Now that we’ve officially lived in our new house in Spring Hill for a full week now, I realize the importance of specifying what events take place in Nashville; which is 35 miles away from where we live.
With that being said, yesterday we went to the glorious Pinewood Social in Nashville.
We went to lunch with Mommy’s boss, his wife, and Grandma (Mommy’s mother) who is in town this week (from Sacramento) this week to help us unpack.
The way I would describe Pinewood Social is that it’s a classy, upscale, hip, “new Nashville” restaurant with a subtle 1950’s flare.
They even had vegan options for your Daddy: I had a Thai veggie sandwich; along with fried green tomatoes and fried broccoli which our table shared.
Mommy’s boss made a point to pull me aside to express to me how impressed he was that for the whole hour while we were at the table, you were perfectly behaved.
It’s moments like that where I feel confirmation in knowing that the way Mommy and I are raising you, with limited TV time and no access to artificial colors or flavors in food, is paying off.
(We didn’t really let you watch TV at all until you were 2 years old.)
You were simply content and behaved the whole time there at Pinewood Social, completely occupied by drawing pictures of our family on sticky notes provided by your new preschool you are starting next week.
Eventually, you caught a glimpse of the bowling alley, which is part of the restaurant. So you spent a good 20 minutes bowling, with the help of the kiddy ramp.
I was amazed you were able to pick up that standard size bowling ball yourself.
On your last turn, you got your first strike!
Obviously, we had a great time at Pinewood Social. I have a feeling you’re going to ask to go back…
On November 26th, the night before Thanksgiving this year, I was driving home from work. Normally, I would have had you in the car with me, in the back seat.
Fortunately, Mommy got off work early that day and she picked you up instead.
As I drove down that narrow, wooded, farm land stretch from Cool Springs to Nolensville, on Clovercroft Road, I made sure to slow down, going under the speed limit because of all the light rain and heavy fog obstructing my view.
Less than a mile from home, I looked over the left hand side of the road to see what appeared to be a skinny white cow running faster than I’ve ever seen a cow run.
As it made its way down that hill, which was part of a farm, I noticed it was being chased… by a deer.
At that point, I realized that actually, both animals were deer.
The all-white one jumped the 4 foot tall barb wire fence. In a split-second moment, I had a big decision to make:
I chose to remain cruising at the same speed and let the deer run into the side of me.
Officially, I did not hit a deer… a deer hit me!
It reminded me of some generic yet familiar scene from Lost, where some big explosion happens and the character wakes up wondering where they are. (That seemed to happen a lot on Lost!)
Miraculously, by the grace of God, the albino deer didn’t crash through my window. It hit hard against my driver’s side door and tire.
However, the impact didn’t slow down my car or knock my car off the road.
When I looked back behind me, I saw no sign of the deer; nor did the cars behind me have to swerve. The albino deer just completely disappeared.
I was able to drive home, with no injuries.
However, when I got home, I was unable to open the driver’s side door, as the deer’s impact had jammed the tire panel into the door.
And for some reason, the battery was dead the next morning.
I ended up having to have my car towed. Please note to avoid having an insurance claim in between the 2 biggest holidays of the year.
Keep in mind the accident occurred on November 26th. Well, I got my car back from the shop just a couple of days ago, on December 30th; about 5 weeks later.
I have to compliment Service King in Cool Springs, TN; where my car was towed. They did a flawless job of keeping me informed via text messages and phone calls on the status of my vehicle’s condition.
Yes, it took 5 weeks to get my car back after the accident, but in no way was the delay because of Service King. It had to do with the insurance inspection in the midst of the holidays, as well as a surge of claims of deer hitting cars.
My car was towed to facility to a place where they total cars; only to eventually learn that, thank God, my car wasn’t totaled.
So after a couple of weeks of that, it was finally taken to Service King, where it was repaired.
Just to be clear, though, it was nothing short of a miracle that my car wasn’t totaled. The state of Tennessee requires insurance companies to total vehicles if the damage is equal to 70% or more of the vehicle’s value.
Looks like I was only safe by a couple hundred dollars.
One good thing that came out of all this is I got to review 4 cars during the past month. For example, here are the stories that came out of the Lexus LX 570:
In closing, please remember my words of wisdom: Never slow down, stop, or swerve to avoid hitting an animal.
Had I done any of those things, the accident would have been billed as my fault. I would have had a $500 deductible, plus my premium would have went up.
But because I chose to let the deer hit me, I remained safe on the road, and my deductible was only $100; not to mention my premium will not increase.
Here in the state of Tennessee, you seriously have to watch out for those albino deer…
Fortunately, your Uncle Andrew and Aunt Dana bought me a deer warner for Christmas.
On the drive in the Lexus RX 450h this weekend to go see the progress on our new house, I explained to Mommy that I have always been curious about that old abandoned silo tower that sits right there on the side of Main Street of Spring Hill.
It’s right past Starbucks and right before McDonald’s. I’ve always been fascinated by such an old country relic being left intact on the busiest and most fundamental road of the city.
Mommy decided to remain in the luxury chariot (the Lexus RX 450h) while we literally raced to the tower.
