Quick Vacation in Nashville!

This isn't quite what we usually write about but I wanted to tell you guys about the quick vacation Emily and I took to Nashville! Ever since we got back from Ireland Emily and I had talked regularly that most people who live locally never go and see what the tourists come to see. We had a marriage retreat in Nashville that got cancelled because it was too expensive (200.00!). So we decided to go ahead and make the best of the weekend that we already had set aside. I found an article in the NY Times about a short 36 hour trip to Nashville so that is were I got a number of the ideas for the places we went.

We started on Saturday and went to J. Alexanders for lunch. Nothing exotic about that but it is Emily's favorite so I thought it was a good start! We got to West End before they opened so we stopped by Borders to look at some books. We got a baby name book (I think we have it picked out!) and I got a pregnancy book written for guys. After 11 we headed to the restaurant. There was a bizarre smell, something like wood stain or fingernail polish remover, but the food was good. If you guys ever go there you have to get the onion ring appetizer. Best onion rings I've ever had by far. After that we went to the Country Music Museum and Hall of Fame. I had heard that it was good but we both really enjoyed it! It walks you through the history of Country Music and how it has impacted culture. We also got to see and quick opera based on the Three little Pigs and used musical themes by Mozart. I don't know why it was at the Country Museum but it was pretty entertaining. We decided to stay at the Union Station Hotel. It was pricey but we looked at the Hutton (which is about $50 cheaper) and it was very business oriented. We lucked out though because for some reason (I think our room might have not been ready) we got upgraded to a $400 suite! Very cool! After we checked in we walked to the Frist Art Museum which is right next door. They had a very cool exhibit called New Urban Species which was very cool! They were moving machines that were made to mimic organic structures like flowers and animals. There was also a number of paintings within the gallery which told biblical stories. The other exhibit showcased artifacts made before in the B.C.s. It was fascinating because it was so old but it was still a bunch of old pots. For dinner we went to Tayst on 21st Ave. I had never been there before and it is definitely an upper end restaurant. They use lots of foods from local farms. It was good but for the price and style of food Sunset Grill is a better restaurant in my humble opinion. So after all the fancy food we ended up going to Harris Teeter's and getting junk food. We then went and hung out at the hotel. The next day, after sleeping in for a bit, we got up, checked out, and went to eat brunch at Marche Artisan Foods in East Nashville. It was fantastic and I highly recommend you guys check that out, especially you Dad. After brunch we headed home. It was nice to get away, even for a night, and do something different without going too far away!

Time for Tea

Here is an interesting article about the Tea Party in Nashville.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-02-05/top-5-misconceptions-about-the-tea-party-movement/

Dummy List of Obama's budget

Hey guys,

This is a link to a pretty short and to the point description of some major points in Obama's budget.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-02-01/whats-in-obamas-budget/

PS. Told you so about Cap and Trade!

Some changes

Hello guys, I tried to invite the both of you to be able to post things on the blog. Let me know if you have any trouble. Also, as you can see I changed the layout a bit to something I thought was more readable. Dad, I hope you are enjoying the snow, and Darren, we miss you!

Excuse me? What did he say?

OK, so I'm sitting here listening to the State of the Union. Please help me understand this if I am misunderstanding it. Large banks that were "bailed out" AND have paid it all back now have to pay a "fee", beyond traditional taxes, to the government because they are successful enough to pay for bonuses for their executives!? That is freaking ridiculous. I don't like the big bonuses but this sets a horrible precedent. The government should not be able to just take money from any business whenever they feel it is justified because of popular demand. If there is now all of this guilt from the government over the bonuses then they should have acknowledged that the bail out was only going to reestablish the status quot. - JW

On a lighter note...

I don't want to take away from the last post but I also don't want this blog to be just about the serious, and at times depressing, state of the world. So on a more light-hearted note...

What are you reading right now? I am on a Stephen King kick. I am listening to book 2 of his The Dark Tower series. I listened to the first book of the series in about a week. I'm also reading a book of his called The Dragon's Eye or something like that.

Much love - JW

An experiment in family communication

Ok, so I am sitting here, watching Conan's last Tonight Show episode, and I was thinking about how much I enjoyed the back and forth between us on the e-mails. I've never done a blog before, and I don't know if it will even work, but I thought it might be fun to give it a try! So the premise is pretty simple. Just like with the e-mails, someone brings up something to discuss and we just talk about it. Who knows, this might grow into something that will be fun! We have to at least keep it going at least a month because my wife thinks I'm not cool enough to start a blog. So here is the first topic!

It seems despite the Democrats controlling the house and senate, the Republicans have seemed to have a lot of things go their way this week. (1). The election of Scott Brown in Mass. (2). The recent ruling in the Supreme Court about limiting, or lack there of, corporate giving to campaigns. (3). Pelosi admitting that Health Care reform will not pass. (4). The possible elimination of cap and trade. Is is just me or does it seem like the Democrats just can't hack it. Even if you like their ideals they seem totally incompetent at getting anything done. Thoughts? -JW