In the northwest, and even Phoenix, hailing a cab to get around is not really that common. There are, of course, cabs that serve the areas but generally everything in Seattle and Phoenix is so spread out and far between it makes more sense to rent a car or steal a family member’s ride.

Since Mack was geeking out this weekend at the convention, we figured that there wouldn’t really be a point to renting a car. That was a mistake, since we were in kind of shady part of town (an acquaintance was screaming at some hookers from the roof of the hotel last year if that gives you an idea). Needless to say that, although downtown was probably only a mile walk away, unless we wanted to be shanked or something it wasn’t really an option.

A pleasant solution was found in taking cabs from the hotel to downtown. Now, Mack and I are generally people persons, to an extent. We do get sick of people easily, especially the stupid and annoying, but if they are characters we love hearing all about them. The cab drivers in Nashville were just that: characters.

Our first cab ride with Mack’s coworkers to the hotel, I think the cab driver was afraid of us since the boys were all talking “shop” and hacking and security. On Friday, after a Thursday-evening nasty pizza delivery disaster we (Mack and myself) decided to find food downtown. After having the front desk call for a cab, he arrived our adventures began. 

Ernest is a hard worker who loves getting to know his customers. He asked Mack and I where we were from and gave us wonderful suggestions as to where to eat and what were the best burgers in town (he had the top three suggestions and took us to number two since the BEST burgers in town were a little far away). 

When he dropped us off, he handed us his card to call him after dinner, which we did. And boy, were we glad we did. Did you know the fishing in the winter produces the tastiest fish? Something about the winter makes fish extra tasty. The colder the better, Ernest told us, in his humble opinion. Monday in Nashville was Monday night football. and he was looking forward to a day of fishing before working and shuttling football fans around. 

The other character cab driver was the one who took us from downtown back to our hotel then to the airport Sunday afternoon. He inquired about where we were from and was real interested in what we thought of Nashville and if we had enjoyed our stay. While he was not as talkative as Ernest, he was just as amusing and for that we were glad.

While next year Mack and I will probably do a rental car for the convention, we were really happy for the experience of the colorful characters that drive the cabs in Nashville, Tennessee.