The Hitting Zone
chapter-1021

Zeke and Rhys had to leave with their team first. We got to walk them to their gate and said our goodbyes. That little get together made us wide awake until it was time for our flight. This time I came prepared with headphones, a backup set, and a portable charger.

Mom surprised me by picking last row seats for our family. I got the left back corner, then Noah, then Dad on the aisle. Across the aisle was Mom and the twins. They started to complain, but Mom reasoned with them that getting off the plane ten minutes later wasn't going to kill them. Especially if it gave me a better flight experience. And it did. It was comforting to know that no one was behind me. I had a good view of the plane and the window seat was a plus. Add in the music coming from my headphones, it was the safest feeling on a flight I've had so far.

The flight was four and a half hour long, but we also gained two hours for the time difference. At the Nashville airport, Mom sent us with Dad to pick up the checked baggage while she worked on getting the car rental. We reconvened to go find the rental on the designated lot. It wasn't long before the twins started to beg for lunch. Noah and I weren't as loud, but we didn't disagree at all.

"We'll check-in first then go somewhere nearby for lunch." Mom took charge. "I'll start looking up places that are in walking distance so you boys can't be too picky."

"I'll take anything at this point." Dave grumbled, holding his stomach. "I should have packed some snacks for the flight like Noah did."

Noah grinned. "I was willing to share. But you chose to sleep."

Dave groaned some more.

Dad let Mom out at the front of the hotel so she could start the check-in process. He had to find parking in a separate structure, where we unloaded the car and carried everything down, went to the hotel and waited for Mom. She came back with room keys and up we went again.

They had arranged a suite with two separate bedrooms conjoined with a small living room. The couch folded out to be a bed that Noah and I were going to share. We merely looked around, dumped our bags, and headed back out.

Mom had us walk two blocks to the restaurant she picked out. On the way, we passed multiple bars and restaurants that had live country music playing. None of us were necessarily big music fans, but it was something new. I had never seen live music performed before. The restaurant we went to wasn't as lively, but that was because they put all their focus on food. It was definitely southern based, including a lot of fried food that we didn't normally eat. The burgers all looked huge as did the steaks. There were unusual items like grilled catfish tacos and shrimp with grits. Mom did some venturing, ordering deviled eggs made five different ways. Thankfully, Dad chose a more normal appetizer like chips and queso.

"Are we going straight to the school after this?" Noah asked as he started to dig into the chips. He wasn't alone.

"No, we're doing that tomorrow." Dave knew some of the itinerary as he had reached out to connect with his future pitching coach. "Mom didn't want to rush anything today."

"I figured we could do some sightseeing, ending at this local park to watch the sunset." Mom spoke up. "After that, we're going to the Grand Ole Opry. It's a must do anytime you go to Nashville. Something they're famous for."

Noah was a little less interested and turned his attention to Dave. "Are we going to watch them play a game tomorrow?"

Dave nodded. "Yea, game's at 1pm so probably have lunch there." He shrugged. "The campus is pretty cool to walk around and look at too. Don't know what we'll do afterwards." He looked to Mom.

Mom finished taking a sip of her water and cleared her throat. "We were thinking you guys might want to do something on your own like go karts or topgolf."

Noah rolled his eyes. "You and Dad want to go on a date. We get it."

We laughed and talked some more about what to expect this weekend. After lunch, we continued to walk around, observing a lot of musicians trying to make a name for themselves. Mom started to guide us to some museums like for fine art and state history. She even got us into the Tennessee sports hall of fame because she knew that would interest us more. It was a lot of walking that ended at Cumberland park, watching the sun start to set behind the city.

After that we had to catch a cab to get to the concert hall. It was a twenty-five minute ride that Kyle used to look up dinner ideas. With him being proactive, his suggestions were taken seriously and Mom and Dad allowed him to pick. It was clearly country themed again.

Over dinner we talked more ideas for Saturday night with Dave taking the lead. He didn't research what to do like Mom and Dad did before the trip, but talked about some of the surroundings that attracted him to pick Vanderbilt.

"They don't have a major league team, but there is a minor league one." He spoke between bites of his pulled pork sandwich. "They also have teams in the NFL, NHL, and MLS. I'll never be bored."

"You shouldn't be bored if you're studying for classes while playing college ball." Dad pointed out.

Dave rolled his eyes. "I'm not Zeke, Dad. There's no way I'm going to focus like that. It'll drain you. It's good to go out and explore. Look at Jake. Doesn't he look happier on this trip? And he doesn't even listen to country music."

"I know some." I frowned, trying to defend my limited music knowledge. Most of which I picked up from Noah or the car radio.

"The Nashville Predators do have a home game tomorrow night." Kyle spoke up, having used his phone to look into Dave's suggestions. "It's so close too. There stadium is only a mile or two away from the college." His eyes shone with excitement as he looked to Dave. "You could practically become a season ticket holder. Go to every home game."

Dave rolled his eyes. "Maybe when they start the season in October. But by January, I'll be in pitching mode. That's when I plan to go out the least."

Mom held her forehead. "We'll have to plan surprise visits for you. I just know it. I'll worry every time I think that you're out and about in a big city like this, hardly knowing anyone."

Dave shrugged. "I'll know the guys on the team by then. Classmates too. Besides, weren't we talking about this because you wanted us to do an activity on our own? Going to a hockey game is fun and takes a lot of time."

"How much do the tickets go for?" Dad was interested.

Kyle slid his phone over. "Depends where we sit of course. Usually nosebleed seats would be good enough for us." He grinned. "But this would be Jake's first hockey game. So be a little more looser with that wallet, Dad."

Dad pursed his lips as he looked at Kyle's phone. He leaned towards Mom to show her the pricing too.

"It's okay." I told them in a hurry. I didn't want them to overspend on me. "I don't care what we do. Everything is pretty much new to me so just going is enough."

"It's okay to splurge every once in awhile, Jake." Mom told me, glancing up. "Especially on first time experiences. We can always earn more money. But the things we get to see and do and who we spend time with is more important."

"It helps that I won't need any money for this summer." Kyle added. "I'm looking at a decent payday myself."

"A payday that'll you'll be immediately putting away." Dad eyed him. "When we get home, you need to finalize your advisor and start looking at CPA's."

"I'm going to stick with Ryan." Kyle confirmed. "He's genuine and knows Rose. I think we're on the same wavelength. As for accountants..." He rolled his eyes. "Just let me use the same guy you guys use for tax season."

"No. You need a specialist." Dad told him. "Your taxes are about to be very confusing as you play across different states. I'll be more comfortable if we find someone who knows how these things work in a professional league."

"I feel like Jake would make a good accountant." Dave looked at me. "Cause you're so good with numbers."

I tried not to laugh at him. "It's not just being good about numbers."

The conversation shifted to accountants and eventually back to hockey tickets. Dad paid for them online before we finished eating and headed to the concert.