Running Down a Dream: You Got So Much to Do and Only So Many Hours In The Day

Congratulations to Ms. Amanda Pierce for correctly naming "Positively 4th Street" by Bob Dylan as the Monday Song of the Day.

Since it has been over a week since my return from Music City USA, the 615, Nashvegas, etc., it is high time that I offered my thoughts on the capitol of the Volunteer State. What I am about to write is not written without a great deal of gravity and hand-wringing, but if it were possible to transfer the good people of the Lone Star State to another location, I just might consider such a mass population transplant to the environs of central Tennessee. While it was difficult to scan the radio dial in search of non-country offerings, I was always going to be won over by a city that integrates old-school stone fences with large lawns.

Without further ado, I present to you, the readership of Running Down a Dream, my 4 favorite things about Nashville. (In no particular order)

Pancake Pantry. You have to love any place where people actually show up to breakfast wearing tiaras, which was the chosen attire for one of my fellow diners. I have no doubt that photographic documentation would make the preceding story infinitely more interesting, but you're just going to need to use the old imagination on this one.
The Hermitage. Andrew Jackson's palatial spread just northeast of Nashville is a must-visit, if only because you can then impress your fellow citizens with Andrew Jackson-related minutia whenever they pull out a $20 bill. I disclaim any responsibility for negative repercussions resulting from the previous suggestion.
Arrington Vineyards. For those of you who always wished that you could drink wine from a vineyard owned by one of those guys who sang "Boot Scootin' Boogie". Not you? Yeah, me neither. Also, the restroom facilities are top-notch.
The guy who brought his own amp to the downtown Nashville fireworks on the 4th and proceeded to play Jimi Hendrix's take on the National Anthem during the entire show. It warrants mentioning that this guy was clad in only an American flag bandanna and American flag shorts. July 4th is that guy's favorite day of the year hands-down.