Children will listen

Careful the things you say, children will listen

I woke the next morning to the smell of coffee and the sound of laughter coming from the kitchen. I made my way to the kitchen where Mama T & Papa were having breakfast. Mama T made me one of her fruit smoothies, which was very tasty and set me up for the day. I am sure it was healthy too although I imagine that on occasions they have been made with vodka in them. I grabbed a lift with Rhett down to Imogene + Willie and headed next door to Portland Brew for a second breakfast of a bagel with eggs, ham & cheese and a large iced tea. After breakfast I told Rhett that I was going to walk downtown. Rhett asked me if I was crazy and that nobody walked. He offered me his car keys & said I could drive his car down. I explained that I couldn’t actually drive. It had never really been an issue before as I have always been happy using public transport or walking. It was only a couple of miles to walk but the streets were completely free of pedestrians. After 15 minutes of walking I could see why – the heat and humidity despite it still only being mid morning were intense. I was a little sweaty by the time I reached downtown Nashville. I made a mental note that if I was ever going to try walking a couple of miles in that sort of heat again I should pack a spare, dry t-shirt.

The Ryman

I headed for the visitor centre and asked the guy at the counter if he had a map of the area. He pulled out a map and then spent 10 minutes giving me detailed information on where I should go, what times the various attractions were open, the cost of each and how to get around. Armed with my annotated map I made my way to the Ryman Auditorium, home of the Grand Ole Opry from 1943 to 1974. I stopped to read some of the plaques and get some photos of Dean there. After I walked up to the Tennessee State Museum and had a good look round. By the time I had spent a couple of hours looking round I had cooled down and was nearly back to having a dry t-shirt. The museum had some interesting exhibits about the state and it was virtually deserted was nice. There was also a collection of Egyptian artefacts that seemed strangely out of place in amongst the exhibits on the Frontier and the Civil War.

Tennessee State Capitol

After the museum I headed up the State Capitol building and went through security. The guard took down my details from my (provisional) driving licence and explained that I could take myself on a tour, or there was a guided tour for some schoolchildren leaving shortly and I could probably join them if I asked nicely. I decided to ask nicely & the teacher in charge of the children said she had no problem me tagging along, provided I didn’t mind putting up the with children asking loads of questions of our tour guide.

We got shown around the Capitol, taking in both houses, which were not in session, Tennessee legislators being limited to only having to work 90 days a year. I kept to the back of the group, which was being manned by two teachers. Two children who had clearly been naughty at some point earlier in the day were being made to walk with the teachers so as to not get into any more trouble. The children came up with the following questions:

• Why did they replace the original gas powered lights?
• Why did they replace the original chairs?
• Have they always had electronic voting buttons?
• Is the building haunted?
• When the library got too small why did they build a new building instead of making the old one bigger?
• Does the Governor live in the building?
• Which is the President's office? 

The guide giving the tour had the patience of a saint and answered all of the questions thrown at her. She had to repeatedly explain that sometimes old things broke or got worn out so they had to be replaced and that the building was built before electricity had been invented. They seemed fixated on everything old (well, stuff that dated back to the late 19th/early 20th century). The guide asked the group if anyone knew who the Tennessee House of Representatives Speaker was. Silence followed. I raised my hand & answered. Everyone looked impressed that the random guy with the funny accent who had tagged on to the tour knew the answer. As we filed out of the room I explained to the teachers at the back that the names were up on a board at one side of the room & the Speaker was listed on there…

  

After the Capitol I found the nearest Starbucks so I could get a Frappuccino and something to tide me over until dinner. I ordered my drink and a blueberry scone. The woman in front of me in the queue turned round, looked at me and said “Oh my god, would you say that again?”. I obliged. She told me that my accent was so cute. We chatted for about 20 minutes over our coffees. After my new friend finished her coffee she wished me well on my travels & left. I called a cab, not wanting to do the return journey in the heat now I had dried out and took a ride back up to Imogene + Willie. Once a month at the store they do an event called Supper & Song. They keep the store open late, have some local singers performing in the great yard space out back, have amazing tacos courtesy of the Mas Tacos truck and everyone just hangs out, listening to the music, eating tacos and chatting.

Bang Candy Truck

I arrived back at the store in plenty of time to buy my Camp Willie t-shirt & fill Rhett in on my day before the fun started. We watched as the entertainment arrived – a mariachi band in full costume and instruments as well as a local singer and his band. As I tucked in to the delicious tacos, smothered in hot sauce from the taco truck, I listened to the mariachi band playing & singing. They did some traditional numbers but then did a few covers of more recent songs and some classics. I wandered out to the front of the store where Sarah had parked her little marshmallow stall. The stall is basically a shed on a trailer and looks so cute. I chatted with Sarah for a while. A camera crew who had been here to film the Supper & Song event came up to Sarah and asked if they could film her and chat about her marshmallows. I had to move out of camera shot for the second time in two days.

The Supper & Song entertainment

After Supper & Song came to a close we headed to Chago’s for a couple of drinks – I enjoyed another Chagorona. There was a small gang of us and we took up a big table in the restaurant. I was still full from the tacos so I didn’t have any food but everyone else’s looked really tasty. From Chago’s Rhett, Molly & I headed next door to a bar called PM’s. I got a Hendrick’s & tonic, served with cucumber, a little reminder of home. Molly got chatting to the guy next to her at the bar. He was cute but very drunk. He had a burger and fries that he didn’t seem to be eating so we helped him finish it. We called Rhett’s cab driver friend and headed home.

The next morning I was woken up by Rhett knocking on my bedroom door. I opened one eye as he came into my room. He told me that there was going to be a wedding at the house that evening & that I was more than welcome to attend. I told him I didn’t have anything formal to wear to a wedding. He said it wasn’t going to be a formal affair. I asked him why he was only mentioning it to me now. He said that the couple getting married, who had been together a few years, had only decided last night to get married & that the entire wedding was going to have to be put together in one day. It sounded like something from Challenge Anneka. I put my head back on the pillow and drifted back off to sleep for a short while. I woke wondering if I had just dreamed the whole conversation as it sounded rather crazy when I replayed it in my head.

“Careful the things you say, children will listen” 
Lyrics from Children Will Listen from the musical Into the Woods