On the Road... to Nashville

Phil's Gasoline poem got me to thinking about the last great road trip I took.

By two strokes of the scythe of impending recession, a friend and I both found ourselves laid off from our jobs earlier this year at about the same time. After about a day of cabin fever, my friend called me and said, "Hey, fellow person-of-leisure, how about we get our Keroac on and go on a road trip? It's not like either of us has anything better to do!"

We had no idea where we wanted to go at first, so we went to Borders and browsed the travel section for an hour or so. Money was tight, so places like Disney World, Canada, and Seattle were quickly eliminated. We eventually decided that New Orleans would be our destination. We'd stay at India House, since I'd had rave reviews and great stories from another friend who'd stayed there. We'd have cafe au lait and beignets and write about it all, then turn it into the Great American Novel. Yeah!

Then, we realized something: New Orleans is far, far away.
We made it as far as Nashville.

I'm sure we'd have had lots of fun in New Orleans, but as it was, we discovered all the fun you can have in Nashville without paying a cover charge. There are some great record stores (and some not so great) and used guitar shops. At one of these, we scored free demo CD's from Masta Gravity, which have been worth every cent we paid for them in entertainment value! We visited the Gibson factory, and ...walked past places like the Country Hall of Fame and RCA Studio. We had pizza at a restaurant that lets you color on the tables.

So, okay, there isn't actually a whole lot to do in Nashville if you're broke and without a native guide. Still, we had fun there and found even more glee in Gatlinburg on the way home. Gatlinburg, in case you've never experienced it, is just like Virginia Beach (or any other second-string oceanfront tourist town), just without the beach. The main difference is that the sketchy motels in Gatlinburg averaged about $15/night, whereas in Virginia Beach, they've got the balls to still charge you $50 even in the off-season.

To my knowledge, neither of us has written the Great American Novel yet, although I have written a short story that looks like it's going to be the first of a collection inspired partly by events from that trip. Still, if nothing else, we learned that not only can you find a way to make the best of a bad situation, but also, just going where the road takes you can be as much fun as making a plan and sticking to it.