Health Insurance is Hard & Makes Me Cry

My hunky husband, Chad, closed his business this past summer after a successful six year run. (That is not my story to tell here.) One of the consequences of closing his business was that we needed to find new health insurance, since his business would no longer provide that for us. Chad did all of the tedious research to find a health care plan that fit our healthy lifestyle and hardly-ever-visit-the-doctor needs. We got the (not at all) illustrious bronze plan, which is basically just catastrophic coverage that helps keep us out of bankruptcy if something awful happens health-wise. Bronze coverage should be cheap, but it is not, as I'm sure many of you are painfully aware.

We hardly ever go to the doctor, but I recently spent three weeks with itchy hives on my chest, arms, ears and shins. I thought it was an allergic reaction to soap. I threw out the soap, but the hives stayed. 

I decided I should go see my new Primary Care Physician on my new health insurance plan about these bothersome hives.  

I tried to call my new Primary Care Physician listed on my insurance card. The phone number on the card was incorrect. I did an internet search to find the correct phone number for Dr. A, and called.

 *************

Receptionist: Hello, Dr. A's desk.

Me: Hi. I'm a new patient for Dr. A. I'd like to make an appointment to see her.

Receptionist: Dr. A is a hospital-only doctor. She doesn't see patients who aren't in the hospital.

Me: Oh. Umm, she's listed as my Primary Care Physician on my insurance card.

Receptionist: Let me guess. You have BCBS?

Me: Yes.

Receptionist: You're like the hundredth person to call. We called them several times to correct this, but they keep sending patients.

Me: Oh. Oops. Thanks for the information.

Receptionist: Sure. Have a good day. Bye.

 *************

I called BCBS. I got the royal runaround from an unhelpful "health advocate" who told me that I had to wait sixteen days to see a new Primary Care Physician, even though it was BCBS's fault that I'd been paying for months to effectively have no Primary Care Physician. My "health advocate" told me to take some Benadryl for the hives, and to find a new Primary Care Physician on the BCBS website. I explained that Benadryl wasn't working. (I took the pills and applied the ointment to no avail.) Then I cried. The phone call was recorded for security and quality control purposes. Fortunately I was very nice to my health advocate even while I cried, in case someone reviews that recording.

I filed a complaint with the Texas Department of Insurance. For a government agency, they have a very user-friendly website! (I am not one to sit idle in the face of injustice. I start ripping red tape, filling out forms in triplicate and raising a stink.)

During this debacle, still having no Primary Care Physician, I was enjoying my usual breakfast of peanut butter on a flax waffle with sliced banana. This has been my personal breakfast of champions for years. That morning, my chest hives suddenly flared up even worse. My lips got puffy like Goldie Hawn's fresh from collagen injections. My ears got itchy. My throat tickled a bit, causing me to cough. My face flushed. It hit me like a mean wallop that my beloved peanut butter might be to blame. 

I didn't eat peanuts or peanut butter for two weeks. The hives cleared and my self-inflicted scratch marks healed. (So itchy!)

Two weeks later, I told myself it was ludicrous to suddenly become allergic to peanuts, and ate three small bites of peanut butter. My chest and face flushed red. My face got itchy. My throat tingled in a bad way. My lips swelled. DANGIT!

During the two weeks I refrained from peanuts, I also found a new Primary Care Physician on the BCBS website. According to the BCBS website, Dr. H accepts bronze coverage and is currently accepting new patients. I called BCBS again, and got a much more helpful health advocate who immediately changed my Primary Care Physician to Dr. H, and made the change retroactive. I did not cry this time. I sincerely thanked my health advocate for her help.

The new health insurance card with my new Primary Care Physician listed on it arrived in the mail. I called the phone number on my card to make an appointment with my new Primary Care Physician. Again, the phone number printed on my insurance card was incorrect. I did an internet search to find the correct phone number for Dr. H, and called.

 *************

Receptionist: Hello. Dr. H's office. How may I help you?

Me: Hi. I'm a new patient for Dr. H. I'd like to make an appointment.

Receptionist: Dr. H is full for patients this year. You might try and check back with us in like... September?

Me: Oh, sorry. I thought he was accepting new patients. You might want to tell BCBS that Dr. H isn't accepting new patients. They referred me to Dr. H.

Receptionist: Oh we are accepting new patients, we're just full for this year.

Me: Okay... I'll check back in September. *big eye roll*

Receptionist: Oh, also, there is an annual fee if you want to be Dr. H's patient.

Me: How much is the annual fee?

Receptionist: Sixteen hundred and fifty dollars... per year.

Me: Thank you for the information. Good bye.

 *************

What? What do you mean Dr. H is accepting new patients, but not until September? What do you mean there is an annual fee to have a doctor? What? 

Now I will wade back into the BCBS website and try to find a new Primary Care Physician amongst their sketchy data. Before changing my Primary Care Physician with BCBS yet again, I will call and thoroughly vet the doctor's office. I will make sure they are actually a Primary Care Physician. I will make sure they are currently accepting new patients. (Now. Not in September. Now.) I will make sure there is no annual fee for them to be my doctor. (Because how is that even legal?) I will make sure they actually take my lame bronze BCBS insurance. (For which I will likely never meet the high annual deductible anyway. *knock on wood*) 

In the meantime, I made an appointment with my doctor of nearly twenty years, who unfortunately doesn't accept my new health insurance. He's retiring very soon which is why I thought it would be best to get a new doctor on my new health insurance plan. I'm going to pay out of pocket. I will not be able to apply the cost of my medical care to my high annual deductible. I'm doing this because I don't want itchy red hives, or to possibly die from something supremely ridiculous like anaphylactic shock due to an allergic reaction. 

The takeaways from this mess are: Health insurance makes me cry. I miss peanut butter.

My New Favorite Song

Now that we share an office, Chad has been subjected to this song playing on repeat. He's not mad about it. Enjoy!



Disclaimer: I'm not sure if this is the "official" video for this song, but I like it.

Smellz

I'm reading a great book currently that conveys vivid smells as keys to deep sensory memories. With that as inspiration, I present to you my top five favorite smells and top five least favorite smells.

Least Favorite Smells:

5. Anything pine scented including fresh Christmas trees *gag* *sneeze*
4.  Garlic: note to all chefs, go easy on this mess.
3.  Port-o-potty: not even a freshly cleaned one can inspire enough confidence for my shy bladder.
2.  Hot tar: does anyone like this smell?
1.  New car smell: I know I am in the minority here, but I hate it. I have a few sachets of lavender hidden around my car to ward off the new car smell.

Favorite Smells:

5.  Lavender: I visited a lavender farm once. It was heavenly.
4.  Freshly baked cookies: a classic
3.  Peaches/nectarines: I lump them together, because they are cousins, and smell similar.
2.  Tangelos/oranges: see note above.
1.  Freshly brewed Earl Grey tea

Smell ya later, Gentle Readers.

My (Totally Fake) Agenda for the Day

Chad often asks what is on my agenda for the next day. I know he is only asking to be polite, and to make sure there is nothing that conflicts with his agenda. Yesterday when he asked about today's agenda, this was my response:

6:30 AM I will rise and consume four blueberries and ten almonds with some coconut water for breakfast. I will ready myself for my sweaty bikram yoga class.

