I have done a lot of crazy and spontaneous things in my 29
years of life. A lot of then occurred while under the influence of alcohol. I
reflected on all of my drunk experiences and thought about what I could add to my bucket
list. I realized that I have never taken a straight shot of Jack Daniels. I am not a hard alcohol or even a whiskey drinker. I did visit the Jack Daniels distillery in Lynchburg, Tennessee while on Spring Break back in 2002. I have had plenty of cocktails that
included Jack. In high school, I would
drink Down Home Punch while cruising the glorious back roads of Lawrence
County, Missouri. Justin & I (along
with our friends Josh & Hayley) have started an annual trip to Nashville
for Record Store Day. Nashville is, of
course, the perfect place to check this bucket list item off…as we say “when in
Rome”…19. Take a shot of Jack Daniels.
To tie in the theme of “when in Rome”, I decided to also test my skills as a bull rider.
Nashville is the epitome of country and the perfect place to ride a
mechanical bull. I Googled mechanical
bulls in Nashville and came across a bar called Tequila Cowboy. The website boasted that it has been featured
on the ABC TV show “Nashville” and is the ONLY mechanical bull on Broadway. It all seemed perfect for a Saturday night
adventure…6. Ride a mechanical bull
2. Go to the Presidential Inauguration / visit DC
5. Eating a raw oyster
6. Ride a mechanical bull
7. Cook a traditional Thanksgiving dinner by myself
8. Shoot a gun/target shooting
9. Go Mushroom hunting
10. Learn to sew / make something I can wear
12. Ride in a hot air balloon
13. Learn to play craps
14. Eat at Oklahoma Joe's BBQ
17. Learn to make a pie from scratch
18. Make Grandma's kolache cookies correctly
19. Take a shot of Jack Daniels
20. Take a cake decorating class and then decorate my own cake
21. Do at least one pull-up
22. Visit Graceland
23. Take a train ride/ weekend trip to Herman, Mo.
25. Run a 8 min/mile 5K
26. Take ballet class from the KC Ballet
28. Travel to Europe
30.
Nashville is a great city. This year marked our third trip to the area and second for Record Store Day. We traveled with our besties Josh & Hayley Renaud. All four of us happen to be uber Jack White fans Jackie has a record store/studio called Third Man Records in Nashville. If you couldn't tell solely from his appearance, Jack is quite odd. But in a crazy genius kind of way. Each year he sells a "one of a kind" record only on Record Store Day. Like last year, the boys decided to camp out overnight to make sure they got these year's special items. By the time it came to Saturday night all of us were pretty tired. In addition to the boys outdoor sleeping experience, we also ate ourselves silly and crammed too much activity in during the day. That night Justin, Hayley & I made it up from our nap. Joshie stayed back to catch up on his beauty. The three of us ventured out to Broadway (aka Nashvegas) to see what the night could bring! We arrived at Tequila Cowboy around 9:00 pm which is early for a Saturday night. I didn’t mind it because it wasn’t too crowded. The bar was huge with 2 levels. The mechanical bull was located on the second floor.
When I envisioned this bull, I thought it would be the center of the room. Instead it was very small, off to the side. The moment I saw the set-up I started to question if I really wanted to do this. I instantly go nervous and needed a drink.
Even though I was extremely full for our most recent overeating experience, my beer was going to down well. We hung out in the corner for a little bit and quickly become the information booth for the bathroom. Apparently, the three of us looked like we knew where it was and cared to help people find it. After I ordered my second beer, we moved closer to the bull to watch the idiots ride. There was a good mix of drunken wedding parties, douchebags and “cowboys”. We had great seats to watch each of them jump on the bull and fall off just as quick. I was most troubled by the initial jump to get your ass on the saddle. I decided that I should take my shot of Jack Daniels before I rode. I needed just a little more liquid courage before I could climb on.
As expected, the shot tasted horrible. It was exactly what I had envisioned and burned all of the way down my throat. The bartender recommended chasing the shot with Diet Pepsi. I appreciated that chaser very much.
It didn’t take long before I started to feel buzzed. I ordered one more beer and headed back over to the bull. The crowd was slowly picking up and I needed to capitalize the time I had left before too many people showed up. I had no idea was it was going to cost so I walked up to the counter with $40. Turns out you can ride a bull for only $5! Of course you can always tip the operator, which can sway them to be nice or evil. I approached with a lot of energy and told the 2 women running the booth that I was a virgin (bull rider) and was about to cross it off my bucket list. Neither one of them was impressed so I paid (& tipped) and ventured out onto the inflatable red, white and blue rodeo ring.
As expected, I had difficulty jumping on from the back of the bull. I wiggled my way up, listened for my instructions and clenched my legs as tight as I could. There is absolutely nothing lady-like about sitting on a mechanical bull. I hope no one reading this expected any more (or less) from me.
The ride started off bumpy but slow. I couldn’t stop laughing as I rocked back and forth on the bull. Once I was up there it was just silly. I think the operator was being too nice to me because it I was able to hold on.
After almost a minute, I was getting a little bored with it. She tried to get me to stay on for the record for that day at 1 min. 30 sec., but I feel short at 1:26. Once I slid to one side there was no way to get back up and I feel off.
The ride was not that bad. I’m not sure if it was the silliness of the whole thing that made me so nervous at first. I was glad to have my support team there to cheer me on.
There really is no special significance to riding a mechanical bull or drinking Jack Daniels except for that mere fact that I can say I’ve done it. I can almost guarantee that neither will happen again. Jack Daniels is gross. I can think of many other types of liquor to get me drunk with a lot less burning. The bull ride was interesting and fun. Though the idea of jumping back on to get thrown off again doesn't sound appealing to me. Maybe a crazy night in about 20 years after way too much to drink will I consider it again.
Here is what everyone is waiting for....enjoy! :)
