Heading North

First stop was Atlanta to visit with Bob's mom. She is recuperating from a broken ankle in rahab. We had a sweet 3 days with her, spent a few hours and ate dinner with friends Mike and Gloria (leftovers were even tasty for lunch the next day, thank you again!); and ate dinner with and were introduced to Pokémon by Carl, Kimberly (thank you for making the delicious meal Kim!) and Kaleb (also even saw Cherice during dinner!) before heading to Nashville.





I'd never been to Nashville and Bob was there once many years ago so this was a new experience. We were able to check in to a Quality Inn early and drove to the Gaylord Opryland Hotel to walk around. Wow, just wow!









This hotel is massive with 3 atriums and 5 sections with a convention center. The atriums are more like a conservatory with exotic and native plants. We spent almost 2 hours just walking around.
























This is a glass sculpture in the Cascade's Check-In area.












There were several waterfalls, one very large, and even a gondola ride in one of the 'rivers.'























Afterward we went to the Nashville Palace for an early dinner and listened to a one man show. We understand why so many musicians flock to Nashville now. Every bar (and there are many) as well as some street corners have people playing and singing waiting for that big break.










We elected to not go to Opryland because we wanted to visit the downtown area too. A shuttle bus picked us up at the hotel and dropped us off downtown, about 15 mins away at 4th and Broadway Streets. It was a Wednesday afternoon/evening and it was loud and hopping. We walked around several blocks and peered in many bars when allowed due to large windows open to the street.




Some bands were just loud, there was blues, hard rock, but mostly country with current or the oldies being featured. There were several blocks with bar after bar with live music available. After walking around for an hour, we went into a bar named Roberts, went in and enjoyed a beer, a super 3 piece band with an incredible guitarist and some fun dancers on the floor.



Note: In May 2010, the rivers crested at 10 to 15 feet over its banks and flooded the Grand Ole Opry House and the Gaylord Opryland Hotel and Opry Mills Mall, all in the same location. The Opry House and Gaylord reopened in November 2010 and the Mills reopened in March 2012.









We caught the bus back at 9:30 so got about 3.5 hours in downtown fun!