Taking My Stand In Dixie

[Noel Mugavin]

Many thanks for everyone's kind comments

Tour was called out and you're shunted into a little holding room


Out through the doors, photos, which I managed to avoid, then on to the bus, buckled up and ready for a drive through the distillery



30 seconds later off the bus and at the site where the charcoal is created





Apart from the initial 30 seconds, the tour is by foot.

Distillery fire brigade



Water coming from Cave Spring Hollow



Jack Daniel in front of Cave Spring Hollow


Jack Daniel's office





The infamous safe

 

[Noel Mugavin]

Not able to take photos in any of the buildings where distilling is taking place




Buy a barrel, get you name on a plague

 

[Noel Mugavin]

Into 1 of the barrel houses to finish the tour with some tastings



Take the hassle out of trying to steal the glass by giving it to you





Replica of Lem Motlow's house, one of 2 nephews the company was passed on to due to Jack Daniel's ill health. Motlow bought out the other nephew and was head of the company from 1911 - 1947


It's about a 100m or so walk from the distillery to the town square. Lynchburg is not a big place.


Just round that curve, you're in town


Looking back over the road to the Lynchburg welcome centre


Back to the hotel and did some washing then went for a bit of a drive. Found a nice surprise, covered bridge. Not much to do on a Friday night in Lynchburg, bit of TV, then sleep

 

[Noel Mugavin]

Saturday morning and woke to devastating news - the Eagles had won the Grand Final, but with them playing Collingwood there was never going to be any winner from that game. I taught and am close to one of the players, and have coached a couple of other Eagles players, so happy for them but extremely grateful I wasn't in Perth at the time.

Early start and a couple more photos of the town square. Distinctive thing about this town - the smell. It's intoxicating.








On the road and some very low laying, thick fog made driving a little challenging at times.
Despite taking an unintended exit, was st my destination of Nashville and in particular the replica of the Parthenon in Centennial Park.



Accommodation was in the west end of Nashville as was my destination today - Vanderbilt University



Stadium from Centennial Park



Nashville is/was known as the Athens of the south, and for the Centennial Exposition in 1897 a replica of the Parthenon was built. Was only meant to be a temporary structure to be taken down following the Exposition, however it proved too popular and has remained ever since, rebuilt in concrete in the early part of the century.









Really nice morning, sun was out and lots of activity in the park

 

[Noel Mugavin]

10.30ish and headed off to store my bags and get some lunch. Had not been able to organise to store my bags with my Air BNB, but in my research had come across Bag BNB, same concept, businesses store your bags for you. $6 a bag, a cafe around the corner from my accommodation offered the service, had paid the charge, however a confirmation email had never appeared in my emails. They have a live chat on their site, but I had always been referred to a later time or some such. So not 100% confident. Of course the cafe had no record of the booking, I offered cash for them to take the bags, that was rejected, so all there was to do was grab my passport, cards and cash and leave the bags in the boot of the car. It was a good area and again its only 'stuff' if it did get swiped.

Off to lunch and Hattie B's. Opens at 11, and already a line at 10.45ish



This was a long wait and only due to my stubbornness did I stay in line. Didn't get in the doors until 12.10. Did however get to chat with someone from Bag BNB and get my conformation email sorted. My fault, had given an incorrect email, but not pleased about the previous efforts with live chat.

Partying had started around town, Philadelphia Eagles fans were in town, and a lot of hens parties. Many party buses and tractors trawling the streets.



Getting close


The menu


Even after getting inside and ordering it was a good 20 - 25 minutes before the food came out. Chicken was okay, not a patch on Gus's, mac and cheese fairly tasteless, potato salad the same, peach cobbler was very, very good.
Overall, didn't enjoy the experience, long wait, it was hot, inside was crowded and I was a bit pissed off about the bag situation


The line at about 1 o'clock



Walked back to the car, took the bags out and dropped them off at the cafe. To be honest it is a pretty good idea, locked room, bag ticket and have to show id, so a pretty cheap and convenient service, provided you don't stuff up your email address.
Bags sorted, off to the football stadium, a walk through the university grounds on the way

 

[Noel Mugavin]

Vanderbilt team rooms


Team's entrance to the stadium


Baseball field next door




Tailgating area


Vanderbilt practice field, lot more secretive than Arkansas State


Vanderbilt band - these guys were in for a rough day

 

[Noel Mugavin]

I'm enjoying the TR.

