Weekend Getaway

Weekend Getaway





It's been forever since I've left the state of Kentucky. Don't get me wrong Kentucky is my favorite place on Earth but I've been in a rut lately of stressing about being sick and finding a new job. So one of my family friends decided we all needed to get out of Kentucky for the weekend. She booked us a couple in Nashville at the Sheraton for the weekend of Eclipse because Nashville was in the totality zone.

Traveling in a car is never ideal. But when you have a chronic illness it can be pure torture. So by the time we made it there I was pretty exhausted. My friend, Laura, and I were sharing a room. Laura is like an older sister to me. I'm always confiding and sharing things with her. She also has a lot of the same joint pain, stomach problems, swelling, and etc. that I do. So it makes her super easy to talk to about medical things. The only difference between us is I'm living in the land of the diagnosed and she is living the hell that belongs to those without a diagnosis. So after the car ride we were both totally wiped out. When we checked into our room we crashed on our beds, missing dinner and instead watching old Angela Lansbury movies on TCM. Not what you would call a crazy night but definitely one of my favorite ways to unwind.

The next morning we woke up and went to breakfast in the hotel dinning area. Then Laura and I took naps before heading out to dinner at the Texas de Brazil steak house. Laura and I decided we felt well enough to go out and experience some Nashville night life. We went to a bar where they put on a burlesque show. It was super crowded because everyone was in town for the eclipse. We had a couple drinks at the burlesque bar then we went to one of the many bars in Nashville that play live music. This bar was a lot less crowded and the band was really great. They covered some of my favorite songs. I had enough drinks in me to tell the lady in front of me who was with her daughters that I didn't think she looked old enough to have daughters that could drink.

Then we went home where Laura and I proceeded to have a three hour heart to heart while simultaneously watching Carry Grant movies on TCM.




The next morning we decide to have breakfast at the place Laura and I slept through dinner on Saturday evening. It was the day of eclipse and I got to tell you I wasn't nearly as excited as I should have been because I didn't know what to expect and I'm definitely not an outside person. Especially now because being in the sun triggers flare ups of my Sjogren's Symptoms. But I knew this was a once in a lifetime kind of deal to see the eclipse in the path of totality. Let me tell you if you weren't in the path then you missed one of the most special things I've ever experienced. For a moment when the moon finally and fully blocked out the sun I got a rush! The day turning dark and the crickets singing in the middle of day is of the most amazing experience. Words can't ever describe and pictures and video will never do it justice.

So after the eclipse was over and we watched the sun come back into view. We headed home. The car ride was tiresome and I've had a flare up from the travel for the past two days but it was worth to see such an amazing event with some of the people I love most in the world. I really do feel privileged to have a woman like Denise, who loves me like her own child, also works to include in these amazing things.