You probably are sick of hearing/reading about Nashville's CMA Festival on this space. I don't blame you; I've written many posts on the event. But ... this year is different.
Nashville has grown leaps and bounds over the last decade. It recently went upscale, and has gotten rather expensive. Our friend Joyce who is a die-hard country fan gave up going to the Fan Fair/CMA Festival for this and other reasons.
Nashville skyline on a beautiful sunny day
Is your favorite country singer on this mural?
Our day in Nashville started out with a frustrating parking situation. All the parking lots in downtown Nashville have resorted to QR-based parking. We reluctantly scanned in the code and registered, complete with our email address and credit card info. We waited and waited, and waited. After 15 minutes, we left and tried another lot. This time, no problem. We paid $30 for 4 hours; just last year, we paid $25 for the entire day! No sooner than we left the parking lot we got a call from our bank. Did we make a certain transaction? We did not. They suspected fraud, and promptly canceled our card. The scammer got our information and now they tried to use the card. We can't stop progress, but is this new parking system a good thing? While the city and/or company sit back and make the money, we the people have to deal with the inconveniences.
There was no time to dwell on the disappointment. We had free concerts waiting. As we walked towards the main drag, music wafted in the air, and quickly took our anxiety away.
Only in the South do we see signs like that (click to see the fine print)
CMA Festival attire
This time, we skipped the riverfront stage completely. We ambled up the pedestrian bridge and got a glimpse of the stage from there. The Cumberland River was buzzing with boats and paddlers.
Riverfront stage (left) on the Cumberland River
Honky Tonk on Broadway
Since we discovered Assembly Food Hall (opened in 2021), we haven't been to our old favorite place - The Wildhorse Saloon on 2nd Avenue. Come to find out, it closed in January! No wonder there was no line dancing lessons this year. The food hall features hip restaurants, trendy and traditional eateries, with spaces for live entertainment. With only four hours to kill this particular Saturday, we had no time to line up for a meal, even if it's the ever popular Hattie B's.
famous local fried chicken joint
Saffron beckoned; the samosas (potato curry puffs) were excellent, the rice bowl with lamb and korma curry was ok. The curry was too sweet and creamy for us.
I speak the Hakka dialect, but never heard of Hakka noodles
QR-based parking has been installed in most cities in Florida too, including the beach parking lots. Imagine the elderly trying to navigate the system just to get some sun or exercise on the beach. What were the cities thinking? Are you a fan?
We still love Music City but we're also in no hurry to return - anytime soon.
So happy to be back blogging again, after a 6-month hiatus. I tend to look back, and I'm not sure if it's a good thing, but it lets me relive all the fun times and keeps my memory sharp. I am grateful and blessed to have the life I've had. Boater friends Keith and Marianne inspired me to write this post. They are cruising on their sailboat Coddiwample. and their pictures of Hilton Head brought back sweet memories of our stop there in 2004 (wow, twenty years ago!) You can track Coddiwample's location under the Boating Links on the right.
It was our second time cruising north on the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway (AICW). By the way, there is good news for boats with deeper drafts! Cruising World magazine recently published an article about the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) getting funding from Congress to repair/dredge the 1,100-mile ICW that runs from Key West, Florida to Norfolk, Virginia. Constant shoaling has made navigating the ICW dicey at times. Mai Thai's draft is 3.5 feet, and we had our share of running aground and helping boats from running aground (see posts on Cumberland Island, Daytona Beach and Marco Island).
This particular April, we were determined to stop at places we had missed the first time. Hilton Head made the bucket list. We were greeted by kayakers as we dropped anchor in Shelter Cove, where we stayed for almost a week.
We dinghied into Shelter Cove Harbor and Marina and a nice sail boater gave us permission to tie up next to his boat. We had brought our bikes and enjoyed exploring the sneaker-shaped island. We found Hilton Head rather pricey. I remember paying a hefty $4 for a scoop of ice cream on a cone. Thank goodness for free anchorage! Harbortown Marina, now Harbor Town Yacht Basin, was charging an exorbitant amount for a slip. There was a major golf tournament going on, but still. The website now lists $4-$5 a foot, a much more reasonable price for the East coast.
One evening, we heard a splash so loud we thought some kayakers had tipped over and fell into the water. We ran out to see a pod of dolphins near the shoreline. Were they stranded in the outgoing tide, like some kayakers previously did? We later learned that they were cornering the fishes into the shallows and feasting on their catch. Everyday at low tide these agile and playful creatures mesmerized us for hours. What a pleasure to watch nature in one's "backyard"!
These photos and video were taken with our Sony video camera, back when 1 Megapixel was high resolution, and took up precious disk space. Amateur photographers like us are happy with the quality. We hope you like them too.
