Vacation - Nashville Photo's

Day 10 - The Big Match

Friday came and I was nervous Championship play off semi-final 1st leg Leeds versus Preston and I am in Nashville. Following research I knew one bar in town "Two Doors Down" was showing the match live from 1.30pm.

I got up at 9.30am following another hectic night out and got ready for my morning walk. As I got dressed what shall I wear was not an option as my White Leeds shirt came out of the drawer, also my Leeds cap was to be worn the locals were about to be educated.

Proudly I walked from my Hotel to downtown Nashville parading my colours for all to see (not a scum shirt in site). Around 12 noon my pre match nerves were twitching so I made my way to the sports bar for a beer or two to get me in the mood. Missing breakfast I checked out the bar menu and noticed todays special was Fish & Chips (fries), now this is a Yorkshire delicacy, the gods are with us, my order was placed.

When the Fish came it turned out to be Catfish which was ok but not a patch on Cod or Haddock so I had to quickly swill it down with a couple more beers.

I got talking to a couple of local that were watching another TV stressing the importance of this match but they kept watching the bull riding on the other channel.

Kick off time 1.45pm came I ordered another Beer but no match I was panicking what has happend but relief came when the message came on the screen "kick off delayed for 15 minutes for crowd congestion". The pictures then scanned Elland Road Stadium it was packed to the rafters.

It the showed the players in the tunnel Leeds in White, Preston in Yellow when one local Fruit Cake came over looked at the teams, looked at my shirt and asked the question "Which is your team ?" I was polite with my answer.

The match started with Leeds on top, I was continually up off my stool in excitment, my drinking got faster and faster. During the first half penalty turned down be blind referee, Killa hits the post, things not going well.

Half time came so I ordered more beer and tried to teach the locals the words to "Marching on Together" but I think they were a little shy about their singing.

The second halh started and after a few minutes disaster struck, a rare Preston attack, our defence stood like statues, goal, one nil Preston, I ordered another beer and slumped back on my stool.

For the rest of the match play was scappy I was quiet until 10 minutes from time a Leeds attack was stopped by a foul, free kick 25 yards from goal, was this our chance. Preston formed their wall and up stepped our AMERICAN International Eddie Lewis. A thunderous curling left foot shot into the top corner, weve equalised, I love Americans, we are back, I ordered another Beer.

The match finished one apiece so it was going to be decided at Preston while I am at Chicago airport on my way home on Monday, I just hope I can find a TV that is showing it.

After the match I had a few more beers with the locals before making my way back to my Hotel at 5.30pm. I thought I'll have a couple of hours nap on my bed before going out for the night and my evening meal.

I had the nap but didn't wake while after 1am a little late for getting ready to go out and I was starving so it was a raid on the Hotel vending machine for junk food that night.

One good thing was the fact that I made breakfast for the first time.


Further Story - On the way home I couldn't find anywhere at Chicago Airport showing the 2nd match. I arrived back in England not knowing the result and was desperate to find out.

I got to Manchester Airport Railway Station got on my train with my luggage when I noticed a shop on the platform, my train had 6 minutes to go so I asked a man to watch my luggage while I ran from the train grabbed a newspaper and went to the counter to pay, as soon as the lady asked for my money I realised my wallet was full of American dollars my English money was in my bag, I apologised gave her the paper back and ran back to the train.

It wasn't while one hour later when I got to Leeds station that I found out the result a 2-0 victory, Leeds in the final. this match is against Watford in Cardiff next sunday 21st May with the winners getting promoted to the Premiership.

Photo is of Leeds players celebrating after the 2nd leg in Preston.

Day 7 - Welcome to Nashville

Anyone that has read my previous 4 posts about my vacation will realise I had a great time in Chicago and it is obvious I would be slightly sad to move on.

I arrived mid afternoon at Nashville airport not really knowing much about the city or its people, I got a taxi to my hotel the Best Western Music Row which took around 20 minutes. I was quite tired after my late nights and over the top drinking and clubbing so I was planning a quiet night (it was only tuesday).

I only had two priorities get a decent meal and find a sports bar called "Two Doors Down". This bar was important because somebody had replied to my post on "Tripadvisor" that this is the best chance of watching the Leeds Utd play off semi-final on Friday (I just had to find out).

