Nashville

Last Monday I was kidnapped. I was awoken from my warm and cozy bed at 4:45 (AM!) and told to gather my loot and get packing. I was placed in a car (luckily my own, with warm and cozy butt warmers). Drove 11 hours through snow (!) and rain. And wound up in Nashville, Tennessee. Music City!

Actually, I was previously told to block off four days for an undisclosed 'Mystery Thing.' I was then taunted for months wondering what we could possibly be doing. My questions went unanswered. Luckily, my sister was the Mystery Master and, for some reason, I trust her, and knew whatever she had planned would be good. Weeks later everyone knew what we were doing except me! She finally filled me in Sunday night just before bed.

The 11 hour drive on Monday actually wasn't bad. Bridget drove the whole way so I slept a bit, read a bit, sang a bit. And we made an excessive 5 pit stops. But still pulled into the hotel in just under 11 hours! We putzed around awhile browsing the tourist brochures (I love being touristy!) then headed out for some grub. We stumbled upon a honky tonk with live music called the Whiskey Bent Saloon. So we wandered inside and ordered some whiskey. The singer, Taria (like Maria, but with a T) was actually really enjoyable. Problem was they didn't have food. So we wandered next door to Jimmy Buffetville and ordered, what else, margaritas. They were strong. Whiskey and tequilla on an empty stomach. This night is starting well. After dinner found us back at the saloon for the rest of Taria's set. My favorite song she sang, somewhat ironically, was a Guns 'N Roses cover. I also enjoyed a guest performance of Black Velvet from chickadee from across The Pond.

Tuesday brought the Country Music Hall of Fame and lots of wandering around downtown. We found a cute cupcake shop, an arcade (not the gaming variety) that reminded us of Australia, an old war fort and not much else. Downtown Nashville is actually quite small. We walked most of it in one afternoon. Somehow, though, we managed to get behind schedule, which meant we were off to the Grand Old Opry without dinner. The Opry was awesome! I want to talk a bunch about it, so stay tuned for a continuation!