Nashville in retrospect...

DAY 1--THURSDAY:

We made it to Nashville on our Spring Break trip last Thursday. We were really afraid that we wouldn't be able to go due to Luke having the flu and the fear that one or all of the rest of us would get it too. It seems that all the prayers were answered that we would be able to go and that the flu stopped with Luke! Thanks for praying!

We were thrilled to be on our way up I-65 that morning. It was a beautiful day, traffic was light, the kids were mostly agreeable and getting along. We are currently two hours from home--halfway there. What could be better?!

Oh, shoot.

Me: "Oh no! I left the Grand Ole Opry tickets next to the phone in the kitchen!"

Jason called them. They assured him that they could reprint the tickets at will-call. Whew! It reminded me of tales that Jason tells about his family having to turn around and go home several times, hours into a trip, because his mom thought she left the iron on. I told Jason that I would've told him that just to mess with him, but knew he and everyone else would never believe it. Me? Ironing? Totally laughable.

Even though Luke felt like traveling, he wasn't quite at 100%. He didn't eat much lunch, which led to his taking a Cracker Barrel biscuit in the car to eat later. Moments after getting in the car, he fell asleep, mouth open, with said biscuit in his hand. If I hadn't been driving, there would totally be a picture right here to illustrate that.


When we got to Nashville, we checked in at the Radisson. The first room they put us in smelled FUNKY, the clock didn't work, half of the lights didn't work, was a "pet-friendly" (i.e., next to the area where dogs did their thing), and we had to walk through dense cigarette smoke to get to the door. ("Welcome to Nashville, y'all.") Jason marched back to the front desk and kindly asked to be moved. They moved us from the outside first floor room (think motel) to an inside-the-building second floor room, which was much, much nicer. The kids were happier because that meant we got to ride the elevator.

Speaking of happy kids, they were thrilled when Jason took them down to the pool for a swim. I walked down to check it out, then tried to sneak back up to the room for a nap. My room key didn't work, so I went to the front desk. I explained my situation. The desk clerk asked me for a photo id. I told her it was locked in the room. She told me that since the reservation was in Jason's name, she couldn't give me another key. I told her that I had Jason's wallet, since he'd just given it and his phone to me when he'd gotten in the pool. She still wouldn't buy it. She was going to make me go to the pool and make him get out and come verify who I was. I was HAVING NONE OF IT. I protested and told her that I could give her every detail of our reservation info and our life history if she'd let me have a key. Finally, I suggested that if she'd reactivate my key, I would go GET MY STINKING id and bring it back to her. Surpisingly, she agreed. I'm not really sure what my id proved to her. I am all for safety and security, but seeing how our cards deactivated twice during the course of our stay, I am guessing this is probably a regular occurance with the Radisson. I did, however, finally get that nap in.

We walked across the street to the Gaylord Opryland Hotel for dinner. That place was soooo fabulous! It made the Radisson look like a trailer park or the projects in comparison. I do wonder, though, if they turn the waterfalls off at night...if I heard that water running all night, I wouldn't get any sleep. I'd be in the bathroom all night. Not that you wanted to know that...

Day 2--Friday: COMING SOON!