Escaped.

Saturday morning I got up and started working on the mountain of laundry I had amassed from the past week or so. I made a list of what I wanted to get done... laundry, wash dishes, dust and vacuum living room and finish changing the heads on my drums. My original plan was to head up to Nashville and shoot some photos but it was pretty dreary out so I was pretty much resigned to spending my day in domestic bliss... or something.

Getting a little closer to noon, the weather started improving and the trip to Nashville was back on. Gave Kyle a quick ring (he's always in on the Nashville trips) and he was in also. Jo was online while I was getting ready and she was happy to join in on all the fun - she would meet us on the way up. Got cleaned up and headed north - 2 Asians, 3 cameras, an iPod, tripod and a guitar (somewhere in there there's something funny).

Picked up Jo then made it to our first stop - Guitar Center. We all have different interests so we all took off on our own separate ways: Kyle to keyboards, me to percussion and Jo to guitars. Kevin called while I was there and phoned in a guitar string order for me to pick up for him. I walked out of there with several pairs of sticks, a clamp and a little ball-bearing chain thingy that I can use to make one of my ride cymbals "sizzle". On to Fork's! Chatted with Jenny for a bit and found out she was going to go try and see "Constantine" later that evening. I wasn't sure what my schedule was like but watching a movie there would put me coming home pretty late so didn't do anything with her this time. Gary Forkum came out and said hey to me - he's usually not there on Saturday's so that was a pleasant surprise. He's the owner and the guy I ordered by "serious" drums from. Super cool individual. Picked up a few things then gathered up the rest of the team over at Corner Music.

As we were on our way downtown, we ran across an excellent spot that had a good vantage point of the city. Unfortunately, it was in a seedy part of town. It was still daylight though and I was able to take several shots without being bothered. Jo was great and jumped right in to let me shoot her. We left there and then came upon a cemetary that looked to be a good photo op. Those shots didn't quite turn out how I wanted so I was a little disappointed. There were also some folks wandering nearby that looked a little iffy so we hopped back in the car and got back on our way.

Once downtown, we parked and headed out on foot. Took some shots at Buffalo Billiards then walked around on Broadway. Took a few shots there too then got our name on the list at Big River Brewery as it was dinner time. While we were waiting, we went over to the river where I snapped a few shots of the bridge and Jo being goofy.

Oh, we had an "incident" with an alarm. It was then I learned who my friends were. LOL! We were all looking in these windows at the lobby of an architectural firm when SOMEONE crossed a line or pressed on glass or something setting off this obnoxious klaxon. Jo and Kyle scattered like roaches under a bright light. FUH-nee. The best part is Jo went back and set it off again later.

Dinner was G O O D. I got everyone to try the jalapeno cheese dip that Scott turned me on to last time. That stuff is addictive. I got something called a Platinum Margarita which was just the thing I needed. My filet was delicious. Everyone else's food was good too from the looks on their faces.

After we were done eating, I noticed that Kyle was sitting there staring at the booth behind me like the Olsen Twins were there motioning him over. Evidently, the women sitting there looked like some women he had seen the night before at a billiards place in Huntsville. Anyway, he was babbling on and on about how they looked exactly like them (Kyle is not known for being observant so...). I finally prodded him to get up and go ask which suprisingly, he did! I was listening in to the conversation and after he found out that they weren't the ones he had seen, he got all tripped up when they asked about him and what brought him to Nashville. He was running out of material quick and probably would have had an awkward transition when he ran out of things to say. Luckily, Emily (one of the girls) mentioned photography and my ears perked up. I turned around and joined in the conversation at that point. Ended up making some new aquaintences and exchanged buisiness cards.

Found out from Jo that The Dabster was expecting us to come visit Murfreesboro before going home. Kyle was up for the drive so we followed Jo over to her place there where The Dabster, John, and Elizabeth joined us. Jo had her guitar there so I took several shots while she played and sang. Had a good time hanging out with all of them but it was already midnight and me and Kyle had band duty in the morning so we took off. Kudos to Kyle for driving. That was tough.