Better Late than Never

Well, our trip officially ended over five days ago. I never updated this blog to include our last official day - Tuesday. I've decided to post a belated entry just so that I can say I finished this vacation blog.

Tuesday we headed out for breakfast in Chattanooga and found an almost NJ diner. It was glorious. I love diners. People in NJ do not know how rich they are to be able to locate several diners within ten miles of home. There is nothing like an egg sandwich or matzoh ball soup or cinnamon toast covered with pancake syrup at midnight - all rinsed down with some coffee and some waitress attitude. But we ate our breakfast at breakfast time. Then we headed back in the car to Nashville.

Once in Nashville, we did some last minute shopping for T-shirts. (Despite our true desire to pick up crass cowboy t-shirts, we resisted. Those of you who will or have received a T-shirt can breathe a sigh of relief. You will not have to show up for Thanksgiving dinner in a "Save a horse, ride a cowboy" T-shirt.)

Then we headed back over to the Finneys for some homemade sangria and arepas and ropa vieja. Ropa vieja has a different title in Venezuela. "Ropa Vieja" is the Cuban title. It was delish! And if we're lucky, Mom will make it one day when I'm home. (Hint, Hint. I'll even make it with you, Mom.) We had a great time with Jay, Jennifer, and Jon. Quite frankly, I liked Tennessee so much that I've been bugging Brooke about the possibility of moving there. (Please, do not tell him that it's hotter or more humid there. It is, but that certainly won't help my case.)

The next morning we headed back to the airport. We got there with more than just 15 minutes to spare, unlike our first flight. All was well and good. We had survived the trip ... AND we enjoyed it.

Well, we survived our trip until we set foot back on NJ soil. And that was it. The magic was broken. I was ready to check Terry into the Baggage Check section and send her back. She's small. Terry was ready to never come home again. Mom was ready to drag Terry by force into the car. It was a rough ten minutes until Dad arrived. We saw the car, we saw Dad, and we knew we were going home to Stephen, Renea, Champ, a mess of cats, a garage-in-progress, boyfriends, and friends. And Connecticut. (Hey, NJ is way closer to CT than TN.) And we were happy again.

The End.

On a side note, Brooke and I went to see The Simpsons movie with a couple who just moved to Connecticut from Nashville, Tennessee. Pretty cool, eh?

The Truth about the Choo-Choo

The hotel we stayed in was horrible. It was dirty, the complimentary breakfast deal was shoddy, and ...

there was a biker convention going on there!

(And the mattresses were very, very uncomfortable and old.)

Mom was "fit to be tied." (Those are her words.) After several trips to the lobby to ask that the tub be cleaned and the drain Drano-ed and other such stuff, Mom was thoroughly upset. Monday night we arrived back to the hotel after our TOTALLY AWESOME walking tour around town (see previous blog), and we discovered that all of the parking by our hotel was being used for bikes and bike vendors. Mom was not just "fit to be tied." Mom's stare could have melted metal! The hotel manager insisted that nothing could be done. Mom insisted that she was not leaving until something was done. It was a stand-off that caused fear in both Terry and me. We knew that if Mom did not succeed and get some money back, we would be searching for another hotel at 11:30 at night. Mom won. It made us proud. It also taught us a thing or two about standing our ground and demanding what we deserve.

Above are scenes from our hotel parking lot. I have also included a picture of the Choo-Choo's promise: We promise to make it right or you won't pay for that part of your stay."

Update - Monday, July 23

On Monday we went to Ruby Falls and Rock City. Ruby Falls is a tour through caverns that culminates in an underground waterfall--supposedly the largest of underground waterfalls. It was okay as far as cavern tours go. The only problem was that the only truly interesting part was the waterfall; the rest of the tour was kind of hum-hum.

We moved up Lookout Mountain to Rock City, which is a kind of ... Well, we're not sure what to call it. Terry has given the adjectives "awkward," "weird," and "fanciful." It's a designed tour up the mountain that includes a swing bridge (super cool), an underground Fairy Tale World, and lots of flowers.

Hmmm. This is definitely both weird and awkward.

Terry, Holding Up the Earth

Mom and Terry

We ended that section of the trip to the historic Cravens House. We stopped just because I wanted to take a few pictures of the Cravens House. It was taken over by the Confederates during the Civil War, and then by the Union troops during the Civil War, and back and forth for a few months.

The REAL highlight of the day was walking around Chattanooga that evening. We started off with dinner at a restaurant downtown. After, we decided to explore on foot. We saw cute shoppes, awesome architecture, fountains that you can play in (for real!), and a great walking bridge called the Walnut Street Bridge (the longest pedestrian bridge in America). We walked over the Tennessee River!

Terry in the Fountain

View from the Walking Bridge

There was also a pretty cool sculpture park outside of the Hunter Museum. To get to it, we walked over a glass bridge that went over a highway. I was fine until Terry pointed out a crack in the bridge. I found myself hoping that I had some slim chance of getting across the bridge at all. I was pretty sure it would break, and I would meet my end. But, of course, I survived. (Obviously, I'm sitting here writing to you about it.)

