Nashville, TN

Last week we were in Nashville (or NashVegas, as many call it). I just love it there.


We arrived in Monday, and had the night off. I was going to go to Morton's for dinner because it was literally right around the corner, but then I heard about the Stock Yard, a famous steakhouse. They had a shuttle that would come to the hotel to pick us up, so I wound up there for the night. They had nine pound lobsters! It was definitely better than going to a chain.


I'm not going to lie- I spent a fair amount of time in the bars on the strip in Nashville last week. There are just SO many, and they all have live music, every night. I actually went out during the week, and skipped Friday and Saturday night down there, assuming it was going to be packed. And I heard that it was. We were actually staying right next to the beautiful Hermitage Hotel, and they had a really nice, beautiful oak room bar that was a nice quiet substitute for the honky tonks. But it was stupid expensive.

The best part about Nashville was that Poppy and Heidi came to visit me for two days. They were on their way down to Florida, so they timed it so that they would hit Nashville when I was there. It was a great excuse to be a tourist for a few days.


We drove out to the Hermitage on Wednesday afternoon (Andrew Jackson's home). I was pretty excited to see it, despite the rain. We get out there, and there's a big sign on the gate that says "CLOSED". But the gate was open, so we assumed it was wrong. Nope. Closed for renovations. I felt like we were at Wally World. So we drove to the Opry Land hotel instead to walk around there and maybe have an afternoon cocktail. Guess what? All of the bars in Opry Land were closed, except a stupid Irish pub. The only that that wasn't closed that day was Monell's (below). It was a restaurant in Germantown that I read about and really wanted to check out. You sit down family-style with people you don't know, and food is just brought out to your table to pass around. No menu- you just eat what they give you. It was awesome- all comfort food, and like 15 different things. I think I ate macaroni and cheese and mashed potatoes for about four days straight in Nashville. Anyway, I would definitely recommend Monell's.

Thursday, we met my cousin Allison at a diner in the middle of no where called Loveless Cafe. I guess it's one of those places you have to check out if you are there. Once again- comfort food. Meatloaf and mashed potatoes and mac and cheese. It was great to catch up with her.

After lunch, Poppy, Heidi and I went to visit Belle Meade, and old plantation outside of Nashville. And it was open.

The weekend was pretty low-key. I was re-watching season five of LOST so that my memory is fresh when it starts on Tuesday. I am so pumped about this, you have no idea.

And I of course had to add this one last photo from Nashville- cracked me up!

Creative Hotel Eating

I'm in Birmingham, and there is NOTHING around our hotel and theatre. Nothing. I knew this coming into it though because I have been here before. We took a cab out the other night and went to some pretty cool bars, but it's been in stay in and watch Netflix week.


Anyway, I thought I would show off some culinary skills here in the world of hotel living.


I bought tuna packets, have bread, salt, pepper and cheese, and got onion, green pepper, and mayo from the hotel restaurant. Tuna melt- voila.

I cannot take credit for this one- it's all Kevin's doing. However, I am pretty upset I didn't know about this for the last three years of my life.

Cruisin' The Caribbean

We had last week off after Miami (which is not even worth blogging about), so a friend (that's what we'll call him for blog's sake) and I decided to hop on a Celebrity cruise for five nights rather than go home for the week! The cruse was out of Miami, and we were already there, so it made total sense.


Our first port was Key West for a day. I think I was there when I was younger, but I didn't remember it. We started the day by eating a ridiculously huge breakfast at the buffet, and then hopped off the boat, and onto the Conch Train. The Conch Train is one of those cheesy guided train tours you can take of a city, but it's the best way to see it if you only have a day. Some of the architecture in Key West is pretty cool. The only issue with the train is that it was FREEZING outside, so when we were not in the sun I was pretty miserable.


We visited the Hemmingway House after our tour (as in Ernest). That man was a little odd. He went through about five wives, came close to death about ten times, and had all of those six-toed cats. There are still 44 cats on the property that just roam around, and a cat cemetery. The tour guide was fantastic, and I was happy to find out that he will be on an upcoming episode of one of my favorite shows with Samantha Brown on the Travel Channel.


We of course then had to get in the spirit of Key West and have a few afternoon adult beverages. We went to Captain Tony's, which is the bar that Hemmingway used to hang out at when he lived in Key West. Apparently, people like to leave their bras there, and the man playing guitar liked to sing dirty songs.

Another great thing about Key West is that they don't have an open container law. At least that's what the person who sold us the beers in paper bags told us.

After Key West we had a day at sea to head to the Cayman Islands. Personally, I love days at sea on a cruise. There is so much to do! We played trivia, sat by the pool, played bingo (I'm obsessed), people watched, listened to music, ate, saw a show, ate more, went to a dessert party, watched people dance. Loved it! The weather wasn't great though (like the whole trip). But it certainly didn't stop me from having a good time.

