We spent last night at the AirstreamFever.com world headquarters just minutes away from downtown Nashville. Since we got here a little late in the day, we opted to just park on the street for the night.
That decision is not due to the lack of space Chris has as you will soon find out. Even though he is on a 1-acre lot, most of it is beautiful open space with massive trees towering overhead.
The gorgeous 1930s house only uses half of the lot and a long driveway on the side leads to a garage in the rear. In this photo, you might get a glimpse of his Airstream collection there behind the garage.
This is the camp fire pit we hung out at last night as we got to know Chris and his wife Mary, Andrew and his new bride Rebecca as well as a few of their close friends and neighbors. I know, you want to know more about the Airstreams back there. Be patient, we will get to them.
When we got up this morning, Chris and Mary invited us in for silver dollar pancakes and thick-cut, cast iron fried bacon.
Here are a couple of close ups of some of the gems on Chris’s bourbon tray. This is a Blanton’s single barrel from Buffalo Trace which we did not get to tour while we were in Kentucky.
This George T. Stagg is a monster of a bourbon. It is bottled at a whopping 142.8 proof. Uncut and unfiltered just as it would come straight out of the barrel. At over 71% alcohol, the contents of this bottom is highly combustible. Eventhough it is so strong, it goes down extremely smoothly and the only sign that you ever get of its potency is the warmth that stays in your esophagus for the next 10 minutes.
OK, I suppose I made you waited long enough to see Chris and Andrew’s gems. Right on Chris’s property, they have three vintage Airstreams. This one is Chris’ 1964 Overlander which he takes out a couple of times a month on fly fishing trips.
On the left is Andrews 1954 Whale-Tail Cruiser. The third one served as Chris’ wife Mary’s farmer’s market trailer as she runs one of the local farmer’s markets in Nashville. She is a certified foodie and localvore and can be found on her blog MaryCrimmins.com. By the way, your eyes are not deceiving you, he also has a tractor that’s used to haul around all of their Airstreams as well as giving kids hay rides during Halloween. How sweet is that?
The girls had a blast in the short time we had here and we unfortunately had to finally leave Nashville. They were incredibly gracious to us and as we left, we hoped that we will see them again soon on the road.
We headed east on I-40 towards the Cumberland Plateau with another destination today. Believe it or not, we are headed to meet with more friends that we have met through the blog. As compared to last time, we are keeping a busy social schedule this time around on the road.
In the town of Crossville, Tennessee in the Cumberland Plateau, our friends Nathan and Leah just recent rented a house on a lake. We had met them for the first time last year in Croatia during our 7-week trip to Europe. Leah had been reading our blog since the beginning when they were still living in south Florida. As a matter of fact, Leah gave us some of great recommendations via Facebook during our last trip through Florida that took us to Lion Country Safari and Pinecrest Gardens.
Since then, they had sold their home in Florida, packed up everything into storage and flew their family to Europe for a road trip not too different than the ones we go on. They bought a SUV and a travel trailer (or caravan if you are in Europe) in the Netherlands and headed out for the open road.
They spent over a year caravanning in Europe with their two boys. Just by coincidence, they saw that we posted a photo of a campground in Croatia on Facebook while we were there. We planned a meetup in Croatia and it seemed like instantly we became good friends.
Just like us, their wanderlust is insatiable. Even though most people we have met through this blog have been Airstreamers, we are probably more like Nathan and Leah than most others. We have the same love for travel and adventure plus the desire to share them with our children. These feelings far outweigh the mode of transportation either of us happen to be using to fulfill them.
We will be spending the next few days courtesy parked in their driveway while Ava and Mila get a chance to be reacquainted and play with their friends from Croatia, Eli and Milo. Tonight, we will have a few beers and catch with our old friends.
over and out,
dan
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