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| The Hermitage, Nashville, Tennessee |
The message my Alaska Airlines app sent me telling me that
our flight was on time didn’t bum me out as much as I thought it would. We
organized and packed the suitcases we’d been living out of and checked out of
the Hutton Hotel. With only a few hours before we had to be at the airport, we
decided our last stop would be Andrew Jackson’s plantation, The Hermitage.
Before we arrived, we ate breakfast at Cracker Barrel and I remembered how much
my kids loved the tiny bottles of maple syrup, so I asked our waitress if I
could buy a couple to bring home. She re-appeared moments later with a brown
paper sack containing 9 bottles of syrup, winking at me as she handed me the
bag. At the car, Chad wrapped them up in our clothes to make sure they didn’t
break in our luggage, and we were off to The Hermitage.
At the museum, we purchased the audio tour and walked
through an exhibit called, “Andrew Jackson: Born for a Storm,” learning about our
7th president’s life and his victory at the Battle of New Orleans
during the War of 1812. After reading more about his military and political
career, we went outside to walk the grounds of the plantation. Numbered signs
appear throughout the grounds, and when guests find one, they dial the numbers
into the audio headset and a narrator shares history about Jackson or his life
at Hermitage.
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| Jackson's wife Rachel ordered this wallpaper from France over 180 years ago. I took this before I found out photos aren't allowed. Oops. |
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| Andrew Jackson's slaves lived in this cabin. |
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| One of my favorite paths on our walk around The Hermitage grounds. |
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| Chad demonstrating people's incompetence when it comes to taking face-in-hole pictures |
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| The mourning hat Andrew Jackson wore when his wife died |
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| Andrew and Rachel Jackson's tomb located in the garden next to their mansion |
Chad and I would carefully punch in the numbers at the same
time so neither of us would get ahead of each other. But as the tour progressed
and we grew bored, Chad started typing his number in faster than me, and in the
four seconds that he was ahead of me on the audio tour, he’d act like he was
hearing breaking news or life-changing information. It quickly became a race to see
who could punch the numbers in faster, and each time I won Chad would fast
forward his headset to play just a few seconds ahead of mine. We missed a lot of
important information during this competition. When it became clear that we
were incapable of being adults on the tour, we left for the airport.
On the drive, I reached my hand down between the seat and
console to grab Chad’s sunglasses he’d dropped. I thought it would be funny to
pretend my hand was stuck.
“Chad, my hand’s stuck!” I said.
“Just pull it out,” he said not even glancing down.
Still acting, I pulled with all my might but my hand wouldn’t
budge.
Knowing that I was acting, Chad kept driving and ignored me.
This bugged me because he always wins. So I kept it up.
Chad pulled into a gas station and as he got out of the car
he said, “That’s not even a place your hand can get stuck,” but I could tell he
was beginning to believe me.
As he pumped gas, I continued to try to free my hand. I was
determined to win this little game. After he filled the gas tank, he opened the
door and said, “Rachel, are you seriously stuck?” and I knew he finally
believed me.
“No,” I said and pulled my hand out. I won.
It’s a dumb story, but it is those moments we love, and that
we’ve loved for 2 decades.
The gas station was just 8 minutes from the airport and I
knew it. But when Chad looked at his phone as we pulled away from the pump he
said, “67 minutes to the airport!” and I instantly freaked out.
“Are you kidding me?” I said.
“Uh huh,” said Chad, smiling because he won.
On our flight to Seattle, we watched The Force Awakens and ordered our customary fruit and cheese
platter. The flight attendant was so busy taking orders, she forgot to take our
credit card and it was an hour before Chad could flag her down as she passed
by. Holding up his card, Chad said, “Hi there, when we ordered our food, you
didn’t take this.”
The flight attendant said, “Thanks for being honest. Good
deeds get rewarded,” and she winked at him.
We landed in rainy Seattle and I couldn’t wait to see the
kids and give them the souvenirs we picked up along the way. We went to amazing
places and saw incredible things on this trip, but the best thing we brought
home were more memories that just the two of us can share forever. Here’s to
another 20 years.
“Well a man shall
leave his mother and a woman leave her home
They shall travel on
to where the two shall be as one
As it was in the
beginning, is now until the end
Woman draws her life
from man and gives it back again
And there is love
There is love.”
-Paul Stookey
-Rachel
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