Thanksgiving Road Trip - Nashville

From Louisville, we drove into Nashville around 7:30pm, drove around the a few blocks of the city, then headed to the hotel to put Emily to bed and eat some dinner we packed. The next day we went to Belle Meade Plantation (mansion pictured below). This is where the bloodlines of Seabiscuit, Secretariot and other famous horses are traced back to in the late 1800's and into the mid 1900's. It was a pretty big plantation, equipped with a winery, slaves quarters, stables, the big mansion, and visitor's center. Pretty cool.

That night we went back downtown to eat some local bbq on Broadway St. and listen to the band that was opening for Kid Rock. We tried to stay out as long as we could, waiting for Kid Rock, but Emily didn't last past 10:30pm. The lights, the music, the live bands in every restaurant/bar window and the country feel made for a great time.
The next day was Thanksgiving, which meant that most everything was closed (as they all should be). So we lounged around the room for a while in the morning, then decided to go for a stroll on a path we found while driving. And what a gem it was. It followed alongside this river for 3 miles in one direction. The day was beautiful, and lots of people were out on the path.
After the walk, we got ourselves cleaned up and headed to the Gaylord Opryland Hotel (much like a Vegas hotel, minus the casino) and spent a few hours roaming around their atriums and people watching. It was a whole new world in there....we couldn't believe it was all one massive building. And there were a TON of people! My favorite part was that everything was decorated for Christmas :)


Emily loves her daddy. She was giving him kiss after kiss while she was sitting on his shoulders. It was really cute.

On our walk back to the car, we walked through their outdoor lights and nativity scene. We werehaving problems with our camera and getting the right setting, but it was absolutely gorgeous outside. Emily had had enough, and after screaming in her stroller for 5 minutes, she was passed out cold. We had a 40 minute wait to eat our Thanksgiving dinner at Cracker Barrel (one of the only restaurants open...those poor workers!). So it was really nice that Emily was asleep for the 40 minute wait. We sat outside on the rocking chairs and played checkers in peace...no wrestling or entertaining Emily. It was bliss, and a nice break!

Emily knew exactly when to wake up, right when the food came out. She inhaled so much turkey, and loved the sweet potatoe casserole. Cracker Barrel did a good job with, it was delicious and a fun memory.

A little Thanksgiving night family picture before bed The next day we hit the ground running, as we had a few things we wanted to do before heading off to our next destination, St. Louis. Because Emily was difficult in all the museums (actually every public place we went to) Devin and I took turns going to the sites. He toured the Belle Meade Mansion while I stayed back and watched Emily, and I was able to tour the 7th president Andrew Jackson's home and plantation while he watched Emily. I learned SO MUCH about Andrew Jackson, and touring his plantation, where everything was 100% original, was amazing. I really love history. We weren't allowed to take pictures, whatsoever, but I snuck these 3 outside when I thought no one was looking. The big house is obviously Andrew Jackson's. He added onto it 2 times, as he felt it should reflect a President's home, and needed more room for entertaining. The other cabin pictured was the home Andrew, Rachel (his wife) and their 2 kids lived in while their big house was being built in 1821. Did you know that by the age of 14, Andrew Jackson had lost both of his parents and his only 2 brothers leaving him alone in the world? He became a lawyer at 19, and moved to Nashville to practice law. People at that time were very land rich, and money poor, so he was paid in land and had acquired 50,000 acres before moving to the White House for his presidency in 1829. Did you know that Andrew Jackson was pro-slavery, and was the president responsible for ordering all indians east of the Mississippi River to move west of it? Andrew Jackson had 80 slaves working for him on his plantation, and his was extremely successful because of it. I could go on and on, but those are the interesting highlights of all I learned.
Devin went to the replica of the Parthenon, but it was closed. He did, however, get to see the Grand Ole Opry.

We drove back downtown to do our last tour in Nashville; the Country Music Hall of Fame. It was really fun to see how much country music has evolved since the beginning over 100+ years ago. But, Emily was a handful and we had to see the museum in shifts, so it took a lot longer. I wish we could have enjoyed it together instead of by ourselves. Oh well, that's what we get for dragging a 15 month old around off her schedule for 6 days straight.
Devin and Emily are in front of Elvis' 1960 car (not sure what kind it was) but it was equipped with an old school (new school at the time) TV in the back seat. Emily and I are in front of Elvis' gold plated piano. (we couldn't use flash while taking pictures, so this is the best we could get.)


Driving away, headed to St. Louis.

We really loved Nashville!