I moved to the East Coast in the fall of 2012. Almost 11 years to the day (according to Facebook Memories), I’ve made my departure–at least temporarily. Last Monday, I put most of my belongings in a storage unit, loaded the rest in the back of my pickup, and made the 600+ mile drive to Nashville, TN where I’ll be residing for the immediate future. My plan is to explore as much of Music City as I can over the next month or so.
The trip down here was mostly uneventful. I listened to music (country, of course) and podcasts (mostly catching up on EconTalk). The highlight of the drive was rolling into a gas station practically on empty. And while that kind of reminded me of the scene from Seinfeld where Kramer test drives a car and tries to see how long it can run on E, that wasn’t why it was the highlight.
The real joy was making it Buc-ee’s! Gas there was only $3.14/gal which seems like a steal compared to gas prices in the DMV (about 3.80/gal) and my home state of California (nearly $5.80/gal).
I’ve only been in here a week, but I’ve been trying to get in some authentic Nashville experiences. I had HattieB’s (not pictured) for dinner on my first night–the Shut the Cluck Up is not for the faint of heart. I also caught a Nashville Sounds game (Nashville Sounds are a minor league affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers).
The “Hit City” Predators jersey was a giveaway (obviously, I’m still a Sharks fan), but I did treat myself to the Nashville Sounds ball cap. And I even got to see a familiar face!
Darin Ruf played for the Giants and was a key contributor to their 107-win season, which was a career year for him. Excitingly, the Sounds won and are now 1-0 when I’m in attendance.
Over the weekend, I caught up with my friend and former officemate Sam, who runs Rise Strength and Performance, a gym east of Nashville. I got to join for the Saturday morning workout and ice bath.
Last but not least, I attended Traditional Latin Mass at the Catholic Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Germantown.
Unfortunately, the church was damaged by a tornado in 2020 and remains under construction (more about the parish here), so Mass is currently being celebrated in the chapel across the street.
Some additional history: Coinciding with my arrival at the parish is the opening of a new park on the property. It was recently announced that the park is to be named Bliemal Park, after the Revered Emmeran Bliemal, who was the pastor of the Church of the Assumption during the Civil War. More about Rev. Bliemal here.
Not a bad first week! I’m off to Maine for a work trip this week but plan to see more of Nashville and make it to the honky-tonks next weekend.
Trevor Carlsen 