BTW, when I say "Day 2," I'm not counting our first travel day. Deal with it, or do some mental math. On-the-fly. Your choice.
Thought I should say something.
Day TWO begins with another neighbourhood walk. This time through Historic Edgefield.
It's a pretty amazing place. Large yards, grand pillars and chimneys everywhere. We tried to go to the highly rated Sky Blue Cafe but, on a Sunday morning with 20 churches within a 5 block radius (I'm not joking), people were bursting out the doors, the wait list was huge and I couldn't even find an employee to talk to.
I was disappointed. Then, a botched google search for "pancakes" lead me to Bagel Face Bakery. I was worried as Wendy and I approached the door. It looked like, possibly, an old laundromat had been converted to a dining room, or something. Walking in, I could hear a groovy bass-line that I recognized. A good sign...
Bizarre Bagel Face Bakery Mascotts
Inside, 20kg bags of flour stacked on randomly placed pallets, table tops made from cabinet doors and a sorry looking bunch of misfits having breakfast. From tattoo'd bikers to soccer moms to post-church grandmothers. What they lacked in numbers was made up for in diversity. The friendly staff in the kitchen looked like juvenile detention rescue cases with dreadlocks, shavings, piercings, bling and make-up in a rastafarian/punk/goth mashup. I was in heaven!
Just enough of a good thing
Wendy got a bagel with cream cheese. Sure. I was a little more adventurous and had peanut-butter, banana and honey on a pumpkin/cranberry bagel. The peanut butter was as thick as the thickest thick thing you could fail to come up with a simile to describe. Maybe thicker.
After two nights, it was time to check out of our house and into the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center. More on that in a bit. Shortly after Ubering our way to the hotel through heavy football induced traffic (Titans vs Giants) Brad and his $9 car came to our rescue for a little more city exploration.
Our Uber driver, Misty, was a talker. She insisted we go to a cupcake store in German Town(map). We decided to have lunch first. Monell's was another odd eating experience. We were ushered into a large, dark, dining hall with tables seating 10-12 and told by our matronly hostess to put away our cell phones. Brad, Wendy and I were seated with 6 strangers and brought dish after dish of southern comfort food and told "pass to the left!"
scones
corn bread
some sort of white gravy
green beans and lard
corn pudding
asparagus casserole
mashed potatoes
pulled pork
fried catfish
fried chicken
meat loaf
pecan pie
3 kinds of iced tea
Obviously, I could only eat half the items they brought, but I was stuffed, none-the-less. Don't know how Wendy or Brad managed it. As you might imagine, we thought we'd let dinner settle before ordering the cupcakes that we had come across town to try.
We went for a long walk in Bicentennial Mall State Park. Google reminds me that "this 19-acre plaza tells the story of the state's history through plaques, tours & water fountains." It really did. More importantly, it contained a giant granite globe for me to climb on.
After a couple of hours of walking, climbing steps, sliding on bannisters and rolling down hills, I was really ready for cupcakes. 4pm. Naturally, the store had just closed :(
So I did what I do best; I smiled at the girl mopping the floor and made a puppy-dog face as I pressed my nose into the glass of the door. Suddenly, the Cupcake Collection was no longer closed. Wendy was more than a little irritated by the success of this transparent manoeuvre. But, hey, CUPCAKES!
Delta Island
Back to the hotel. I don't know what to say about the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Hotel. I've never been to anything quite like it. Huge. Beautiful. Opulent. Excessive. Captive. I don't know... There is a map of it here.
Besides People and Plants, this was the only other life
Whoa, Christmas Tree. Whoa, Christmas Tree...
Elevator Action
I expect there will be more photos of the hotel tomorrow. I may not be able to escape.
Perhaps there is a school you can attend that will teach you how to find perfect gifts for your friends. I haven't been there, but I know someone who should be lecturing. From the hands of the man who brought me lock-picks, Swiss army knives and countless... Liquid Metal ... dangerous (previous blog entry) Prince Rupert's Drops ... adventures !(another old post) I give you Shape Lock , which is a brand name for something more generally known as "friendly plastics" or polycaprolactone (wikipedia). We had loads of fun with it the first day, but had to keep it on a shelf for a few days to allow me to speak directly to other humans. Even then concentration was difficult. My mind raced constantly thinking of cool uses for this stuff. Eventually, when the Christmas hubbub was dying down, I settled on a project that I've wanted to attempt for a long time -- making a custom attachment for my Gorilla Pod . Before we go any further, if at any time you find yo
These direction might be a little bit rough. You could probably get away with these type of vague instructions on the prairie without becoming seriously lost. Although death from boredom is a distinct possibility for some. At any rate, the title of this post gives you a pretty good idea how to begin my latest mountain expedition. As always, I was guided into the wilds by fellow Quester, Dave Aschim. We are starting to have a bit of a mountain legacy: 2009 , 2010 , 2011 , 2014 , and now 2015 A map with a rough route drawn on it can be found here . One more note. I took a series of "geo panoramas" or " photospheres " as Google calls them. If you follow one of the links to Google Maps (I tried to imbed on the site, but failed), it isn't just a static image. On a laptop or desktop PC, you should be able to click the compass or click and drag the image to see an entire 360 degree view. The resolution isn't as good as my DSLR camera, but for now, it is stil
It's a pretty amazing place. Large yards, grand pillars and chimneys everywhere. We tried to go to the highly rated Sky Blue Cafe but, on a Sunday morning with 20 churches within a 5 block radius (I'm not joking), people were bursting out the doors, the wait list was huge and I couldn't even find an employee to talk to.
We went for a long walk in Bicentennial Mall State Park. Google reminds me that "this 19-acre plaza tells the story of the state's history through plaques, tours & water fountains." It really did. More importantly, it contained a giant granite globe for me to climb on.
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