Royalty goes to Nashville, Tennessee for football & meets up with roadtrippers old & new!

After spending the night at Knights Inn in Cookeville, Tennessee, I woke up early on Sunday morning October 6th so I could meet up with some people I know who drove from Kansas City to see their football teams play on the road. Thankfully I gained an hour once I left the Knoxville area as I went from the eastern time zone to the central time zone. I drove 180 miles to Nashville so I could meet up with Chris Coats aka KC Superfan & his girlfriend soon to be a Mommy, Brittani Murphy in February. Despite her stomach starting to show, she decided to go with her future husband to Nashville for the weekend. They drove 550 miles each way by car. They went to see their Missouri Tigers play against Vanderbilt on Saturday night. They arrived in the area early in the afternoon. When they did, they came across a brochure for a restaurant called the Loveless Cafe which was located in the western part of the city. Chris wrote me & he asked me if I ever heard of it. I told him no. Luckily while I was at the football game in Knoxville, I asked the young lady I was sitting next to about it because she told me she lived in Nashville. She told me it was very good. With that being said, I wrote Chris back & I told him I'll meet him there in the morning for breakfast instead of Cracker Barrel where we were planning to go. I told him I'll meet him there around 9AM. Unfortunately it wound up taking longer than I planned because this restaurant wasn't right off the interstate which cost me some time. In addition, I needed to stop for gas along the way. Thankfully they got there early & they put their name down for a table for us. When I finally arrived around 9:30AM or so, they were there waiting for me. We still wound up waiting for a while because this place was jam packed with people. It was an interesting set up there. They had a motel, a few stores to shop in as well as the restaurant to eat in. It was Sunday morning & everybody in the area was hungry. Finally around 10AM or so, we were seated.
We ordered our food & we spoke to each other while we waited for it to arrive. When it did, I told Chris this place is like Cracker Barrel on steroids. I had a massive ham steak that came with eggs, grits, homemade biscuits with sausage gravy & pancakes. It was a royal meal in every respect. I'm so glad we all decided to go there.

Prince at LP Field

After we ate, we followed each other so we could get to downtown Nashville together. We were going to LP Field, home of the Tennessee Titans who were hosting the Kansas City Chiefs who came into the game with a 4-0 record under new head coach Andy Reid who I saw when he returned to Philadelphia on Thursday night football in week three. We wound up parking our cars on the street for free & we took a nice stroll over to the Stadium. Chris told me he went on Stub Hub that morning & he bought tickets for him & Brittani. They got seats in the second row behind the Chiefs bench in section 113. I didn't have a ticket yet. As we were walking over one of the bridges that runs over the Cumberland River that goes to the stadium, I saw a guy who had an extra ticket. He said he wanted $40 for it. I told him I'll give him $20. After he thought about it, he decided to give to me for $20. It was located in the upper level in section 313. Since it was close to game time & there was a threat of rain, I decided to stay downstairs instead. I lucked out into four empty seats in the last row of section 114 which was on the 35 yard line. I even had cover since the last two or three rows were protected by a slight overhang. I wrote Chris & I told him if he & Brittani wanted to join me for the second half they could. I also didn't want them to get wet since it did start raining in the second quarter. I was nice & dry where I was sitting. The rain came & went throughout the rest of the game.

Scoreboard at LP Field

As for the game we saw, it turned out to be a good one. The Chiefs raced out to a 13-0 lead in the first half. The Titans came all the way back & they took a 17-13 lead in the third quarter. The Chiefs wound up scoring 13 more unanswered points to beat the Titans, 26-17. As a result, Chris & Brittani had a very happy ride back to Kansas City.

Brittani Murphy, Chris Coats & I at LP  Field

After we got back to our cars, we said our goodbyes. It was great to see them both again.

As for me, I drove to a nearby local bar/restaurant where I was meeting a guy who I know from Twitter who lives in Nashville. His name is Tyler Garret Smith. His twitter handle is @ArenaFanatic. I strongly suggest that if you're on twitter you should give him a follow. I wound up parking in front of the restaurant he suggested. Shortly after I did, he showed up. For some unknown reason, it was closed that day. Luckily there was a Logan's Roadhouse across the street so we went there instead. It was raining so I wound up moving the car into their parking lot. We went inside & we enjoyed dinner together. We got to talk for quite some time. I had a great meal that consisted of wood fired grilled salmon that came with broccoli & cole slaw. It was delicious.

As for Tyler, he works in management for Kroger which is a local supermarket. With that being said, his hours always change. With that being said, he couldn't join me for the football game because he was working. In his spare time, he does like to visit different sports venues on the pro & college levels. He does his own reviews when time allows after he goes somewhere. For example, I looked at his website, Arena Fanatic & I saw his take on different college football venues. He ranked the University of Tennessee as his number one college football venue. He also had Auburn at number four. I was considering going there. I asked him for his personal opinion & he told me & I quote "Neyland Stadium takes the cake." I was leaning towards going there the whole time. He put the icing on the cake for me if you will. He's married to a young lady who went to school at the University of Tennessee. As a result, he got to see some games there in the student section he said. It was an amazing experience. I can only imagine since my experience is so memorable.

After spending some quality time with him, we said our goodbyes. I want to personally thank him for making time to meet me when I was in the area. It was one of the many highlights of that weekend.
I got back in the car & I drove Tyler to his car that was parked on the street in the neighborhood. I then proceeded to drive back to Cookeville where I spent another night at Knights Inn. Before I got there, I stopped off at Steak N Shake which was at the exit before the hotel. I went inside & I ordered a vanilla shake to go for dessert.

