Thanksgiving ....

This was only my second American Thanksgiving as an American and I guess my first real one as this one was with family, friends and the requisite turkey.

Laura had planned this well in advance as it is a big holiday for her - probably her second biggest day of the year. She arranged flights for us that got us into Nashville Thanksgiving afternoon and had booked us into one of the oldest, and I later learned, most prestigious hotels in the US. I have read somewhere that there are over 95,000 hotels in the US - only 37 of these hotels (less than .04%) have a 5 Star AND a 5 Diamond rating and the Hermitage in Nashville is one of them. It is not big but they do pay attention to detail and that makes all the difference in the world. The photo is one of the lobby ceiling - all beautiful stained glass.

After we arrived in Nashville and relaxed a bit we headed over to Lisa's for dinner where we were greeted by two very enthusiastic dogs, Jordy and Cookie, and of course by Lisa, Laura's Mom Kaye and her niece Britni. We would later be joined by Steve, Britni's boyfriend. We had a fabulous turkey, potatoes, sweet potatoes, salad and much more including 3 different desserts and some GREAT wine. It was a fabulous evening, even when we were each asked to say what we were thankful for.

Friday was yet another great day. Lisa's birthday was actually on Thanksgiving Day so I took Laura, her Mom and Lisa out to lunch at a great little spot that Laura booked called the Yellow Porch. Again great food, good conversation and for me some good local beer. After lunch Laura took me on a surprise tour of some of Nashville, showing me some of the prestigious neighbourhoods and then taking me to Cheekwood. Cheekwood is more than a park - it includes a sculpture garden and some beautiful grounds but also a mansion which had a wonderful collection of American Art including Warhol and many others. Along with the art display there is a tradition of Christmas tree displays after Thanksgiving so we were there to see some wonderfully decorated trees that were decorated by local artists or groups. It definitely gave me some good ideas :-). We then walked the grounds before heading off to dinner at a wonderful restaurant that Laura had booked, the Park Cafe. A nice little restaurant that had some wonderful art from a local artist.

Saturday was to be travel day so we filled up at Noshville, I on pancakes and Laura on a turkey sandwich, before she took me to Centennial Park where we saw the Parthenon. OK - I know - the Parthenon is in Greece but this is a full sized replica of the original and in fact is the ONLY full sized replica. A quick trip to the airport and we were home safe and sound to get ready for our Thanksgiving dinner with the girls on Sunday. Another wonderful afternoon and evening with the kids and more eating - Turkey, Sweet Potatoes, veggies, a Lentil Loaf and some more good wine.

As you can see - my first real American Thanksgiving was not just filling but also wholly wonderful.

Looking forward to next year in Nashville.


.... cu