Next up was the Cayman's. I have a family friend who moved there a few years ago, so he emailed me the places I should check out to get away from all of the tourists. When you get off the boat, there is a Hard Rock, Margaritaville, souvenir shops, etc. We high-tailed it out of there to find a cab and go to a restaurant called Morgan's Harbor which was in the West Bay area, about eight miles away from where we were. The lady driving the cab told us it was going to be about $60.00. No thanks! She explained that if we took the bus, it would only be $4.50. Yes please!

We couldn't find this damn bus station, so we were just walking around when a van pulled up that said "bus" on the window and picked us up. We told him where we were going, and he said he could get us there after he dropped people off at Seven Mile Beach. A few things about this "bus": they drive on the other side of the road, like maniacs. So I pretty much felt like I was going to die, but it was super fun. There didn't seem to be bus stops- he just pulled over and picked people up, and they told him where they wanted to get off. I'm sure there was a route, but it didn't seem like there was. We drove past cows, shacks, very nice houses, chickens, and had a very large lady sing us a lovely gospel song on the bus.

PS- there is an insanely large amount of wandering chickens in the Cayman Islands.

About 45 minutes later, the driver tell us "this is where you get off. Walk about a mile and a half that way until you hit the water". Um, what?! But we decided we had gone that far, so why not. So we walked down a long winding road, past local houses, a dead chicken, and a few lizards, until we hit the water, and found the great restaurant that was recommended. And we took a cab back.

The rest of the cruise was really fun- one more day at sea, and then back to Miami. I'm probably ten pounds heavier than when I left, but it was well worth it!

New Years Eve 2010

First of all, are you going to call it two thousand and ten, or twenty ten? I'm a two thousand ten girl, myself.


Anyway, one of my friends out here had some friends who ran a bar in Miami called the Electric Pickle, and he invited some of us to join him to bring in the New Year there. It was SO MUCH FUN! We had two shows on New Years Eve, so it was a bit of a struggle to drag myself there, but once I was there it was nothing short of an awesome party! They had a great outside area with a DJ, and a funky inside with a band and swing dancing. And did I mention that we had free drink coupons and they were pouring the champagne like water?


I had a great New Years Eve, and I hope that all of you did too!

The crew boys of 101

A few of the 101 girls!

Christmas in Cleveland

Christmas was nuts. Most of it was wonderful, but it was nuts.

I flew home from Boston on Christmas Eve (that's where the show was), and everything went extremely well. I should have known it wouldn't last.

I spent a few hours running errands when I got home, then went to my mom's to wrap gifts, and do our exchange with Alisa (my step-sister) and Megan (my bro's girlfriend). We of course hit the liquor cabinet before the festivities began. What good is Christmas without vodka and wine?It turned out to be quite the Snuggie Christmas! (The Snuggies were not people's "main" gifts, but they were fun fillers). I recently saw an episode of How'd You Get So Rich, and the guy who created the Snuggie was on. He's like a billionaire at the age of 20. Now I see why.

Around 4:00 in the afternoon, I went to go pick my grandfather up for our yearly trip to Gamekeeper's, our favorite local restarant. I think I knew everyone in that bar- I love going there on Christmas Eve! We spent about an hour there, visited with friends, and then went to his house for our Fuller get-together.

Bethanne made an excellent pot roast for dinner, and my dad had tater tots and sloppy joes. So festive. We do an white elephant exchange at his house, but with good gifts- not junk we don't want. I wound up with a gift card for The Cheesecake Factory, and my Uncle Paul wound up with the steaks I bought.

Christmas morning, we went back to Poppy's house for breakfast, and wound up with quite a scare. He wound up being fine, but he kind of lost it for a while and couldn't respond to us or move. So we all wound up at the hospital on Christmas day. We knew he was OK when he asked the nurse if she would like to come to his house for Christmas dinner. :)

Next it was back to my mom's for our exchange with her and Ern and the three of us, THEN off to Kubach's house. Um- check out my cousin Kelly's killer Christmas outfit:

Heather just had a new baby two months ago, so between her, and Brendan (three), we were of course entertained all night. We pick names on my mom's side, and I got some great stuff from my Aunt Susan!

I had booked my return flight to Boston for Saturday at 7:30pm. I HAD to be back at work on Sunday. Not an option. Guess what? All flights were cancelled! They thought maybe they could get me there on Monday or Tuesday. They didn't even give a reason, but it was the same day that stupid terrorist tried to pull one over on the flight to Detroit. Soo..... after being awake all day, I went and rented a car at 8pm and started the 10 hour drive back to Boston. It literally rained the entire way, and most of the drive was so foggy I couldn't see more than a few hundred feet in front of me. Eight hours into it, I was in serious pain (not even getting into that), and wound up at a hospital in Springfield, MA for six hours. Then I finished the drive to Boston. It was a hell of a night and two days, let me tell you. I didn't sleep for like 40 hours or something insane like that.

But after it was all said and done, I am SO happy that I was able to go home. Bethanne was home from France, Brian was home from L.A.- we were all in Cleveland. I'm so lucky to have a family that gets along so well, and that wants to make the effort to see each other as much as possible. I have promised them that I will always be home for Christmas. Let's hope I can keep that promise!