Last weekend Nicki and I traveled back to Nashville, TN for another Nashville Predators hockey game.

preds_montreal122113

This trip was the second half of my anniversary present to Nicki, and a chance for us both to wear our new gold Preds jerseys. She wore her #6 captain Shea Weber one I bought for her, and I wore the #35 Pekka Rinne one Nicki bought for me on our last trip. (Thanks to the Preds, Delta Dental, and Schenk Photography for the free photo above.)

photo (47)

We headed up on Saturday morning. It was a bit warm for late December. In fact, Nashville tied a record high that day of 73 degrees. We didn’t have any real rain on the way up, but the wind was pretty strong- a preview of what would come later.

photo (48)

We had some time to kill before checking into our hotel and decided to do some last minute Christmas shopping. We weren’t brave enough to fight the possible crowds at Opry Mills Mall AKA “Shopryland“, so we went to the CoolSprings Galleria Mall in Franklin, TN– just outside of Nashville. We found a lot of cool Batman merch at Hot Toipic. Sadly this hat was too small for Nicki and too big for our cat Harley Quinn.

1503948_10202801044251102_680204156_n

After the mall, we decided to stop by the Cool Springs Sport Seasons. I picked up a new Colorado Avalanche jersey that was on sale. Saw a few others I may have to pick up on our next trip…

photo (46)

After checking into our hotel we headed back towards downtown Nashville to have dinner before the game. We hit one of our favorite places- Noshville. It’s a deli in the Vandy area, just a few minutes away from the Bridgestone Arena where the Preds play.

1472976_10202801339618486_819514755_n

It was very quiet- unusual for Noshville. We sat right down and placed our orders. I got the Nosh Dip and Nicki got the Hot Ham & Cheese. We also got a bowl of their pickles- always good. Good news/bad news- Nicki’s sandwich was comped because of a mix-up in the kitchen. The bad news it made us run a bit later than we had planned. Nicki likes to get there early to take pics of the players practicing.

DSC_5959

Also, we were in a bit of a hurry since there was a 6pm puck drop instead of the usual 7pm one because of the game against the Canadiens was being televised for Hockey Night In Canada.

DSC_6164

The weather was kinda wet before the game so there was no pre-game activities out on the plaza. We did get there in time for Nicki to take some shots before the game and do some shopping. I got a Pekka bobblehead, a Christmas puck, and a Preds stocking ornament- and I got Nicki a signed mini hockey stick from the Nashville Predators Foundation booth.

DSC_6463

It was a good game, although this was the second game we’ve been to in a row where a Pred left the game after taking a shot to the head- last time Shea Weber, this time rookie Seth Jones. Both are okay now and back on the ice.

DSC_6443

The Canadiens took an early lead but the Preds came back to tie it up and send it into overtime. Unfortunately the Habs scored first in OT. Final score Montreal 4Nashville 3.

DSC_6541

Just as the game ended and we were about to head out Nicki’s phone let us know that a tornado warning had been issued for our area. Sure enough, about that time we could hear the tornado sirens!

DSC_6563

We headed downstairs and tried to avoid the glass front of the building. Most folks were gathered near the pro shop and Fox Sports Tennessee Zone. This is where the live commentary shots are done during the Predators home games, and we did get to see Terry Crisp as he was leaving.

DSC_6566

All the monitors were turned to the local news and weather as the sirens continued to sound outside. Living in the south for most of my life I’ve kinda gotten used to tornado warnings. We get them quite often, and kind of expect them when the temps are predicted to flip flop.

DSC_6576

Nicki had gotten in touch with her family and the storms had blown through home, but no real damage to our neighborhoods.  As we were watching the radar on TV we could see we were right in the path of the storms. Kinda scary since a tornado hit downtown Nashville a few years back. After about an hour the sirens halted and the all clear was announced. We were lucky enough to make it back to the car before the rain started up again. It started pouring again once we hit the interstate, but we made it back to the hotel fairly dry.

photo (43)

The next morning we headed out to do some last minute Christmas shopping. The temp had definitely dropped overnight. At Target this “Escape Pod” car cracked me up.

photo (44)

After hitting the Target and getting our last bit of stocking stuffers, we headed across town for lunch at McNamara’s Irish Pub & Restaurant.

1525462_10202806112457804_820125437_n

I got my usual Sheppards Pie and a side of cabbage. Nicki got the Bangers and Mash with Black and Tan Onion Rings. As usual it was all delicious!

photo (42)

After lunch we stopped by Rick’s Comic City which is just up the street from McNamara’s. Ended up buying a few more Christmas presents for each other there, too. It’s kind of a running joke when we end up shopping together, “You didn’t see this.” The funny thing is a lot of times we do forget we saw each other buy them. I got a Black Widow bust, a Batgirl Super Best Friends Forever box, a Bombshell Wonder Woman magnet, and some buttons for Nicki. She got a Bombshell Harley Quinn statue for me.

1489295_10202831435650868_1331282395_n

The trip back home was a bit windy and rainy, but in spite of all the bad weather we did have a great trip.

Hope you all had a Merry Christmas, and have a Hockey New Year!

Lin