The Chik You've Been Waiting For

 

This morning Travalon and I went to Mass in Paducah, and there was a person there who was a little off in exactly the same way as a person who goes to our church back home. Then we hit the road, listening to the Groove, which is old school R&B. This song seems to be giving mixed messages: "Ain't we funkin'? No!"

I believe the song is actually called "Ain't We Funkin' Now," but the W got cut off. 

We drove to Nashville and had lunch at the Sun Diner, after Sun Records. Travalon said his chicken and waffles was the best he'd ever had. We went next-door to the Johnny Cash Museum, but I have some terrible news for coffee lovers: they no longer have a cafe there! We grabbed one of the last three bags of "A Brew Named Sue" in existence. Apparently the coffee roasters are called Bongo Coffee, so at least we can find amazing coffee somewhere in Nashville, just not there.

We went to the Ryman Auditorium, the site of the original Grand Ole Opry, and we took the tour. Here are some photos Travalon took.

Those windows are very famous, and in the gift shop I bought a small version of them which is either a sun catcher or a Christmas tree ornament. I thought of getting a T-shirt with the windows on it, which is very IYKYK (if you know, you know) because it doesn't immediately broadcast that I was in Nashville unless a person is familiar with those famous windows. However, I didn't like the feel of the fabric. I also thought of getting a mandolin ornament, but (and maybe this is too picky of me) it bothered me that it only had six strings, not eight. We wanted to go to the Museum of African-American Music, which was right across the street, but there wasn't really time to do both. Next time.

Nearby there was a lovely fountain. 

It was a gorgeous day, like a spring day in Madison, so we took a walk on the Shelby Street Pedestrian Bridge across the Cumberland River. Here are some photos.

This building looks like a one-eyed owl.

Then we went to Legendairy Milkshake Bar, where they have ridiculous milkshakes that have donuts or cookies or even a whole slice of cheesecake on top of them. I wouldn't recommend eating one every day, because they are ridiculously expensive; as the guy behind the counter said, "Don't you want the 16 ounce size instead of the 8 ounce size? We made them only a dollar more because we're evil." We did not pay a dollar for an upgrade. My shake is a Valentine's Day one on the left, with a heart-shaped raw cookie dough thing stuck in the red velvet ice cream that had actual red velvet cake crumbs in it. Travalon had the "Not-So-Thin Mint" with Andes candies and three Thin Mints stuck on the top.

We hit the road after that, and at a gas station somewhere that we stopped at to use the facilities and buy apples (so we would have had something healthy), this guy approached me and started talking about how the moon has been getting further away, he's been watching it for a week, and why does nobody talk about how it's getting smaller? and also there's running water on it. (I don't know if he meant there's water on the moon, but I was picturing indoor plumbing.) He also seemed to think there was a secret message about the moon in the Chinese flag, and that the Chinese have created their own moon, and they're somehow behind our moon getting further away. When Travalon joined me, the guy was just as happy to have a bigger audience to regale with his loony moony theories.

We are staying at a hotel in Athens, Alabama. Did you know there was an Athens in Alabama? I did not, but apparently it's the birthplace of Tennessee Williams. I like our soap, which looks like a leaf.

The person at the front desk said we could get a discount at Applebee's if we said we're staying here, but after those huge shakes we weren't up for a big meal. I said there is a Krystal we can walk to, so Travalon looked them up and was laughing about the reviews. One person said, "Very dirty," and then gave them five stars. Someone else gave them a bad review because he showed up at seven in the morning, and he could see the worker inside, but she wouldn't answer the door, so he went to Chick-Fil-A. Yet another person gave them a rave review because the burgers were just like the ones someplace in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Say what?? So we walked over, but we got there just after they had locked the doors. The drive-thru is always open, so we walked up to the intercom, but we couldn't get it to work - it must be triggered by the weight of a car. So we walked to the drive-thru window and knocked on it until someone came and took our order. We got three Krystal burgers, which are tiny, square burgers just like White Castle burgers, except without the onions.

Travalon decided he wanted to try the chicken sandwich too, so he got one, and the sleeve said, "Chik it out!" and, "Cluck about it!" and this was our favorite:

The chicken sandwich was really tasty. Our burger sleeves said, "Oh you fancy!" because we had a "special order" in that Travalon only wanted cheese on the burgers, not mustard and onions too. He said he is very happy to know that, if he gets hungry at four in the morning, he can just walk over there and get more tiny burgers by knocking on the drive-thru window.

Famous Hat