7:00 AM Because there will be zero traffic I arrive at the bikram yoga class.

8:00 AM I leave the car parked where it is, and run half a mile down to the lake, then run four miles of gloriously beautiful trails at Ladybird Lake. I am not at all deterred by bugs or allergies.

9:30 AM I go for a blow-out to get my hair just so.

10:30 AM Mani-pedi where I am not at all embarrassed at the state of my retail-hobbled-feet and the nail technician does not gasp at the bunion on my left foot.

11:45 AM I meet the Ladies Who (Don't Eat) Lunch for a leisurely date. We chat cordially as we push food around our plates and pretend to take bites.

2:00 PM I pop into Lululemon for some yoga clothes that perfectly fit my Kardashian-esque curves, and are not at all sheer.

3:00 PM I report for my court-ordered community service hours. Don't ask.

5:00 PM After such a stressful day, I head to my favorite massage therapist for an hour long Swedish.

6:15 PM I arrive home just in time to prepare a tantalizing vegan meal from scratch. We dine by candle-light at the dining table with proper linens.

8:00 PM I take the dog for a stroll.

8:30 PM I load the dishwasher and tidy the kitchen before watching something culturally enriching on PBS.

10:00 PM I remove my makeup and ready for blissful sleep. Our street is so quiet and our pets are so well behaved that I have no need for earplugs.

                       *********************************************************

How it really went down:

6:06 AM I awakened to a cat fight in the bedroom. I had to sequester the kitten in the dressing room for his own safety and for the safety of Sonic (cat) & Marigold (really old cat). I got back in bed and despite wearing earplugs, could not get back to sleep due to street noise.

7:15 AM I heard Chad's alarm go off again after he hit the snooze bar once, maybe twice already. After a quick cuddle and one more snooze cycle, I forcibly pushed Chad out of the bed. Kenji (cat) pinned me down and gave me scary kisses on my chin. One never knows when the kisses will turn to needle-teeth nibbles with her. Mercifully, I fall back to sleep.

1:15 PM I awakened from a deep slumber. Chad poked his head into the bedroom and asked if I wanted a grilled cheese sandwich with fig spread and walnuts. Yes, please. I needed a lot of sleep as I am recovering from some difficult TRX classes at my gym. Also I currently am afflicted with itchy hives of unknown origin. Plus I didn't get to bed until 2:30 AM due to storms and a nervous Janie (dog).

1:20 PM While Chad made lunch, I greeted all the pets, brushed my teeth and tried to find my favorite socks.

1:30 PM I lunched with my hunky husband who works from home. We both cleaned our plates.

2:00 PM I stared at twitter, instagram and emails for a while.

2:45 PM I did some grooming including plucking my overgrown eyebrows. I put together an outfit for the gym. I cleaned litter boxes, swept and took out the trash.

3:35 PM Janie (dog) knows the difference between heels and cross-trainers. Upon seeing I wore gym shoes, she demanded a walk. It was a very productive walk for her. Eww.

4:00 PM I finally made it out of the house to the post office, and then to my gym. After a full 60 minute workout, I saw that a Zumba class was about to start, so I stayed for that too. I am not the most coordinated person, but I love me some Zumba.

6:35 PM I finally left the gym, and hightailed it to Central Market for much-needed groceries.

7:30 PM I made it home and put away groceries. Chad arrived home shortly after that from his gym.

7:50 PM We dined in front of the TV. We watched The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story. What a good show and a guilty pleasure.

9:30 PM Chad and I walked Janie (dog) again. This walk was not so productive, but she enjoyed sniffing stuff.

9:50 PM I forced Chad to prepare for his bedtime. He is reading a book that I just finished before he falls asleep each night. I want him to finish this book so we can discuss it.

10:00 PM I washed the dishes by hand (no auto dishwasher in the 1952 House) and wiped down the stove and counters.

10:45 PM I kissed Chad goodnight and took a much-needed shower.

11:30 PM I stared at the Internet some more, punctuated with letting our indoor-outdoor cat inside and outside about six times. He's a mess of anxiety. We bought him a little house that is waterproof and has a heated bed in it for the back deck, so he can take his anxiety outside even in cruddy weather.

1:02 AM I realized I still haven't sent my sister's birthday gift and decided to order that post-haste.

1:30 AM I faced the big decision of whether to read a lengthy magazine article or start a new book before bedtime.

2:30 AM It was raining again, but so far no thunder. I prayed, "Please let the dog sleep through this, so I can get some sleep."

Out of Practice

I am out of practice interacting with my fellow humans. I worked too long in retail. It made me wary of people. Working retail often meant long hectic hours of multitasking with cranky crowds. I left retail employment last April. Even amongst old friends, I find it difficult to string words together in a way that makes sense, much less with any charm, sparkle or humor. I get so tired shopping, talking to strangers, driving around in traffic and generally living in a congested boomtown city full of lost newcomers who are unfamiliar with the drill. I know this is not a good, or necessarily healthy, attitude to have. 

I am out of practice updating the blog. Apologies to my eleven (!) loyal readers. 

I am out of practice being artistic. I used to paint backdrops, build displays, artfully arrange things and "style" outfits or spaces as part of my job. I miss the "styling" part of being a retail stylist. I am taking a weekly drawing class currently, but it's not enough to keep the ennui at bay. I am not one to sketch, sculpt and schlep out the acrylics for the sake of being creative. I am task-driven. I want to make it pretty while checking off to-do items. Again, this may not be a good or healthy attitude to have in regards to creativity.

I am out of practice going to the gym regularly. I am currently taking a TRX class (visualize resistance bands and tortuous looking strap-contraptions) at my gym. The first three weeks of that class, I could barely walk without pain and whimpering for days afterwards. This past week, I gave it my all in class, kept good form, and I am not sore. Maybe my atrophied muscles are recovering some of their memory, and growing stronger. This is certainly good and healthy. Gold star.

I am out of practice being thin. I no longer forget to eat due to stress or hectic schedules. I eat when I feel like it. Many of my clothes are tight, or too small to the point of being unwearable now. I remember at the height of stress during a former job, I had hives, hemorrhoids and was down to my middle school weight, wearing a size 4. My hair was long with neglect and not colored in ages. People kept telling me how great I looked while I felt like the floor was slipping out from beneath me. A close friend squeezed my thigh grinning with gleeful admiration and told me, "You're so skinny! You look perfect!" No one is telling me how great I look right now except for my awesome husband. In my humble opinion, it is not a good or healthy thing to admire someone with a stress-riddled, sickly, starved physique. I own these curves I have now. They are not perfect, but they are literally part of me. 

I am out of practice being an insomniac. No longer do I toss and turn restlessly in bed. No longer do I bolt upright from slumber suddenly wondering where I am supposed to be at that moment. No longer do I resist naps, or resist going back to sleep midmorning. I love sleep. Sleep and I got a thing going on right now. It's good stuff. Twinkly silver stars for both of us.

I am out of practice improvising. Scripted acting? No problem. I got this. But when that fourth wall comes down and I am expected to interact with the audience, or when I am expected to create a scene and situation on the fly, right now, not so much. I once excelled at improvisational acting, but those muscles are weak. My "yes, and..." got up and went.

