Dickens of a Christmas

Last year I found out about the town of Franklin's Dickens of a Christmas street festival when it was too late.  It's been on my calendar for a year and I'm glad I finally got to go, although it was face-numbing cold that day.  There are lots of street performers, vendors and people wandering around in clothing from Dickens' time.  That was my favorite part.

Busted by the bobbies!

The Cratchits after the pay raise?

A Dumbledore-ish Scrooge chatting with a black bear?

Even the dogs dress up.

The Opryland Hotel

The Gaylord Opryland Hotel is a great place to spend a cold wintery day, especially around Christmastime.  My mother-in-law and I were transported from freezing Nashville temperatures to a tropical sauna within minutes.  It's hard to believe that just 1.5 years ago much of the hotel was inundated by the "1000-year flood".

The indoor gardens were immaculate and beautiful, filled with thousands of poinsettias.  We learned from one of the indoor gardeners that there are 16 indoor gardeners and 16 outdoor gardeners.  By the way, the indoor gardeners were "hanging loose" in Hawaiian shirts while the outdoor gardeners were bundled up like Iditarod mushers.  Anyway, here are a few pictures of "the tropics" in Nashville.  I just realized that I didn't get any pictures of the poinsettias or the Christmas decorations.  Doh!  I just might have to make another trip out there before 2012.

Dancing with an iPod

This guy, Preston Leatherman, lives in Nashville and he's going viral.  It will make you smile, I promise.  

I'm going to track his views.  Right now he's at 539,534.  He uploaded it onto youtube on November 28, 2011.

Camouflage

True confessions - sometimes I listen to country music while I'm driving.  I'm even starting to recognize some of the artists by voice and by face.  You just can't help it when you live in Music City, unless, of course, your name is Howard.  Anyway, when I browse stations, I mostly come across country or Christian music.  This song by Brad Paisley cracks me up.  I heard it on the radio yesterday.  Although there are lots of videos to the song, none of them seem to official.

 

Here are the lyrics so you can sing along.  And I KNOW that some of you will sing along ;o)

Camouflage
Brad Paisley

Kevin wasn't really all that popular in school
But I remember well the day I thought now that guy's pretty cool
He pulled into the parking lot and everybody cheered
Because he had gone and painted his entire Chevy Cavalier camouflage

Camouflage it disappears when it pulls out of his garage
Camouflage-camouflage

I asked Jenny to the prom and her mom knew how to sew
So she made a matching tux and gown from Duck Blind Mossy Oak
We took pictures in the backyard before we went to the dance
And the only thing that you can see is our faces and our hands

Camouflage, camouflage
Camouflage you should've have seen the way it popped with her coursage
Camouflage, camouflage, ain't nothing that doesn't go with camouflage

You can blend in in the country
You can stand out in the fashion world
Be invisible to a white tail and irresistible to a redneck girl

Camouflage, camouflage
Oh you're my favorite color camouflage

You can blend in in the country
You can stand out in the fashion world
Be invisible to a white tail and irresistible to a redneck girl

Well the stars and bars offend some folks and I guess I see why
Nowadays there's still a way to show your southern pride
The only thing as patriotic as the old red white and blue
Is green and gray and black and brown and tan all over you

Camouflage, camouflage
Designed by Mother Nature and by God

It's camouflage, camouflage
Oh you're my favorite color camouflage 

Church Perks in Music City

There's a guy I keep seeing at church - he attends the ward that meets after ours.  His hair is a little longer than most of the guys and he wears cowboy boots with a somewhat casual suit.  Today I visited that ward and found out that his name is Tim Gates and he's a country singer in a group called Due West.  He sang a solo, a hymn called More Holiness Give Me.  It was quite lovely and the country in him only escaped a few times.  Here's a sample of his music.  He's the guy on the left.

 

The next one has a great message and footage of his family.

Highlights from October

I waited a year to get this picture.  I guess I'll have to wait another year for a picture of the gigantic bale spider.  Darn!

Here are the not-so-spooky treats that I made for some friends.  Here's where I got the idea.

