Nashville

I haven't yet worked out how I want to keep y'all informed on my whereabouts. Mattie is a technology wiz and updates all sorts of internet things every hour or so. I don't enjoy free time with my phone. It's a sassy contraption that turns off spontaneously and has trouble waking up to do it's job. I suppose it's a bit like me.

I think it's important to look out the window and really spend time with the folks we're visiting. Not that Mattie isn't, I just can't handle technology and witty remarks simultaneously if I'm not paying attention. So instead, I'm just going to be a few days ahead of each post. For instance, I'm currently in Salina, Kansas but let me tell you about Nashville.

Tennessee is a very green place. Lots of trees and hills and Nashville in particular is a tidy and neat but crowded place. I liked it. We finally stopped our car in Brentice and John's driveway. Brentice is Mattie's brother and John is his college buddy and bandmate. Brentice promptly took us for burgers and right away I discovered what lovely prayers he says. He blessed all of our meals with poetic love for the Big Guy and made me extremely self-conscious of my own God banter. "I can't compete with that." I would tell Jesus before bed each night. The four of us spent our evening giggling in the living room, telling jokes and stories.

During our time in Nashville we lounged in coffee shops, had barbecue, visited famous record stores, and took a nap in the park. I met lots of their sweet friends, found a very dark, very thick chin hair, and almost fainted from the heat. (It was my fault. I wore jeans AND forgot my water.) Brentice took us on a nice tour of the city and secretly, I enjoyed watching the interaction between him and Mattie. None of my girlfriends have brothers. I've always wondered how they interact. And, in case you were wondering, they act like old friends that have no desire to appeal to the other. It's comfortable and they make a lot of the same faces.

We spent our last night downtown listening to some tunes and looking at all the flashing lights. The CMA awards are this coming weekend so there was all sorts of hubbub and concerts in blocked off streets. We took touristy photos and assessed passersby. Downtown Nashville is a combination of Vegas and New Orleans. Bright lights and bimbos.

The highlight of the whole thing was the impromptu concert John and Brentice played for Mattie and me on their front porch at one o'clock in the morning. While half the band was missing, I was beyond thrilled to hear them play. I mentioned their band here a year or so ago and I still love 'em. But now it's real.
These were the sweetest two fellas. Such good gigglers.

Off We Go

Mattie and I headed out bright and early Monday morning. I woke up especially nervous and suddenly decided that I didn't need to go anymore. Charleston is a great place. Why would I leave paradise? I don't really want to live anywhere else anyways. I'll stay here.

I left at 8:00, somewhat reluctantly, and picked up Mattie and two cans of mace. I nervously drove us to Asheville to visit some of my favorite fellas and we ate a healthy lunch and watched hipsters bee-bop their way down the street. Mattie then took the wheel and drove us through the Smoky Mountains to Nashville. Gosh it was so pretty but the winding roads held my attention. As a gal from a flat place, the new concept of driving on an incline terrified me. I decided that if I focused on the road, Mattie would definitely be able to handle this new terrain. She did very well, though there were a few scary moments which she responded to with hysterical laughter.

We've decided to photograph each home we stay in with a portrait of it's owners on the porch. I've also decided to take a picture of our car each day as we begin our drive. I want to watch it transform from organization to chaos.

Laura's Last Dock Day

Or Memorial Day, if you'd like it to not be about me.

Unbeknownst to me, last Sunday was my last day of dock adventures for the summer. Isn't that tragic? A few days ago I was informed that my westwardly road trip must begin promptly Monday morning so that Mattie makes it home in time for upcoming Greecey activities. While I am currently in panic mode, I've done nothing particularly productive except make a loose packing list and map out a route with Mattie. We have 14 stops and 20 days. I'll keep you posted as we make it happen.

So to celebrate the commencement of Summertime, we put the jet-skis and dogs into the water and had a Sunday of boiled peanuts and sunshine. We also attempted some new water sports and saved Sonny from near-death way too many times. Even Omar showed up, for no man can resist a jet-ski and I'd been bragging about Dad's delicious grub for too long.

Perhaps you noticed an absence of Dad in the photos. Mr. Fix-it was present for all of our dock antics however his problem-solving mind could not let him partake in the day's activities as there was mechanical work to be done on our more sluggish jet-ski. Back and forth he walked down the dock, showing up with more tools and buckets each time. "It must be the plugs." he mumbled on occasion while Buddy cruised by on a surf board. His focus never wavered and it wasn't until our muscles trembled from a long day of holding on that Dad finally lifted his head out from under the jet-ski and sat on the bench to watch his daughter's Aquabatics.