I am out of practice pretending like I want to climb any kind of career ladder. I was never great at aspiring to advance in the workplace. Currently, I think I should find a new gig, but I am directionless and uninspired. I like housewife-ing and caring for my menagerie of pets. It's kind of time consuming.

Some of the things I am out of practice with can stay out of practice. Some of the things I am out of practice with should make a practiced, triumphant return. I'll keep you, Loyal Readers, apprised of the situations.

Foster Fail

L.B. makes himself at home with Marigold as Janie observes.

Yes, everyone saw it coming. No, that doesn't make any of you psychic. We are keeping L.B., previously known as our foster kitten, now to be known as a resident of the 1952 House. "Foster fail" is the term given when a person thinks they will find a home elsewhere for a pet, but that person ends up adopting/keeping said pet. I accept most of the blame for not working harder to find an appropriate home for L.B. with another household. I thought it would be easy to find a good home for a healthy, socialized kitten who excels at playing, purring and cuteness. Lesson learned: if I find another kitten or socialized cat with no discernible home, I immediately get them into an adoption program at Austin Humane Society. Without the support of a proven no-kill shelter, trying to find a home for a pet (even a super-cute, healthy, baby pet) is difficult and daunting. 

Sonic, our fifteen-pound male cat, plays with L.B., and has not done any bodily harm to him. Janie, our wonder-mutt dog, is less interested in trying to make friends with L.B., so I think we'll be okay. Kenji and Marigold can't be bothered to react to L.B. other than a bit of hissing and one half-hearted cuddle session. (By the way, Marigold is now eighteen-and-a-half years old. Persian cats and other exotic breeds of cats typically don't live this long. She may break some longevity record for her breed.)

In other great news: we caught L.B.'s mama cat, and successfully had her spayed and vaccinated at Austin Humane Society as part of their feral cat program. After a few days of rest, healthy food and central heat at the 1952 House, we released Mama Cat back to our neighbor's yard. Mama Cat seemed ecstatic to go back to her life as a roaming outdoor feline. Our neighbor made a little bed for Mama Cat in her favorite spot in his woodshed.

If I keep the house super-clean and all the pets healthy, then it's not pet hoarding. Right? I solemnly promise not to bring more pets home until the number of resident pets is back down to two through natural attrition. I should probably start volunteering for a pet rescue group again, but clearly not as a foster. 

L.B. Kitten Update

Wait. What? Oh! It's a boy. Our foster kitten, previously thought to be a female, is in fact a male, as proven by recent developments. (Pun intended.) L.B. was short for Little Bit, but is now short for Little Bubba, or maybe Little Buddha. He is approximately 17 weeks of age and weighs in at seven pounds. L.B. finished all of his kitten shots today, and is ready to find his forever home. He is a sweet, busy boy. L.B. loves to explore, chase string toys, chirp at birds from his window seat and try to befriend the resident pets at the 1952 House. 

Chad and I have exhausted our social networks trying to find a home for L.B., so he's going on Craig's List later today. Wish us luck!

Meatless Monday? Try Vegan Monday!

Repeat after me: what one chooses to eat or wear is personal. You do you, I'm gonna be me.

I've been a vegetarian on and off again since my teens: a looooong time ago. I have been a lacto-ovo vegetarian consistently for the past nine years. (Lacto-ovo vegetarians eat eggs and dairy products. Chad and I buy humane certified eggs and milk from pasture-raised animals, but I'm aware of the hypocrisy. Thanks.) The cow slaughter scene in the movie "Hud" coupled with my work as a Furry Godmother caring for pets compelled me to say goodbye to eating meat over nine years ago.

I was very fortunate to work on the movie "Temple Grandin" several years ago. (You may recognize the back of me as the flight attendant when Temple Grandin as played by Claire Danes exits the airplane.) While I applaud the work of Ms. Grandin, a notable person with Autism and an animal behavior researcher, more humane slaughter methods for cattle won't let my conscious condone consuming steak. I am very fortunate to live in a society with abundant food choices and the personal freedom to eat what I want.

In December I made the enlightening choice / awful mistake of watching a documentary called "Vegucated" about three people, former omnivores,  who as part of a social experiment embraced a vegan lifestyle for six weeks, and had their eyes opened to the cruelty of factory farming. While the movie was very well made, it was shocking and sickening for me to see what animals go through on an egg farm or a dairy farm. SHOCKING. and SICKENING.

A few years ago I made a half-hearted attempt to go vegan for the forty days of the Lenten Season. I ate lots of processed vegan foods, gained four pounds, discovered my soy intolerance, and gave up after only 20 days. Armed with the knowledge gained from that failure and with the shocking images of conditions on egg and dairy farms, I am resolving to embrace a more vegan lifestyle in 2016.

In the month of January, Chad and I will eat vegan on Mondays. (When I told Chad, a sometimes-vegetarian / current omnivore about my plan to go vegan, he asked if he could try it with me. This was totally his choice.) We are blessed to live in such a vegetarian-friendly and vegan-friendly city as Austin where vegetarian and vegan choices abound at most restaurants and grocery stores. We've already discovered an almond milk coffee creamer that we both love, and that doesn't upset my tender tummy.

In the month of February, I will eat vegan on Mondays and Tuesdays. Each month I'll add another day of vegan-eating to my routine. By August, I plan to be vegan full-time. Easy-peasy! Okay, not really easy-peasy. I love cheese pizza. I also love cheese on bean nachos and bean tacos. I love milk with cookies, the cookies made with milk and eggs. I love milk chocolate. I may give myself a "pass" when traveling, and just be vegetarian if I find myself in the backwoods of exurbia far from a Whole Foods market or vegan-friendly food cooperative, or in Spain where the meat entree comes with a side of meat salad.

Recently, I pondered a return to school to become a pastry chef. Austin Community College offers an accredited, exemplary pastry chef certification program. I thought I could sublimate my artistic compulsions and need for hands-on, 3D work into a job that offers good income and a degree of social acceptance. (A blog post for another time: I'm so tired of peoples' small-minded reactions when I say I work as an actress, or a housewife, or a retail stylist, or a professional petsitter.) I'm not going back to school to be a pastry chef. I'll keep baking, because I love to bake, and learn some new vegan baking tricks. I can be creative without using dairy and eggs, but I can't graduate from a pastry chef program without using dairy and eggs.

My decision to transition to more of a vegan lifestyle is not a weight loss diet or a plan to be healthier. Thank goodness Oreos, Nutter Butters and Twizzlers are vegan! Wheatsville Coop (our local cooperative grocery store) offers lots of healthy and not-at-all healthy vegan foods. My decision is all about doing what I can to reduce cruelty to animals and the breeding with subsequent slaughter of animals for food or for fashion.

I'm fully aware that bone meal and animal dung are used to fertilize crops such as fruits and vegetables. Rather than throw my hands in the air and order a bacon cheeseburger with mayo, I am going to do what I can to live according to my personal values and principles. 

Repeat after me: what one chooses to eat or wear is personal. You do you, I'm gonna be me.