Stay tuned for another special post that I'm going to do about that Monday night In Atlanta where I saw some football & I met another fellow roadtripper.

Thank you for reading & following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman

Royalty does a Major League doubleheader and sees another roadtripper in the process!

Saturday afternoon the King & I took the subway to Citi Field to see the Mets play game two of their three game set with the Miami Marlins. Upon arrival, we greeted at the Rotunda gate by our pal, Sam Citron. Since Sam told me he plans to work every game this season, I will try my best to see him every time I go to a Met home game. He's such a down to earth human being who has nothing but kind words to say to me about my blog and my writing ability. I owe it to him to always give him the courtesy of a royal hello. As a result, he recognizes other members of the royal court when they come into the ballpark. He fills me in when I see him. He tells me who's inside already. We have a great rapport that continues to grow every game we see each other. He makes seeing the game seem secondary. More importantly, he adds instant credibility to whole royalty experience if you will.

After seeing him again, we went inside and headed up to our seats in section 516. Every game we have a number of regulars who attend. In addition, we have others we know that can only make the weekend games and occasional ones during the week. For example, I'm talking about Rich Wolber aka Staten Island Rich and William Frank Guthrie who were there. We also had a rare weekend visit from Mike & Sharon Jaffee who showed up. They normally attend the midweek afternoon games when I'm working so I usually don't get to see them too often. Furthermore, we had our pal Manny Morales and his buddy Marc Beck there. They have a Saturday plan in our section. Moreover, we had a visit from our friend Phil Butleman who was on hand with a young man named David Sack who's been coming more often. Since Phil's a Yankee fan he doesn't come to Citi Field that much. He likes to pick his spots.

Besides the King and I, the usual fixtures were present & accounted for. I'm referring to Ralph & Vincent Ascanio as well as Bryan Gilligan who like the King and I are full season ticket holders and they rarely if ever miss a Met home game. Among other regulars, we usually have Pat Gorman and Donald Cohen aka Fuzzy who has the distinction of being called a New York institution. Fuzzy's been going to sporting events on a regular basis long before I was even born. That alone tells you all you need to know about his legacy.

As for the game we saw, the Mets got a quality start from their starter Jonathon Niese who gave up two runs in six innings of work. Unfortunately he didn't get a decision in the game because the game was tied up at three after he departed. The Mets rallied to score three runs in the seventh inning and they tacked on another one in the eighth as they went on to beat the Marlins, 7-3.

When the game ended, Bryan Gilligan drove the King and I as well as Vincent Ascanio and Phil Butleman down to Philadelphia so we could all see a second major league game at Citizens Bank Park, which is the home of the Philadelphia Phillies. They were hosting an interleague game against the visiting Kansas City Royals. Upon arrival, I entered the ballpark through the right field gate so I could see Lisa Wilson who is a supervisor that we've gotten to know from going there so often. She's always been so nice to us over the years. She always greets us with a big sincere smile. As a result, we get royal treatment at home and on the road.

In addition, we got an added bonus when we were standing behind section 319 which is where we hang out and hold the royal court if you will. Our pal Chris Coats aka KC Superfan was on hand with his lovely girlfriend, Brittani Murphy who joined him for this road trip. Brittani like Chris is a big Royal fan. In matter of fact, Chris has a streak of seeing over 700 consecutive Royal home games in person. He also sees a number of their road games when he can get the time off from work. He works for the United States Postal Service in Missouri near his hometown of Raytown which isn't far from Kauffman Stadium which is the home of the Royals.

Brittani, Chris & I at Citizens Bank Park

It was great to meet and greet Chris again as well as his better half, Brittani who I met for the first time. They appeared to be very happy together. We got to chat and we caught up since we last saw Chris in November at a Missouri Tiger football game. Chris plans to come back East a few more times this season which was music to my ears. He's going to the All-Star Game at Citi Field in the middle of July as I'll be his personal tour guide. In addition, he said he plans to come back to Citi Field again the first weekend in August with Brittani so they can see their Royals play again on the road. I will see to it that it's a great adventure for both of them. By then, Chris should be a veteran of NYC.

As for the game we saw in Philadelphia, it appeared that the Royals were going to beat the Phillies again. They whipped them on Friday afternoon which was the Phillies' home opener, 13-4. This time the Royals lead, 3-1 going to the bottom of the ninth inning. They brought in their closer Greg Holland to close it out. He was very wild when he came in. He wound up walking the bases loaded before he recorded an out. He then struck out Domonic Brown swinging for the first out of the inning. He proceeded to get John Mayberry Jr. to strike out for the second out as he looked at a third strike. It appeared he was going to get of the jam he created for himself. It wasn't meant to be as pinch hitter Kevin Frandsen batted for catcher Humberto Quintero and he delivered the big blow as he hit the ball in the gap in right center which cleared the bases to give the Phillies an improbable 4-3 come from behind victory. Chris & Brittani were disappointed but they weren't surprised being Royal fans. As for the majority of the near capacity crowd of 39,475 they walked out of the ballpark in total elation as a result.

Stay tuned as I'm going to write another special post that will recap how that Sunday afternoon turned out as another special guest joined us for the festivities.

Thank you for reading and following.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman