Vacation Day 5-6 Nashville, TN

I don't consider myself a music junky, but I do consider myself a music lover. So, I couldn't resist the opportunity to visit Nashville. It was a bit further of a drive, then I expected, but it was a drive worth taking.  The scenery was beautiful.  The rolling hills and mountains covered with a bright, majestic, beautiful shade of green.  It was something I've never seen before.

Driving through Nashville was a bit crazy, the freeways go every direction and backtrack through the same areas. We stayed in a cheap hotel in Nashville on Sunday night so we had all day Monday to explore the music capital city of the nation.

We decided to drive through Nashville with my parents in order to save on parking costs and to make it easier to stick together.  That meant we had to squeeze all 3 kids together in the back seat.  Hazel especially loved the close proximity, but as you can see, they are all pretty goofy together.

I didn't really have a big agenda of things to do, I just wanted to enjoy the music and atmosphere that is Nashville.  Nashville definitely didn't disappoint.

1) The Parthenon

This building, built in 1897 is a full-scale replica of the original Parthenon in Athens, and is located west of downtown in Nashville.

It stands out in the middle of Centennial Park, and now functions as an Art museum.  We visited on a Monday, and the Parthenon is actually closed on Mondays, so we didn't get to go inside.

However, the surrounding gardens and scenery were definitely worth the walk around.  

On the grounds is the Nashville, Chattanooga, and St Louis Railway steam engine that was in operation from 1851-1957.  

Zabien was particularly excited to see this train, and really wanted to go inside.  It took a lot of effort for us to keep him off the steps.

2)  Broadway - (honky-tonk lane)

From the Parthenon, we headed downtown to walk the street of Broadway.  We enjoyed all the music we could hear from strolling down the sidewalk.  We obviously didn't go inside any of the bars due to the fact that we had 3 small children accompanying us.  However, we enjoyed all the photo opportunities this famous street makes possible.  

We found things like giant Sundae's and ice cream cones...

a statue of Elvis Presley....

a giant guitar at the Hard Rock Cafe....

We stopped by the river to glance across at Titans stadium.

We stopped by the ever famous chocolate factory, home of the famous Goo Goo Clusters.  Goo Goo Clusters were specifically named after the Grand Ole Opry, and they were absolutely delicious.  

 

I loved this giant cowboy boot.  

3)  The Grand Ole Opry

Seirously who wouldn't want to visit the Orpy stage. We didn't actually see a show at the Grand Ole Opry.  For one, tickets were crazy expensive, and secondly we only spent one day in Nashville - certainly not enough time to actually secure a show.  But, it was fun to self tour the Opry grounds, and get picture by the giant guitars.    

Eliza and Hazel - aren't they so cute! 

I wish these pictures were zoomed in a bit more, but I don't think my mom knew how to do that.  Besides, the bright sun was in our eyes, so most of the kids are shielding their face anyway. 

And because this boy is super cute!

Vacation Day 4 - On top of Old Smoky

Our resort was wonderful.  A full kitchen and living room area with two bedrooms and two bathrooms.  With two swimming pools, a hot tub, ping pong table, basketball courts, and a two story waterfall, it was a great place to relax nestled up against the mountains.  The entrance to the National Park was less than 2 miles away from our resort.  Being that close to the mountains, we couldn't resist spending several days in the park.  

Ever wonder why they are called the Smoky mountains?  They are called the smokey mountains because of the natural fog that hangs over the range.  It looks a bit like smoke from a distance.

 The trail up to "Old Smoky" although paved was steep and difficult.  The highest point is actually called Clingmans Dome - we just nicknames it Old Smoky.  It's at an elevation of 6,643 feet - the highest mountain in Tennessee and third highest in the Appalachian range.  It took a long time to make it the half mile walk up to the top. I was proud of the kids - they made it up to the top.  I only had to carry Hazel part of the way - she was a trooper through it all.

We were grateful for the many benches along the way since we had to stop several times so Zabien could rest his tired legs, but we made it.

The view was so worth it.  It was not only beautiful but breathtaking and inspiring as well.

 The older 2 kids loved being high up in the sky, and Hazel was just happy that Eliza finally let her hold the play phone.

Ok, so maybe Eliza didn't willingly let her hold the phone, there was some definite parental intervention there, but the phone made all the difference in the mind of Hazel, and it made our time at the top and the hike back down much more enjoyable.  It was so cute that Hazel kept trying to take pictures with her little play phone - just goes to show you how much children watch and copy what they see their parents do.

The hike back down was less strenuous, but it didn't necessarily go any faster.  Hazel insisted that she walk the entire way down.  She only fell a couple of times, but she tended to get distracted by the many rocks and side trails she found on the way down.  Despite the distractions, she provided lots of inspiration to those still making their way up the mountain.  Whenever others got discouraged, they took a look at my little 16 month old girl and said, "if she can do, I can do it."

Driving through the national park was equally as breathtaking.  Yes, the mountain really do like there is a layer of blue tinted smoke rising above them.  And yes, they are definitely as majestic and beautiful as everyone says.

Vacation to Smoky Mountains Days 1-3

It has been on our bucket list for a while - to visit the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee.  So, 15 months before our scheduled time, we booked a resort in Gatlinburg, Tennessee and invited my parents to come along with us.  It was a highly anticipated vacation, and one that definitely didn't disappoint.  On the afternoon of August 3, we packed up our mini van and headed south-west towards Knoxville, Tennessee.

After a bit of a rocky start, we did eventually pull into Roanoke, VA where we made a stop for the night.  In Pennsylvania, you have to head east to go west and north to go south.  I'm not sure why this is, but that's the way the roads travel.  We missed the poorly marked turnoff to head west on 78, and it put us back an entire hour.  Luckily the kids slept during that time, and things went smoothly the rest of the way.  When we arrived at the hotel, the kids were crazy - something about the excitement of staying in a hotel and starting vacation makes children go a little stir crazy.  Somehow we survived the night - with the help of old reruns of Full House, the kids eventually got sleepy enough to settle down.

The moment we crossed the state line into Tennessee, we stopped at Subway for lunch.  As soon as we ordered, it was obvious we were in the south, and we were northerners without that awesome southern drawl.  Later that afternoon, we finally arrived at my Aunt Yvonne's house in Knoxville where we planned to stay the night until we met up with my parents the following day.  

It was fun hanging out with my aunt and cousins.  Both Eliza and Zabien thought my cousins Dylan and Levi were the best.  There's nothing like attention from a teenager and near teen to make the day of a 3 and 5 year old.  While in Knoxville, we enjoyed a lot of the Tennessee beauty.  Honestly, I fell in love with Tennessee from the moment we drove in.  It is so green and so beautiful, and I loved it, although I could do without all the humidity.  

An afternoon in the cool reservoir was the perfect way to cool off in the midst of humidity.  

                                                 

We really wanted to canoe, but there wasn't a canoe big enough for all 5 of us. We didn't feel comfortable with 1 adult to 2 children ratio, especially with one as little and crazy as Hazel.  We settled for merely taking a picture of the kids in the canoe, and hope that we get a chance to canoe later.

Before we knew it, my parents arrived in Knoxville.  We were off, to the scenic and extremely touristy towns of Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg, Tennessee.  It was a fun drive - there's so much to see and so much to do in Pigeon Forge, it is almost overwhelming.  I happened to snap some pictures of these artifacts through the passenger's side window - the "titanic" and "Mt. Rushmore."(complete with country/Western stars).

                                    

Just the drive through was enough to fire up the excitement that we were actually there, in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee.  It really was the best vacation.