A Weekend in Clarksville, Tennessee

Hey there friends!  This weekend was fun but exhausting...I'm getting too old for these shenanigans!  I'll just blame it on my sunburn.  This weekend involved seeing lots of old friends and trying new establishments in Clarksville, Tennessee.  For the Weekend Roundup I'll also be reviewing one of Clarksville's summer pastimes as well as a new watering hole/dance hall. 

Friday night I had Mexican with my former roommate/sorority sister/one of my favorite people in the world.  We then went to try out the newest place in town, Electric Cowboy.  If you haven't visited many Clarksville establishments the thing you must understand is that they have a "window" of fun.  Some places have a larger window than others (RIP The Deli) but it seems like places eventually are overcome by the "sketch factor."  By "sketch factor" I mean the prevelance of suspicious and/or creepy patrons, severely "over served" patrons and just general filth.  For example, the last time I went to a place called the Pea Patch was the time they metal detected everyone who walked in.  No thank you.

According to its website, the Electric Cowboy is a "Country and Dance Nightclub" meaning one minute you're doing the Cotton Eyed Joe and the next they are playing Nelly.  Between Friday and Saturday nights I am pretty positive I saw everyone I have ever known, including a friend from college who is really going to be doing/already doing big things in New York.  So proud of him.  But back to the Cowboy's review!  Things I liked about the Electric Cowboy:

• Line dancing.  I LOVE line dancing and was hard up to find a place to go.  There was Silverado's which had a very high sketch factor, and the Wildhorse Saloon which is super touristy, expensive and entirely too large for my liking.  I also appreciated that the EC didn't stop the line dancing and country songs after 11 p.m. like Silverado's used to do.
• Size.  The place is large and in charge.  There are three bar stations in the building so the whole place isn't in line together at one station.  However, that being said it seems to take a hot minute to get a drink...even just a water.  We'll chalk that up to them getting into their groove.
• Bathrooms.  Big thanks to the designer of this building's restrooms as there are more than 1-2 stalls.  On the flip side they may need an instructional class on "How to Properly Throw Away Your Paper Towels" for all who enter or an employee who checks the trash can regularly. 
• Cleanliness.  Despite the paper towel overflow situation, the place is pretty clean and hopefully it will stay that way.  I hate sticking to the floor or slipping in an unknown substance when I go somewhere.  Seriosuly....I once saw a picture on Facebook of someone's flip flop that had stuck to the nasty floor of another establishment.  First of all, ew.  Second of all, who just walks out of their shoe and doesn't retrieve it?  Thankfully no was left behind.  They wouldn't even let you hold any liquids on their nice dance floor.  Good looking out, EC.
• Age of patrons.  The people inside ranged anywhere from late thirties to the college crowd.  Thus preventing the thoughts of "I am way to old to be here" or "I should really start a designated driving service for these people."

The con list is as follows:

• Smoking allowed indoors.  I hate leaving a place feeling/sounding/smelling like I've just smoked ten cigarettes when I have never smoked a day in my life.  Come on folks, take it outside.
• Enforcement of dress code.  Let me start this by saying that I am in support of dress codes.  However I do think they should be enforced equally.  One of G's friends was wearing a white t-shirt and was not allowed in.  Once he changed he came inside to find that there were at least two others in white t-shirts, one of which said his brother wearing a very similar shirt was not allowed in.  Weird.

Saturday evening I headed out to Beachaven Vineyards & Winery for our 2nd Annual Chi-O Alumnae visit to Jazz on the Lawn.  I have touched on the subject of Jazz on the Lawn in a previous post (read here) but here is the real low-down on Jazz.

Jazz is held every other month at Beachaven Winery, right off of I-24.  Throughout the week the winery offers free tastings to those 21 and up and also free tours of the facility but every other weekend from May-October they have a band set up on stage and invite folks to come enjoy music (not always "real jazz" but different varieties) and some of their Tennessee made wines. 

I'm no wine-o (nor do I even know if that is truly how to spell "wine-o"), but I do know that they have some pretty tasty wines at Beachaven.  Some have even won awards!  The kicker is that most varieties of wine only cost $9-$15!  I personally like Harmony, Budbreak Blush, Heavenly Peach, Blackberry (mix the Blackberry with the Peach for a delicious "Bleach" mixture), and everyone's favorite...Golden Rose.

Harmony via Beachaven website

An important tip for Jazz, it is typically hotter than Hades at this time of year so ladies, your best bet is a cool, breezy sundress...which I had to forgo due to my sunburned shoulders.  The girls and their husbands/boyfriends all had a great time together! 

I will leave you with a few photos from our post-Jazz visit to Electric Cowboy.  Our cars were in different locations and instead of taking a cab back to our vehicles...we somehow ended up in a limo?  This would be the doing of G's friend.  Might I add that said limo was circa 1990 (but was clean as a whistle!) and was having air issues.  The driver rolled down the window so we could have some air.  I kindly asked if he could roll it back up as I was getting rained on.  Enjoy!

Pardon the red eyes & red skin