Joni and I are just back from a trip down south. We started our trip with a 22-hour drive straight through to our friend’s home in Florida. David and Fran were wonderful hosts, I got in a little golf, Joni was able to scratch her shopping itch and we enjoyed the time despite the unseasonably cool temperatures.

We left Florida in the early morning hours and headed to Nashville for a few days before continuing home. As luck would have it, Nashville saw the most snow it has seen in years the day we arrived – a whole three to four inches. This pretty much shut down the city as their snow removal readiness is less than par. Most museums, galleries and a good many stores were closed due to the snow and –9 C temperatures.

Joni and I were determined to make the best of it and on Tuesday morning we grabbed a cab from our hotel down to the core of the city.

We wandered in the cold for a bit but the highlight, by a massive margin, was visiting two of the coolest bars we have ever wandered into. First, we visited the storied Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge. Here we found a seat with Tony and Jacquie, two people from Cleveland who were happily stranded as their flight was detoured and grounded due to the storm. In chatting with them we heard that the table we sat at is where a young Willie Nelson sat and wrote songs. He got his first songwriting gig after singing there as well. Legend has it that June Carter penned songs at the very same table. When Tootsie’s first opened it was a hangout for young singer/songwriters in country music.

The musicians who sang there were wonderful. They mostly covered country classics and they did a fabulous job. Fun fact: the musicians in Nashville play for tips.

After braving the elements to wander about we returned to Broadway and went into Layla’s Honky Tonk, which is directly beside Tootsie’s. On stage was a band we could hear from the street and as soon as we........

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