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Saturday, 24 May 2014

US Diaries: Tennessee

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



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...

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