I’ve never understood why people choose to own cat. In Nashville, we stayed with my college friend Jennifer and her cat, Dobby. Dobby is crazy, insecure, vicious, and sheds bad enough to cause both Emlen and Julia to have severe allergic reactions. But Dobby has one thing going for him…he likes me. While he forced Julia to sleep out in the van and stalked Truong like he was prey (motivating him to make a Blair Witch-style documentary with Tes and Emlen called “Escape from Dobby”), he just followed me around harmlessly and cuddled with me when I slept on the couch. I have low standards has the good taste to like me…if someone or something likes me, they are aces in my book.
I’m not sure if we saw the “real” Nashville, but we definitely saw the stereotype. We went out pretty hard for the first time on this trip to a strip of bars downtown. Very interesting scene. Every place had a live band, no one charged a cover and there was country music galore. Everywhere you turned, people were wearing sleeveless shirts, cowboy hats, and boots. I have never seen so many people my parents’ age out at bars. I kept telling everyone that if I’m single at 45, I’m moving to Nashville.
I would probably never go down to this street of bars if I was a local, but as a tourist it was fantastic. We were drinking fast and I even danced sober, which is a sight rarer than the albino squirrel in Jamaica Plain. Truong was dancing with women twice his age, Julia, Tes, and Emlen were taking turns rejecting skeevy guys, and we were all having a fantastic time.
A few hours into the night, my friend Lauren from Rice met us out. Calling Lauren “a friend from Rice” is probably a little disingenuous …sure, we both went to Rice, but not at the same time. I may have graduated a couple years before meeting her when she was an 18 year old freshman. Hopefully, that will be the only time I break the “Half + 7” rule. Now, she’s 24, looks amazing and it was fantastic to catch up with her without having to worry about an Amber Alert being issued.
After many more drinks, we were flirting a little heavier and dancing a little closer. It was nearing 2 AM, though, and all of my Boston friends were ready to leave. At this point, I had a decision to make. I could a) split a cab with the four of them and go home for the night, or b) stay at the bar with Lauren, leaving them to go back to an apartment of someone they don’t know and face off with a cat that they were all either terrified of or allergic to. Unsurprisingly, I chose option b. For a little while, it seemed like I made the right decision. We drank, we held hands, we danced. But one of her friends had a mini-crisis, and I was suddenly taking a $40 cab ride home, alone. The previous paragraph was sponsored by fmylife.com.
Today (July 3rd) was primarily a recovery day between a debaucherous night in Nashville and a sure to be entertaining 4th in Memphis. We did a couple touristy things in Nashville this morning (Grand Ole Opry, Parthenon) and then drove and camped out just north of Memphis at Meehan-Shelby State Park. After Tes grilled us some delicious steaks, I commenced blackjack lessons in advance of our eventual Las Vegas trip. We have a lot of work to do.
What I’m listening to: Tiny Dancer – Elton John, Glory Box – Portishead, & Road is My Religion – Murs.
Next Stop: Memphis for the 4th of July, followed by 2 nights in New Orleans!
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