Looking up your punter, I see the following "Didn’t allow a touchback all season ... 49 punts ... 24 ... inside 20 ...". That is staggering!

Update - the young fella has been nominated for the Ray Guy Award once again. Don't know if this is against the rules, but if not, the award has a fan vote worth 1 vote of the total towards determining the final 3. Extremely grateful, if interested, that we vote for him. Go to rayguyaward.com and vote for the punter from Arkansas State. You can vote on multiple devices.

 

[Noel Mugavin]

Inside the stadium









Today's game was an out of conference game between Vanderbilt and Tennessee State, with what should be an easy victory for Vanderbilt.
College Football has 10 conferences in the top tier, which is the Bowl Subdivision. Of those 10 conferences, 5 are referred to as the Power 5, the best recruits go to those colleges, these colleges play in the big bowl games, they provide the Heisman Trophy winners (best player in college football), and also provide the National Champions. The power 5 consist of the Southeastern Conference (SEC), of which Vanderbilt is a part of; the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC); the Big Ten, of which there are 14 colleges; the Big 12 of which there are 10 colleges, and the Pac 12. The 5 remaining conferences are the Group of 5 which consist of the Sun Belt (Arkansas State is affiliated with this conference; Mid-American Conference (MAC); American Athletic Conference (AAC); Conference USA and the Mountain West Conference. In addition to this there are 6 independents that are not aligned to any conference. Notre Dame is one of these 6.
First part of the season out of conference games are played, a chance for the big schools to get a bit of practice in, chance for the smaller colleges to get their programs on to a bigger stage, hope to pull off an upset and it seems more importantly, make some cash. Arkansas State played Alabama, ranked 1, lost 57 - 7, and took home $1 million for the privilege of getting their backsides handed to them in front of 90 000 plus spectators..
Below these conferences are the Championship sub-division conferences, of which Tennessee State is a part of the Ohio Valley Conference.
Although Vanderbilt aren't a powerhouse of the SEC, Power 5 v Championship Conference, should be only 1 winner.

Tennessee State team



Vanderbilt is the only private college in the SEC and part of the establishment. A bit of added background to this game, Tennessee State is a traditionally black college, so a game of the haves vs the have nots. Bit like the movies, kids from the wrong side of town taking it up to the silver spooners
Although I had the Vanderbilt hat on, it really didn't take me long to switch my support to the underdogs


Vanderbilt band filing in


As the warm ups went on there was a huge booming coming from the direction of the far stands



Booming was getting louder and closer



Some action from where the booming was coming from

 

[Noel Mugavin]

Beautiful day



'The Aristocrats of Bands', taking up their positions


These guys were absolutely amazing. Added to Gus's Fried Chicken and Mary Bobo's Green Bean Casserole as things i would travel back to the states specifically for. Felt sorry for the Vanderbilt band, these guys were louder, more energetic and a lot better. Any time the home band started up to support their team they would just get drowned out. They got smashed on their own turf, in football parlance they got beaten by a 100 plus points


Pre-game entertainment starts. Tennessee State Band were very respectful while the Vanderbilt Band were performing, not a sound from them. I would assume some unwritten rule, however when it comes to college football, there probably is a rule about it.









Unfortunately had witnessed something similar to this at Fremantle games, lot classier here though.

