A bit overdue...

This post is long overdue, but I thought I'd write a bit about the days between Kinsey's departure to Cabo and her return to Chicago before heading out on the main legs of our trip. This is just a warning that a lot of details are being glossed over for the sake of brevity, but I really wanted to make sure I documented some of the key moments.

May 31st–June 3rd, 2018

My last day in Nashville was relatively quiet. I spent most of the afternoon hiding from the heat, exploring coffee shops and maybe trying another brewery. Nothing too crazy for the most part.

That night, I went out to explore Midtown. I found a sneaky car-camping spot in a nearby neighborhood and proceeded to walk around. The overall feel was decidedly less crazy than "The District", but it had a similar feel for the most part. I found a lot of the bars to be a little too crazy for my mood that night (flying solo) and started making my way to a bar that seemed to be more of a local haunt—Bobby's Idle Hour Tavern.

I was very lucky to stumble in just in time for the weekly songwriters night. It was an intimate bar, with very talented musicians singing all night. Many of them were sharing very personal and heartfelt songs that made a few patrons (myself included) shed some tears. I had some fun conversations with a few of the young musicians and learned a bit about how the music scene was in Nashville. It sounded very different from the way we used to play in Seattle. I found it interesting how much of a divide there is between songwriters and performers. It makes sense, but it's not something I was very familiar with.

The next morning I got up early and hit the road for Chicago. I was ready to escape the heat, and I figured the sooner I got back to Chicago (to pick up Kinsey from her trip), the more time I would have to rest before the next leg of the trip.

A couple hours out of Chicago I gave my friend Peter a call to see what he was doing. It turns out he was about to head to the Sox game with our shared friend Mike. I told them I wanted to tag along. I ended up arriving with plenty of time before the game and we all had a good time chatting on the porch, enjoying the relatively cooler weather before heading to the game. Multiple beverages may have been consumed.

After the game, we all went out to a local bar to close out the night. I have some blurry memories of being challenged to cornhole and maybe being handed one too many Miller Highlifes. Eventually, we made our way back to Peter’s, ordered takeout, and I passed out on the couch.

Peter was kind enough to let me use his place to wash some laundry and take an overdue shower the next morning. Maybe he was tired of my stench?

That evening I went out a bit in our old neighborhood Logan Square and barhopped around with mine and Kinsey's good friend Luis. We had a good time hitting up a few of our favorite Logan spots. I tried not to think about how long it would be before I would be back this way while also trying to soak in as much as possible.

After another night on a couch, I woke up ready to get on the road again. I spent most of the day prepping to head out before picking Kinsey up from the O'hare. That night we followed the sunset into southwest Wisconsin. The next day will take us to Minneapolis.

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Nashville to Chicago