TN Day 5 - Beautiful Bathrooms, Bizarre Art, and Beer-Drinkin' Goats
Today started out with saying goodbye to the Beaudets, as they got ready to fly back to the ol' Town of Beans. I was sad to see them go, but so so happy that I got share this leg of the journey with them. They've been with me every step of the way thus far, so I'm glad this chapter in my life wasn't any different. Nashville's a great town, but them being here made it even better.
After they left, I fueled myself up by going to a coffee shop called Crema. My favorite place to get coffee in Harvard Square is also called Crema, so I couldn't resist paying them a visit. There was no actual link between the two Cremas beyond the name and the mutually high quality of their coffees.
Properly caffeinated, I drove to see the Hermitage Hotel and their famous men's room. Their art deco inspired bathroom all in sleek green and black was apparently deemed so beautiful that both men and women were allowed in just to take it all in. I like the idea that maybe the best way to combat transphobic bathroom laws is to just make the bathrooms so pretty that everyone can use them. When the hotel tried to renovate it at some point in the 30s the people of Nashville banded together to preserve this unusual attraction. Apparently they've also won Restroom of the Year on numerous occasions, which is not an award I knew existed. I have to say that I was impressed but it is weird after all that that it is still a functional bathroom, so a bunch of old guys peeing does take away from the splendor of it all somewhat.
After the arty bathroom, I took in some more traditional art at the Frist Center for Visual Arts. A former post office turned museum (though there is a much smaller but still functional postal service building still running out of one side of the museum) the Frist is a really cool building with all the the high ceilings and open designs of a former 1920s center of commerce. While the former post-office design makes the building itself a treat, it also means it's not particularly big. They don't really have much in the way of a permanent collection, and instead had two major traveling exhibits. I happened to really enjoy them, but because the museum is constantly in flux it might be good to do some research ahead of time if you're planning a visit.
The first floor exhibit was definitely my favorite. It was all about American Art about and during WW1. Frequently dwarfed by the larger and even more horrifying WWII, WWI is a really interesting time of global conflict, geopolitical shifting, and domestic upheaval that really marks the birth of a lot of modernist art movements and changing social systems. For example, it marks some of the first attempts at providing rudimentary sex education, after American Soldiers contracted VD at alarming rates because they weren't provided condoms like every other nation's armed forces. That's one of my favorite weird historical tid bits.
The art was really incredible as all these talented artists of a wide range of styles tried to grapple with hitherto unimaginable destruction. Highlights for me included: a beautiful and horrifying mural by John Singer Sargent of a group of soldiers being gassed, a surrealist apocalyptic painting by Man Ray, a cartoon about the sinking of the Lusitania by Little Nemo creator Windsor McCay (a real treat for a comic book nerd like me), a dark abstract painting by Georgia O'Keefe, a haunting portrait of civilian and military casualties made to look like a religious frieze by Carl Hoekner, a strange contemporary performance videos by Mary Reid Kelley, a folk art style portrait of segregated barracks by Horace Pippen, and some paintings that mark the transition of George Bellows from strong opponent to vehement supporter of US involvement in the war after hearing about German war crimes.
It was a really incredible exhibit packed with varying analyses of different changes happening in the country after this watershed moment. Particularly interesting was the use of art in changing the American people's minds into supporting a war, that at first most US citizens just wanted to stay out of.
Much less meaningful to me personally, but still very impressive was the gallery on the second floor featuring the truly bizarre sound suits of an artist named Nick Cave (not the Australian murder ballad aficionado) who specializes in what he calls Sound Suits large scale bizare suits made from a combination of found objects and original works designed to create interesting sounds while the wearer walks in them while also exploring different themes through their imagery. Definitely impressive, but I'd seen a few before so I didn't have the same kind of emotional response to this exhibit as I did to the WWI one.
After the museum, I decided to partake in one last Nashville tradition before heading for Memphis: Hot Chicken. Based on the suggestions of one of the comedians I met, I went to Hattie B's. Unfortunately, their reputation preceded them and their was a line out down the block for good spicy chicken. I decided I didn't feel like waiting, so I called in a to go order and went to a cupcake place around the corner, Gigi's Cupcakes, to wait. I was originally not going to get a cupcake, but after talking to the cashier I could not resist getting the peanut butter cup cupcake, with chocolate peanut butter frosting and homemade peanut butter cupcakes baked right into the cupcake. It was unreal. When my order did come in, I picked up my moderately spicy chicken tenders, collard greens, and mac'n'cheese. It definitely lived up to the hype. I'm such a wimp when it comes to spice, but whatever their medium sauce was it was the perfect ratio of heat to flavor.
With taste buds aflame, I made the three hour drive to Memphis. I walked around, but was still only 5 feet 4 inches off the ground. All my friends who had been there said my first stop had to be Beale Street right in the heart of downtown, where all the cool bars and music venues were. It was certainly a happening place on a Friday night.
My first stop was the Absinthe Room, which caught my eye off the street. They specialized in different authentic absinthes and cigars. I tried the absinthe, but left the cigars alone. The bar was really cool though, with lots of pool tables, arcade games, and darts as well as really out there pop culture artifacts.
After that I got dinner at Silky O'Sullivan's, an Irish Pub famous for their piano shows, their house lager, and of course their tower climbing, beer drinking goats. Just look at these silly fat boys.
For dinner, I got the BBQ pork sandwich with house lager and potato chips. It was al delicious, and even better was the fact that the whole time the bar was treated to a fun live lounge act of a bawdy singer with piano accompaniment. The big closing number was a rendition of piano man, where she replaced the line "we're all in the mood for a melody" with "we're all in the mood to get laid" and insisted on the audience joining her each time. It was a fun way to close out the night.
Favorite Random Sightings: Grumpy's Bail Bonds, Pig: Food with Attitude
Regional Observations: Memphis bars are just as cool if not cooler than Nashville bars, but they are definitely more likely to require a cover to get in if you want to hear the music, which I really liked that Nashville didn't require.
Albums Listened To: Life Aquatic Studio Sessions by Seu Jorge (lovely Portuguese covers of David Bowie songs from probably my favorite Wes Anderson movie. For some reason, my little cousin with Down Syndrome and Autism was always super into this album)l LIfe of the Party by The Planet Smashers (just the title track); The Life of the World to Come by The Mountain Goats (Just Psalms 40:2); Life Won't Wait by Rancid (my sister's favorite album by them, I'd disagree but it's real good and basically a collaboration with the Slackers); Light Your Light by Toots & the Maytals; Lights Out by Ingrid Michaelson (just Girls Chase Boys); Like I Said: Songs 1990-91 by Ani DiFranco (just Roll With It); Like the Exorcist But More Breakdancing by Murder by Death; Limbo Messiah by Beatsteaks (weird mix of quasi-soul and hardcore punk)
People's Favorite Jokes:
A magician is performing in Mexico. He tells everyone to count to three and he'll vanish. They start counting, "Uno... Dos...', and then he disappeared without a Tres (this a good one I wasn't expecting to get twice)
Songs of the Day:
