Our youngest has always been easy. He’s a natural self-starter and sailed through elementary and middle school rarely needing help or reminders from us, which is good because after 20 years of parenting, you get… well… TIRED. Even better, he’s managed to make it this far without losing his agreeable disposition. Although I had braced […]

Family, Fun

May 28, 2021

The Last One Grows Up

After what had to be the longest school year of all time, summer is finally here! Now that everything’s opening up again, it just might be the best summer ever — There’s nothing like spending a year at home to appreciate normal, everyday life and all the activities that come with it, right? I’ve spent […]

Nashville Guide, Travel

May 25, 2021

Here are 35 Awesome Things to Do with Kids in Franklin, Tennessee This Summer

I’ve learned over time that what often makes a shop or a tour or even a restaurant really, really special is the owner or guide or chef you interact with while you’re there. When I’m researching a city or town, I sort through hundreds of user reviews, seeking out the bookstore with the charismatic and […]

Fun, Nashville Guide, Travel

May 23, 2021

The Stones River Battlefield Tour is Now a Must-Do, Thanks to Its Amazing New Tour Guide

A couple of years ago, my family and I went on a guided UTV tour of an exotic animal park in Tupelo. We jounced along in an off-road golf cart through a field full of zebras and buffalo while our guide told us about the animals’ personalities and habits. As we approached a group of […]

Deep Thoughts, Fun

May 13, 2021

An Unexpected Moment I’ll Never Forget

I’m a sucker for a great French brasserie and over the years, we’ve been lucky to dine at some of the best. 39 Rue de Jean in Charleston, Echaude in Quebec City, and the now sadly closed Brasserie Les Halles in Manhattan all left me with delicious memories of crispy pommes frites, mussels steamed in […]

Nashville Guide, Travel

May 7, 2021

Nashville’s Once Upon a Time in France is a Date Night Dream

“Let’s try Birmingham,” I suggested one winter afternoon a couple of years ago. My husband and I had been brainstorming ideas for a weekend road trip in January and coming up empty. Birmingham, though, seemed plausible — It was just under three hours from Nashville and its warmer climate made a surprise snowfall seem very […]

Travel, United States

April 30, 2021

These are Our 40 Favorite Things to Do in Birmingham, Alabama

I’m trying to be very Zen about Nashville’s growth explosion and its resulting traffic and soaring prices and overcrowded everything, and really the only way I can do that right now is by focusing on the food. Until the last few years, the food scene was pretty boring here — Our restaurants catered largely to […]

Fun, Nashville Guide, Travel

April 24, 2021

The Horn Brings Sambusas and Somali Chai to Nashville… and It’s Fantastic

Machine Falls near Tullahoma has been on our short list for a few years now, for two reasons:  First, we’ve heard it’s an impressive waterfall by Middle Tennessee standards. Second, State Naturalist Randy Hedgepath told me a couple of years ago that Short Springs Natural Area– where Machine Falls is located– is one of his […]

Nashville Guide, Travel

April 20, 2021

Machine Falls : Waterfalls & Wildflowers an Hour and a Half From Nashville

“I’m still coming to see you Thursday, but I have a Zoom appointment at noon that I can’t reschedule,” I told my mom on the phone recently, “So I’m just going to leave in the morning, pull over somewhere, and do the appointment in my car. Then I’ll finish the drive once it’s over.” I […]

Family, Fun, Humor

March 17, 2021

Forever Young

It was 3 am and I was very much asleep when it happened. “Hey-low,” a woman said in a singsong-soft voice, her lips just inches from my ear. She said it quietly, the way my grandmother might once have gently woken me on a summer morning… but this voice definitely wasn’t my grandmother. “What?” I […]

Fun, Humor

March 2, 2021

Help. My Bed is Haunted.

Ghost on a Bed