Once we got there, we saw that it was basically empty. I discovered a ladder that leads to the very top. Maybe I’ll save that climb for some other time…
Spring Hill has been around for a little over 200 years now, but here in the past decade especially, all that boring ole farm land has begun translating into major dollar signs to the descendants of the original farm owners.
They sell it to development companies who then go on to make cute houses for families like ours; just another hard working middle class family who drives back out of Spring Hill each day to actually make money.
It’s a classic case of a developing bedroom community.
I predict in the next 5 years, the land with the tower on it will be sold and the tower will be knocked down to make room for new houses.
But you and I will always be able to say that we visited that tower and poked our heads in it; getting our picture made right in front of it. In case it fades to a vague memory, let this letter and these pictures serve as a reminder of what we did.
Actually, I’ve never heard of anyone actually visiting that tower. We must be pretty cool or something.
Love,
Daddy
Catch up on the entire series of the Lexus RX 450h Weekend. A lot of exiciting things happened!
I’ll go ahead and point out that it might seem a tad bit ironic that I would do a “family friendly review” on a winery.
But as you hopefully will discover, this particular winery is different.
The way I see it, Arrington Vineyards makes for a perfect hang-out spot for both parents and children.
It is located about 30 minutes south of Nashville, on a giant hill. The view is beautiful, the atmosphere is classy, and that enormous (and extremely steep) hill provides the ideal playground for kids.
When my sister and I were kids back in the 80s, we were always excited to play on the hill in our Italian grandfather’s yard. In more recent years, we realized that “hill” was only about 3 feet high.
However, the hill at Arrington Vineyards is the largest and widest I have ever seen for what could constitute for an unofficial play area.
Parking is free- and a plethora of picnic tables are provided as well. Therefore, Arrington Vineyards is naturally a wonderful location to host a picnic.
The only cost would be if you choose to try or buy wine. There is no fee for just “hanging out.”
Obviously though, I’ve noticed most people who go to Arrington Vineyards end up buying a bottle of wine, which explains why the vineyard can afford to keep from charging any kind of entrance free or table fee.
So, let’s talk more about that monstrous hill: Kids love it!
I had my son Jack pack up a book bag full of balls before we left the house; as well as monster trucks. (It helped serve as a lesson in sharing since we met his friend Jake’s family there.)
He and I had a blast playing a game we made up where he kicked the soccer ball down the hill to me and I kicked it back up to him.
His goal was to get the ball all the way down to the bottom of the hill; my goal was to get it to the top.
Arrington Vineyards is also naturally a good place to take pictures. I’ve noticed that the abnormal horizon line (because of the hill) and the easy expose to sunlight make for good photography.
So there you have it. I say this is a great place to take your family to hang-out. And if you, the parent, appreciate good wine, it’s all that much more of a reason to go.
FYI: Arrington Vineyards was unaware I was writing a “family friendly review” on them. I was simply a paying customer who happened to be taking a lot of pictures of my son. In other words, I did not “work for free wine.” I simply have always enjoyed going to Arrington Vineyards and thought they deserve a shout-out.
These days, each year for your wedding anniversary, you’re evidently supposed to post a picture on Facebook of yourself with your spouse on your wedding today, with a caption reading something like this:
“Happy Anniversary! I can’t believe it’s been (insert number here) wonderful years of wedded bliss…”.
Meanwhile, my wife and I were too busy on the morning of our 6th year anniversary (July 5th) to update our Facebook statuses…
We left at 6:23 AM in the Toyota Highlander to go to Benton, Tennessee for our 9:30 departure from Sunburst Adventures for whitewater rafting! I had been rafting several times thoughout my high school years, but mainly on the tamer Nantahala River near North Carolina.
But on the Ocoee, the ride is wild enough to require a guide. My wife had never been at all. It had been 9 years for me.
Simply put, going whitewater rafting was the perfect way to celebrate our 6th year wedding anniversary. I was particularly pleased with the set-up of Sunburst Adventures, as compared to other companies I have gone with in the past.
The guides were fun, free-spirited, and great at communicating the directions. (We loved our guide, Abby.) I was also impressed with the facilities as well; not run down at all.
The family of four that my wife and I were placed with in the raft were a great fit for us. Turns out, randomly, that the dad of the family and I graduated from the same small high school, 12 years apart; in Fort Payne, Alabama. We had never met until this weekend and only learned what we had in common halfway through the trip!
Going whitewater rafting brings people together. It’s not scary, but it is thrilling. So it only makes sense that my wife and I chose whitewater rafting as a way to celebrate our anniversary.
Basically, it’s impossible to not talk about how fun the trip was afterwards. You just can’t be bored doing something like that.
Plus, you get to be outside enjoying God’s green Earth, breathing fresh air, and feeling the sunshine.
Our son is only 3 and a half, so he’s not quite old enough for an adventure this thrilling. Until then, my wife and I have sort of decided to make it a new tradition to go whitewater rafting each summer.
Thanks for reading my newest Family Friendly Daddy Blog review! You didn’t have to, but you did. I wonder what I’ll review next?
Family Friendly Daddy Blog 