3/23/08 – Palm Bay to Nashville

Do you like Firecat's new "Road Trip" beer glass? He couldn't resist taking that one with us. We’ve been on the move quite a bit lately. After leaving Palm Bay on Wednesday we drove up to Jacksonville, FL and stayed in the van next to a huge lake and city park, where we played some catch with the baseball. When we arrived we thought it was the ocean because the waves were so huge and choppy, but the next morning it was as flat as a mirror and we realized that the windy rainstorm we heard in the night must have been causing the high waves the evening before.

Thursday we proceeded to Hilton Head where we stayed at the Hilton on the beach. That is a very lovely town, beautifully manicured but almost a little too perfect. We met an interesting older gentleman at the pub that night, another Libra who reminded me of my dad. He is a retired business lawyer and he and his French wife are living in China as teachers where he is trying to give them some pointers on how to create a legal system (Are they SURE they want one like ours? LOL), so we were able to get some on-the-ground views of conditions and culture there. He confirmed that the air quality is terrible, most Chinese wear masks in the major cities, and he thinks it will be a real challenge for them to pull off the Olympics.

The markets were closed Friday so we were able to sleep in, dip our fingers in the Atlantic for the first time, and finally get a bit of a beach walk, which is one of the things I miss most about home. Then we drove to Atlanta where we stayed for a couple of nights, which was one of the highlights of our trip. I will tell you the story of Atlanta tomorrow, but we just arrived in Nashville and have to get to the Bluebird Café for Sunday Night Spotlights of emerging bands and songwriters and the Writers’ Night that follows.

Rain and snow are forecast for here tomorrow and it’s crisp right now, so I guess it’s time to put away my tank tops and get out the sweaters and gloves. I hope you all had a lovely Easter today, and in this season of rebirth that you will emerge from your winters, sweep away any dead leaves, and move on from here fresh, new, being the person you want, beginning the life of your dreams.