On To Memphis

Marisa And Her Granny

It's 6:45 and I am in the Vanderbilt Hampton Inn, sitting in their basement breakfast room along with probably 15 other hungry patrons, watching ESPN with no view out the windows. Still, I slept pretty well, not waking until 6:30, really 7:30 EST.

We left from our good friends, Joe and Mary Lou's, at 8:00, hoping to get to Nashville by 2:00. We forgot the time change, however, so we ended up arriving at our hotel at 1:00 which was not a problem because we were able to relax until we left to see our granddaughter, Marisa at 3:30 in her dorm apartment. The drive, fortunately, was uneventful and before we hit some sunshine in Tennessee, we ran into rain and some sleet around Louisville. And like yesterday, it seemed like a truck holiday as they dominated the route south to Nashville. What made it worst was the work on the roads, as they were blasting through what looked like hills of rocks to make a third lane much of the way.

Once we got to our room we were lucky to be able to check in early. We both took showers, relaxed and I was even to take a short nap. We met Marisa at 3:00 and she took us up to her dorm apartment where she and her two roommates live. She shares a fairly small bedroom with her roommate, from last year, but they have a large living area and kitchen making up for the small bedroom. It was great to see her and we just sat around talking until 5:30, catching up on her life, her tough courses like organic chemistry. She tried to explain what she was doing in that class and all we thought was we were glad we never took it.

She had suggested a Turkish restaurant called Anatolia, about a 15-minute drive away. We made it in 20 twenty in crazy, crowded rush-hour traffic. The restaurant had a Turkish feel, with kilims on its walls, a couple looking like kilims we have. We liked our Turkish garcon bey (waiter) and talked to him about the good old days in Istanbul in the1970s and 1980s and how it has lost its soul 21st century of untamed growth and wealth. The menu had many Turkish delicacies and Evie and I both ordered our favorite, Iskender Kebab, basically shaved beef/lamb, over pita bread, covered with tomato sauce and yogurt. Marisa had lentil soup, veggie kebabs, and rice pudding for dessert. Evie and I also shared a bowl of lentil soup and toasted shredded wheat soaked in sugar and honey water for dessert. We left happy and full. We dropped Marisa off at her dorm, hugged and said we would see her in three days.

Turkish Delight

We arrived back at our Hampton at 8:00, watched TV, and relaxed until 9;30, feeling guilty that we did not hit the music bars but both of us were too tired and were happy to go to bed early, at 9:30. Today, we have to stop at an auto repair shop to have our squealing brakes checked out. Despite the fact that they were supposed cleaned and checked on Friday, they make this loud, obnoxious squeal when we pull to a stop. Fortunately, we only have a three-hour drive to Memphis.