Category: nashville trip

I decided the best way to do these posts was in keeping with the mainly photos theme. Saturday was a bit of a slower day for us as we had plans to attend the Grand Ole Opry that evening.

After a quick breakfast at the hotel supplemented with our Trader Joe’s fruit, we started out. Our first stop ended up being one of my favorites (and it was free!).

The Dukes of Hazzard Museum

I spent a good part of the 70’s watching this show. I know there was some controversy at some point recently over the Confederate images but as a girl watching the show, I wasn’t worried about the images. Spent more time fighting with friends over who my imaginary boyfriend was going to be, Bo or Luke Duke. After all, they were just good ol’ boys, never meaning no harm…

And seriously, we all wanted to be Daisy Duke, did we not?

I really wish, I’d have went ahead and coughed up the $10 to have my picture taken in the General Lee. Maybe next time. Moving on…

Our primary day stop…

Gaylord Opryland Hotel and Convention Center

It was beautiful but super busy to the point I was very glad we weren’t staying there.

These images are all from inside the hotel! There was actually an app for people staying there to download so they could find their way around the hotel. And you could take a little boat ride around the indoor river river. We decided to pass on that idea. I had a photo of the boat but unfortunately, it came out too blurry to share here.

After walking around inside the hotel, we walked back across the street to the local mall where we’d parked the car (for free!). Opted to eat inside the mall. Not our best decision. We were rather unimpressed with the Johnny Rockets in there.

However, it was nice to see a shopping mall that was thriving. We walked around there a bit, I bought some cupcakes from a place called Molly’s Cupcakes that was famous for being on cupcake wars (turned out to be a chain/franchise with the original location in Chicago, I think). The cupcakes were good but not earth shattering, I’d not go out of my way to get them again.

After relaxing back at our hotel for a bit, we made our way back to the same area for the big event of our trip.

The Grand Ole Opry

Not a lot of photos to share here as I opted to enjoy the experience more than take photos. We got there a bit early and had a look around the gift shop and then had drinks outside while waiting to go inside. Our seats were up kind of high but not terribly high, it was interesting to watch the sighs and looks of disbelief of some people who were up higher than we were. Each show lasts about two hours and features several different singers/bands.

We planned our trip to be there when Carrie Underwood performed and why we went a week ahead of our actual 25th wedding anniversary. She was the last one on stage and sang 3 songs, there were several other performers there as well. I bought an limited edition poster after the show. My plan is to get it framed sometime soon.

It was a fun time and I’m glad we went. I’m still a bit on the fence about whether I’d rather just see a full concert from one singer or this type of format. Fun seeing so many people at the same time and yet, I wanted to hear more than just 2 or 3 songs from quite a few of the performers.

Which would you prefer?

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I’ll share about our last full day in Nashville soon.

Nashville Trip Day 1

September 6, 2023

jehdld

nashville trip 2 Comments

Since it’s wordless Wednesday (also, red Wednesday here in KC, go Chiefs!), I’m going to just show mainly photos of our first day in Nashville.

Centennial Park

The Parthenon (located within the park)

Inside, the statue of Athena:

Marathon Motor Works

(Note: this was building also contained several shops including Antique Archeology, made famous from the show American Pickers)

Downtown Nashville Pedestrian Bridge

View of football stadium though not once did I see anyone in Titans attire. Unheard of in these parts, dare you to come to KC and try to go an hour without spotting someone wearing Chiefs attire, especially during football season. That said, I think hockey must be the thing there as I spotted lots of Predators hats and shirts to the point I had to look it up (no pro hockey here).

Country Music Hall of Fame

Other places we went not pictured

I should first mention that the inside of the Parthenon ($10 to get inside) also contained a really interesting little art gallery.

We did go inside and look around Antique Archeology which was to me just an antique store but probably worth a look if you like that sort of thing.

While downtown, we ate lunch at Jack’s Bar-B-Que. Husband loved it, I did not and found their KC sauce insulting. For the record, we had different things and he liked the spicy sauce they offered. We also visited the Johnny Cash museum which was neat but oh so crowded when visited. I think we might have been a bit too old for the whole Broadway strip thing with the bars and country music blasting out of them. However, I’m glad we were able to see it.

For dinner, we went to the Rock’n Dough Pizza and Brewery where I was a fan of the angry Hawaiian pizza and my ale. Husband thought it was okay. After dinner, we went to, wait for it, a Trader Joe’s (for a few snacks and fruit, the hotel breakfast was honestly, a bit subpar). And then, a local Target, can’t even remember why. Probably for something we forgot to pack.

That’s it for day 1. Day 2 coming soon…

Nashville Trip, Getting There

August 29, 2023

jehdld

Just thought I’d share a little about our trip to Nashville the next few days. Seems like a good way to ~~procrastinate cleaning the house~~ get back into a routine of blogging.

We left early Thursday morning, too early for me and not early enough for my husband. Have you seen that meme floating around (can’t find it) that says there are two types of people, the ones who pack the night before and the ones who try to sneak in another load of laundry the morning of the trip? And that they marry each other. Very relatable. For the record, I’m the “another load of laundry” person. Nashville is about a solid 8 hour drive from here.

We left about 8 a.m. and made good time. Stopped at The Sweet Spot in St. Louis so my husband could get some fried croissants and I could get a couple cannoli. We enjoyed our treats for the next couple of days as well. It threw us off our planned route but was well worth it.

We then, stopped for lunch at a Dairy Queen somewhere east of St. Louis in Illinois though I think we’d passed by east St. Louis by then. It wasn’t a very scenic drive through that area of Illinois. A random bathroom break brought us to our fun stop in Metropolis, IL. Shared a few pictures last Monday so maybe just one today.

Last Stop Before Our Destination

We actually spent a bit more time there than intended. Mostly because I was wearing a Chiefs shirt and you know, KC fans are everywhere. We ran into a woman (not literally) who used to live in the KC area and she was a talker though her stories were quite interesting. She told us how her supervisor had run her over (he was drunk) causing back injuries when she was doing road work on a local state highway back in the early 90’s. And that she’d helped in getting the law about the fines for hitting construction workers made. She was there when former President Clinton signed it into law.

I wish I’d have thought to ask her for her name. I could find nothing regarding what she said during a few google searches on the way home but I don’t disbelieve her stories either.

Nashville Arrival

I wish I could tell you we hit the ground running and did lots of fun exciting things when we arrived. We did not. Even the photo above is from the following day. We checked into our hotel which was a nice Marriott in a business district–we’re not hip downtown staying kind of people. Plus, honestly, we were too cheap to pay the downtown hotel parking rates. We checked into our hotel later in the afternoon and then, went to eat at…wait for it…Arby’s. Yes, that’s how exciting we are over here.

For the record, I don’t like Arby’s and it apparently doesn’t matter if it’s in a different state. Still don’t like it. Of course, I should have got the chicken but tried roast beef as I knew we’d likely be having hot chicken in Nashville and didn’t want to ruin my appetite for it.

Don’t worry, we did do more exciting things than go to Arby’s on our trip. I’ll share about our first full day in my next post.

Nashville Day 2