I'm a Little Bit in Love

Two weeks ago Chad (my hunky husband) and Janie (our sweet, silly dog), were sending out cranky vibes, so I took them on a midday walk. Whilst walking, I locked eyes with a little kitten scurrying up a neighbor's driveway. I approached the kitten, low and slow, but the kitten slinked under the neighbor's porch. An hour later, I returned to the neighbor's house with a can of kitten food. The kitten was seemingly waiting for me on the neighbor's front porch. It ran off when I got close, but resurfaced within the hour to devour the food I left for it. I also left a note for my neighbor asking if the kitten belonged to them. The next day, I spied the same kitten loitering on the neighbor's porch. We did the same dance where it ran off as I approached with food, but quickly resurfaced to eat. The neighbor called that afternoon in response to my note, saying that the kitten was not his, that it was feral, and could likely use some help. Our neighbor has a humane trap and got it out so we could catch the kitten. Within an hour of baiting the humane trap, the kitten was moving into a giant dog crate in our dressing room (formerly known as the guest bedroom). I outfitted the crate with a heating pad bed, food, water and a small litter box. 

Little Bit just after capture.

Chad and I thought of several gender-neutral names for the kitten, but none of them seemed to fit this kitten. I kept calling her Little Bit, and that name stuck. We call her L.B. for short. 

L.B. uses the litter box every time, despite starting life as an outdoor kitty. She cleans her plate at every meal. She loves to play, and get her back scratched while she purrs. She loves other kitties, but is scared of our dog. L.B. did an outstanding job of charming the staff at the veterinarian office during her first visit. She had intestinal parasites and a gastro-intestinal infection, but has completed her meds, and is all better. L.B. still needs one more round of kitten shots. As of today, she is approximately 14 weeks old and weighs 3.5 pounds.

I'm smitten with this sassy-pants, closet-climbing kitten. However, because we already house three cats and a fifty-pound dog at the cozy-sized 1952 House. It would be best for our current menagerie of pets, and for L.B., to find a forever home for her with someone else. Chad made a cute video of her being adorable. *squee*

If you live in the Austin area, and are interested in possibly adopting L.B., leave a comment. You MUST agree to provide an indoor home, have her spayed within two months and love her as long as she lives, which could be approximately twenty years. (Trust me. One of our cats just celebrated her 18th birthday.)

L.B. cozy after climbing 6.5 feet to the top of Chad's closet.

Suzy Snowflake

Last year when I worked at Brooks Brother during the Christmas season, the song "Suzy Snowflake" played approximately 11 times during each working shift. I loathed this song. One of my fun coworkers started calling me Suzy and Suze, and calling into question the moral fiber of a lady "tap-tap-tapping on your window panes to tell you she's in town".  I don't miss working retail during the holidays, but I do miss the camaraderie of my fellow retail minions. 

I discovered this version of "Suzy Snowflake" by Soul Coughing recently. I must admit that I don't hate it. Enjoy.

New Exterior Paint Color Options

The first photo is our current exterior paint color. The middle photos are colors we're considering. The final photo is my favorite, and since we have no Home Owners Association in our charmingly cruddy old neighborhood, a distinct possibility. What's your favorite? Leave a non-spammy comment.

Current Color

This Nest is Best... Right?

If I had to sum up Austin in three words right now: lively, eclectic, congested. There are too many people for the infrastructure (roads, parks, places to kayak, water for drinking, parking spots) of Austin to handle presently. My home city of over twenty years is bursting at the seams. I hate to be one of those curmudgeons wagging my finger while yelling, "You kids get off my lawn", but I am headed in that awful direction. With a long list of repairs, replacements and remodeling to do at the 1952 House, Chad and I started to wonder if staying in our current home offers the right lifestyle for us. 

Chad enjoys the flexibility to work from wherever he might choose, but does need to be near Austin for client meetings a few times a week. Real estate prices in Austin are out of control, rising really quickly. We could sell our house today, as is, and make a nice profit. But then where would we live?! We couldn't afford to buy another home (even a similarly cozy-sized home in a less desirable area) within Austin city limits. Chad and I started to think outside of Austin city limits where we might be able to have a bit bigger house without so much noise and congestion in our daily lives. My requirements for our not-Austin-but-near-Austin search: the town has to have a charming, historic square or Main Street area, an average commute time of 45 minutes or less to Austin; NO suburban bedroom communities lousy with fast food drive-thru places, model homes on clear-cut land and a lack of culture. Yes. I have high standards. Deal with it. I have.

Our search for a not-Austin-but-near-Austin home took us to Bastrop, Taylor and Georgetown. 

Bastrop, Texas features a really charming main square with historic buildings. There is a waterfront park. There are locally owned restaurants. We had good lunch at Neighbors Kitchen & Yard overlooking the Colorado River. However, the homes near the main square in Bastrop are pricey and tend to be small. Charm isn't cheap. After the devastating wildfires in 2011 in and around Bastrop, many of the homes in the area just east of Bastrop are new construction and lacking shade trees. I like a little history to my house and I MUST have shade trees in my yard. Best wishes, Bastrop. I'll visit. Let's keep in touch. 

Taylor, Texas  has a historic Main Street area rife with remodeling and restoration happening. Chad and I found a few affordable, very nice homes that offered most of our wish-list items on Zillow.com in the Taylor area. One of the homes was even close to Main Street. We lunched at Ricoco's Latin Grill, which had a vegetarian burrito on the menu, thank you very much. We took note of the cute retro movie theater and the coming-soon craft brewery and beer garden. Overall Taylor was too far from Austin for commuting a few times a week and still a bit sleepy for a night owl like me.

Georgetown, Texas boasts a historic square with a proper, old courthouse. We brunched at the lovely El Monumento restaurant overlooking a waterfront park. (Waterfront parks are a running theme for me. Love!) We stopped at Galaxy Bakery for the best cupcakes ever! Georgetown is a great place to spend an afternoon. I'll be back. However, a home near the historic square in Georgetown that meets our need for trees, a second bathroom and a dedicated room for Chad's office is too much to ask on our budget. 

While Round Rock, Texas would also be a fine choice for a not-Austin-but-near-Austin home with its historic area and appealing nightlife, the prices for our prospective 1500-square-foot dream homes with mature shade trees are too high. I also fear that I would develop an unhealthy habit of daily trips to Round Rock Donuts shop. So, no.

Conclusion: we are 95% sure that we are staying put. Chad and I agreed that while his work keeps him tethered to the Austin area, the 1952 House is the best nest for us. Soon we'll get all new windows, new exterior paint, a new bathtub and new bathroom subfloor for our sweet, little, old house. We only have one bathroom - the horror! I'm not a fan of having a port-o-potty out in the yard and showering at the gym everyday while the bathroom is repaired and updated, but first-world problems will be dealt with accordingly. The value is in the land here. We aren't too concerned with resale value, but we do want to be comfortable and not fall through the rotten bathroom floor while we're here. Wish us luck!

Last Full Day of Vacay

We started our last full day of vacation in the Louisville area with brunch at Bristol Bar & Grille on Main Street. The downtown location was an easy walk from our hotel. (We wanted to hit the road at a decent hour to have time to tour another distillery.) It was a brunch buffet. I'm not a fan of buffets. Given the choice, I'd rather have something freshly prepared when I order it at a restaurant, rather than serving myself gelatinous foods from a steam tray or selecting baked goods from a mini-mountain of growing-staler-by-the-moment starchy wonders. The Bristol's bountiful brunch buffet was spread out on many tables in a large windowless room down a hallway behind the bar area. It was dark in Bristol on Main, despite having huge floor to ceiling windows in the main dining area. The overall decor felt dated, and left me with the impression of being in an anonymous chain hotel restaurant. Our server was a really nice, personable guy, and the high point of the brunch. Other than our awesome server, I think we picked the wrong location of Bristol Bar & Grille. One of our Uber drivers in Louisville told us that the Bristol on Bardstown Road has a fun atmosphere. 

