Item from the Past: The Bluebird Cafe, Nashville

Back in the '80s, every time I moved it seemed to be in the dead of winter. In January 1987, I left Nashville for a new job in Chicago. On the last day at my old job, a number of coworkers plus a few other hangers-on took me to the Bluebird Cafe for a lingering lunch, always the best kind.

Afterwards, I took a picture of my companions. The Bluebird is visible to the left of the image as a window with faint curtains inside and a bit of awning. Patio Coiffure must have been the Bluebird's next-door neighbor, literally, and both were located at a fairly ordinary strip center on Hillsboro road.

In those days, the Bluebird was merely a pleasant place to eat and watch live music, though not at lunchtime. More than two decades later, it's a Nashville institution. I'm glad to know that it's still around. (So is Patio Coiffure, according to Google.)

January 16, 1987.

I finished all the work I needed to do in the morning, and then had a splendid lunch at the Bluebird Cafe: Italian sausage on French bread. Followed by cheesecake, of course. Lindsay, Susan, Steph, Bob, Wendy, Barb and Debbie M. went with me. Lots of small talk, things like the death of Gram Parsons, various movies, previous visits to the BB Cafe. Over the years, it's been a good place to take first dates, see talented Nashville musicians up close and, of course, eat the chocolate-chunk cheese cake, one of my favorite desserts anywhere.