About 6pm I was changed and asked the Hotel receptionist if she knew where I could get a meal. She told me there were a number of bars across the car park opposite the hotel. I had a walk over and to my amazment the first place I saw was "Two Doors Down".

I entered the bar and it was full of TV screens with various sports channels playing. I sat down at the bar and ordered my first beer of the day. I got talking to the bar man and eventually ordered a meal which was enjoyable. Eventually I asked him about the Leeds match and he didn't know but the owner would. He went off to find the owner returning later with the news I wanted to hear, it will be shown live on a cable channel from 1.30pm Friday. It turns out they are the only bar in Nashville with this channel, what luck.

About 9pm and following a few more beers I decided to move on telling them I would be back Friday. I was going to make my way back to the hotel but saw an Irish pub called "Dan McGuiness" so I thought I would have a look in and knock the froth off a couple more beers.

I got sat down at the bar drinking my first beer when two attractive young ladies came in and sat next to me. It wasn't long before we were talking and introducing ourselves they seemed really nice. They were both 28 years old that lived close to Nashville but origionated from elsewhere (Holly from San antonio and Amanda from Tupelo).

We started telling jokes and the bar man joined in when he could it was a good laugh, we all got on great. The drinks started flowing more and more as we chatted in a very relaxed atmosphere. Holly told me she had a five year old son and showed me is picture, he looks really cute, she talked about him a lot, she really loves him.

It surprised me that two attractive girls wanted to chat with a stranger 20 years older than them when there was younger people in the bar, so I asked. They told me they were enjoying my company, that pleased me a lot.

Holly and myself actually exchanged blog site addresses (she is on My Space) and we all had our photo's took. I can't stress enough how nice these girls were we talked about everything no subject was left out (and Holly if you read this I still don't think you need a boob job).

Eventually some other friends of the girls came in and started talking to them, It was about midnight so I thought I wouldn't outstay my welcome and left to go back to my Hotel. The girls had been good to me but as a older man I didn't think it fair to hang around I thought the other crowd contained some lads who may want to chat them up.

I know now I made the wrong decision the girls actually wanted to stay with me they were having as much fun as I was. How do I know this ? Holly as kept in contact via e'mail. She was worried that they had upset me somehow (no way). She as told me the other group were jerks and after they missed me they actually toured up and down outside my hotel looking for me. They considered going in and asking reception but only knew my first name and decided that was not enough to go on when asking.

What lovely girls they were, I hope we meet up again one day.

I wish they had have come in because I was in the hotel bar, this is the story :-

I arrived back at my hotel fully intending to go to bed but as I walked through the foyer I heard music coming from the bar so I stuck my head around the door. There was about twelve people sitting at the bar some with guitars, it looked like a private party. I was about to turn around when I heard somebody say come and join us, This turned out to be a local musician called Ray. The Bar manager named Bethany also encouraged me to join them so I thought it rude not to so I sat at the bar and ordered a drink.

It turned out they were all local songwriters who meet there and play there new songs to each other, they were of varying ages from late thirties upwards but all so friendly.

I had been there a few minutes listening to their songs when all of a sudden I realised sitting next to me was a person that looked totally out of place. There was this girl dressed in white, for a moment I thought I had gone to heaven, was it an angel ? This girl was young so pretty, as close as it gets to perfection I couldn't believe she was there.

I soon got talking to her and it turned out her father was a songwriter and they had moved from St Louis only 3 weeks earlier. She was called Lindsey, 24 years old, looked younger, she was really nice so we talked, I was interested in St Louis as I am going there on my next vacation.

We talked a long time, she showed me her tatoos (all three), listened to the musicians and time just flew by. I eventually called it a day and got back to my room just before 4am, I didn't make my free complimentry hotel breakfast the following morning. This was typical of Nashville, I didn't make breakfast the next two mornings either.

So much for a quiet night, Welcome to Nashville, Great people.

Photos :- 1. Amanda & Holly 2. Holly with me 3. Amanda with me 4. Ray 5. Some Musicians 6. More Musicians 7. An angel (sorry Lindsey) with me looking drunk (it must of been bad light).

