Introducing my Aussie bro to Nashville!

Well my bro, Tim, finally made it to Nashville to visit! First family member to brave the 17+ hour flight to come over. He flew via Seoul (layover) and Whistler (snowboarding). He was meant to arrive last Friday night but that was when all hell broke out and Nashville received the most snow it had seen in years. Journeys home that normally took 20mins took 3 hours… most flights were cancelled. It was a sad day for me!
So finally, Saturday, I braved the snowy/icy conditions (much to the horror of my southern friends) and picked the boy up. Because we were in the Northern parts of Nashville, we, despite the weather ventured to the famous Opry Hotel – basically deserted – and did the rounds of all the ‘romantic’ gardens…etc.

I can’t believe how shut down this town gets in bad weather. Tim loves Jazz, live music and meeting new people. All of which should easily happen in NASHVILLE TENNESSEE right? Well… we hit up the Honky Tonk – after he braved a game of Ice Hockey. It was so quiet the Wildhorse Saloon, BB Kings and The BIG BANG dueling piano bar were all closed. Luckily, the next night some of them we’re open and Nashville showcased its unique nightlife!

Thankfully my bro is one of those dudes that can just have fun with anyone… tripping people out with his aussie charm and crazy ideas. I think Walmart (if you can’t buy it in Walmart its not worth getting!) secretly was one of his highlights of Nashville – they had knives, ammo, guns, BB guns, paint guns all for cheap! Virtually impossible to buy any of those things without a license in Australia… let alone in an everyday shopping centre! The sales dude was kind enough to let Tim have a play with the guns and knives. I wonder how many ‘Aussie’ tourists he really has waste his time!

We took a road trip to the Jack Daniels distillery in Lynchburg and did a free tour and learnt where and how they make grog. Funniest part of that whole deal is it’s in a dry county. No sampling and no alcohol even for sale in the town!

The Town, Lynchburg, is a nice little (about 400 residents) touristy town to hang out in afterwards. I took Tim to a bakery there and asked him what was missing. No bread. Its more like a cafe and serves meals and tea and coffee. I’m still amazed at the scarcity of fresh bread in the USA.

Had a great time with Tim. It was kind of surreal having a family member finally step into my ‘other’ world and experience life, friends, food and good times here. And maybe even understand why I’m still ok to live here… four years later.

If you got to meet Tim I’d love to hear stories of the fun moments… or any times where conversation got lost in translation? Or if he did something a bit ‘un-american’. Gotta cherish these moments right?!