At 8:45 the 4 of us left and headed to Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center that is operated by Marriott and is within a mile of the CG. This lavish resort has 9 acres of lush indoor gardens and cascading waterfalls. This place is immense and filled with gorgeous flowers, plants, and palm trees. There are 3 large separate sections - the Cascades, Delta, and Magnolias. Each area had a separate atrium and all the extras - breathtaking! A great place to get lost!!!!!
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| This really doesn't show how immense this property really is! |
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| All of these door lead to conference/ballrooms. |
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| All of this is under the covered atrium! |
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| One of the many waterfalls! |
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| An interactive waterfalls inside the resort! |
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| I can't imagine taking care of all the trees, flowers, etc. How do they keep the building from getting musty smelling and free from mildew????? |
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| An overview of one of the 3 atrium areas! |
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| Ken's favorite - Bird of Paradise! |
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| Tons of anthurium throughout! |
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| Beautiful Orchids! |
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| Many, many peace lilies too! |
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| I find Gabriel Trumpet flowers fascinating! |
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| Another type of Bird of Paradise! |
The Delta "River" runs through a section of the Resort and is a Blending of Waters from over 1700 sites around the world. I wondered who was given the job of going around the world getting water from different sites??? Crazy!!!! You can even take a boat ride around the Delta Section of the resort!
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| Hard to imagine the "Delta River" running through just the one section of the resort! |
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| Boat ride anyone???? |
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| This gentleman was in the highest part of one of the atrium hanging Christmas decorations! |
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| If you look closely, you can see about 6 men at the top of the atrium hanging decorations. A few of the huge ornaments are already in place! |
After leaving the resort, we went to the nearby Opry Mills, a mall where Chuck and Melissa do their walking when they are in Nashville. We did one loop around which was 1 mile, stopping at Subway for lunch.
Their motor home was repaired, so they dropped us off at the CG and then they brought their RV back to the CG and got set-up. We got back in their CRV and headed to downtown Nashville.
We drove thru Music Row where all the recording companies have their offices and studios. Also went by Vanderbilt University before stopping to walk around the Parthenon. Built in 1897 for Tennessee's 1897 centennial, it is located in Nashville's Centennial Park and is a full-scale replica of the original Greek Parthenon.
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| Not sure what this sculpture of naked people is about at the entrance to Music Row. Some of the students from Vanderbilt will occasionally dress them! |
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| Building after building of recording studios! |
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| Can you tell it was raining????? |
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| This is Vanderbilt's stadium! |
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| The Parthenon is a very impressive and massive structure! Building is all cement, it requires a lot of maintenance! |
We drove through some of downtown Nashville getting views from the car of the capital building, what is know as the Batman building, the stadium for the Tennessee Titans, the Country Music Hall of Fame, the fairly new convention center,and the Ryman Auditorium which from 1943 to 1974 was the home of the Grand Ole Opry.
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| It earned it's name of The Batman building! |
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| This is the Country Music Hall of Fame. Note how the windows are made to look like a piano keyboard! |
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| The newly built Convention Center goes for about 3 blocks! |
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| Tennessee's State Capital Building |
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| The Tennessee Titans Stadium |
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| This is the original Grand Old Opry in downtown Nashville! |
By now it was raining steadily, but we drove to downtown Nashville, parked, and walked up and down the 2 blocks of Honky Tonk Row stopping at many of the bars where aspiring artists are playing their music. Most of them were very good. We enjoyed listening to their music without feeling obligated to buy food or drinks. We had gotten there around 2:30 and by 4:30 we were getting cold and wet and decided it was time to leave.
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| One Block of Honky Tonk Row |
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| Want to be musicians are playing in every establishment! |
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| Another "hopeful" group! |
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| Tootsies is the most famous lounge/bar in the area! |
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| This gentleman had a very good voice and really got into his music! |
In one of the bars, there was a large picture on the wall of the members of the Grand Ole Opry from 1974. Chuck spotted his grandfather in the photo who performed for 45 years at the Opry every Saturday night with a group called The Fruit Jar Drinkers!
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| Chuck is pointing to the picture of his grandfather who played at the Grand Old Opry for 45 years with the Fruit Jar Drinkers! |
We picked up Melissa's mother and the 5 of us met Chuck's Uncle Donald and his wife, Anna at Chuy's Mexican Restaurant at the Opry Mills Mall. What a fun time and the food was so good. Their nachos were so light and crispy and delicious with their jalapeno dip. We had heard lots of good stories about Donald and Anna and were so happy to get to meet them.
The 5 of us went back to the home of Melissa's mother where we played 1 game of 7 Up which was won by Ken. Back to Waldo by 9 and it was still raining. We watched some football and went to bed at 10.
What a fun time in Nashville, but rain, rain, go away! A little sunshine would be appreciated, but it appears that will not happen before we leave on Thursday!
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| Can you tell that we are having a great time?????? |
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