The Foo Weather Report

Mom and I flew into Nashville, Tennessee Monday afternoon and flew out first thing this morning.  An exhausting whirlwind of a trip, but it was a lot of fun and I’m quite pleased with all the different things we were able to do and see.  I did not take any pictures.  I had a camera with me but I didn’t use it. I wasn’t in a picture-taking mood, and all the places we visited are already well-documented in postcards.  Besides which, with just the two of us we’d have ended up with a lot of pictures of Mom or Foo standing next to something.

I am going to catalog our Nashville activities mostly so that I can remember it all in the future.

Monday:

• Drove through Music Row, where we saw a lot of buildings with names of record companies on them
• Spent way too long cruising up and down 1st and 2nd Avenues looking for the best (i.e. cheapest) parking
• Walked down 1st Avenue where we saw Fort Nash and the Riverfront park, then took the pedestrian bridge half-way across the Cumberland River and had a great view of the city on one side and the Tennessee Titans stadium on the other (yeah, would have been a good camera moment)
• Ate dinner at BB King’s Blues Club.  A band started up playing while we were eating.  They were fun but too loud for our old ears.
• We then worked off dinner by walking up toward the state government area, and saw a most spectacular sunset from the backside of the Tennessee State Capitol building

Tuesday:

• Toured Belle Meade Plantation and had a lovely lunch in the restaurant they have there.
• Mom then decided she’d like to go to a mall.  I looked at the map and chose one a decent distance away as I was in the mood to cruise the countryside.  It was indeed very pleasant driving through rolling meadows and pastureland.  We passed by a lot of churches, A LOT of churches, and they were big.  Mainly Baptist and Presbyterian.  I would say they have more churches there than we have Dunkin Donuts up here in New England.  Yes, that many.  Anyway, when we reached our destination we found not a mall but a series of upscale plazas.  Not what we were looking for.  We then headed for a different mall up in Nashville.  The first one we tried was under construction.  Third time was the charm as we found a very nice fancy mall that entertained us for a few hours.  I even bought clothes!  I haven’t done any serious clothes shopping in about two years, so it was indeed a noteworthy occasion.  I also bought a new summer purse to use in place of the one Blizzard hates.  He may hate this one too, but as he has said, if he wants me to use a different purse it’s up to him to buy me one
• We then had dinner at Cracker Barrel up near Opryland.  I can never get away with not taking Mom to Cracker Barrel when we’re down south, and am fortunate we got away with only one meal there.
• It was then time for the Opry!  We attended Tuesday Night Opry at the Grand Ole Opry House.  I think the Opry was the highlight of the trip for me.  We saw eight performers in the course of two hours.  Each did two or three songs.  It was a great variety of old country, new country, bluegrass, and comedy, and even a barbershop quartet!

Wednesday:

• In the morning we hit the Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum.  No, I am not big into country music, but I am interested.  What I really liked about the museum was learning about the history and evolution of music from the days of the early settlers, through the 19th century into the age of radio, and up through present day.  I like learning about where things come from.
• Our afternoon activity was a visit to The Hermitage, home of President Andrew Jackson.  A beautiful old house with lovely grounds and gardens.  Another fun trek through history.  We spent a lot of time walking around outside on the tour and it was quite a warm day.  Mom went wading in a creek to cool off.  It did not rain while we were in Tennessee, and while the days were hot and sunny, they were not as oppressively humid as I feared they might be.
• We then visited Opry Mills.  We got some ice cream to cool off, then I stunned all assembled by once more shopping for clothes.
• Our evening entertainment was a dinner cruise and show on the General Jackson Showboat.  Mom lived out her dream of riding on a paddleboat.  It was fun, in a hoaky kind of way.  Which I guess is what you could say about most of Nashville.

My lawn is way overdue for mowing and we just had a rain shower.  Maybe tomorrow morning will be dry enough to mow.  Pasquale was very happy to see me when I picked him up from his vacation home at the vet’s this afternoon.  I need to unpack my bags and get ready to enjoy the long 4th of July weekend.