We enjoyed a nice drive out to the Buffalo Trace Distillery with no aggressive tailgaters. Arriving up the twisting, tree-lined driveway to the distillery we saw several large buildings made out of of different materials, each best-suited to a particular product made or aged within, as we learned on the tour. Lots of history at this distillery and lots of different products made this an interesting venture.

In one of the barrel aging houses we were treated to a short ghost story. Our tour guide told us of a lady on a tour who stepped outside for fresh air. Initially the tour guide thought it was a bit of claustrophobia on the lady's part, but later the lady cornered the tour guide. "Don't you lie to me," she said to the tour guide. "I know this place is haunted. I had to step out because I saw a man in old-time clothes patting the barrels, checking them as if he was tucking children into bed for the night. I stepped outside for some air, and saw the same man up in one of the top floor windows, staring down at me like I was the ghost." Of course, Buffalo Trace Distillery also offers ghost tours on Thursday through Saturday evenings. The distillery has also been featured on a variety of ghost hunter "reality" shows. Boo!

Near the end of our tour, our group bellied up to the bar for the liquor tasting. Chad enjoyed a few sips of different bourbons. Then I was in for a treat, because Buffalo Trace Distillery makes vodka. As aforementioned, I do no like bourbon, but I am a fan of vodka. Cheers! Not bad. We also shared a taste of tiny root beer floats made with McGillicuddy's Root Beer and Buffalo Trace Bourbon Cream. Also not bad. I wish that we had explored the grounds a bit more before leaving Buffalo Trace, but it was a hot day. We were starting to melt. 

Upon arrival back into Louisville proper, it was evident from our gurgling stomachs and wilting moods that we needed food. We parked at Garage Bar on Market Street in the NuLu area. The former car mechanic garage had an industrial/rustic feel in a clean, well-lit space. There was a beautiful bar with antiqued-mirror-backed shelves reminiscent of an old pharmacist counter along one wall. The bathrooms were clean. Hallelujah! I had a delicious lavender honey lemonade drink with vodka. (What? I was on vacation.) Chad and I shared a mixed local leaves salad with pecans, charred peach and shaved cheese, and then shared a summer squash pizza. Amazing! If I lived in Louisville, this would be my go-to place. There are also ping-pong tables outside and some lawn games, if you're feeling the need to be outdoorsy, which Chad and I were not.

Although the nice manager from Friday night at Proof on Main invited us to stop in Sunday night at the bar for a drink on the house, we declined. Our waiter from brunch Sunday morning invited us to visit him at his other restaurant job down the street on Sunday evening, but we declined. People were so friendly and inviting in Louisville. We were tired from a packed schedule of sightseeing over the course of our eight day vacation. Even though it was our last night of vacation, we went back to the hotel early in the evening. I studied my script for an upcoming dinner mystery show. We packed for our morning departure. 

The next day, after another great room service breakfast, we departed the 21c hotel and Louisville. Chad drove the two of us back to Nashville to catch our flight home. We considered going to Cheekwood Botanical Gardens and Art Museum before the airport, but is closed on Mondays. *sad trombone*

It was good to get home to our pesky pets and the 1952 House. While on vacation Chad and I talked at length about whether or not we want to stay in our current house, or move to a quieter area out of the congestion and noise of Central Austin. Check back soon for tales of traversing small towns near Austin in search of a slower pace, more affordable real estate and less congestion.

Sweet Surprise on the Bourbon Trail

We treated ourselves in true vacation fashion, and started our day with some of our favorite things. Chad loves a big eggy breakfast. I love a fruit smoothie and toasted bagel for breakfast. Hooray for room service! Also, the fruit smoothie was awesome! Thanks 21c hotel!

We hit the trail to tour the Maker's Mark Distillery in Loretto, KY. The country roads are scenic with rolling verdant hills, other bourbon distilleries and barns with colorful painted quilt crests. We also saw huge, tall warehouses in the middle of grassy fields, far separated from any other buildings. These are the off site aging facilities for the barrels of bourbon as we later learned on the tour. The grounds of the distillery are beautiful. The history of the distillery is interesting. Even if you don't like bourbon (like me), visit Maker's Mark distillery and take the tour. The three most interesting things I learned on the Maker's Mark Distillery tour: The limestone filtered water in Kentucky makes for more palatable, less astringent whiskey/bourbon. Marjorie "Margie" Samuels, wife of then distillery owner, T. William Samuels, designed the distinctive packaging, label and wax seal of Maker's Mark. Each bottle of Maker's Mark is still hand-dipped in the iconic red wax seal today. 

Just before the end of our tour, our guide brought us into one last barrel aging house with no warning of what we were going to see. I wasn't the only one to audibly gasp at the amazingly beautiful surprise: an installation of Chihuly glass art in the ceiling! I love Chihuly-style glass, and to find it in a bourbon distillery in Kentucky in such abundance and splendor was breathtaking. (Watch the video embedded below to get the full effect.) 

We walked past the old fire station on our way back to the parking lot. It makes sense that distilleries had their own fire trucks due to all the wooden barrels and flammable liquids. Before getting back on the road, we stopped at the Toll Gate Cafe for sandwiches and iced tea. We also shared a chocolate topped bourbon cookie. My advice: each get your own bourbon cookie, because they are too yummy to share.

firetruck at Maker's Mark Distillery

We made our way down winding country roads, thwarting a few frightening tailgaters along the way, back to Louisville. We landed in the NuLu area to peruse a few shops such as Revelry (Loved this shop/gallery! I harbor a tiny bit of regret that I didn't buy two prints I liked there.), Why Louisville (lots of t-shirts) and a funky little bakery called Please & Thank You. The rosemary lemonade from Please & Thank You hit the spot on a hot summer day. I love a good artisan lemonade. Seriously. 

We drove a bit around the historic home district of Louisville. Some of the homes are immaculately maintained and grand. Other homes are clearly historic, but looking as if they were subdivided to rental units and a little funky. Some are charmingly cruddy. Sadly, some are just cruddy. It's eclectic and real; not overly re-gentrified. We saw a wedding in progress at the Conrad-Caldwell House. We restrained ourselves by not honking and not yelling "woooo" out the car windows. We're classy.

Then it was Chad's naptime, so we returned to the hotel to rest before dinner. 

We took the recommendation of the friendly manager at Proof on Main and went to El Camino for dinner. El Camino has a tiki-surfer vibe and serves Mexican-influenced food. Yay for a vegetarian plate! The food was good. The drinks were fine. The decor was fun. Our sweet waiter seemed a bit flustered by the end of our meal telling us about how "slammed" the restaurant was. Um... really? There were plenty of empty tables, no wait to be seated on a Saturday night and plenty of empty seats at the bar. We smiled and nodded, trying diligently not to smirk in disbelief. I think if this guy ever saw any half-popular restaurant in Austin on a weekend evening, he'd want to run screaming, but would only be able to do so after carefully navigating his way through the throngs of hungry people crowding the precious-little waiting area.  

funky decor at El Camino

funky lights at El Camino

After dinner, we walked around the Bardstown Road area, window-shopping and people-watching. It seems to be the hip, happening district where the cool kids hang out. Wooooo!

