Nashville Sounds

Actually, that's the name of their minor league baseball team here -- a AAA affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers -- but I thought I'd use it as the title for my weekly SOUND-off on my experiences here in Tennessee.

For those of you who don't know, I'm living in Gallatin, Tenn., for the summer, at my friend Mike's house. His parents just moved down here from Wisconsin. Gallatin is about 20-30 minutes northeast of downtown Nashville and about 50 minutes to an hour from Murfreesboro, where I work at the Daily News Journal.

It's a full-time internship -- 40 hours a week -- and I've already had a few clips published on A1 (that's journalistic speak for the front page). I think it's going to be a valuable summer for me in terms of my development as a journalist.

That aside, living in Tennessee has been a blast. Two things come to mind when Nashville is mentioned: Great food and great music. I've been fortunate to experience a bit of both already in less than two weeks.

On my very first day, I stopped off at a Bar-B-Cutie restaurant for some great barbecue chicken, tasty turnip greens and out-of-this-world baked beans. A few days later, I tried the Slick Pig BBQ for some pulled pork sandwiches, spicy ribs and hickory smoked chicken wings -- all of which made me smile big.

I'll continue to try different establishments as the summer wears on, and all the while I'll search for the ultimate barbecue sauce, although I don't know quite what that is. Yet.

In terms of entertainment, Mike and I have stumbled upon several of the honky-tonk bars in downtown Nashville, my favorite of which was Robert's Western World. I wasn't a big country fan before I came down -- and I'm still not -- but still, it's a hoot to watch it live, right in front of you, after a beer or two. And there's so much talent in this town that even the street vendors are worth listening to for awhile. They're all good.

One night when we were wandering around, we encountered Mike Miller, of the Memphis Grizzlies. He was standing against a wall outside of Robert's Western World, textbook hot blonde beside him, and I went up to him and asked him if he would like to accompany us to Coyote Ugly. He nodded his head and asked where it was. I told him it was a block or two down, and that if he came with us, I'd pay his cover. He just kind of laughed and told me he was waiting for his ride. So we walked away. I regret that now. We should've stayed and piled into his limo with him. A night out on the town with an NBA player? That would've been one to remember.

Maybe we'll run into him later in the summer. Or perhaps new Titan Vince Young will join us on a bar hop or two. One thing's for sure, though: The adventures are just beginning.