On Monday the 28th of April we got ready for the
longest jump to date from Viera, Florida to Antioch, Tennessee. Including all
the stops, we had figured that the jump would take approximately fourteen
hours; that was until the bad weather showed up. First the bus had a breakdown
and it took about an hour-and-a-half to get it going again. Then as we drove, we got some reports from other drivers that there’s a big thunder
storm that was crossing directly over our path between Nashville and Atlanta
with a possibility of tornadoes. This was the same storm system that killed all
those people in Arkansas. So we were told to stop and sleep over at a motel and
wait out the storm. Even though it sucked to have to wait even longer to get to
our destination, it was better to be safe. So we found a motel in Macon,
Georgia, where about forty of us slept over. I think stuff like this is
actually what makes this whole experience even more fun! The fact that nothing
is set in stone and anything could happen…it’s pretty interesting. That night,
even though we had no extra clothes or any toiletries, we were able to take a
bath and sleep in a really comfortable King sized bed. Small blessings.
The next morning we hit the road around noon and arrived at
our destination that Tuesday evening. One thing that sucks (and it’s not really
a big thing that resembles anything close to the end of the world) but every
time we get to a new spot, we have to wait to get electricity and water. Sometimes
we have to go to bed without it. But you know what? That’s okay because we
still have a warm bed to sleep in every night.
Antioch was one of my favourite spots so far in the season.
It was in the parking lot of a mall and one of the reasons for this is because
everything was within walking distance. There was a Cinema, Roadhouse, Family
Dollar, Clothing stores, McDonalds, KFC, Taco Bell, Games Arcade, Starbucks,
etc. It was so convenient! The weather was for the most part okay…some very hot
days and some very cold days, but nothing too hectic. Although there was the
one day that it rained so hard that we had to close the fair. But the only
reason we closed was because we opened at five in the afternoon and it was cold
and rainy, and weekdays aren’t busy anyway, so it made more sense to close
since we wouldn’t make any money anyway. And for us to get a bit of extra time
off was pretty awesome.
For me, for some reason, I enjoy doing laundry at a Laundromat. So in Antioch we made a trip to a 24-hour Laundromat; I think it
was somewhere near the city. The one reason I like it so much is because once
you’ve put in your laundry, you chill around with people and chat and you have
time to go to McDonalds to grab a milkshake or something to eat. There’s just
something about doing things like this late at night that excites me.
One thing I regret a little bit about this spot, is not
exploring downtown Nashville by day. There are so many music artists that I
listen to, that live and make music in Nashville – like Taylor Swift, Relient
K, Kings of Leon, Jack White – so it would’ve meant a lot to me if I could see
recording studios or anything that connects to them. But I already worked
through all my emotions regarding this and came to the conclusion that next
time I’ll do it different, there’s no point in regretting things like that
ever. But what I did get to enjoy, was a night out in downtown Nashville. It
was such a funny experience because all the bars close at three in the morning
and we worked until after ten that night. So our time was limited. We got to
downtown with the cab around eleven-thirty. Our first bar was Coyote Ugly Saloon
which is one of the ‘must-see’ bars in downtown Nashville. For me it unfortunately did not live up to its
hype; there was one girl with average dancing skills dancing on the bar. The
place wasn’t really packed because it was a Monday night. It’s a cool looking
place though, it is really big, has a lot of cool décor and the bar is massively
long. We only had one drink there and then we kind of just walked down the
street and turned up onto Broadway and stumbled across the Whiskey Bent Saloon
where we had a pretty good time. There was a band playing really loud and good
music. It wasn’t a big bar, but it was a lot of fun. We got a little out of
hand at this bar and then decided to go to another bar for some random reason.
We ended up at Brugada which is a Hookah bar (hookah is an American term for
Hubbly Bubbly) and just ended up dancing there. It was pretty empty too. So
that was my downtown Nashville experience.
Tennessee itself (as seen while driving from one spot to the
next) is a beautiful state. There are trees and lakes and rivers everywhere;
but I think most of America is like that from what I've seen. It is just a really stunning place
to see.
Nashville
Nashville
Overall it was a good spot to be at and I enjoyed most of it.
One super strange thing though, was that the actual mall we were at called ‘Global
Mall at the Crossings’ was quite a big mall, but it only had about ten stores
that are in business. So it seems like its abandoned but when you go there,
there are actually things happening. I find that really strange for some
reason.
Working for a carnival can be challenging and hard to deal with
some days, but you try to make the most of it at the end of the day. There are
days, however, that you don’t feel like work or you don’t feel like talking to
anyone (especially an introvert like me), but you don’t have a choice because
you’re here for one reason only: to work. It can get you down easily but if you
just focus on what really matters, then it becomes kind of easier.
Our current spot is Burlington, Wisconsin, and I’ll be
updating you on that a little later...
