The Story of Bonnaroo - Chapter 1

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Chapter 1

The story of how we made it to Bonnaroo

It all started one night back in March. Charlie and I went out for a Night on the Town. On the silent auction table I noticed a set of Bonnaroo tickets.

Hmmmmm.

I told Charlie to check out the price. Well, they were basically 50% off and came with 2 Camelbacks. That seamed like a good deal.

So Charlie bid (was it my smoldering smokey eyes, my radiating beauty or the many cocktails consumed from the whiskey bar, I will never know)…….and won (that will teach him not to do better in the Poker Tournament next year).

We were Bonnaroo Bound!

Crap we’re Bonnaroo Bound and WE DON’T CAMP.

After some research I found out that we could stay in a hotel. I found a lovely little over priced Hampton Inn in the town over from the event. Phew.

So on June 8th we left for Bonnaroo making a quick stop in Nashville along the way.

Our first night in Nashville we realized that Country Music Awards were in town.

And those awards come with a very large Music Festival with a Parade! Who doesn’t like a Parade? We had dinner, walked around down town and made it an early night. The next day we walked downtown for the parade.

No Taylor Swift, No Carrie Underwood…where is Garth Brooks? Okay who are these people?

We watched the parade for about an hour and decided to that it was time for lunch.

I had our lunch spot picked out thanks to Guy Feiri.

I was a very classy place and a James Beard winner.

Southern home cooking.

Charlie had the roasted chicken with gravy, black eyed peas, mac & cheese and sweet rolls. I had the fried catfish, collar Greens, mac & cheese and 2 kinds of corn bread (baked and fried…oh my). We SPLIT the Sweet Potato (I think) meringue the pie. It was all DELICIOUS!!! (FYI the episode with Arnold’s has not aired yet)

With our bellies full and arteries clogged we walked back to downtown Nashville. Have you ever been to Tennessee in June? Its a damp inferno, even Satan would bitch about the humidity. In search of cool air we stopped at the convention center to find out what there was to do in Nashville other than listen to music ~~and had air conditioning~~.

We decided to head to ~~a museum with air conditioning because I was dripping in sweat~~ the County Music Hall of Fame to learn about the history of country music.

After learning a lot about Country Music we walked back to the hotel, napped, showered and got ready for a night on the town.

In addition to the CMAs being on TV so was the Stanley Cup. After 10 bars…we FINALLY FOUND the game on TV. We watched our hometown Blackhawks win the Stanley Cup!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was sad not to be in Chicago and I was going to miss celebrations…but I was on my way to Bonnaroo!!!!!!!!!!

After the game we check out some of the live music Nashville has to offer.

The next morning we packed up the car and started our journey to Manchester, Tennessee. Woo Hoo Bonnaroo (say it…its fun…yell it, its even more fun.)

But being the people that Charlie and I are (we never waste a tourist opportunity or a chance to visit a liquor manufacture) we decided to make several stops along the way.

First was Centennial Parks replica of the Parthenon.

Yeah, it was anti-climatic. So we were off to Lynchburg. But first I needed my first Christian Chicken experience for lunch.

After a tasty artery clogging lunch we were back on the road to Lynchburg.

I highly recommend the Jack Daniels Tour. Not only is it free, but it pretty darn interesting. I learned a lot about the oldest registered distillery in the US.

Another quick pit stop in the actual town of Lynchberg and the Tennessee Walking Horse Museum (don’t blink, you might miss it) and we were back on the road and making our way to Bonnaroo!!!! (say it with me. Bon – A – roooooooooooooooo)

We checked into our hotel (nicest Hampton Inn I have ever stayed at, it was just remodeled and everything was brand new), called the transport service and we were on way to BONNAROO!!! People who were camping had about a 5 hour wait to drive into the campgrounds.

We walked in and though the camping grounds.

And then we made it to our FIRST BONNAROO Band!!!!

The Story of Bonnaroo – Chapter 1

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