We had quite the interesting trip through Kentucky. We listened to a debate on tape between a creationist (a guy from the Creation Science Museum) and an evolutionist (Bill Nye, the Science Guy). Not exactly The Ryan and Haley Show. I gotta confess, though. I fell asleep, so I don’t know who won. I would guess that both sides left feeling just as confident as when they began. Honestly, that’s usually how a debate ends.
We made a gas stop and took a potty break on the way to our next destination, so the way didn’t seem quite so long. At the Tennessee Welcome Center, we cut off of I65 and took State 109 toward a town called Gallatin. “That’s not to be confused with Galveston,” explained Luke. Huh. I thought we were almost home.
We didn’t stop in Gallatin or Galveston. We pressed on with Caleb at the wheel by this time.
And we finally gave in to our hunger pangs in Lebanon, Tennessee. Where? None other than Whataburger! Come on, Texas! Oh, guess who waited on us? I mean the imprinted name on his name tag was … Ant Man. Wow. Another celebrity relegated to working for a living. Times are really tough, I guess.
We reached the home of AnnaGrace’s friend in plenty of time to drop off her and Josh and Christi and Luke (the friend had a brother his age).
Our plan was to take Caleb and drive into Nashville to see the Hermitage, home of President Andrew Jackson. Before we left the little boy told us his fourth grade class had been to the Hermitage. The one thing he remembered? “He was that president dude who had that one friend spend the night.” He couldn’t remember that friend’s name, though.
So … of course that became my sole purpose in the excursion - to uncover the name of that mysterious friend. It took until we were almost done with the tour. But then I heard it.
Seems President Jackson often welcomed people into his home. Most had nondescript names like Martin Van Buren. But among the list of those in attendance at those sleepovers was one president of a foreign power who could certainly be considered worthy of mention as having slept in one’s bed. So who was this mystery pal? None other than Sam Houston, president of the Republic of Texas.
We had dinner with the friends at a local diner. First we stopped by their church to get the grand tour. Fortunately the children’s minister was still in the building, and she let us in. Big church. Sounds like they love Jesus.
Dinner was at the Town Square Social Restaurant. We were seated on the roof. Yep. The roof. And the steps to get up there were really steep. And there were a lot of them. I walked up behind Chris to watch her. She only had to stop once to catch her breath. At the start of the meal I posted a picture of the menu and made a crack about having to eat on the roof after walking a mile straight up.
The food was pretty good, but the best surprise came in the form of …
Who should walk up behind me and give me a hug but our friend from Arlington days, Kay Colley. She moved to that very town to be close to her grandkids. She saw the post and hightailed it downtown to see us. It was great catching up with her, and we discovered that her granddaughter is in the same dance class as AnnaGrace’s friend. The mom actually knows Kay’s daughter Arica. Small world.
After dinner we headed down that loooong flight of stairs. And as we chatted outside, everyone decided to take a stroll around the square. They all took off, but Chris and I hung back to say our final goodbyes to Kay (and Arica. Kay called her).
All of a sudden the sky exploded, belching wave after wave of hard, cold, drenching rain. The wind blew. Thunder pealed. Lightning struck nearer and nearer. We finally managed to take refuge first under an awning, then back inside the restaurant. Josh and his crew were doing the same on the other side of the square. It lasted a long time. At one point all the lights in the square went dark for a long few seconds. Josh texted that they were waiting it out for a while, and he would come get us.
We chatted with other diners in the same boat (pun intended), until Josh finally made his way our way. We crawled in, drenched to the gills along with everyone else. Finally we made our way to the hotel, just 20 minutes away. What a chilling end to quite another adventure.
Or was it? When we went inside to check in, the desk clerk immediately recognized the name. “Oh. You’re the Vaughan’s.” Yeah. Didn’t sound very encouraging.
Seems the GM had given away the suite Josh and Christi had reserved and said to give them two lesser rooms instead. That didn’t set well with Christi, as you can imagine. And the lady clerk said, “I told him what if y’all had kids.” Indeed.
There was a lot of hemming and hawing, but at one point the clerk mentioned a room for which the reservers had not yet arrived. I “encouraged” the clerk to just give Christi that room since we were already there. Easy peasy. She finally agreed. A few keystrokes later and she had worked her magic. Finally. Hot showers and dry towels.
Matthew 11:28 says, Come to Me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
Father, thanks for our brief one on one time with Caleb. We sure like that kid. Amen.
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