Back at the hotel, we perused even more art. The exhibition space at 21c hotel museum is vast and eclectic. I especially liked the jungle scene dayglo room lit with black lights so that everything glowed garishly and creepily like a ride at a twisted theme park. Yay!

We had a busy, interesting, full day. I'm tired just recounting it here. Tune in later for a slightly less busy, but just as interesting account of our last full day of vacay. 

Onward to Lovely Louisville

We planned to pick up our rental car and visit Cheekwood Botanical Gardens and Art Museum before exiting Nashville, but we hit a few snags. Despite calling my credit card company in advance to notify them of our travel plans, my credit card was declined. Then my phone lit up with a fraud alert from my credit card company. Standing at the car rental desk, I called the credit card company and said aloud all sorts of passwords and private information for anyone in earshot to hear. The nice lady at the fraud alert center told us to try the card again. The very patient lady at the car rental desk tried the card again. Still declined. After a brief hold, the nice lady at the fraud alert center told us to try the card again. The very patient lady at the car rental desk tried the card again. Still declined. Then the car rental system shut my credit card out for 48 hours after the third decline. Then we tried my debit card. New verse, repeat the chorus, fraud alert, declined. Finally we put the transaction on one of Chad's business credit cards with no problem, but with an hour and a half lost from our schedule.

While still in Nashville I looked forward to seeing the Jaume Plensa outdoor sculptures and installations at Cheekwood after seeing a few of his works at the Frist. I regret that we didn't regroup/calm ourselves after ninety minutes of wrangling fraud alerts and go to Cheekwood as planned. Our nerves were frazzled and we were ready to be on our way to Louisville, thinking we wanted to avoid rush hour with the three hour trip ahead. Little did we know that there was way more nerve-frazzling to endure on I-65. 

Chad's friend, Ed, forewarned us of the speed traps along I-65, but he didn't have the psychic abilities to warn us about all of the construction and abrupt lane closures along I-65 North. At one point in the construction chaos, I-65 reduced from three lanes to two lanes, then the two lanes split for about ten miles divided by concrete barriers with no shoulders. Posted speed limits dropped to 45 miles per hour in the constructions zones which meant most locals drove about 70 miles per hour. I did the white-knuckled driving in our rented crossover vehicle (a.k.a. less convenient mini-van). I did speed and broke the posted speed limit, but I swear it was just so we didn't get run over, rammed or have shots fired at the vehicle. I also got to witness my first ever eighteen-wheeler tire blowout! A giant tire flew through the air and bounced along the roadway before snapping into a long, angry flopping serpent. I steered off to the shoulder, which thankfully reappeared for a few miles amidst the construction. The car behind me also steered to the shoulder, then whipped around our car after passing the flying steel belted radial projectile. I barely slowed, much less stopped, and got right back onto the road too, because the shoulder ended again and the concrete barriers were back. I hate I-65 North. I made Chad do the rest of the driving in and around Louisville. 

Our first stop in Louisville was Whole Foods Market. We needed some healthy salads real bad. When traveling, I find that most restaurants regard making healthy salads either too challenging or too unpopular. I love Whole Foods salad bar in almost any city. We sat in Whole Foods at a booth and ate our salads, chugging water, waiting for my blood pressure to drop back to normal after the harrowing drive. 

Chad drove to our hotel in downtown Louisville, 21c museum hotel. Wow! What an amazing concept! There was art everywhere, including red plastic penguin sculptures that migrated around the interior and exterior of the hotel, a three-story-tall gilded copy of Michelangelo's David sculpture out front, light bulb panels with infinity mirrors in the elevator, a mini smoke ring garden in a courtyard, paintings, photos, installations and even original cut paper art in our room! It took us two separate explorations just to see all of the massive exhibit spaces at 21c museum hotel. A channel on the hotel TVs shows short art programs. Our king-size deluxe room was spacious, comfortable and well-appointed with free WiFi. This place is definitely in my top five of hotels I've stayed in worldwide. My one complaint: the tiny refrigerator in our room was full of mini-bar items. I need somewhere to stash my own drinks and the inevitable leftovers from huge restaurant portions. I don't want the overpriced mini-bar mess.

lovely artwork & requisite mint julep cups in our Louisville 21c hotel room

After getting settled in our room, we walked around downtown and saw so many museums, arts facilities and sports arenas! We watched the sun set over the Ohio River at the Louisville Waterfront Park, complete with steamboats on the near horizon. Then we wandered through the pretty East Plaza fountains and water features. On the West Plaza lawn of The Kentucky Center we stumbled upon an outdoor showing of the movie "The Princess Bride" to a crowd of maybe 100 people on a Friday night. I marveled at the charmingly manageable lack of congestion all over downtown Louisville. (When outdoor movies are shown in Austin on the lawn of The Long Center on Wednesday nights, there are usually thousands of people vying for space. Yes, there is a running theme that I am weary of the crowds in Austin.)

Repeal by Aaron Wheeler, part of Gallopalooza in Louisville, KY

We spotted several Gallopalooza sculptures while exploring Louisville. Gallopalooza horse, horse on bourbon barrel and mint julep sculptures are customized by local artists and appear throughout the Louisville area as a way to bolster local artists and improve tourism in the area. (Austin did a version of this several years ago with big guitar statues, many of which can now be seen at baggage claim carousel 3 in Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.)

big guitar art in Austin airport

Our first night in Louisville we dined at the 21c hotel restaurant, Proof on Main. Disclaimer: I'm no foodie. The restaurant was expensive, but overall delicious with inventive dishes. Our patient server helped me find vegetarian options. My advice: skip the oily "blistered green beans" side dish. For dessert Chad and I loved the "chocolate goo cake". The mixed drinks were fantastic. One of the restaurant managers visited our table and made recommendations for other places to visit in Louisville. We actually went to two of the four recommended places and loved both. (More on that later.)

After dinner we took the elevator up to our room. No designated driver or taxi needed. 

Check back soon for tales from "The Bourbon Trail". Be advised: I do not like bourbon, but Chad does.

Rainy Day in Nashville Ends in Song

When fairly heavy rains put the brakes on plans to visit Cheekwood Botanical Garden and Museum of Art, we decided to catch an uber ride to The Nashville Farmer's Market instead, which is mostly covered or enclosed. 

The majority of fresh produce vendors are not at the farmer's market on weekdays it seemed, but the Market House Restaurants and Shops building was packed with lunch crowds. After perusing all of the many and varied food court vendors, we chose Village Bakery & Provisions for a shared grilled brie and peach sandwich on freshly baked bread with a lemon eclair. Yum! There was a bit of confusion when we were waiting for our sandwich. The baker walked up to the front counter and mumbled something and handed me a hot from the oven, large loaf of bread. I smiled brightly, said something like, "Thanks. Wow, still so warm." I had no idea why the baker handed me the bread or what he said. Then he came back a moment later and told me it was pugliese bread. I repeated, "pugliese? Thanks." Then I tried to pay the cashier for the bread, still confused, but trying to act like I knew what was happening. The cashier smiled and said, "He GAVE that to you." I replied, "Oh! So sweet! Thank you!" I have no idea what the baker initially said or why he gifted me bread, but it was delicious! Also I am awkward sometimes.

