MEMPHIS, TN-  After dropping Pete off at the Louisville airport, Jason and I spent some time at a KOA campground and in Knoxville – a seemingly relaxed start to our arrival in Tennessee. But it was at the Holler, which Jason explains in this post, I started to see that the Nashville area was something special. Both liberty wise and with the abundance of great folks.

On Friday we picked Pete up from the airport around noon and headed straight to a Starbucks to do work. That evening we attended a meet up with the local Liberty on the Rocks folks. This is the same group we were attempting to meet with before the Jones County police state changed our plans. It might have taken us three months to get there but I am very glad we did. We met so many great folks like Melissa Anne Hayes (who also joined us at the Holler for a night), Michele Seven (more on her later), Richard A. Hamblen, Matt Collins and many others. The evening was filled with a variety of conversations and great food (the best pizza we’ve had since hitting the road), compliments of Brett Corrieri owner of Mafiosos, where the meetup was held. The night went well into the early hours of the morning and allowed me to experience the wonderful night life of Nashville. For more pics from the meetup go here.

The following day (Saturday) we headed to over to Michele Seven’s home. She has a very interesting story about taxes and her moral objections to paying them. It was not only nice to be able to record her story but to hear her many life experiences. The Seven family has done their fair share of traveling and shared some tips/stories with the MHD crew. But it was not all business in the Seven home. Michele’s family did a wonderful job entertaining us: they cooked us dinner, sang and played music, showed us some tricks on the trampoline and even played a game of garage hockey with Jason and I. (Let us know when you want a rematch boys!) The evening ended with a random and alcohol induced field trip to an abandon factory. It was something Michele had stated she wanted to do for awhile and with all the generosity shown to us we were happy to accompany her. The morning came quick (we had gone to bed at 3am) and we had breakfast and took showers before heading out. Much thanks to Michele and the kids!

That morning (Sunday) we woke to an email from Matt Colins stating that we’d be able to interview Rand Paul. We got the RV mobile and headed downtown to mingle with folks who chose electoral politics as their medium. We were some of the first to arrive and able to park MARV right outside the venue. It couldn’t have worked out better for MHD – Jason interviewed Rand Paul with MARV as the background and Pete sat-down with Richard A. Hamblen, who shared his story that involves the Second Amendment, ATF and interpretation of the Constitution. We also got to share some of our stories and ideals with the people that attended. Overall I feel the group was very open to our principles and explanations of voluntary interactions.

Later that evening we met up with another good friend of MHD’s Tracey Harmon. She was in Knoxville for the weekend and thought she would stop by on her way to Ohio. Thanks for taking the slight detour to hang with us Tracey. What seems to becoming a tradition on MARV, we made our guest tacos for dinner. We then caught up a bit and headed out for a few drinks. The first stop was a place called The 5 Spot. They had a few bands on that night and I (as well as the others) enjoyed the bluegrass/rock feel there. Again, the night went into the early hours of the morning but it was nice to see Tracey and Baloo (some of y’all may remember Baloo from our stop in Santa Fe).

The following day (Monday) was filled with trying to catch up on work from the busy weekend. While we did accomplish a good deal, Jason and I took time out for a movie. We went to see Inglourous Basterds, the new Quentin Tarantino film. Though I enjoyed it, I don’t think its as good as the hype. And most definitely not as good as other Tarantino films. After the movie we rushed over the to hotel where Pete was to take part in a round table panel. This function was put on by the Nashville chapter of America’s Future Foundation and had several of the  folks we had met over the weekend in attendance. The group shared stories and perspectives on the topic of gun control. Which MHD’s very own, Pete Eyre, did an excellent job on his presenttation (video forthcoming).

It was a nice end to a great weekend in Nashville – a place  all three of us can agree is the best place we have visited thus far. Thanks for all the support Nashville and keep kicking ass for liberty!