Sunday Update - Fried Ice Cream

Today we had fried ice cream. Need I say more?

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Okay, okay. Today we headed out to Chattanooga (or so I thought). While I was resting peacefully in the back of the rental, Terry and Mom took us to Lynchberg - home of the Jack Daniel's Distillery. We went on a tour and were able to sniff all of the whiskey smell that our hearts desired. Here are a few interesting things about the distillery.

1. There are only four ingredients: corn (80%), rye (12%), barley (8%), and then some spring water.
2. The spring water is from right there. It's special because it has no iron in it.
3. The whiskey barrels are used only one time. After that they are sold to scotch whiskey companies, wineries, and the Tabasco company.
4. Locals take some JDs and mix it with peppermint hard candies. They say that it makes a great cough syrup.
5. Lynchberg is a dry town. They can only make the whiskey there, but they can't sell it.
   

After our whiskey lessons, we were back on the road. (Sober, don't worry. Only Terr was drunk. JUST KIDDING!) After some fine navigation from Miss Theresa, we were in Chattanooga.

It's late right now, so I won't go into much more detail. It was a low-key day, and it ended with fried ice cream and a dip in the hotel pool.

Extra! Extra!

1. Terr is feeding local Chattanooga stray cats.
2. Ask Mom or Terr about Tom Toe.

Saturday - July 22

We headed off to the Nashville Zoo today with Sara and her mother. I think that I’ve definitely been to better zoo displays, but I really enjoyed the walking areas and pathways. The walk around the park had a very natural feel to it, and it felt like we were taking a hike rather than plodding along looking at captured animals. Mom really liked the Hyacinth Macaws. Terry found a new family amongst the meer kats. I really liked the Amphibian/Reptile House. Usually I don’t really find that area the best part of a zoo trip, but I really did like it. It must be the fact that I harbored a tadpole farm in my apartment until quite recently. We walked quite a bit, and I got a tan! (Well, I call it a tan.) We got back to the hotel exhausted from our trip and just rested a bit.


Later Mom and I took a trip to the Parthenon at Centennial Park, but we didn’t go into it. We just walked around the park. The building and the park are beautiful. Another cool thing is that throughout the park there are these swinging chairs built for two people. We sat on one and Mom promptly took a catnap.


Terry gave us a tour of the overwhelming Opryland Hotel. (She had gone there with Sara the other day.) Inside this place are whole gigantic atriums, which house restaurants and stores. And bands. And rivers and boats. And waterfalls. Like I said, it was overwhelming. It was also hard to take pictures; there was so much glass, water, and light. One of the best parts was the water display set to music. Oh yeah, the coffee debacle. Mom and I ordered vanilla coffee, which was horribly sweet—sweeter than Brooke likes his coffee. That’s sweet. Anyway, Mom and I have come to the conclusion that they just like everything really sweet.

Friday - 7/21

Belle Mead

Mom at her new house! She said that she was going to buy some property. It only takes 17 servants to run!

Don't worry, Dad. There's already a carriage house for the van, the Intrepid, the Amigo, Stephen's fleet...

Pictures at Pucketts

Top: Mom, Jonathon, Jennifer, Me, and Terr
Bottom: Jonathon, Me, Terr, Jay, and Mom

Friday's Fiasco

Just kidding. Friday wasn't a fiasco, I just wanted a catchy title.

Mom, Terr, and I woke up and had the best hotel breakfast ever! Seriously, this was not your usual coffee and some donuts spread. There were eggs and bacon, sausage, grits, cereal, bagels, fruit, and waffles (with a strawberry and whipped cream option)! After our sumptuous breakfast, Terr went out with her friend while Mom and I went out to explore. We went down to downtown Nashville and checked out the (free) Tennessee State Museum. I was a nice, quick trip with a few interesting artifacts about pioneer life, the Civil War, and country music star costumes and outfits. Judging by the museum, Tennessee considers country music as equally important as the Civil War. (JK, I'm sure they know better.) Then we went to the Belle Mead Plantation, which is where 70% of American thoroughbred horses can track back their lineage. (Think Seabiscuit and Barbaro.) The house and tour were both pretty neat, and we learned a good deal about the "Queen of Tennessee Plantations" and its owners. They used to have a train stop right off of their property for guests! We ended our stay there at the gift shop (of course), where Mom stocked up on her new favorite candy: Colts Bolts.

Later Mom and I visited our cousins, the Finneys. We gathered up Terry and went out with Jay, Jennifer, and Jonathon. They took us to a lovely "meat n' three" (but really it was a meat and two) for dinner. A joint named Pucketts at Leiper's Fork, which doubles as a deli, restaurant, and small-time grocery store. I ate pork loin wrapped in bacon. I didn't eat the bacon, but the pork was very good. Best of all was stuffed squash and the blackberry pie. While we ate, three singers/songwriters played. We had a great time, and even Terry was happy that we had obligated her to hang out with relatives that she had never met.

Other Stuff To Know:
1. Mom and I searched for iced coffee. We found a coffee stand at the convention center and ordered some. Guess how much? $4.99 for 16 ounces! No way, mister. We took back our order and eventually found a Starbucks.

2. The Finneys have fast cars and a fantastically funny little family of shih tzus.

3. Terry went to the Parthenon and saw a 42 foot golden statue of Athena.

4. I saw the largest Christian store ever. It was larger than a big CVS.

**I'm having trouble attaching pictures at this point in time. Blogger.com is having some technical difficulties. I'll try to get up yesterday's pictures by tonight.**

Some Stuff to Know about Nashville

1. Almost all buildings are brick.
2. The houses are ginormous.
3. I saw a big bug there.
   
4. Plenty of "Save a Horse, Ride a Cowgirl/boy" stuff in this town.
5. Iced coffee hasn't gotten to the McD's here. It will be arriving in two weeks. They do, however, have ice cream floats AND... AND chocolate-dipped ice cream cones.
6. It was 97 degrees out this afternoon.
7. Mom is a good navigator.
   

Nashville - It's All Country! Who knew?

The first half of our day was long and travel-weary.

We arrived at Newark less than an hour before our flight. We made it through check-in and security and arrived just minutes before we boarded. It was all very rush-rush-rush. Until we sat on the runway for over an hour because of fog. But all of that waiting time just gave us an opportunity to get to know Jakey a little better. Jakey was an overactive vocalizer who also had a penchant for kicking Terry's seat A LOT. The ride was slightly traumatic (to Terry's head) and I wouldn't be too surprised if she actively avoided any and all blond, blue-eyed three-year-olds for some time. Needless to say, Terry was not tearful when she and Jakey had to part ways. Jakey, on the other hand, had never stopped crying in the first place. After we arrived in Nashville, we had a few problems with our rental car, but eventually those too got solved, and we were on our way (for real) to our vacation destination.

Our Rental Car!

Terry spent a few hours with her friend, and later on all three of us (Mom, Terr, and me) went to downtown Nashville and explored for a bit. We walked around, listened to a lot of street performers, and went to a boot store. Eventually, we ended up eating dinner at a place called the Wild Horse Saloon. Here we ate fried pickles and listened to live country music. A word to the wise: Fried pickles are thoroughly delicious, but also thoroughly alien to most people's stomachs. Be careful! Although I have sworn off all fried foods for the rest of the vacation, I already know that I will be tempted again and again. Fried Pickles Are Awesome! Go spread the news. Right now.


The Wild Horse Saloon was also having a live band play. The band, Telluride (weird name, eh?), was having a song videotaped, which means that we heard it throughout our entire dining experience. It was a good song, so it didn't wear on me. The song was a bit antiquated - it was about using a cell phone to make a collect call. Is that even possible?




G'nite y'all.

Don't Worry... I finished the 6th book.

And so now I can officially start blogging about the trip!

Slow Start

Although I have to leave my home tomorrow, I have been woefully slow in prepping for this trip. I should have sent out Thank You notes, filled out all of the paperwork for my new job, called new bosses and arranged a time for me to get settled in with the new workplace, called old boss and caught her up on things, and packed. But I have been stymied by the 6th Harry Potter book. I am determined to finish it before the trip.

Quite frankly, I don't even know the title of the 6th book. I generally read the HP series using the just-in-time method--I read the book just in time to see the movie. Well, I finished the 5th book, but then I started to get worried about the my HP reading style. I don't want to get left behind in the Harry Hoopla, or worse yet, find out Harry's fate prematurely. The 7th book is coming out in a few days, and God only knows what sort of tragedy may befall poor Harry. Will he die? Will he lose his magic-ness? Will he find his long-lost twin brother? (Oh wait, that's a different book.) So I am rushing through the 6th book as we speak so that I can spend the rest of my summer reading the 7th.

Whew, once again off-topic.

Well, I still need to pack a few more things, and I need to figure out my footwear. It's summer, so I don't want to wear anything that requires socks. Unfortunately, I really only have a pair of clunky green flip flops. Perhaps I will go to Kohls tomorrow in NJ and find me a nice pair of walking sandals.

Giordano Girls Only Trip

My mother, sister, and I will embark on our girls only trip to Nashville this Thursday. Terry is going to visit a friend, and my mother and I decided to take the trip along with her. We plan on spending a few days in Nashville and a few in Chattanooga.

I wonder what the trip will be like. Will we get on each others' nerves? Can we be together for a whole week without Dad, Stephen, or Brooke to act as buffers?

The last time I was on a plane with my mother and sister, I was twelve years old. My family was going on a trip to Disney World. Terry (1 year?) and Stephen (4 years?) both had ear infections. My mother had at least a cold. I remember the trip...er, fondly.

• I remember one particular night, we ordered in pizza and watched a Made-for-TV movie about survival in the wilderness.
• Dad was worried that I would spin the Tea Cups too fast for Stephen.
• I went on Space Mountain and loved it.

I've gotten a little off topic. I've since been on other trips with my family, but not on a plane.

Well, this is our blog. Hopefully, we will consistently update it while we're in the belt buckle of the Bible Belt.