Too often Chad and I do more during a vacation week than other people do during a work week. We're not people who relax easily, both fueled by varying combinations of anxiety, caffeine, ambition, fear or missing out and wanderlust. It is actually odd for either of us to spend multiple hours unstructured or unplanned on vacation, but that's what we did before heading back out to meet our dinner date for the evening. There was a good bit of staring at our respective phones, reading fiction and general laziness. Someday I will have a vacation where I spend the majority of time relaxing and being lazy. Dare to dream!

Our dinner date and local host for the evening was Ed, another of Chad's high school friends. We met up with Ed in the long line outside of Hattie B's Hot Chicken. As a buzzkill vegetarian who tries really hard not to judge while other people eat meat, I did not partake in the hot chicken. Apparently the chicken is fried and spicy. I did enjoy some macaroni and pimento cheese, people watching and eavesdropping. 

After dinner, we crossed the street to the Broadway Brewhouse for a very adult milkshake called a bushwacker which featured approximately eight different liquors. Delicious and dangerous! Perhaps the drink also served as liquid courage for our next stop: The Big Bang Dueling Pianos Bar in the heart of Broadway's Music Row. I've often been accused of seeming aloof or too cool for school, but this was not the case in the middle of a silly-fun sing-along at the dueling pianos show. The musicians totally engaged with the audience and seemed like they were having a great time, which made the audience have a great time. They performed modern songs such as "Shut Up and Dance" by Walk the Moon and "Shake it Off" by Taylor Swift. One of the musicians started a funny game where he pointed out that a $2 tip prompted a Taylor Swift song, but that for $3 he would play a different song without missing a beat, which he did while the other musician suggested that a $4 tip would start the Taylor Swift song back up where they left off, which we also got to witness. This was likely a bit they had done before, but it seemed impromptu and super-fun. They also performed an awesome medley of Beatles songs courtesy of a $100 tip/request from an audience member. We stayed for about two hours, and I sported a huge grin the entire time. Let it be noted that I also joined hands and swayed to the chorus when instructed to do so during the Neil Diamond song "Sweet Caroline". In summary, I was neither aloof nor cool. 

Ed had to be at work in the morning, so we didn't stay out late. Chad and I had to check out of our loft and be at the rental car pickup for our drive to Louisville the next morning too. We loved seeing friends in Nashville, having locals show us around and make suggestions. Nashville is truly charming, but we wouldn't have felt so welcome without our friends there.

Check back soon for harrowing tales of driving I65 to lovely Louisville.

Pretty History & Good Eats in Nashville

Since 1875 Hatch Show Print presses have produced posters advertising entertainment such as country music shows, jazz shows and even wrestling matches. Several years ago, Chad and I went to an Austin exhibit of Hatch Show Print posters. We were excited to see the actual Hatch Show Print studio, gallery and class space during our trip to Nashville. Though Hatch Show Print has moved locations several times during its rich history, the old print blocks and presses made the move to the current location. The walls are new, but everything else has a respectable patina. On the tour, we learned more about the history of the shop, the contemporary workings of the shop and got to pull our own print through the press in the classroom. We exited through the gift shop naturally, picking out lots of letterpress cards.

On the way back to the loft we walked past the Schermerhorn Symphony Center, stopping to admire some fountains and sculptures outside the impressive venue.

After a lunch of Puckett's leftovers at the loft, we walked to The Frist Center for Visual Arts. The building itself is a sight to behold. What once housed the central Post Office for Nashville is a marvel of art deco finishes and details of marble and forged metal. The exhibits were also worth seeing: Italian Style: Fashion since 1945; Postcards of the Wiener Werkstatte; and my favorite, Jaume Plensa: Human Landscape installations and sculptures.

We stopped at an empty table in the children's activity area at the Frist to design our own Italian-inspired fashions. Mine is the orange and pink. Chad's is the brown and turquoise. Really? Brown? No.

Walking to and from The Frist Center, we saw many lovely historic buildings. I totally get why Nashville is called the "Athens of the South" with all of the classical style architecture. My top three favorite buildings were:

Hume-Fogg High School

U.S. Customs House Nashville

Union Station Hotel

One of our main reasons for going to Nashville was to catch up with friends who live there. Our scheduled date for the evening with one of Chad's best friends from high school, Hunter, was sadly, but understandably, canceled. Hunter and his lovely wife are first time parents to a very new baby, and consequently in desperate need of sleep. Our dashed date with Hunter yielded some great dinner recommendations in the form of a very helpful and apologetic email with a list of places he would have liked to take us. From the list, we chose Five Points Pizza in East Nashville. The vibe was fun: the right balance of laidback and lively. The salads and New York style pizza slices were awesome. If you've been to Home Slice Pizza in Austin, you might rightly draw comparisons to Five Points Pizza in Nashville.

We walked around East Nashville a bit after dinner to see what there was to see, and stumbled upon Pied Piper Creamery in a cute old Victorian house. The place was empty except for the nice lady working there. We shared a small scoop of trailer trash (vanilla ice cream with Oreo, Twix, Butterfinger, Nestle Crunch, Snickers, M&Ms, and Reese’s Pieces). The trailer trash ice cream was sublime and worth every calorie. We sat on the front porch of Pied Piper Creamery looking down the hill to the sidewalk for some light people-watching. Maybe it was the light rain falling, maybe typical Wednesday night doldrums or maybe good stuff just isn't as mobbed in Nashville as it is in Austin, but there weren't many people to watch. If Pied Piper Creamery existed in Austin, there would be a constant line out the door and down the sidewalk like there is at lick ice cream in Austin. The only place I experienced crazy crowds of people in Nashville was at Puckett's Grocery & Restaurant. These days in Austin it seems as if anything worth doing, or going to, has a forty minute wait or a line forty people deep.

It was a welcome change of pace to get out of Austin for a bit to cooler temperatures and lesser crowds of people. Come back soon for more travelogue tales of cooler weather and much more manageable "crowds".

Much Nashville Sightseeing

Our first full day in Nashville was full of sightseeing and visiting thanks to my good friend & awesome former boss-lady, Kat, and her knowledgeable Nashville-native husband, Brian. They were the hosts with the most!

I'm an admitted over-planner when it comes to travel. I sent Kat a lengthy list of places in Nashville I hoped to visit, and asked her to pick one or more that we could do together. Kat picked two places from my list, and we ended up hitting four places by the end of the day.

Kat & Brian picked up Chad and I in their super-comfy, king-cab truck. Our first stop was Bongo Java near Vanderbilt and Belmont Universities. Bongo Java serves breakfast all day -- yes, please! Our brunch was hearty and cheap. The order at the counter service was perfect for chatting without interruptions from a server. It was so nice to catch up a bit with Kat, and find out more about Kat's and Brian's adventures since moving to Tennessee.

