Tennessee

For the month of November, I hung out with my Grandma. There was plenty of shooting, drinking, reading and great times with family I hadn't seen in all too long. It was awesome.

Seeing this tree again, in all it's fall splendor, simply meant, I was home again. Not my childhood home, but Grandma's home. That wonderful, special place out in the middle of the country with the best food imaginable and the best person I know.

And here she is, on our way to Sunday church service.

And another favorite. My beautiful aunt. Who used tickle me mercilessly when I was little. I haven't forgot...

No trip to Tennessee would be complete without a weekend excursion to Nashville nightlife. Luckily for me, my friend Sam, who I met in a coffee shop in Burlington, was in town so this night I didn't have to go it alone!

We stopped in to check out Coyote Ugly first, but, understandably, she wasn't digging it. A good thing too, as with all the excellent live music we found later, staying in one place is not the thing to do here!

Music is so big here, they even have these signs to make it easier on the musicians. This is definitely the place for some of the best (and free) live music hopping you will find anywhere.

Even the street performers would blow you away and mesmerize you with their talents. These guys were really, really good! Though even outside, my ears were ringing in no time...

Surprisingly, this area was a pretty good spot for triathlon training. Just 30 minutes (or 60 minutes by bike) away was the town of Sewanee and the beautiful University of the South, where there was a swimming pool, excellent trails for hiking and running, and being located on a mountaintop made for one heck of a painful climb to get there followed by an amazingly fun descent back down. Combine that with highways with wide shoulders and nice, smooth country roads with light traffic, and middle of nowhere Tennessee actually makes for a decent place to train when the weather is good.

The University of the South campus was likely the most beautiful I've seen thus far. Besting all of the Ivey Leagues. But with it comes an Ivey League price as well...

And lastly, what else would you do out in the country? Why, shoot guns of course! Here I am with one of my little cousin's hunting rifles.

And here I teach another little cousin how to shoot my new Christmas present.

It was a complete blast and much fun was had by all! Though my Grandma wonders why we need all the practice. All she uses the range for is sighting in her rifle for deer season once a year.