Vacation - The Good Bad and Ugly who I met

I have just got back from vacation about two hours ago, so this is just part of the story. Ok I visited Chicago and Nashville as us tourists do attended various attractions. I will post some photos later for those interested but this vacation is more about the people I met and believe me there were certainly some charactors amongst them. I think virtually everthing happend at some stage, parts I may have to leave out.

Day 1 - Travelled to Manchester Airport to stay over at Bewleys Hotel and after a meal in the restaurant decided to go into the Irish Pub next door to watch the Barcelona versus AC Milan champions league semi-final soccer match.
Was peacefully watching minding my own business when some cockney plonker decided he wanted to talk to me and impress me with his know all soccer knowledge. Just to give you a clue his first question was "Why isn't David Beckham playing for Barcelona ?" I pointed out it could be something to do with he plays for Real Madrid. He then watched for 20 minutes before realising Barcelona were not the team in white.
All was revealed later when he admitted to been a Millwall fan.
After the match I decided the best move was to go back to my hotel and shake this idiot off that was really irritating me.

Day 2 - Arrive Chicago and after been interragated by the gestapo at airport security I eventually made my way to my Hotel. I was tired after the 8 hour flight but starving so I decided to go to one of my favorite Chicago pubs "Fado" on Clark/Grand. The reason I chose this is because the people are normally friendly, they sell English pints, and have superb Cheeseburgers.
I walked around the bar and there was one seat left so luckily I had two lovely young ladies to my right and one to my left. I ordered my drink and meal and was about to divulge when the lady on my left asked me if I minded her smoking. I was honest and said yes I do while I am eating, this seemed to me a reasonable request but she got the huff on finished her drink and left.
This left a gap at the bar but three blokes aged around thirty came and stood there. One was obviously quite drunk, he was very loud, really irritating and was swearing every other word. I think the bar staff had his card marked but I decided to do the honourable thing, I politly asked him to tone down the language as their were ladies present.
His reply was something like "Whats the F**k it to do with you". This made me smile which seemed to get him more angry because he then asked "what you f*****g laughing at you t**t".
This actually made me laugh and he threatend me with violence before his friends dragged him out.
I found this amusing because this bloke was so drunk if he threw a punch he would have fallen over, the bar staff had him covered anyway, what an idiot.

Day 3 - I decided to do the Lincoln park walk which I enjoyed during the day as the weather was fine but not too hot.
On the evening I visited Andy's Jazz Bar where at last I met some nice people. Jeff the owner remembered me from previous visits and came straight over shook my hand and found me a good seat at the bar. The first part of the evening was spent talking to a lawyer who spent a lot of time in England. His wife was from Finland and was also nice.
When they left I spent the rest of the evening with three nice ladies from Vancouver Island Canada. They turned out to be Hairdressing teachers (not a lot of good for me) in Chicago on a convention. I got photos with these ladies but I will not put anyone on my blog who I don't ask first.

Day 4 - All isn't always what it seems - story to follow

Day 5 - Meeting with fellow blogger Regina and another lady later - story to follow

Day 6 - Yes Regina if you read this I attended the Immigration march and took some photos (some I will post later). I was at Jackson and State and watched the thousands of marchers pass by and I later went to Grant Park for a short period. Dissapointing evening but you need to read day 5 to understand why.

Day 7 - Welcome to Nashville - story to follow

Day 8 - During the day saw a Husband and wife duo sing in a bar (I only drunk lemonade) but I can't remember what they were called but I have a photo. Evening I went out about 6pm and ate a massive steak and was totally bloated, then went to a club while the early hours and saw a Rock group fronted by two ladies. The group was called "Magnolia" and were very entertaining. They only did cover versions no origional stuff but included a lot of songs I like.

Day 9 - Did a lot of walking during the day around Nashville (needed the exercise). Went for a meal then to a club and to my shock was twice approached by GAY men (once in the restaurant once in the club). Now for the record nothing makes my skin crawl more than the thought of what two men can get up to yuk. I think they got the message from my carefully chosen words.
I got back to the Hotel about 1am and nearly got lucky, I was just getting in the lift when a lady stood at reception (early forties ?) shouted hold the lift. I waited and she got in and was also going to the third floor same as me. When we got out her friend was sat on the floor outside their room half asleep, The first lady explained that their electronic key would not open their room door and the man on reception was usless.
She asked if she could use my phone to contact reception to see what is happening, both ladies came into my room. The 2nd lady said she was really tired and just wanted to get to bed, she commented that I had two double beds and could they share my room for a night. Always been one to oblige I was just agreeing with such a great idea when the night manager appeared with a 2nd key for their room (prat). Well win some lose some.