Festering Festival

This weekend I attended the 8th Annual First Flush Festival at the Charleston Tea Plantation. The Flush in question has nothing to do with plumbing and everything to do with the time of year that the tea leaves are picked. There are four flushes, one for each season, and the Tea Plantation celebrates their first harvest of the year with a big music and food festival.

I stole this photo.

I'll start by saying that I had the greatest time ever and had no idea what a festering mess the whole ordeal was. That's because, as I was saying, I'm a content non-analyzer.
A couple months ago I bought Ari and myself a ticket. We decided she would be perfectly healed from her tonsillectomy by then and we could frolic through the tea leaves while listening to tunes and eating from food trucks. T'was just a few days beforehand that Ari called and screeched out an "I'm not going to make it." So to continue with the new trend, I forced Omar to go with me. Thank goodness I have him. I hope he's not feeling used.
It was a crowded and noisy festival but the weather was perfect and the food was delicious.

I stole this photo too.

The selling point for me however was not the farmy atmosphere or the mobile kitchens. Indeed my life was made this weekend because the headlining band was none other than my three true loves, The Avett Brothers.

Now clearly I did not take this picture either for if I was ever that close to these fellas, all hell would break loose. Or I would recoil into a bashful ball and watch quietly, hoping they could see through my sweaty, grinning exterior and find that I truly truly love them. Omar did however act as my muscle, pushing me through the crowd to get me close enough to take this picture...

...which is my closest to date. Next time, Avetts. Next time.

Now, the festering part. Apparently lots of people had an awful time. 

Apparently ticket-bearing folks were turned away at the door because it was too crowded. People were fighting their way in, parking miles away on the highway and trekking towards the fun. Meanwhile, Omar and I had plunked down on a grassy patch overlooking the festival goers, where we sat with a bowl of nachos, giggling and people watching. Apparently people were upset about how far the Porta Potties were from the stage. I remember thinking, "Oh good. They have Porta Potties." Apparently some liquor companies advertised drink specials that were nowhere to be found. I zoomed in on the fresh tea and exclaimed, "Sweet tea and sunshine! What more could you need?"

I wasn't bothered by waiting in the long lines or stepping over "poorly placed ditches." The litter on the ground, the "too-loud opening bands", and the "inadequately stocked food trucks" didn't phase me one bit. Should it have? Should my time have been ruined because there were other people present that also wanted food and a front row seat? Was I just too happy to be bothered? Am I doltish?

I will say that being turned away when I had already paid for a ticket would have most definitely upset me. Tickets weren't cheap and it would take more than rent-a-cop to keep me from seeing the Avetts. 

But gosh I had the best time just being there.

Maybe I'm a dog-like village moron and I never knew it. 

Blue Water

Have you read about this?
Folly's water has turned Caribbean blue.

I went to the beach last week and thought that my sunglasses were making the water this pretty greenish blue, alas, it's real. The blame is being put on the dredging thats been going on in an effort to renourish the beaches. Everyone's quite excited about the water and even I've been making more beach trips than normal, just to pretend I'm somewhere tropical. In addition to the pretty water, the sand underneath it feels like Play-Doh. The beach itself is somewhat rocky now. Parts are our soft white sand but large stretches are rocky tough spots that hurt your feet to walk on. Another obstacle is the long, rusty, serpentine pipe that now sits proudly amongst sunbathers day after day.

Every block or so they've built little sand bridges over the pipe so that folks can get to the water. The walk into the water takes you through a layer of normal, shell filled sand, to compact beach sand, to large rocks a foot below the surface. Then things feel normal for a while. When I was in thigh deep there was the strange sensation of stepping on a hard surface but that shifted under your feet. Like a skateboard or a rope bridge. But then, to my delight, at waist high, I was plowing through Pluff mud. I was sure of it. Some swimmers were put off by the texture. I loved it. I reached down for a handful to sling at my friends and when I pulled it up out of the water it wasn't Pluff mud at all. It was white and gooey. I think it was clay. 

No one is entirely sure about the changes that have taken place at Folly. One important science person mumbled something about lime and how it reflects colors. Probably the water color will go back to normal after the renourishment project is finished but for now it's very, very exciting. 

In other Folly news, a 10-foot alligator washed up on the beach and some heat-packing beach-goer shot it clear between the eyes, in front of all the little children.