Hook up Central on the top of Nashville

There are times when I purposely plan a LITP post and sometimes, they literally just fall in my lap.

I recently flew to Nashville for a night to watch a friend perform at a venue downtown.  After the shows we enjoyed an amazing dinner at Oak and then decided to have a nightcap at the rooftop of the Thompson Hotel, LA Jackson.

LA Jackson did NOT disappoint for people watching.  If I had to describe the place on the LITP scale, it would be Hookup Central. Within 5 feet of my eyes at any point there were couples snuggled up, groping each other, making out etc.  I don't even recall ever in my life seeing  a place like this - not at such a high percentage of PDA.

Now, I imagine a lot of these couples came and left together but I bet an alcohol heavy environment like this also leads to a high propensity of breakups.  Leaving the newly dumped ripe for the pick up - if that's your thing.

The crowd seemed to be all over the place in the age range - which is ideal.  My buddy was even being eyed by a group of older ladies very sad that we were leaving when we did.

Truth be told, at 41 years old, I am not in the mood for any sort of hookup.  But I bet a few more drinks and the right chaperones to make sure I didn't get unwillingly groped and this place would be a blast.  Luckily, I had my two best guys friends to keep me out of trouble.

This is definitely my highest "love" in the pub rating yet.  This place was a little classier than pints, so how about we call it 4.5 Fancy Cocktail stars.  Definitely a must visit for the single if you are in Nashville.  Make sure you eat first and have an exit plan.  HAHA

LITP goes West Coast

Stay tuned this week for LITP on the west coast. 

First stop... Mr. Bings! I am the only female in here. And 50% of the men are cute. Who would have guessed. 

But everyone is on their phones....good conversation with the bartender, I feel like he is my in. 

Stay tuned, I am here all week. 

Thursday is for Oysters?

I almost decided it was a Netflix and Chill night but I am glad I didn't.

I did a little search to find a place near by that I had not been yet and stumbled upon the SuBourbon Rock and Roll Oyster House and Social Club.  Yep, that's a mouthful so it stood out as a must visit!

Anchoring a small strip with an Income Tax and Insurance office, I enter to find a large porch and the dark bar with peanut shells covering the floor and a band setting up for the night.

There is a mix of crowd that only towns like Marietta and Kennesaw have - and I mean that in a good way.  Bartender greeted me quickly and poured up my Tito's.  They only serve oysters - Raw or Broiled and you can order food from the next door Italian place and they deliver.

The music was fun, there was poker on the porch and though I kept waiting for the live band, they didn't start by the time I left - sounded like it would be fun. 

My first interaction is a man ordering a glass of wine for his friend - which he called "Pinto de Grigio" and then made it very clear it was NOT for him.  He was having a PBR.  I later met his friend,  a lovely older gentleman named Ed who had a long discussion about people and their use of cell phones and how kids probably don't even know how to write anymore.  He said I didn't look a day over 38 - I am not sure why that is so different than 41 but it was meant to be flattering.

I asked the bartender for a recommendation of the baked oysters and she suggested 3 cheese, cajun, Jalapeno.  I can not emphasize how good they were.  Delicious.

No other singles that I could tell but definitely a fun place.  Maybe I will try the live music on a weekend when I can stay up past the 9pm start time.

Great Service, Great Oysters and a lively place!

True confessions

The idea of this post was truly just to have fun in going out and observing scenes and entertaining everyone.  

But I will admit, sometimes it's actually a little depressing.  I mean, I am not trying to make today's post depressing because I am enjoying a fine glass of wine near my fireplace and thinking of the last few places I have visited - I haven't posted because there was nothing entertaining to post - with the exception of some great friends I have hung out with (by the way, I truly have great friends and even get to connect with friends out of town regularly).  

Still, I will seriously never understand how 40 somethings are supposed to meet or have fun out as a single person.

When you are 20 something, you have friends that are single and 20 something and you all hang out together.  When you are 40 something, you have friends that are 40 something and some of them are married, some are married with kids, some just have kids, some are divorced etc. And it's impossible to get together and go somewhere that you might meet someone.  

