Solonor Returns

*blows dust off monitor*

Well, I’m back, kidlets, and none the worse for the wear. I had a faboo time in Nashville (despite that whole working thing), and my only complaint is that I didn’t get to spend enough time poking around in its cracks and crevices.

On Friday, the Orlando contingent arrived a little ahead of the pack. So, we headed over to the Opry Mills mall for some lunch and a quick peek at the Opry House. There’s a free museum attached to the Opry, so we spent a few minutes looking at glittering piles of rhinestone-encrusted memorabilia from Roy Acuff and friends. Though it sounds kinda weird, the two things that fascinated me most were the complete recreations of Patsy Cline’s den and Marty Robbins’ office. Those poor naugas. No wonder they’re extinct.

Friday night after our reception finished (around 11pm), a bunch of folks headed downtown. I had a lovely Iron Horse Stout at the Big River Grille & Brewing Works, then walked up Broadway and popped into the Second Fiddle to hear a band and choke on some cigarette smoke.

For the most part, the weekend was taken up with conferences and meetings, but we did have our annual awards dinner on Saturday night, and the entertainment, magician Kevin King, was great (or should I say “a hoot”).

On Sunday night, I got a chance to meet the wondermous Busy Mom. I was just talking to Bran about cosmic connections last week, and I think this is one of them. We recognized each other from a mile away (even though I’d never even seen a picture of her). It’s like we’ve known each other forever. And, like a couple of old geezers, our exciting evening of painting the town plaid consisted of going to see Kicking and Screaming (which would have been kinda boring if it weren’t for Will Ferrell) and getting dinner at Ruby Tuesday.

Like I said on her blog, I’m almost sorry to have met her, because instead of wondering how neat it might be to visit a “virtual” friend, now I get to miss hanging out with a real one.