying, “Thanks for being here…but, make no mistake…we’d be singing and playing anyway, but it’s always nice to have an audience.” Reminded me of 2 of my sisters (Mooie & Jeanie) and my brother (Hoke)…they just love holding on to a microphone and singing up a storm! Other performers included, Kathy Mattea, John Lilly, Connie Smith, the Carpenter Ants, and Todd Burge (recognize any of those names?) BK told you the name of one of the songs that Blind Alfred Reed wrote…here are a couple more:
· Always Lift Him Up and Never Knock Him Down
· How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live
· You’ve Got to Have ‘Em, That’s All (referring to women…hm-m-m)
· Black and Blue Eyes
These folks that we saw perform yesterday have made an album called “Always Lift Him Up: A Tribute to Blind Alfred Reed”. Some of the songs on this album were originally recorded in 1927 during the famous Bristol Sessions. It’s kind of oldy country, bluegrassy kind of music…lots of toe tappers with fun lyrics…I think I’m going to look that one up! (Hoke & Mooie – you’d probably love it too!)
Tonight we’re going to the Grand Ole Opry and (I can’t believe I’m saying this…) I’m really looking forward to it! I’m bringing binoculars! By the time y’all see me again, I’ll have Dolly Parton hair and all my clothes will have rhinestones on them! And Annie – I’m keeping my eye out for a pair of red cowboy boots! Yee-Ha!
Hope you are all staying dry, that your boats are floating in the same spot that you left them, and that the waters go down soon! Remember…
Life isn’t about waiting for the waters to recede…it’s about learning to dance in the puddles!
Lots of luck to you and yours! First Mate-----Deb
P.S. Look again at the picture BK sent earlier of outside the Country Music Hall of Fame…the windows look like the black keys on a keyboard! Cool!