Day 10 - The Big Match - story to follow

Day 11 - Still recovering from Day 10 the drinking was limited but I still did the country and western bars on Broadway, good fun and met loads of nice people. The place was heaving with people.

Day 12 - Saw a really nice girl singer in Legends Corner Bar, apparently she normally works behind the bar and sings part time elsewhere, the rest of the bar staff was really giving her some stress (in fun) but it was entertaining.
My last night and I needed to be up for my flight at 6am so I decided to go to the Irish Pub that I visited on my first night in town which was near my Hotel. The plan was to have a meal a couple of beers and back to my room at about 9.30pm.
I got talking to a number of really nice people at the bar and generally enjoyed the night. One of the girls who served me was a singer that performs every friday I would have liked to see that. She was called Alyssa and told me her style of music was "Southern Rock" and she has her own group. The other Girl (Megan) that served me played ladies soccer and had lived for a short time in England and wants to go back.
I also met a couple of singers from Conneticut and we all had a good chat, I was a good boy though and was back in my room for 10pm.

Day 13 - The long journey home included leaving my hotel at 7am getting to Nashville airport for 7.30am, the flight was slightly delayed but I flew to Chicago at about 10am arriving at 11.30am. I then had a boring 7 hour wait at Chicago airport followed by an 7.5 hour flight to Manchester. For this flight I ended up on the very back row sat on the middle seat of three between two lovely older ladies.
They managed to keep me awake all flight as neither of them could work out how to operate the remote controls for their televisions and they would wake me evertime they wanted to change channel (I didn't mind we had a good laugh).
When I arrived at Manchester I faced two train journeys first to Leeds then a short journey home. I eventually arrived home at 11am on day 14 (22 hours after leaving my hotel).

Holiday Mood-Things I plan to see & do on vacation

Ok my plans are never cast in stone and quite often change.

First up I should arrive in Chicago early afternoon on Thursday 27th April. By the time I have got through security and caught the subway to my hotel, found my room, unpacked it will be about 4pm (12 midnight English time). I will try get 2 or 3 hours sleep before taking a shower and checking out any bars close to the Hotel, grab a meal, returning to my hotel when tired.

During my time in the city I intend to visit the Shed Aquarium, it is one of the few tourist attractions that I have yet to visit in Chicago. Last time a couple in my hotel that I made friends with said it was very good so I will see for myself.
I also intend to spend a day (probably Saturday weather permitting) walking the length of Lincoln Park from North to South. I will get the subway to the North.
Another thing I will do is spend at least an afternoon at the Navy Pier, they quite often have a lot going on.

Night time - One night probably Friday I intend visiting "Andy's Jazz Club" I will probably dine here and watch the live music. I have been in this club on previous visits and have found it very friendly.
Another night I will visit "Buddy Guys Legends", I have not been here before but have always intended to try it. This club is close to my Hotel this time.
I will also visit "Fado Irish Pub" at some stage it is quite often full of Brits, sells English Beer, and traditional British pub grub.I will tie this in with a visit to "Blue Chicago" which is next door.
http://www.andysjazzclub.com/
http://www.buddyguys.com/
http://www.bluechicago.com/
http://www.fadoirishpub.com/fado_pub_main.php?city=chicago

Of course there is a night put to one side for my meeting with fellow Blogger "Regina". I am really looking forward to it, I'm sure we will have a great chat.


Tuesday 2nd I move on to Nashville, I have not been here before so my plans are a little sketchy.
Reading up there are a number of things to see during the day, Grand ole Opry, Country Music Hall of Fame, The Partheon, Ryman Auditorium, etc.

Night Time the area to be seems to be Broadway & 2nd Ave, I plan to check out a few Clubs and listen to plenty of live music. My Hotel has live music on 6 nights per week so I may break one of my rules on at least one night to check it out.

I can't wait to blog about this trip.