There must be something different that we can create - the "over 40, somewhat of a drunk, work my butt off and looking for someone to one or two days a week enjoy the company of" club.  I am gonna trademark that. 

Dive Bars of "not quite Nashville" - Part 2

My second stop of the night was a place called "The Thirsty Turtle" in Antioch

Upon arriving I was pleasantly encouraged by the bright green neon sign from the Strip mall it was a part of - strip mall bars are fun.  Again, follow on Insta for pics @loveinthepub

As a refreshing change from the smells of the Bikini Beach Bar - The Thirsty Turtle had the smell of Fabuloso upon arriving.  If you don't know Fabuloso - just visit the dollar store cleaning section - it's a smell you will never forget.

As I approach the bar, you wouldn't believe, there is not another female on the other side of the bar.  Yes - Sausage factory.  I am due! HAHA.

I perch myself right in the middle of a group of guys.  There are guys in bright neon construction gear, a group of guys looking like consultants and a single guy that appears to be a regular.

I am instantly involved in conversation back and forth about the group of consultants wanting to go downtown and the single guy telling them - Trust me, you are gonna miss your flight tomorrow if you go.  I agree but tell them to just stay up all night.

I will be honest, the service was not desirable.  I ask for my Tito's, Soda, Lemon - she even repeats lemon and then brings two limes.  Just a pet peeve, not big deal really.  However, she was definitely into the single guy and engaged with her co-workers too much to come back and check on me and I had to keep flagging her down. 

Still I had incredibly enjoyable conversation throughout the bar on various topics and an incredible burger.

I wasn't personally interested in any of the prospects but the Love in the Pub possibility here also seemed high.  This is also a place that I am sure I will go again as the food was delicious.  I will just have to establish myself as a regular to get better attention. 

Dive Bars of "not quite Nashville" - Part 1

My current job requires me to travel frequently to Nashville so my blog posts will travel there as well.

I was aware of a small dive bar near my office here and my lovely co-workers offered up another dive spot to try so I decided to take a tour.  

Stop 1: Bikini Beach Bar - Antioch Pike

Allow me to set the scene:  

The place is basically an old house that looks as though you hope the county inspector doesn't come too close.  Upon parking in a gravel parking lot there was a mysterious smell of dead animal - I would guess rat.  As you enter there are numerous warning signs, which should have included a beware of the old rickety porch.  However, these things do not detour me from my experience.

Once inside: Smoking is allowed.  It's dark, there are pool tables, golden tee and the old classic huge monitor with that faces game, a cigarette machine, lots of tacky signs and there is a decent crowd for 6pm.  After being greeted with "Hello Darlin' what can I get you?" in some very charming Nashville twang, I order my normal Tito's and Soda with a lemon.   It arrives in a Styrofoam cup.  I love this place already.

You can tell most people are locals and there is a pool tournament about to happen.  Everyone is friendly and there is some banter back and forth that occasionally included me.  

Classic greetings heard while there: New guy coming in to bar patron: "What's up M-F'er" echoed by the bartender "oh - you've graduated to M-F'er". "what's up crazy b!tch" and "hello sexy".  Literally all in a 5 minute time by the new people coming in. 

I will be honest, I love this place, people having fun, no care in the world, everyone knows everyone and even when they don't, it doesn't matter.  The service was outstanding. I would have stayed longer but I didn't want to wash my hair today and with the cigarette smoke indoors my time was up. 

I also believe the possibility to find love in this pub was relatively high as it was mostly men - however, your dream date will need to be a smoker, that rides a Harley and has a beard similar to the Duck Dynasty guys!

Follow the account on Insta for some lovely pics @loveinthepub

Pretty sure I will die before finding love in the pub

Tonight, I am at 6 Feet Under, hence the title pun...and truth. 

It's a big college football weekend so I figure people are out. Lots of TVs here so seems there is a possibility to find single men. Ugh.

Well, the only thing I fell in love with tonight is the shrimp basket and corn on the cob.  If I cant find love, I might as well drown my sorrows in $8 Titos, fried food and butter. 

Service was excellent though!!