Our dinner was amazing! Michael and I have really enjoyed getting an appetizer, sharing a dinner, and getting a dessert when we go to fancy restaurants together. For our appetizer we had a flatbread, for dinner we had halibut, and for dessert we had dark chocolate creme brulee! It was all AMAZING! I also really appreciated that when they brought our meal out, they plated it on two plates instead of bringing it all out as one meal and making us split it. I'm perfectly capable and willing of splitting the meal at the table, but it was a really nice touch on their part to do it for us. It's the little things. ;-)
After dinner I was feeling awesome! I love going out for a nice meal! The last time we did that was to George's for Valentine's Day (and Sente) before COVID hit. :'( We didn't go out for a fancy meal for my birthday. We had steak for our anniversary out at the farm and it was awesome, but there was no getting dressed up to go out, no atmosphere, ya know, the stuff you go out for. It's cheaper to make steak at home (or was before the beef shortage), but I like to go out for a nice meal for the ambiance, as well as the getting-out-of-the-house-edness. So our dinner at Five Senses made me sooooo happy! I was so happy I told Michael we didn't even have to go to Nashville, because I was perfectly sated with dinner. However, having a babysitter and an opportunity, we decided to go into Nashville anyway.
We had talked to Chuck and Shanna beforehand and asked about what area we needed to see in Nashville. They explained that Broadway was the Nashville "strip" where everything was located, so we headed that direction. We drove up the strip, looking for a place to park. I took some pictures of some of the places that looked fun or were owned by some of my favorite country artists. Finally, we found a garage to park in. When we left the garage and started towards the strip, we found a bar owned by Florida Georgia Line, one of my favorite country duos. Masks were required to enter the bar (they even had a bouncer enforcing it), as well as in any public area (ie: walking through the bar, going to the bathroom, going to the bar to grab a drink, or coming in or leaving). They had a couple guys on stage playing guitar and cover songs. One thing I learned from our night in Nashville is that all the bands play songs you know and like. That's how they earn their tips. They're not playing songs they wrote themselves, because no one knows those songs and can sing along. That meant every bar was like a dueling piano bar, only playing great songs! It was awesome! At the FGL Bar, only the rooftop was open. Fine by me!! We found a couch on the roof, big enough to seat at least half a dozen people, but as it was a Wednesday night and there were, max, 6 other groups there, I didn't feel bad about hogging it for a couple hours. ;-) In fact, we had such a good spot, I didn't want to leave. It was quiet and calm off the strip and I didn't want to joy the crazy fray farther down, because the bar and nightlife scene is not really my thing anymore. I just wanted a place where I could snuggle with Michael and listen to great music. However, eventually, we did decide to go try another place, maybe two, before we headed back to Murfreesboro.
We went to the strip to find our next location and walked past a couple very loud bars. They looked too much like party scenes and standing room only type places. We're old folks now, so we kept walking. When we walked up to a bar with a band playing Wichita Lineman, and Michael got excited, I insisted we go in, even if it wasn't the fanciest looking bar on the strip. The place was called Paradise Park and looked like an old school trailer park. It seemed a little weird, but there were a few older guys playing and the music seemed like the type Michael was going to like. Since he had been listening to all sorts of 90's country that I loved for the last couple hours, I felt like I owed it to him. ;-) Masks were, again, required to get into the bar, and at this one they also took our temperatures and carded us before we were allowed in. I imagine wearing masks makes it harder to visually assess how old people are. Even though masks are mandated in Nashville now, I would say only about 25% of the people there were wearing them. Michael and I would have been wearing them anyway, but being from out of town and traveling back home at the end of the week, we were definitely wearing them! We listened to the band play a couple songs, and then their set was up. Another band took the stage, who would be there for the next couple hours. We ended up staying and listening to them almost their whole set. They were even better than the two guys at the FGL bar! The guys there just had a couple guitars. The second band at Paradise Park was a 4 person band with a KILLER guitar player! He nailed every solo he played! Michael was very impressed!
It was after midnight by the time we got back to Murfreesboro. I can't remember the last time I was out that late! LOL! We're old people these days. But we had a great time! I miss going out, that's for sure! I'm glad we were able to go, and I hope we'll be able to go to some of our favorite Wichita places for some date nights again soon. <3
