The Ag Department students at MTSU take care of their own cows, milk them everyday, pasteurize it, then take it through the process of making it all chocolaty. We were lucky in that we were able to get a batch that was very much freshly made - so fresh the bottle still didn't have a label on yet.
Despite my lactose intolerance, I had me two delicious cups of chocolate milk. I admit it's been a long time since I actually drank milk, much less chocolate milk, so maybe my system was just doing the happy dance at flavors it thought it'd never taste again.
We chatted with our southern host about hospitality and oral history and archival work before finally beginning to make our way out of Murfreesboro. We decided to go with the recommendation made by Gaspar's friend, and headed to Monell's Dining and Catering in Nashville.
The restaurant is in the middle of a residential block, definitely the kind of place one only goes to when looking for it, and essentially it's a house/manor that's been emptied out and filled with long family size tables. You see, Monell's is a family-style restaurant, which we learned meant that you sat on a table with a bunch of people you don't know - and you share the food. That is, the restaurant has the food they've cooked for the day, and they bring you plates, which you pass to your left. The special of the night was Spinach Lasagna and Pot Roast.
We sat on a table where only two people were sitting, two very friendly men from D.C. turns out that they were U.S. Navy musicians, in town thanks to the Bluegrass Convention that was going on. One of them had even served in Iraq and Afghanistan a couple of times. We shared stories as we shared our meal, which ended up being more than just the special.
I wish I had taken better notes about the food but then I was very busy eating and having a great conversation. Besides what you see on the plate (biscuits, corn bread, mashed potatoes, skilled fried chicken, turnip greens, white beans, pot roast, spinach lasagna, something sweet and mashed I can't remember the name of) there were peas in mayo, and some other veggie in mayo. There was sweet lemonade before we ended the meal with peach cobbler.
The bill came in the cute form of a card, since everyone gets charged the same
Before they left, however, our table mates told us of the best way to listen to some live Bluegrass music: Go to the Renaissance Hotel downtown, and essentially walk up and down the 21st floor, where we could wander in and out of hotel rooms. Gaspar and I decided to take them at their word, and after paying our bill and admiring the outside garden of Monell's, found our way to the downtown area.
Mind you, neither Gaspar nor I can be considered real Bluegrass fans, but live music is live music, not to mention the opportunity to experience something that we'd otherwise never get to experience. We made our way to the 21st floor and were still too early to see any "shows" and so walked around. We heard some really fun music coming through partially open hotel room doors, but didn't have the guts to just open up and walk in. Eventually though, we ran into a show in room 2114, Acoustic Trail's room. We listened to Brittany Haas and Lauren Riouxe, who were pretty impressive.
I can't remember the names of the songs they played, but some were originals, and some were well known. The "Show" was great - there was free beer to be had, and even some spicy soup to wake up the system. After they were done we made our way to the basement showdown floor, where several bands and groups were performing. They were okay, but I liked these two the best.
Eventually we made our way back to Murfreesboro, listening to a Radio Lab podcast about parasites, which of course, sparked an energetic conversation between Gaspar and I about the little suckers, evolution, and perception.
Not what I thought I'd be doing with my Tuesday evening, that's for sure. But the whole thing was great, tasty and a lot of fun.
