Gettin' Your Roller Skate On

Last night I went to the Rivergate Skate Center for 21 and over adult skate night. This is my third time to skate here and it is so much fun. The music is amazing if you are into hip hop and R n' B from pretty much every decade since the 60's. You could probably find people skating who were at their prime during each of those decades. The oldest gentleman looked about 75 or 80 and the youngest wasn't much older than 21. It is just a crazy, interesting mix of people skating to the music.

This is a great place to people watch if you like that sort of thing. As the night gets later, groups of people start skating seemingly elaborate and choreographed routines. Stepping I believe is what it is called without skates or line dancing if it were country music. This brings up the point that you probably should go early if you want more of the floor to yourself and you wish to avoid the speed skater groups, though watching them is fun.

Everything starts at 8pm every Sunday night at the Rivergate Skate Center and it is over at 11:30. It will cost you $10 if you need to rent your skates or $7 if you provide your own. I have been with a lot of people to the adult skate and they all have had a blast. No one under the age of 21 is allowed in, for it is that more mature skating experience without screaming kids. There is no alcohol served, so the crowd stays very tame throughout the night... It is truely an event which is about the music and the skating.

Richland Creek Greenway Reopening

Please click on the black and white portion of the flyer for an easier to read version. To find out more about the wonderful greenway system we have in Nashville, go to http://www.greenwaysfornashville.org/ or Metro Nashville's greenway page.

Nashville Deals

Recently, a number of daily deals have been popping up around Nashville. I'll try my best to post all that are currently active. Of course the most popular site is Groupon. They have a great reputation of bringing in lots of money to and focus on local businesses by providing customers great deals. The others on the list may also help your budget in the same way.

Living Social: Very similar to Groupon. There is also a blog that is great for finding things to do in Nashville called "365 things to do"

Kaloopa: This is a Nashville based internet venture that increases your deal benefits as the number of people participating increases. Today you can pick up $15 dollars worth of cupcakes for 50% off! Mmmm... Cupcakes!

Plumb District: Not Nashville specific, but a lot of on line deals.

Adility: Not in Nashville yet, but if you are going to another city on their list, it may prove to be useful.

One thing that you can do when you travel, is use the deals in other cities to keep the price of eating out and visiting sites to a minimum. Just make sure to check the location of the places before you buy so you can make sure you are not going out of your way.

White Water Rafting-Ocoee Style

It had been almost 15 years since the last time I took a white water rafting trip down the Ocoee River near Chattanooga. Two friends of mine and I took off the weekend of October 16 to do one of the guided raft trips down this beautiful, scenic river. The weather was almost perfect and the trees had almost reached their peak color, so this turned out to be an amazing adventure for all of us. Two of us were experienced white water kayakers and one person had never been in white water other than the Grizzly River Rampage back when Opryland was an amusement park.

The tours down the Ocoee are very fun and anyone over the age of 12 can participate. Our trip was through Ocoee Adventure Rafting (OAR). It was a brilliant trip, for our guide, named "DUCK", was very experienced, very professional, and VERY fun. We bounced off rocks, did 360s in the rapids, surfed whitewater, and did a ton of tricks. It was like he knew every rock in the river for he had been a guide since the 1996 Olympics. If I bring a crew down the river again, I will gladly request Duck to be our guide.

This is a trip I highly recommend to anyone who has even an ounce of adventure in their blood. If you go, be sure to ask for Duck at OAR. I can't vouch for the other companies, but I am sure they are all pretty similar. The difference will be your guide.

Very Important Event!

$14 Movie Tickets for $5

This isn't a special through Promote Nashville, but you can say you heard about it here first. The web site Weekly Cinema allows you to buy tickets at a greatly reduced cost. Four (4) tickets only cost you $19.99 and can be redeemed from Fandango.com (almost any theatre in Nashville) for up to $14 per ticket. It can be used on 3D films as well as IMAX films once Opry Mills reopens.

The catch seems only to be that you have to buy a voucher from Fandango within the month you buy the vouchers from Weekly Cinema. However, once you buy a ticket from Fandango, it is good for another 90 days after the day you buy the voucher. So you, technically, have up to 120 days to use the voucher you buy from Weekly Cinema.

Go to their website to check it out, but this is a great deal with shrinking matinee hours and increasing prices for movies at all times. Even the cheap movies are 7 or 8 dollars each. If this website lasts, it could mean a new revitalization of cinema and will make me less irritated when I want to see a movie I end up not liking. Like the new comedy that looks great in the trailer, but sucks in real life.

Living Social featured them yesterday. This is where I found out about it. Turns out, however, the Living Social deal can be had through their website every day!

Last Chance to Buy NBN VIP Tickets

Next Big Nashville is upon us again. Be sure to get your VIP pass for only $250.00 before the events start tomorrow! This will get you into all the music shows, all the parties and events all four nights. The $45 wrist band gets you into all the music venues and some of the parties. You get your moneys worth even if all you see is RJD2 and Yeasayer. Everything else is just a huge bonus to being proactive with your ticket buying. I know there are bands you've never heard of on stage, so why wouldn't you check them out with your wristband. You may find a new favorite or you may think they all are crap, but at least you went out there and found out for yourself and hopefully met some new friends along the way.

If you are trying to make it in the industry, this is a great way to learn from insiders and those who have been there before you. Hell, you probably even have time for a question or two. So hit up Next Big Nashville this week for some great music and a little education maybe.

Click here for tickets