Randy and I travelled to Gatlinburg and Nashville, TN a little over a week ago. We do this every couple of years and always have such a great time. This trip was a little more difficult for me because of my back (more on that in another post) but I tried not to let it keep me from enjoying myself. Randy, on the other hand, kept trying to rein me in. There’s a new zip line in the Smoky Mountains, one which takes about 2 hrs to complete. I soooo wanted to do this, but Randy wouldn’t let me. Brat. Okay, so he was right, but I still wanted to go! I threatened to bungee jump instead, my argument being that it would likely realign my back for me. He smiled and told me to go right ahead. Of course. Because he knew that I wouldn’t do it. Have I mentioned that he’s a brat?
Despite the setback, I managed to go to the aquarium, the Ripley’s Believe It or Not museum, and play a little mini golf. I also ate at the Log Cabin restaurant every morning for breakfast. This may not sound like much to you, but once you’ve eaten there, you won’t want to have breakfast anywhere else. I love it so much that I booked our hotel based on how close it was to the restaurant. It had to be within walking distance, or no deal! Who cared that our balcony overlooked an alley. The room was clean and comfortable, and I had my french toast for breakfast; that’s all that mattered. Oh, and I also developed another habit: Rat Watch. No, there were no rats. But there was a window near the motel elevator which overlooked a gap between two buildings, and at the far end was the side of another. There was some garbage against that far wall, and though I have a phobic fear of rats, I couldn’t help but obsessively look for them as I waited for the elevator. It became a compulsion. I am very thankful to report that I never saw so much as a twitch of a whisker, but I just had to check.
I didn’t take many pictures in Gatlinburg. We didn’t get to hike this time, and I didn’t feel like lugging my camera around with me. I took some with my camera phone, but they’re not the greatest quality. Many of the outdoor shots were taken at night; the lights blur from the slower shutter speed. I will be sharing these at some point. I have a name for the series and everything, but you’ll have to wait for those.
We left for Nashville on Wednesday, which also happened to be Randy’s Hatch Day; he insists that he wasn’t born, he was hatched. His mother remembers it quite differently but then she would, wouldn’t she? We stayed at the Opryland Resort and Convention Center again. It’s so gorgeous, and huge! It’s been said that the Great Wall is the only man-made structure that can be seen from space. I say that’s only because they haven’t tried gazing at Nashville. The hotel is so big that there’s no way to take a picture of it all. Even several pictures wouldn’t work. As for the inside, there are 9 acres of gardens alone, with a river running through one of them. And the river is comprised of water gathered from major rivers from every state, and almost every country. These garden atriums have glass ceilings for natural lighting, and it is easy to forget that you are indoors. Very cool. There are entire buildings within the hotel, and none of this includes the rooms themselves. Though I shared photos the last time I was there, some of you weren’t reading this blog then, so I’ve taken more and will share when I get a chance.
As a birthday present to himself Randy reunited with his two best friends from his elementary school days! As luck would have it they both live in TN, and within driving distance. They brought their SOs, and one brought his 11 yr. old daughter. We went out to dinner and had such a great time! I was a little worried because sometimes these things are a flop. You discover that you don’t really care about each other anymore. But it wasn’t like that at all. And we SOs were included in the conversations. There was no sense of being excluded during their reminiscences. I made some terrific new friends and am so glad we went if for no other reason than that we had that night. Randy was so happy!
In addition to the reunion, we went to the Nashville Zoo and the Ryman Auditorium. The latter was the original home of the Grand Ole Opry before the Opry outgrew the venue. But it continues to hold shows today. And lest some of you turn up your noses, performers such as Coldplay, REM, Elvis Costello, Sheryl Crow and more continue to play there. In fact, we couldn’t take the backstage tour because there was going to be a show dedicated to guitars the following day, and the musicians were rehearsing onstage. We were able to tour the rest of the building, though, and saw some great exhibits. My favorite were the John and June Cash display, and Patsy Cline. I just love Patsy! After we left the auditorium we went to Panera and ate outside where the birds were watching for scraps. At first it was cute. But then I noticed that one by one they were stealthily surrounding us and I was distinctly reminded of Hitchcock’s The Birds. At this point it became a little creepy. I distracted them with some chips so Randy and I could make our getaway!
What else? Hm. We went to the Rainforest Cafe, did a (very) little shopping, and saw two movies: Ice Age 3, and Harry Potter. The funny thing about Harry Potter is that we have now seen the last 3 movies in TN. They always seem to be released while we’re there! Must be a little Hogwart’s magic. The nice thing about that theater is that the seats were well-cushioned and reclined. For the most part I was able to watch comfortably, and enjoy the show. Speaking of shows, we went to the Grand Ole Opry on Saturday night; it’s tradition. As always we had good seats because Randy orders tickets well ahead of time. Roy Clark was there, funny as ever, and Hal Ketchum performed with two little girls who were either his daughters or granddaughters, I’m not sure which. It was so cute! They’re only about 3 to 7 yrs old I think. The older pretended to play the guitar and sing, while the younger one stood there and danced a little. Hal kept watching them with a smile on his face as he played and sang. It was fun to see. There were a couple of comedians. Ask me about T Bubba sometime… he’s hilarious! But I won’t get into his spiel now; this has gone on long enough.
I guess those are the highlights. I’m sure at some point I’ll remember the funny stories I kept telling myself to remember for you. I’m still sorting through photos and will post some here. The majority will end up on Flickr I think, and I’ll provide a link to them when they’re ready. For now, here’s one to represent Gatlinburg, and one for Nashville:
Space Needle, Gatlinburg
Famous AT&T Building, Nashville
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