Now back to making more memories so that the first mate can look back and blog about it :-)
Did you know that Atlanta's airport is the busiest airport in the world? I had no idea. But I have seen Atlanta grown leaps and bounds since it hosted the 1996 Summer Olympics. No doubt Delta, CNN and UPS, having their headquarters in Atlanta, have helped fuel that growth, bringing a diversity of people to the area, along with their food and culture.
You can get all kinds of international food at the DeKalb Farmer's Market, where Atlanta chefs get their food supplies. We come for the baked good, cheeses and spices, and stay for lunch at the cafeteria; the African-style curry is so good. There are tons of culinary delights elsewhere. Buford Highway is dotted with markets and restaurants galore, from Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese to Mexican and Latin American.
We drive two hours from nearby Chattanooga for the Korean food, but we also love hole-in-the-wall, authentic Southern fare - barbecue ribs (we love dry rubbed, Memphis style), brisket, cornbread, collard greens, fried okra, fried catfish, fried chicken, to name some. So when friends from Southeast Asia were in town, we took them to Fox Brothers Bar-B-Q. They love the food at Fox Brothers, not overly salty, like they found in many American restaurants.
Dry rubbed ribs, collard greens and fried brussel sprouts
Cornbread and butter
I had planned to stop at Krog Street to check out the murals or street art, but didn't think we had enough time. On our way to Fox Brother's, lo and behold, we passed right by Krog Street Tunnel. It was a perfect photo-op for our international visitors. The murals along the street are colorful and creative; the street art inside the tunnel is more akin to graffiti.
Traffic jams on the highways in and around Atlanta have gotten from bad to worse. We still make the two-hour drive to get our fix on Asian food, just not as often as we used to.
Please welcome J.M., my guest blogger for this post. J.M. is my brother, and he lives in Calgary, Canada. Recently he discovered hiking, and got some stunning photos of the Canadian Rockies. He's happy to share them here with us. Enjoy!
After living in Calgary for 21 years, I am only now discovering the grandeur of the Canadian Rockies. I love Lake Louise and Banff National Park, and have visited countless times. They are literally in my backyard, as Banff is just over an hour's drive from my house. But hiking the trails on these majestic mountains is a game changer. I've been bitten by the mountain bug. It is so peaceful and awe inspiring. I appreciate Mother Nature and my surroundings so much more. I am thankful to live in such a beautiful area.
I'd like to give a big shout out to my buddy Mike for taking me under his wings on these awesome mountain hikes. Since mid-February, I've hiked with him every other Sunday.. This is my 10th hike. Initially, we were going to hike Tent Ridge Horseshoe, but did not because there was still a lot of snow on this ridge. I was bummed, but Mike said “Little Lougheed will not disappoint you J.M.”
That was an understatement. The view at the summit was absolutely breathtaking!
Stunning vista of Spray Lake
These jaw-dropping vistas were our reward for our short but strenous climb. We spent two hours at the summit, reflecting and soaking in the spectacular sceneries of Spray Lake and the surrounding mountains. All that workout and sweat was so worth it.
I was ecstatic!
Me and my buddy Mike
Little Lougheed Trail is a short trail with a lot of hard climb and loose rocks toward the summit. The length is 5 km or 3.11 miles out-and-back. From the car parking lot to the summit, it took us 2 hours on the ascend, 1.5 hours on the descent. Five and a half hours well-spent and almost 1,600 calories burned, I'd say that's an awesome workout.
What are your thoughts? Was Mike right on the money about Little Lougheed?
Every time I wander into my little garden on the river, the fish stare up at me wondering where is their food? I go get some bread to feed them. All of a sudden, a coot appears before me. Hmm ...Where was it hiding, and how does it know I was feeding the fish?
I have to admit that I never cared for the coots. They are the harbingers of winter. When flocks of coots arrive in the fall. they bring with them the cold weather. These noisy waterbirds hang out in large groups; they kick through water making such a sound it's impossible to miss them. Some coots have made their home here all year round. In the last several years, some even have babies. The way the parents protect and care for them is admirable. I have gained new respect and fondness for them. Unfortunately, there are no baby coots this year. No baby ducks either, although we see a pair of mallard ducks wandering around. The video of the coots and their babies is from last year's.
duck and reflection of the sky
The Canadian geese, on the other hand, have expanded their population. They are aggressive when threaten, and very protective of their young and their turf. Their babies grow fast!
A log was trapped near our boat, so I moved it to an area by my little garden so I can spy on the turtles. These reptiles like to bask in the sun. They are very skittish. As soon as they sense your presence, they'll jump into the river.
Pretty sunset a few nights ago
This is one of the reasons why we like the liveaboard lifestyle so much. Do you have a variety of wildlife in your neck of the woods?
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.JPG "A walk down memory lane ... in Daytona Beach, Florida")
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