September 26 - October 1 / Day 128 - 133 / Green Turtle Bay

Tues. 9/26   This morning we moved Observer to a bit more convenient slip within the marina. 

Our new view

Green Turtle Bay (GTB) has a courtesy car you can reserve for a couple hours and the only charge is to reimburse the gas used.  We had not done a provisioning in a while so off to Walmart we went. It was a pretty hot day here in Grand Rivers, Kentucky.  We took Millie for a walk around the resort and she got to cool off a bit in Lake Barkley.

Millie needs no encouragement to hit the water and cool off.

We grilled up some dinner on board. As we sat in our cockpit tending to our grill, we look out over a great vista amidst the marina.

lovely sunset as seen from the marina 

It is a frequent bonus of our experiences on this trip to take in a beautiful setting to reflect on the day and really enjoy the moment we are in.

Weds. 9/27 Tim took a bike ride down to 'The Land between the Lakes Park'.

It is a really large recreational are just south of us that sits between Lake Barkley and Kentucky Lake.  

Observer was overdue for a proper exterior clean up.  It's still very hot here. . . But it's got to get done.  We are also expecting to see a couple looper boat friends arrive at GTB today. Just before noon Mandy & Jim aboard Shelle-Belle crossed their wake a GTB.  We took some photos of their arrival and joined them in a toast to celebrate their accomplishment of completing the Great Loop and earning the right to fly the Gold Looper Flag.

Celebratory dinner to honor the newest gold loopers, Jim and Mandy from Shelle Belle

Thurs. 9/28- not much to repoert today.  We had lunch with Betsy and Steve, caught up with some boat chores. . .oh and while we were grilling dinner and then conversing with a boat neighbor Millie escaped Observer for the first time.  We were alerted by a caring Looper and she will get a much more watchful eye going forward.

Friday 9/29 Road trip to Nashville with AC and Jim. 

We got a car from Enterprise, loaded it up and headed on out to our Air BnB (great location in Germantown, the house is a little tired) for the night.  We dropped our bags and Millie, caught lunch nearby and then headed into Nashville starting with the Parthenon in Centennial Park - very cool.

Full size replica of the Parthenon

Inside the Parthenon is a 42 foot statue of Athena, historically modeled after the long lost original in Greece

After a regroup back to the house we ubered into downtown.  We started at the Bourbon Street Blues and Boogie Bar and saw a full show with the band Derek St. Holmes a rock/ blues band which we loved.

Printer's Alley

Derek St. Holmes Band

Sean Paddock, Kenny Chesney's drummer, was filling in on drums

We ended of hitting one other club on lower Broadway

the band as seen from our seats at the bar

and did some great people watching from our late dinner venue.   We got home way past Looper midnight and Millie was very glad to see us.

Saturday 9/30 up and out of the house about 9 and off to Nashville.

This petal tavern, along with party barges and open roofed busses, transport tourists around downtown Nashville with liquid refreshments flowing.

We had a fabulous behind the scenes tour of the Ryman Auditorium.  It started with an exceptionally well done film on the history of the Ryman. We then had a small private tour with access to five of the dressing rooms, each with interesting stories to tell, as well as a look backstage.  We then joined the general admission tourists for a self guided tour of the auditorium and surrounding galleries.

Period paining of the Ryman hanging in the lobby.

Interior of auditorium looking down at the stage

We really never had an appreciation for the cultural importance the Ryman provided to Nashville and the US.  It ranges from the Johnny Cash Show to the original home of the Grand Ole Opry to Coldplay to Trevor Noah performing the night of the day we toured.

Each performer had a blown up copy of their programs on the walls of the outer gallery

Sign announcing that there were still tickets available that night for Trevor Noah's appearance

Next up the Country Music Hall of Fame.  It is a huge, modern facility that takes you through from the origins of country music to present day.

One of the exhibits was "The Bandit"

Massive wall containing the gold and platinum records 

Glenn Campbell's platinum record

The final stop on the tour was a huge atrium lined with the brass plaques of very one ever inducted into the Country Western Hall of Fame.

We grabbed lunch nearby and headed back to the Air BnB to grab our stuff and Millie.  The last stop of the day was Hermitage - Andrew Jackson's Home. It is a beautiful mansion just outside of Nashville.  There was lots going on there from a fall festival to a wedding to a period baseball game.  After our orientation we toured the Jackson home and garden - it was a great stop on a beautiful fall day.

The front of the Hermitage

The back of the house

Andrew Jackson's final resting place

Garden path

The herb garden

 

 The two hour ride back to our boat made for a very full day.   Hot dogs on the grill and off to bed.

Sun. 10-01 returned rental,

The Krispy Kreme bus shared the gas station where we filled up the rental car

filled up the propane tank and caught up with some recent loopers arriving at GTB that we had not seen in a while.  The highlight of today was our dinner at Patti's, a local dining institution with a long history of satisfying the appetites of locals and tourist alike.  They are best known for their 2" pork chops, flowerpot bread and delicious mile high meringue pie.  It is also a popular spot to celebrate wedding anniversaries where the waitresses sing "Let me call you sweetheart."  We left with leftovers and another great Looper experience.

Our mode of transportation to Patti's

Even though it is only October 1, we were seated in the newly decorated Christmas room

Flowerpot bread