 

[Noel Mugavin]

OHS might have something to see about the band leaders seat








Moving out for the half time show

 

[Noel Mugavin]

Hard act to follow and feeling a bit sorry for them at this stage


More strange college traditions, following a Vanderbilt touchdown we have some bloke pumping out the push ups



Late afternoon, shadows creeping across the field. Close win to the home side, entertaining game, however anything on the field was overshadowed by the band.
An unfortunate outcome of the game, one of the Tennessee players received an innocuous head knock and collapsed on the sideline. Emergency brain surgery and until recently has been in hospital in critical condition. Last update, now stable and has eaten food under his own steam.


Around 6 o'clock and off I went to get my bags and in to my Air BNB.
Walk past the stadium and through the university first

 

[Noel Mugavin]

In my planning for the trip I had discovered how ridiculously expensive hotels in Nashville are. The younger staff members in my department had convinced me to get with the times and get on the Air BNB bandwagon. I wasn't entirely convinced so I had a booking at the Holiday Inn Vanderbilt that i held on to until the last possible moment. I hadn't had any issues with my Air BNB booking so had cancelled my room at the Holiday Inn at the latest i was able to.
My plan now was to head to the BNB, park my car in the garage, then walk around the corner and grab my bags. Headed to the lock box, opened the lock and - no key. Little heart flutter, grabbed the phone, rang the hosts number - message - number cannot be connected. Hmmmm. To the office of the complex, 6.30 on a Saturday night, it's closed. Little bit more of a panic. Couldn't open my BNB app on my phone as it only recognised my Australian number for security to open it. Little bit of a think, need to get my laptop so i can open the get to the BNB booking through there.
Get to the cafe, get the bags, notice that people are on laptops and ipads in the cafe, so obviously free wifi. Grab the cheapest drink possible so I'm not seen to be mooching the internet access. Couple of ladies sitting at one of the tables outside, ask if I can borrow their phone to make sure its not an issue with the sim in my phone. No worries they say, same message though.
Get to my emails, message from my host at 2.30pm that afternoon apologising that the unit is now unavailable, and that if I contact Air BNB they will help me get another place. Only number I could find was an Australian contact, so bugger that, made the decision to find a hotel. It's now about 7.00pm on Saturday night, city is chockas with Philadelphia Eagles fans, and it is an extremely expensive city. In my mind I'm thinking, I'm ending up an hour out of the city, or I'm in an area that I shouldn't really be in, or I'm paying $1000 for a hotel. Decided on option 3, security was the most important thing for me at this time.
Threw the bags in the car and i set off towards the Holiday Inn, hoping there would be something free. On the way saw a Hampton Inn and dropped in there. Little bit of a wait for someone to appear, asked if any vacancies, answer after a little search through the computer was a yes. Then the next question that I was dreading the answer to - how much? I really was thinking the worst, but prepared to pay whatever at this stage. Relieved when the answer came to $240, ended up being $410 Australian. A lot more than I would usually pay for a hotel, but extremely grateful I had a room. Asked about the following night, said nothing atm, check tomorrow if someone has cancelled.
Bags from the car, free parking at the hotel, shower, jumped on the net, booked a room at the Holiday Inn for the following night, jumped in an Uber and headed for Broadway.

Hampton Inn room


Dropped off at Broadway



I love Beale Street in Memphis, but Broadway is Memphis on steroi_s. 3 or 4 blocks of bars, few souvenir shops, cowboy boot stores, and fantastic music.



Went up and down both blokes, having a look around the stores first, before doubling back and going in and out of a few bars to listen to some music. Lot of Eagles fans, lot of hens nights, and a lot of females in cowboy boots and short short and skirts







Plenty of party buses out and about

 

[Noel Mugavin]

AT&T, or the Batman Building, dominant piece of the skyline







Nashville is Johnny Cash country, but Elvis makes the odd appearance


There's a store dedicated to this guy

 

[Noel Mugavin]

Up early and out to breakfast at the hottest breakfast place in Nashville, Biscuit Love. All reports say get there early or you'll be waiting a while and not wanting a repeat of Hattie B's, I was there shortly after 7. No lines, very few people there.