Here's another money pit photo.  The heat exchangers needed to be replaced.  The parts ($1500) were still under warranty.  Phew!

Howard and I made a pilgrimage to Cheekwood.  We stumbled upon a scarecrow exhibit.  I guess it's "better late than never" to start working out, right?

Meet Vincent Van "Crow".

 This one is for all my girlie nieces.

There are always cool plants at Cheekwood.

We found some interesting balcony shadows.

This is not Cheekwood.  On a whim, I went to Ethan Allen to look at furniture (for inspiration) and ended up talking to an enthusiastic designer who put together this living room palette for me.  Fun, right?

Now We're Talkin'

We finally had one of those "Whoa, what the heck is that?" moments here in Nashville.  I thought we'd have more of them.  

We got stuck behind this guy last Saturday on a country road.  I drove while Howard played paparazzo (singular for paparazzi).  He stuck his head and camera out the window and snapped a bazillion photos hoping for a least one or two good ones.  I was a little nervous that the guy would get annoyed with us and start shooting at us. 

Anyway, I figured out what it is.  I guess all those trips to Latin America finally paid off.  Can you figure it out?

Here's a close up for you.

Mysteries of the Del

Howard and I spent a lot of time on Coronado when we were dating.  We used to walk from his apartment to the Hotel del Coronado (the Del) all the time.

 

Howard took this picture of the Del.  Isn't it beautiful?

When we go back to visit the Del, we feel like we own the place as we walk through its familiar halls, grand rooms, and quaint shops.  Some things have stayed the same, like the old and still operating cage elevator.

The old cage elevator

Some things have changed.  We can remember when there were tennis courts between the beach and the hotel rather than the $1000/night beachfront condos and villas that are there now.

A long time ago we learned about Kate Morgan, a young woman who mysteriously died in 1892 somewhere in the vicinity of those current-day fancy schmancy condos and villas.  Her death is registered as a suicide but some people believe that she was murdered by her husband.  It's rumored that she continues to roam the halls of the hotel today, waiting for either her husband or for the truth to be known.  This book tells the story if you want to find out more. 

Many guests and employees have witnessed ghostly happenings at the hotel.  Toilets flush on their own, lights flicker and turn off and on, things fly off the shelves, curtains billow when the windows are closed, etc.  You can hear it for yourself.  Just watch the clip.

Howard and I once stayed in the room next to the famed room 3327, although Howard says it's really room 3312.  I'm pretty sure Kate came to visit us that night.  During the night I felt the air circulating abnormally and I felt a presence hovering over me.  I'm pretty sure I wasn't dreaming and surprisingly, I wasn't scared.

Here's another 'mystery' about the Del, not as eery as the Kate Morgan story.  There are these funky sand dunes on the beach near the Del and they have ice plant growing on the top of them.  The beach there is so flat and extensive that they seem out of place.  What's up with that? 

Well, we know something that you might not know.  Here's a bird's eye view of those sand dunes.  Cool, right?

 

Compliments of Google Earth

Make New Friends, But Keep the Old...

When I was nine years old (I think), we moved from Spring Valley to University City (both are located in San Diego County).  At the time people thought my parents were crazy moving so far north, which is hilarious to think about now.  

Nowadays University City (UC) is part of The Golden Triangle, an overly-crowded residential and commercial hub.  It also happens to be where the San Diego LDS Temple is located.  The Golden Triangle is the area between three major freeways:  The 5, 52 and 805 (see map below).   

Back in the day, the area north of our house was mostly chaparral and 805 didn't exist yet.  There were a couple of churches and a couple of schools, La Jolla Country Day School (established in 1961) and UCSD (established in 1960).  My dad worked at UCSD so it made sense to move there.

 The A shows the location of our UC house.

All of this came to mind when I was reminiscing about these gals (sisters), who I got to see while I was in San Diego.