After brunch Brian acted as tour-guide showing us beautiful, stately buildings around Vanderbilt and Belmont on the way to one of the best tourist traps I've ever seen, the Parthenon. In Nashville. It was pretty cool to see a full scale replica of Greece's famed Parthenon. I was floored by the giant Athena statue inside with its sheer size, gold leaf detailing and iconography on her headdress and shield. Look in the bottom left corner of the photo below. That's a full-size adult you see by the column, to give you a sense of scale. Giant. Athena.

After the Parthenon, Brian drove along Music Row pointing out famous clubs, record companies and music venues. We also checked out the waterfront terraces and pedestrian bridge. Brian gave us good insight into how Nashville changed over the past twenty years, including the population growth.

While downtown, we cruised through the historic and impressive Hermitage Hotel Lobby ever so briefly. No less than three uniformed hotel employees said "welcome" to us during our two minutes of looking at the lobby and its ornate, restored/maintained grandeur. While the employees smiled and said the word welcome, we understood that we needed to move along and not stop for any photo opps. The hotel lobby was full of men dressed in full suits on a hot day, discussing very important things, I'm just sure. *Click here for images from the Hermitage Hotel lobby.* *Click here for some history of Hermitage Hotel.*

Next up we went to Marathon Village, formerly the Marathon automobile factory, now home to many shops, a soda fountain, a coffee shop, a fancy artisan distillery and offices. It's cool to see old buildings repurposed with a nod to their historic pasts. There is a display in one of the lobbies of Marathon Village with photos and details about the old car factory.

After so much sweaty sight-seeing, we stopped at The Slider House for liquid refreshment. We tried to chat more, but the (over-caffeinated? anxious? well-meaning but clueless?) waiter checked on us every two minutes, making it difficult to finish a thought.

After Kat and Brian dropped us back at Printer's Alley, Chad and I rested a bit from our very full day before walking to Puckett's Grocery & Restaurant for dinner. This place is all about barbecue. We both left smelling of barbecue. Chad got a plate with three different kinds of meat on it. "Good for you, not for me", says the vegetarian. Our sweet server, Valerie, kindly helped me navigate the menu to find vegetarian options: a few of the side dishes could be assembled as a veggie plate or a veggie burger with fries. I got the veggie burger and added a fried green tomato to it. Yum! Also huge! Chad and I both took half of our meals back to the loft in to-go boxes. I'm thankful that our loft had a full-size refrigerator. I do not enjoy trying to cram leftovers into a mini-fridge amongst mini-bar items when traveling.

We slowed our roll a bit for the rest of our Nashville trip. Check back for more travelogue soon.

Nashville Charms

At the risk of angering legions of country music fans, I must confess that neither Chad nor I are country music fans. Sure, Chad dabbles in some mopey alt-country bands such as Dawes, Wilco and The Jayhawks, but overall, not so much with the country music. We went to Nashville... and did not go to Opryland, did not seek out live country music and did not tour Ryman Auditorium. Also, I'm a vegetarian, and did not partake in the fine food offerings of barbecue or hot chicken for which Nashville is famous. We did lots of other fun stuff instead!

We arrived in Nashville on a Monday in the late afternoon, and cabbed it straight to our accommodations in the Printer's Alley Lofts from the airport. Our cab driver told us how much Nashville is growing and how fast it is changing. We saw construction cranes on the horizon, road improvement projects happening and deep pits dug out for the foundations of huge new buildings. We also saw many historic buildings in Nashville with beautifully maintained and/or restored facades all over the greater downtown area. Comparatively, Austin has Congress Avenue, Judges' Hill and parts of Sixth Street with a smattering of historic buildings. I quipped that Austin is the kind of city that would be born if Nashville and Los Angeles had a baby: some live music, a few historic buildings, too much traffic, some famous people and lots of shiny, new stuff.

Our destination, Printer's Alley, is likened to a miniature version of Bourbon Street, in the middle of the downtown Nashville hustle. It was named for the printing industry that once occupied the land. Printer's Alley was also part of the "men's quarter" where a few generations of men went to behave in most ungentlemanly ways. Liquor during prohibition? Sure. Burlesque shows? Plenty. No-tell motels? Yep. Yay for history! Currently Printer's Alley features karaoke bars, blues bars and restaurants with controversial plans for a new hotel.

The charming entrance to Printer's Alley Lofts 

Our studio rental in the Printer's Alley Lofts had historic touches like hardwood floors and exposed brick walls with modern conveniences such as great air-conditioning, a heavenly spa jet bathtub, and double-paned windows that kept out the street noise. Since we had a kitchen in our loft, bigger than our kitchen at home I might add, we walked to HG Hill Urban Market for provisions such as peanut butter, dark chocolate, milk, coffee, frozen waffles and crinkle-cut carrots. This mini-market has a great selection of deli foods, dry goods, dairy and produce for such a compact space!

One does not typically think, "I'm in Nashville. I think I'll go to an English-style pub," but I was getting hangry after a traveling most of the day and missing lunch. (Hunger-induced anger/crankiness = hangry). Fleet Street Pub was just downstairs from our loft, and serves veggie burgers with British-style chips (thick wedge-cut french fries). Chad had fish and chips, but was dainty and picked the breading off of the fish, and did not eat most of his chips. (I know! I don't get it either.) On a hot, sunny day in Nashville, the subterranean cool & dark of the pub was most welcome. My only complaint: it was surprising to see/smell people smoking in a restaurant or bar. (Austin is a clean-air city with no smoking allowed in restaurants and in most bars. We're spoiled that way.) Chalk it up to being in tobacco country, I guess. 

We were in the heart of downtown Nashville, just steps from Broadway: the street in Nashville synonymous with nightlife and live music venues. After dinner we went for a looky-loo walk to gawp at all the neon signs along Broadway. Just wow. *Click here for images.* With all the great live country music happening around us, we committed country music sacrilege by stopping only for Savannah's Candy Kitchen. Mmmm... candy.

But wait, there's more. Check back for more Nashville travelogue soon. 

Sit. Stay. Good.

In April Chad and I went to Key West, Florida. Hope you read those posts on this blog, because there will be a quiz later.

In July I went to North Carolina to visit seven of my ten nieces & nephews, my sister, her husband and my mom. I loved hanging out with them. I get to see them only once a year or so, because they live quite far away. There's no direct flight from Austin to Raleigh-Durham on commercial airlines. The drive would clock in around twenty hours, so that's just like impossible. Also, you try traveling with seven kids. Also, my sister may be a bit afraid of flying. I go to them. It's nice to get out of my usual grind. Chad stayed home to take care of the pets/pests and some important business junk.

In early August, Chad and I spent a week between Nashville, TN and Louisville, KY. (Don't worry, travelogue on the way.)

We were home for about thirty-four hours, before Chad drove me to San Antonio to perform in a dinner mystery show. I should call this particular show a lunch mystery show, because it was at lunchtime, not dinnertime. I played the detective, per usual. The audience and venue couldn't have been lovelier. (More on that later.) It was exhausting.

Now we're home. It's hot as Hades here. Seriously the high temperature the other day was one-hundred-six degrees Fahrenheit. I continue to be struck by how crowded Austin is recently, and by how much traffic, congestion and construction there is. Our neighborhood is up in arms over property development happening across the busy street. Yet, it is so good to be home with my pets, my stuff and my familiar routines.

I'm ready to stay put for a long while. I don't want to see the inside of an airplane or the aggressive speeding of motorists on an interstate for many months.