Southern items on the menu, fried chicken, gravy, biscuits etc, etc, but the item they are famous for are bonuts. Fried dough with lemon mascarpone and blueberry compote



Manager delivered my order to the table and told me you usually get 5 in a serve but there would be a wait of about 8 minutes for the 5th one. Told him doesn't really bother me if I don;t get the 5th one, he said he would bring out a biscuit as a replacement.



I do have a sweet tooth, but I wasn't all that impressed, not a strong lemon or blueberry taste

Back to the Hampton to check out



And then a short drive to the Holiday Inn. $25 to park at the Holiday Inn
It was about 9.00am, asked if I could leave my bags, receptionist said there was a room ready, however was by the elevator shaft. For whatever stupid reason I agreed to take the room. Really don't know what was going through my head, I wouldn't be in the room a t any stage during the day, my luggage would have been secure in the luggage room, but I did what I did.

Stones throw away from Vanderbilt Stadium




Quite a large room

 

[Noel Mugavin]

Holiday Inn provides a shuttle to get you around, so it off-sets the parking price a little. Uber prices was surging at the time as people were starting to move towards downtown to get to Nissan Stadium for the Titans-Eagles game.









Some of the honky tonks were already in full swing


A Tennessee favourite






On the pedestrian bridge, over the coughberland River and to the stadium

 

[kermatu]

pdate - the young fella has been nominated for the Ray Guy Award once again. Don't know if this is against the rules, but if not, the award has a fan vote worth 1 vote of the total towards determining the final 3. Extremely grateful, if interested, that we vote for him. Go to rayguyaward.com and vote for the punter from Arkans

Just voted for him. He's not doing too well in the popular vote....

 

[Noel Mugavin]

Just voted for him. He's not doing too well in the popular vote....

Much appreciated, hard to compete with the big Texan schools in particular. Good thing, fan vote is only worth 1 total vote.
Last year he got to third in the fan vote with about 16%, others have upped their game this year

 

[Noel Mugavin]

Corn hole game going on in one of the tailgating areas






It was a hot day, sun was out there's no roofing on the stadium and my plan had been to buy a hat on the way to the stadium. Surprisingly, there were no shops or stands set up selling Titans merchandise, so the team store it was. On the ticket for entry it was quite clear that there is no re-entry if you leave the stadium, so once you're in you're in. I assumed the team store would be an external entry and no entry inside the stadium. Halfway through the security check I realised I was wrong. Still an hour and a half until game time and I was stuck inside.
Purchased a cap, I'm a Texan's fan, but when in Rome, and then wandered the concourse. Then I heard it, the deep rumbling I heard yesterday, then the great music. They were back, and they were outside. Best view I could get of them.



Large crowd gathered inside and outside to watch and hear the band, after about 8 minutes or so they moved on. I followed the noise, as did others, as the band went from entrance to entrance. They are absolutely mesmerising

 

[Noel Mugavin]

Taken through the gap in a gate






My seat was on the second level and for the life of me I couldn't find any way up. There was a glassed off area with escalators going up inside of the area but assumed that was an area for members or the like. Bit more searching, still no luck, went to the lady at the entrance of the glass area and asked for some help. She had a look at my ticket and said 'right this way' You beauty, up the escalator, air conditioned comfort, few lounge chairs as well


Being music city, there had to be some live music. To the left you can see the back of one of the cheerleaders that greeted me at the top of the escalator and gave me a game program.


An outside balcony as well for views of the city from a different perspective. Got chatting to a local out on the balcony telling me that Nashville was undergoing a boom time with huge amounts of growth occurring and that it reminds him of Atlanta of about 25 years ago before that city also boomed.

 

[Noel Mugavin]

Had a couple of pork tacos



The pre-game



Catchy tune for fan behaviour. Surely the MCG could dust Joe Dolce off and get something a bit more exciting than the current send a text for anti-social behaviour