Nashville Diaries - Day Two, Scott Simontacchi at The Station Inn

7/13/2012

Friday evening marked my first night at The Station Inn. I practically lived there during my trip and saw so many wonderful musicians taking the stage.

I also had my first Dos Perros from Yazoo Brewery on this fine night. Oh yum.

Featured this particular evening was the lovely, lovely Scott Simontacchi. The following clips are not representative of the set-list on Friday, but what I could dig up online. (The set I saw was much more bluegrass-y). 

I really enjoy listening to Scott's music, because he is such a talented bluegrass player, with this jazzy smooth voice. It's a unique combination! 

 

New friends Adam and David made appearances...

in addition to Angela and Todd.

Of course there was plenty of time to be silly with old friends...

The evening rounded out with Scott singing "Moonlight in Vermont" a capella. I wish that this photo was clearer, as this moment made my jazz lovin' New England girly heart swell with joy!

Nashville Diaries - Day Two, CREMA

7/13/2012

Oh, CREMA.

CREMA has ruined coffee for me forever, because I had the best cup of coffee that I've ever tasted in my life there, and nothing will ever top it. The feature that made CREMA stand out, for me, is that they have a menu of coffees which they will brew a SINGLE CUP to order. It took more time than your average coffee bar, but with time came care and skill and a beautiful cup of joe.

Sarah and I both ordered separate varieties - and sampled each others'. Mine, El Pital from Columbia,  was rich, chocolate-y and bold.

Sarah's Fazenda Recreio from Brazil was was light and fruity, almost like a tea.

Neither of us added cream or sugar to the coffee (despite our daily inclinations to do so). The coffee was perfect, just as it was.

View of the Gateway Bridge from CREMA 

Nashville Diaries - Day Two, The Parthenon

7/13/2012

Once our bellies were full of delicious vegetarian food from The Wild Cow, Sarah and I set off to visit The Parthenon...and yes, we were still in Nashville, Tennessee!

I did not learn that Nashville has a full size replica of the Greek Parthenon until I was planning my trip. The Parthenon was originally built as the centerpiece attraction for the Tennessee's Centennial Exposition in 1897. The Exposition has a fascinating history. It was a six-month, world's fair-esque exhibition that was a rousing success, attracting 1.8 million attendees. An entire city was constructed within the limits of Centennial Park, literally. One of the most interesting facts that we learned during our tour is that the Exposition actually incorporated as a city so that they could serve alcohol, since the city of Nashville was dry at the time! The artifacts and photos housed inside The Parthenon are amazing! (I was not allowed to take pictures there).

The Parthenon built for the Exposition, like all of the other structures, was only meant to last for six months, so it was built out of wood and plaster. While no other structures from the Exposition remain, no one had the heart to tear the Parthenon down, so a restoration effort had to be make the building a permanent Nashville feature. Now, The Parthenon serves as Nashville's premier art gallery - with the remainder of the Exposition's grounds maintained as a gorgeous public park.

Note: I've been playing with uploading my photos directly to Blogger and I discovered, to my delight, that if you click on any photo - Blogger will open up a slideshow with all of the images from an individual post. I especially love this for the photos below! Click them in sequence, and you'll feel like you are surveying the beautiful water at Centennial Park! 

Sarah and I were so engrossed with the Exposition's history, that we never made it to the second floor. Oh well, guess I'll just have to go back to Nashville to check that out!

Nashville Diaries - Day Two, Wild Cow

7/13/2012

When we finally stumbled out of bed the next morning, we headed to The Wild Cow for breakfast lunch. I ordered, and devoured, the sweet potato and black bean tacos, which were filled with mashed sweet potatoes that had just the right hint of cinnamon,  black beans, toasted pumpkin seeds, cabbage slaw, cilantro and jerk sauce, with a side of the veggies of the day dunked in peanut sauce (which I could drink if it were socially acceptable...I LOVE peanut sauce).

 

I kinda liked it. 

Nashville Diaries - Day One, Bootleggers, Boozin', Crashin' at Coco's

7/12/2012

This booze-fueled evening started out gently with a delicious Sweetwater IPA...then took a turn when Sarah convinced me that it was a good idea to take shots of jalapeño moonshine with delicious bloody Mary mix chasers. Indeed, it would be a turn down the road into drunkville. Oops. 

Sarah's boyfriend's full name is Chris Henry. He fronts his own band called "Chris Henry and the Hardcore Grass." The line-up that I saw at Bootleggers was slightly different. Chris is fronting on mandolin on the left, and right on guitar is Scott Simontacchi.

New friends...Chris Henry

Adam George Olmstead

Angela, Chris, Scott 

Sarah, up onstage with Chris

Scott Simontacchi

The handsome, David Long hopped up on stage to play a little mando. 

The evening ended with cab rides, a visit to Cafe Coco, with a good dash of heart fluttering and tempers flaring, followed by more cab rides, water, water, water, Aleve and an epic sleep.