Month: August 2017

 

I got up early this morning and accompanied by my daughter, Lindsay, we headed to the hotel gym for an intense work out.  We made plans last night to work out this morning but when I got up I was feeling so very comfortable that I was willing to take a pass until I got a text from Lindsay “Are you up?  Are you ready?”.  Damn that girl!  Actually I am grateful to her because I knew what lay ahead for me and my stomach.

I am so glad people love living in this part of the country because there are already too many people in Los Angeles.  As I said before it is just too hot for me in the South.  You might also recall that I love Southern cooking.  Patrice found us a gem for breakfast today.   We ate at 417 Union (located oddly enough at 417 Union Street) and we were offered the usual Southern gems such as Chicken and Waffles (Robert had that) and Biscuits with Gravy (David’s choice).   They also had Lox and Bagels.  Sorry, I don’t order Shrimp and Grits north of the Mason Dixon line and I won’t order Lox and Bagels south of the same border.  I might reconsider them if I can see a hunched over 70 year old Jewish guy with a Brooklyn accent at the cash register.

Here is a look at breakfast menu:

After breakfast we took a short walk to pick up the “Hop-On, Hop-Off” city tour bus.  We had to wait for 3 buses before we could find one that could take on 6 additional passengers.  It is incredibly crowded here with all the “Eclipse Seekers” in town.  We didn’t get off the bus until it had almost completed its loop and brought us back close to our hotel.  We then walked the short distance back to the hotel and along the way saw a number of people selling eclipse t-shirts and hats, long lines at various restaurants (we lucked out this morning, we got seated immediately but when we left there was a long line out the door).  We also saw a of couple people wearing Trump t-shirts (hey, we are in Tennessee, be careful what you say here).

After the tour we went back to the hotel to cool off.  David found us a great video of the ABC coverage of the solar eclipse on February 26, 1979.  Announcer Frank Reynolds (remember him?) quipped,  “If you miss this one, guess you will have to wait 38 years until August 21, 2017 because that is the next time a total solar eclipse will be seen in North America.”

If you want to see and hear Frank back in 1979 check this link: http://people.com/human-interest/abc-news-report-covering-1979-solar-eclipse-wishes-for-world-at-peace-in-2017/

Tonight we will have dinner at Husk (37 Rutledge Street).  It will be late when we return to the room so I am posting now.   If you want to see what we had last time at Husk, look at this link:  http://wp.me/p5Z9hV-15v

Tomorrow is the big day.  We are all very excited about the big event.  Talk to you later.

Many years ago our son, David, was told that on his 19th birthday (June 10, 2002) there would be a total eclipse of the sun.  He looked forward to the day but was very disappointed to learn that it was only a partial eclipse.  At that time the date August 21, 2017 became very important to him. David learned that on 8/21/17 there would be a total solar eclipse in the United States and he promised himself that he would travel to see it.

So, 13 days after his youngest child (Julian) was born AND thanks to an incredibly understanding wife, David is in Nashville, Tennessee to view this very special astronomical event.  Along for the ride are David’s son, Owen, Patrice, Lindsay, our friend Austin and me.

As usual we left LA on a spectacular weather day.  I have met people who say they love the changing seasons.  Not me, I’m like Randy Newman “I Love LA”.  Unfortunately we arrived in Nashville and this place is like an oven.  Even though it was hot and humid as the readers of my blog know, I LOVE FOOD and I LOVE SOUTHERN COOKING.   So after dropping off our baggage at the hotel we headed to dinner.  It was recommended that we go to Monell’s, described to us as serving typical Southern cuisine.  The place wasn’t far from the hotel but traffic was as bad as it is in LA.  Parking was sparse but we were lucky to find a spot very close to our destination.   I brought my sweatshirt in case the diner had intense air conditioning.  Instead of being frozen we had to wait for a table OUTSIDE!  A mere one hour later they called for us.   We were led to a large table where 6 women from Alabama were sitting.  This is family style dining and these women were our new best friends.  The waitress explained that there was broccoli, banana pudding and cole slaw on the table and more food would be coming soon.  “You take what you want and pass to the left.  Don’t be bashful there is plenty out here and more to come.”  Then came the onslaught of fried chicken, meat loaf, catfish, pork, mac & cheese, baked apples, mashed potatoes, biscuits with gravy, corn pudding and I am sure something else that I have forgotten.  The waitresses were hilarious when delivering food, “Use two hands hands honey, I have lots of food here and more is a-coming.”

I took a couple of pictures of the early dishes but I was too frightened of the waitresses to take any more.

Tomorrow is a free day, Monday is the big day.

No, we are not off to see Julian, California (population 1,502 as of the 2010 census and down from 1,621 in the 2000 census) located in San Diego County but rather to see the newest Reiss.  That would be Julian Stephen Reiss.  Julian was born August 6, 2017 and here is a picture of him with the other Reiss boys.

Owen has had a lot of experience being a big brother but this is something new for Charlie.  He has had some interesting observations about the new boy. Most interesting is that ” he is very cute and smells like pizza”.   David and Robyn are doing great and the baby seems to be a real jewel.  Of course I started reviewing all the crucial information with the baby, that is, USC is good, UCLA and Notre Dame are bad, etc.

In addition to visiting we were given an assignment this weekend.  Charlie told us that he was given permission to have a goldfish.  Just talking to him about the fish made me excited too.  Words cannot describe the look on that little boy’s face when we started to talk about getting him a goldfish.  I was feeling pretty good because grandpa was going to be a hero for a couple of bucks.

Upon arriving at the pet store it became very clear that grandpa had not been to a pet store to get a goldfish for a LONG time.  I was right it would only take us a minute or two to pick out a fish for each of the boys (Owen and Charlie only, Julian will have to wait) but instead of getting a cute little goldfish and little bowl our “Aquarian Consultant” helped us understand what was required.  Just a few minutes later we left with a tank (equipped with a water filter and light), stone ground cover, decorations, water purifier and one other thing.  Oh, yeah the fish.  Owen was a great helper while we assembled the tank.  The instructions said to not put the fish in until the tank water had normalized and was ready to receive the little critters. Somehow I think even if the big tank isn’t completely ready it has to be better than the mini-cesspools that are their current homes (see below).

We had to get a tank with a divider  because apparently they will fight if put in together. They won’t get along as well as Owen and Charlie who never fight (Ha!).