Huntsville Superstars

We determined in Charlotte that once we reached Nashville, we would head straight south. We had never been to the "Deep South" and were excited to be sticky and sweaty, and meet some confederate folk. With our beards now fully matured and our accents coming around, we felt prepared. We took our time driving on the back roads through Tennessee en route to Alabama. For some reason, we had our hearts set on seeing a gator. We spotted a green area on the map which denotes a forestry area. There was also several patches of blue mixed within the green. In this case, they were swamps. We were on our way to Decatur, Alabama with hopes of finding some gators during the daylight and a campsite for the night. On the drive there, we researched gators, snakes, and minor league baseball. Our research made us anxious to see a gator, cautious of snakes, and added a new destination - the Huntsville Stars. It was getting close to game time, so we abandoned the swamp idea and headed for the stadium. After a quick bite to eat at the Subway in Decatur, we headed 15 miles east to Huntsville for the game.

Got in some catch and a few beers before the game. The area we played catch had license plates supporting the University of Tennessee, Alabama, and Auburn. SEC Country loves their football as much as we love our Ducks. 

As we were playing catch, we heard, "Y'all need some tickets?" Some kind woman offered up her extra tickets and we thanked her and graciously took her up on the offer. It reminded us of the foul ball we caught before the Wilson Tobs game.

We walked into the stadium for the 7:05 first pich between the Huntsville Stars, the AA affiliate of the Brewers and the Nashville Smokies, the AA affiliate of the Cubs. 

Snapped a quick picture of the park before we headed to our seats. It was a nice stadium in (what we learned later) a very nice town. 

Our free tickets landed us here. The whole stadium is general admission and these gems weren't taken. Surprisingly didn't catch a foul ball. 

Peter and The Wolf: Sit On The Field In Huntsville

Our view of the dugout. 

We sat in front of two Huntsville residents the entire game. Scott is an Auburn University graduate is pictured above and Mickey, below, grew up in Tennessee and went to a small college there. We talked about life in Huntsville, family, golf, football, and they finally led us our eventual campsite that night. Thank you for the beers guys and we hope you've been celebrating Hawaiian Shirt Wednesdays! 

After the game, we headed to Monte Sano State Park. There was a nice campsite there, but it was unfortunately gated and the registration closed at 9. Baseball games don't last an hour so we had to make an adjustment. We simply parked the car in the lot and set up the tent in a patch of grass. We knew it would be an early morning. Amazingly, we were cool during the night as temperatures dipped into the low 60s... Anyone notice the giant new tent (thanks for sending the tent poles and cookies, Peter's mom!)?

At 5:30am the next morning, we headed to the U.S. Space & Rocket Center which is located in Huntsville. Mickey and Scott told told us the night before that NASA has a research and production center located in Huntsville. They assumed that's why we were in town. NASA has built many jets, rockets, space shuttles, and weapons for the US. It was great to see this without the crowds of people there. Thanks again to Scott and Mickey for pointing this out. 

Plenty of spaceships and rockets surrounded the park. It was much too early for us to go in, but we enjoyed the perimeter. 

We assumed this was an engine. Any thoughts?

Here is Peter standing outside the main entrance. We were baffled that we needed sweatshirts that morning.

This is the crown jewel of the facility.

Here is Peter hanging on an A-12 Blackbird. This jet once held the speed record. It traveled from Los Angeles to Washington D.C. in 1 hour and 4 minutes. It took us over a month...

We played some catch in the parking lot, then left. We were in need of a shower so Siri pointed us to a local YMCA. It was a beautiful complex which included a little league baseball park. We hit fly balls, played some basketball, and took a shower before departing to Tuscaloosa, the home of the University of Alabama Crimson Tide.

Lynyrd Skynyrd - "Sweet Home Alabama"

Live At Nashville

When we popped out of the Smokies, we entered the tourist capital of Tennessee. We were in Pigeon Forge, a 20 block stretch of mini golf, mini NASCAR tracks, themed hotels, water parks, carnivals, and every other form of entertainment you could think of. It was a paradise for kids and a nightmare for adults. It was a seemingly never ending stretch. We passed by Dollywood, a theme park celebrating Dolly Parton, and thought about stopping but we were in too much awe of this crazy place. There couldn't have been more contrasting places than the Smokies and Pigeon Forge. Our next stop was Crossville, Tennessee. It was properly named Crossville because in this town, we gained an hour and were in Central time. We reserved a room at the Crossville Inn and had Knoxville and Nashville as our next stops. 

The magical world of Pigeon Forge.

Another weird tourist trap. 

We were only minutes away from our motel in Crossville when Peter spotted this alley on the side of the road. We bowled a few games listening to old country tunes. At that moment, we knew we were in small town Tennessee. As we left, Wolf was congratulated for his 182. It was only his fourth best of the trip.

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The next morning, we drank a cup of joe and headed to Knoxville en route to Nashville. 

We were starving and looking for a University of Tennessee sports bar in Knoxville to eat lunch. We were advised to go to the Soccer Taco, a Mexican soccer themed restaurant. We were baffled to find NO college sports bars here. A great investment opportunity for those looking to get in to the restaurant/bar industry. 

