We're back from a visit to Nashville where we spent the holidays with most of the family. Probably gained a couple of pounds from eating rich food and not exercising, although we did take a good hike at Radnor Lake State Natural Area. The park is a lovely pocket of wooded hills in the middle of suburban Nashville. Also checked out the very nicely renovated old post office building in downtown Nashville that is now the Frist Center for the Visual Arts.

Many people say that although it's a relatively large city, Nashville is more like a small town. As one person noted, "it has all of the disadvantages of a small town and none of the advantages of a large city." Apparantly city services aren't that great, and everyone seems to know everyone else. From what I can tell, it's true.

We also wanted to do some country and western dancing but made the mistake of going to the Wild Horse Saloon. We've made the mistake before but had hoped that the conditions would be different. Because the Music City Bowl is played around this time each year in Nashville, the drunk teenages seem to migrate toward the saloon, so they mostly stood gawking on the dance floor while we tried to muscle our way around them. Since our last visit the dance floor has been reduced by about 1/2 to make room for more restaurant tables. We finally gave up trying to dance and asked for our money back. The management was very apologetic, but we'll never go back. I suggest Denim and Diamonds as an alternative, although it's only marginally better.
posted by Bruce Wright at 9:55 PM #