My first memory of Cathy (on the left) was when I was riding my bike in my new neighborhood in UC.  Cathy was riding her bike too.  I remember us riding around each other, kind of checking each other out.  Our first conversation went something like this (I'm pretty sure Cathy led out on all the questions because I was very shy AND the new kid):

Her:  What's your name?
Me:   Kathy (of course, you know that my real name is Eunice)
Her:  That's my name too.  How old are you?
Me:   Nine.
Her:  Me too.  When's your birthday?
Me:   July
Her:  Mine too.  Hey, and we both have blue eyes!

And that was the beginning of many years of good memories.  I spent a lot of time at Cathy's house during my school years.  Her family was like family to me.  Cathy and I can go for years without seeing each other and we are able to pick up where we left off.

After Cathy was married and gone, I got to know Barbara better (on the right).  She's my sister's age but later in life we talked about being teachers and we commiserated over being single.  I'm happy to report that both of us got married and that Barbara has two cute boys.  Anyway, there are lots of memories to share about these two and their family but I'll save that for another time.

More About San Diego

We went to La Jolla Cove and watched the seals,  

or are they seal lions?
 

We love all the Suessian plant life in 

San Diego.

 

Back in the day, this lifeguard tower at the Cove 

didn't have any windows or a door.  Why is that

significant?  You'll have to email me.

Here's a peek at the Spanish Village Art Center 

located near Balboa Park.  A bunch of artists 

have their studios here.  I love the painted tiles!

I want to start a village like this in Nashville.

Do you think it would fly?

This is just a fun bench at the Art Village.  

It looks like they cut the footboard of a bed

in half and used it for the arms.  The back

of the bench is obviously the headboard.  

Clever!

Here are some hydrangeas at the Art Village.  

I want some blueish purplish hydrangeas.

And I want them now!

Here's a picture of Howard taking pictures at Balboa 

Park.  Later I'll post some of his pictures, they turned out

really good.  He's becoming quite the photographer.

Here's a fun statue I stumbled upon.

The USS Midway is in the background.

This statue is HUGE!

I went back to Old Town again with a friend.  

We went to Bazaar del Mundo, a collection

of very cute Mexicany shops and restaurants. 

I want some steps like these somewhere on my 

property in Nashville!  Do you think they'll

fit in with all the antebellum architecture?

The USS Midway

When we were in San Diego we got to explore the USS Midway, an aircraft carrier turned museum.  She (obviously feminine) was completed in 1945 and turned into a museum in 2004.  It's overwhelming to think of the things she's seen and experienced in her 66 years.

Up until our Midway adventure, the biggest water vessel I'd ever been on was maybe the ferryboat at Disneyland.  Howard had been on the Constellation for his Eagle Scout celebration.

It was hard to fathom that I was on a ship as I walked up and down the 4-acre plane-filled deck.  Howard loved looking at and learning about the planes.

My favorite part was learning about what daily life must have been like for the 4,500 passengers.  I loved seeing their living quarters (squishy for the enlisted men!), the barber shops, the brig, the mess halls, the kitchens, the meeting rooms, the doctors' and dentists' offices, etc.

The kitchen was particularly fascinating to me, especially since my recent experience as girls' camp cook.  Check out these appliances!

These electric pots might have helped with
the marinated chicken.

We definitely needed this for
banana pudding day!

These recipes for 100 would have been incredibly useful!

Check out the quantities listed and then multiply by 45

to feed 4,500 passengers.  Inconceivable!

As I write this post, I'm wishing that I had taken more pictures of all the rooms we saw.

Me, in the brig - for not taking enough pictures.

These are the anchor chains of the Midway.

I borrowed this guy's picture.

Each link of the anchor chain weighs 130 pounds!
This is my picture and my foot.

Here's the machine shop.  This is where my dad

would've worked had he been on the Midway.

There were lots of rooms with lots of...

knobs and buttons and switches.  Oh my!

Painted gray wires lined all the passageway ceilings.

I can't even begin to imagine how they kept track of 

all of them and what they were connected to!

I didn't take a picture of the enlisted men's itty bitty 
living space (doh!), so I borrowed one from this guy.

Howard and I spent 4-5 hours touring the USS Midway and could've stayed longer if closing time hadn't crept up on us so quickly.  It was definitely worth the $18 (per person) admission fee.