miss adventures

Time

Today, I feel like the person I was in 2001. This is a good thing, because that was one of the best years of my short life and I very much liked the person I was back then. It's something about the scent of my shampoo... and the balmy weather... a bit of jet lag... and the fact that today is the birthday of an old boyfriend who I am incredibly fond of -- so much so, that I guess the power of remembering him takes over my whole corporeal consciousness of time.

I was in Nashville last week. It was my first trip to the South and I enjoyed myself and my environs immensely. I went to my very first plantation, the Belle Meade, just 7 miles outside of downtown Nashville. The proprietor, John Harding, was not a planter but a breeder of horses. His stables were magnificent, but it was disheartening to realize later that one horse's stall was larger and grander than the quarters for 10 slaves. There was a colorful, rich, and detailed history of the slaves' lives at the Belle Meade. The friends I was with commented on how macabre it was that the centerpiece of plantation was a renowned restaurant serving hearty fare of chicken and dumplings and country fried chicken, yards away from signs that described how slaves often dined on chitterlings and other pork entrails. And the struggle between the haves and the have-nots rages on.

I was so hellbent on eating fried chicken there that I got into a tiff with my Moot Court coach while standing in the middle of downtown at lunch hour. In everybody's defense, we were all half-starved and cranky. In my defense, my coach was sort of a dick.

I had sausage and grits for breakfast every morning, and I ate White Castle burgers and Mrs. Winner's fried chicken late every night. Towards the end of the trip I was starting to speak in a drawl, and prolonged exposure to country music made me wonder when I'd get my truck back. Overall, Nashville was a pleasant, unexpected treat.

I have pictures. You'll see.

posted by Lucy Sloan @ 11:30 AM