Here is the gigantic Neyland Stadium where the Volunteers play. It easily seats 100,000 people. The SEC loves their football. 

Poster of their great former quarterback, Peyton Manning. Tough to not like this guy. 

With a full stomach, we headed three hours west toward Nashville. We knew it was the country music hub of the world, but didn't realize the entire city was centered around music. Every bar we went to had a live act with dreams of making it big. We both agree that country is our least favorite type of music but we opened our minds and enjoyed every second of it. 

We entered Nashville. This is the main strip of downtown with 20 bars smashed together and country act's sounds colliding as you walk down the street. 

This was the first bar we stopped at. The music was good, but the beverage prices were not. 

We used the facilities and headed to the next bar with hopes of saving a few dollars. There was country music memorabilia at every turn. 

Peter and The Wolf: Nashville

Nashville did a great job of preserving the feel of old country music and tradition. It seemed as though the city could get wrapped around the idea of tourism big business, but they were satisfied with the culture they had (as seen with this horse carriage). We appreciated that. 

Peter standing outside the venue where Bluegrass was started. He is holding three CDs that came in a paper "grab" bag we bought at a local music store. After a brief listen, we determined that they were the type that you roll down the window on the highway and chuck them out. 

After a brief walk around town scoping out the spots, we headed back to Black Sally to change into more suitable clothes. Peter, now flanneled, posing with The King. It wouldn't be Nashville without a shot with Elvis.

The "All Draught Beers $2" made this a must stop. This singer-songwriter combo had a good sound. 

Jordan Bice, our pal from D.C., gave us the contact information of his good childhood buddy, Kevin, from Portland. We got in touch with him and he informed us that he was playing a show at a night club called 3rd and Lindsley. We were excited to meet him and hear his band. 

Kevin, aka KMac, is the percussion specialist on the left. He lives with Steve, the guitarist and singer on the right. They were playing a knockdown acoustic set because the rest of their band was visiting New York for a week. Their sound was great as a duo. 

The next band we saw at 3rd and Lindsay was Fabricio and the Fever. 

Steve "Wolfman" Wolfe with Steve "The Wolf" Wolf. Wolfman played drums for KMac's following act, Fabricio and the Fever.

We quickly hit it off with KMac and knew why Jordan had us get in touch. Unlike Bozeman, MT, KMac immediately offered up his couch and air mattress, and as was customary, we offered him a beer. 

As we walked in to this smoke-filled bar, the attention-needing lead singer stopped singing and focused on us. He shouted, "Should we let these guys in...? I guess they look cool, they have facial hair." Nobody really responded. We turned around and left. 

The three of us enjoying a Shiner Bock at Silver Dollar Saloon. 

The live act at Silver Dollar. 

Another live act.

And another.

Our final stop was at The Stage. This group was in the middle of a rendition fusing The Beatles' "Hey Jude" and The Marshall Tucker Band's "Can't You See." We were told that the greatest acts in Nashville play here. 

At the conclusion of the night, we grabbed some late night grub and headed back to KMac's place. We had a great time in Nashville and recommend it to all that have a soft spot for country and bluegrass tunes. 

Lovin' Spoonful - "Nashville Cats"

Special thanks to Kevin McElroy for showing us a great time and letting us crash at his place. Can't wait to catch up in Portland. 

On Top Of Old Smokey

We sluggishly woke up in Asheville and headed toward Tennessee. We talked with the locals at the Mellow Mushroom in Asheville about a nice route to Nashville. They informed us that the road through the Great Smoky Mountains was a great, scenic drive. We got the atlas out and determined our route. The Smoky Mountains divide the western border of North Carolina with the eastern border of Tennessee. It had been a month since leaving Yellowstone, so we were excited to get back into a National Park. 

We stopped on the side of the road to enjoy a nice bagel and cream cheese we had left over from our continental breakfast in Asheville. 

Peter enjoyed his bagel in the river.

Peter found some good skipping stones. Wolf decided not to join because he didn't want to get his feet wet, get out, walk through the dirt and then put his shoes on. 

Just minutes after we passed the sign noting that we were in the park, there was a car pileup reminiscent of our Yellowstone trip. The cars had stopped for this pack of elk. 

We headed only a few more minutes down the road when we saw more break lights and cars pulled over. An amazing elk with the largest antlers we had ever seen. We gave each other a high five and knew we were back to the place we love. 

They don't call it the Smoky Mountains for nothing. 

On top of Old Smokey. 

We pulled over at a scenic lookout. There were several cars, but we couldn't pass up the opportunity to smash a golf ball into the smoke. 

Peter took a chunk out of the grass and skied it about 100 yards. After we drove on, he continuously looked for another spot to hit a good one. Unfortunately, it never came. 

Wolf hit a great drive deep into the forest. He wasn't looking for another spot to hit one.

Peter and The Wolf: Back In Nature. 

The beautiful Great Smoky Mountains.

Hank Williams Sr. - "On Top Of Old Smokey"