We were in Chattanooga, TN this past weekend for a rowing regatta called Head of the Hooch (originally named after the Chattahoochee River in Atlanta). I’ll tell you more about that next week. While we were there one evening, we went out to dinner with the other rowers from our group to a great sushi restaurant that wasn’t too far from our hotel. It seemed like the wait was going to be really long at first, but then we said we’d sit outside, and they were able to get us seated quickly. That detail matters, because this story wouldn’t have happened if we’d been in the restaurant. We were on a patio on the back side of the restaurant that was very close to the start of the Walnut Street Bridge, which is a beautiful pedestrian bridge across the Tennessee River.
So we settle down for dinner, get our drink orders in, and from our patio we can hear someone singing on the bridge. We were far enough away that it didn’t stop our conversations, but we could hear it well enough to be intrigued. Like the Shazam app for music, every time a new song started, we’d strain our ears to try to be the first to identify the song. It was a wild mix of music: The Eagles, lots of 80s glam rock, and a set of The Beatles. The singer had a unique voice. Very raspy, sort of like a young Steven Tyler of Aerosmith or AC/DC’s Dave Evans. One thing is for sure. He was singing his heart out. We asked our waitress about him, and she said that he moves around the bridge and is up there singing away most nights.
After dinner, we decided we had to go meet this singer who had given us some great entertainment through dinner. And we met Mr. James Abercrombie. He told us a bit of his life story and showed us his full range of music. He didn’t have a guitar with him on this night, but he had a collapsible wagon filled with boxes of CDs, and he’d pull one out and pop it in his boombox and sing along to it. He sure could make his voice carry! From blocks away, you can hear him. Apparently, he’s become something of a local fixture in the area and was featured in the Chattanooga Times Free Press last year (read the article here).
He said he took requests, but unfortunately did not have Taylor Swift in his repertoire just yet, so instead he gave us his rendition of Patsy Cline’s Walkin’ After Midnight. We enjoyed the music and the conversation with him. He was definitely an interesting person. After we’d added to his tip jar and were walking away, he started playing Britney Spears’ Baby One More Time. Quite the sendoff and definitely the best dinner entertainment we’ve had in a while.
And speaking of dinner, Thanksgiving is just three weeks away. Crazy, I know, but 2024 is just rushing along, isn’t it? It’s up to you whether you have a singer like James Abercrombie serenade your holiday, but I’m sure that you want some fresh herbs to add to your family recipes. So to get you ready for your Thanksgiving meal, we’re having our Planting the Perfect Herb Garden seminar this Saturday, Nov. 9th at 10 am. I’ll teach you all about planting herbs and taking care of them, plus we’ll talk about each of the different herbs that grow here in Florida, pass them around, and take in the unique scent of each one. So come out, and let’s get our gardens ready for your favorite meal of the year.
