Day 13: Rest day - Nashville, TN
Nau mai
Yesterday we took a day of rest in Music City.
It was another day that began waking up in the carpark of a forgettable hotel with a confusing naming convention, this particular one taking the name Hampton Inn & Suites Nashville-Vanderbilt-Elliston.
The day was pleasantly warm and the skies were clear and we were all ready to invest a considerable portion of the middle of our day in the worthy pursuit of breakfast.
Our bus driver John had put forward a suggestion, a Nashville institution called Monell’s that serves southern food in a setting that could be called family-style. We turned up at the premises in Germantown and found a tidy brick house with a sunny and inviting courtyard. After a short time we were called inside, joining a large family who were seated around the largest dining table I’ve ever sat at. Plates were passed around, pitchers of sweet tea and lemonade were set out and salads were served as the proceedings began. A few minutes later the hot food began to arrive. Each dish was set down and we began to serve, passing the dishes to the left once we had taken a portion until had full plates. Here is my full plate after I had finished serving myself.
Coleslaw and cucumber salad were the beginning of my adventure and were closely followed by meat loaf, macaroni cheese, and chicken & pastry. Juicy green beans were next, skillet fried chicken, corn pudding, mashed potatoes, stewed apple, and cornbread to finish.
It was a beautiful experience sitting around a table and sharing food with a group of strangers.
Here is our post-breakfast Ocean’s 11 photo that I couldn’t quite frame up properly because there was a parked car in the way.
In the evening we went out to see the town. New Zealand were playing Iran in football. We were proud to see our flag big on the TV screen.
We were also proud that our team drew this game.
We went to the famous Honky Tonk Robert’s Western World and the atmosphere and quality of the music was excellent.
