For some reason, the night before we left, I just couldn't get to sleep. I was literally awake most of the night. I was able to nap a little on the plane, though, so I was at least functional when we arrived.
We picked up our rental car, and drove to Ashley's house - she lives just a few minutes away from the airport. The car was a GMC Terrain, and I was rather bemused to discover that it had no transmission lever, no parking brake lever or pedal, and no ignition key. Everything was buttons. Press a button to start the car, press a button to release the parking brake, press a button to put the car in gear... I felt like I was flying the space shuttle.
Once inside the house, we quickly got reacquainted with Ashley's cat, Mamacita - the cat who thinks she's a dog. Not only is she more affectionate than many cats... she licks. When you pick her up and hold her, she licks your skin, just like Kettle always does.
Not long after I sat down, Mama came climbing up on me and perched on my knee like the Queen of the Hill:
...and just to show she doesn't play favorites, she sat on Terry's knee for a while:
I went over to the nearby Sonic drive-in to get us some lunch, and while we ate, Mama kept a close watch. In this picture, you can see just her ears and eyes peeking over the edge of the dining room table:
The last time we visited, we stayed with Ashley at her house. This time, however, we stayed at a hotel downtown, which is part of our timeshare network. The hotel is called Margaritaville, and of course, is Jimmy Buffett themed. There's this picture of Mr. Buffett in the lobby, strumming a guitar, with a parrot perched on his shoulder:
...and this parrot mural on the outside wall near the entrance:
...and there are quotes from his songs all over the hotel. Here are three of them. The first one says "Visions of good times that brought so much pleasure, makes me want to go back again."
This one says "If there's a Heaven for me, I'm sure there's a beach attached."
And this one says, "I just want to live happily ever after, every now and then."
In the lobby, I was amused to find this huge blue plastic statue of a flip-flop:
...and what's that on the ground next to the flip-flop? Why, an equally oversized pop-top, of course!
(If you don't get the significance of the flip-flop and the pop-top, find a copy of the lyrics of the song "Margaritaville" and read them. Better yet, listen to the song.)
So while Terry stayed and visited, I went to check in to the hotel and drop our luggage - and find a place to park. The hotel has no parking lot, and for valet parking they charge $42 a night. So I found a parking garage a few blocks away that charged $15 a night.
We then went for dinner to a BBQ restaurant called Caney Fork (gotta have BBQ when you're in Nashville). Here are a couple of pictures of the decor. Stuffed animal heads on the walls, red and white checked tablecloths, rough stained wood paneling, various rustic paraphenalia, and the front end of a truck crashing through one wall, with the words "Caney Fork Fish Camp" painted on the door. You can also see Carlos and Ashley in the first picture.
And that was it for the day. We went back to the hotel and went to bed. And this time I went right to sleep.