Day 17: Nashville, TN to Nashville, TN
5.98 Miles | 0:10 Riding Time
Today is Saturday, April 27, 2024, and it’s Day 17 of my cross country motorcycle trip.
The short ride today was just to change hotels and be closer to downtown Nashville. I had a simple plan for the day. Walk around. Have some good food, meet up with former colleague, and see my old high school friend play some live jazz. All missions accomplished!
After a grueling ride, I arrived at my hotel at 10:30 AM—far too early to check in. So, I parked, changed, and they stored my bags for the day. I went out for a walk that turned into a search of some food, and found Hopsmith, Nashville. Looked like a place I could have a meal and sit for a while working on some blog posts. I had the BLT Avocado Toast, and it was really good.
Walked around a bit more and went back to the hotel to check in, which turned into a nice nap, as well. When it was time to get back out, I walked through the Music Row area, and over toward The Gulch. I met my colleague, Pierre (and forgot to take a selfie) at Peg Leg Porker BBQ on Greaves Street. We chatted for a while about the trip, and what we’re each thinking about and looking for in our next professional adventure. He’s a top-notch product person and genuinely nice human. Good to catch up with him outside of our day to day jobs.
I strolled about 150 feet over to Rudy’s Jazz Room, where I was going to see The Jody Nardone Trio play at the 8:00 show. I had seen Jody play before, quite a few times in the cafeteria, auditorium and gym at Bernards High School. It’s been more than 35 years since I’ve seen him, and I was really excited for the show.
The show was great, and I appreciated that you hear all three instruments clearly. So often you have to struggle to hear the bass —unless they are soloing. The bass player was clean, fast and very animated. The drummer was great too. And Jody looked like he was simply having a blast. I love watching musicians play live. It always looks like there’s nowhere else they’d rather be at that moment.
Jody gave us a little jazz lesson—what would the Coltrane version of Night Train sound like? He also sang several songs, including some requests from the audience. And even a rendition of New York State of Mind (cheers!). I knew he could play amazingly well, but he has a great voice, too.
I was thrilled to see you in your element—doing what you so obviously have loved your entire life. Great to see you.