Leaving Nashville

After the record-breaking temperature set on Day 2 of our Nashville stay, James and I decided that we should plan accordingly for our last full day. The TV had been constantly showing coverage of the heatwave and the Colorado fires that were devastating the countryside. Then we realised that we had been watching TWC...the Weather Channel. So we filled up our water bottles and decided that if we got out into the town early enough then we could see some more of Nashville before retiring to the hotels AC before we started to cook in the midday sun. After both agreeing that the Music Row part of the city was going to be too much of a stretch, we thought we would check out German Town. Located near to the Bicentennial Park and just across our favourite (nearest) bridge we headed off in search of whatever German delights might befall us...

Our short trip into German Town was exactly that. There was not a lot to see. Just some different styles of houses in an area that felt very safe and that would be a nice place to live if we ever decided to relocate from good ol’ Blighty. We did come across some train tracks and did the obligatory poses and photos, for lack of anything else to do really. It had just gone 11am and already it was time to head back to the comfort of the Knights Inn and get out of the blazing sun. That pretty much concluded our sight-seeing tour of Nashville, as we certainly weren’t going to head 70 miles away to the original Jack Daniels distillery, and that seemed like the only thing left that we could see. And so the afternoon turned into a recharge-the-batteries session, and attempting to get our hand-washed grundies dry on a combination of the washing line in our room and the fence outside by the swimming pool. I had noticed a slow BBQ truck-stand trailer near the hotel and so to save some pennies I thought we should head there for another delicious pulled pork sandwich. Sadly, they had closed up early as according to the cook it was about 140^oF in the trailer. We smiled and nodded, then turned on our heels and headed back towards the hotel and the gas station shop just across the road. My final meal in Nashville was very nearly identical to my first (although I had selected a Beef flavour Cup Noodle instead of the Shrimp flavour this time, and had rinsed my broken spork in readiness, just in case) until James spotted a couple of sandwiches/cold burgers in a display case, and the Italian Submarine sandwich hit the spot.....washed down with a 24 oz can of Colt 45.

The evening was spent packing our bags in readiness for our trip to Birmingham, Alabama, more frantic attempts to dry clothes before the morning and creating our set of Travellers Top Trumps (our take on the classic card game, incorporating the people we have met and conversed with throughout our trip, with categories such as Worldliness, Chemistry and Quirks). The next day would involve a reasonable short trip to Birmingham, to stay with a man called Don. We have decided not to “chain” overnighters as it would be too much of a killer, so a stop-off in Birmingham to see the sights will be a nice little break, setting us up for our next lengthy trip down to New Orleans.