Nashville – September 2011

The original plan was to fly to Nashville, TN for Labor Day weekend and to meet up with Gary and Mary Mascelli for a couple of days.  Unfortunately, N2893Z was brought in for its biennial IFR certification on Thursday for what usually is only a few hour event.  It was still in the shop by midday on Friday so we decided to leave the plane and make the 6 hour drive rather than a 2 hour flight.  We made it to Nashville and checked into the Hampton Inn by Vanderbilt University and still had time to find a Ben & Jerry’s within walking distance of the hotel for a late evening ice cream fix.

The family woke up early on Saturday morning and enjoyed the breakfast at the Hampton.  The schedule was to meet up with the Mascelli’s at the Nashville Zoo.  We left the hotel early as we wanted to explore a little bit and also needed to get our Nashville Total Access passes.  We used these passes to see all the things that we wanted to see and it was really worth the money.  Nashville at 8 AM was pretty quiet and I noticed that we were right near the Hampton Inn in Downtown where the Mascelli’s were staying.  I had just gotten a text from Gary so I thought we’d surprise them by popping in and saying hello to them at breakfast.  After catching up quickly we left for the zoo and let them finish their breakfasts.

The Freys at the Nashville Zoo 09032011

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The Freys at the Nashville Zoo 0903201103-Sep-2011 09:03, Canon Canon PowerShot SD700 IS, 6.3, 7.466mm, 0.004 sec

 

The Nashville Zoo was the first adventure of the day.  Temperatures were forecast to be very hot so we thought we would get through the zoo early before it got too hot.  The zoo was really nice and setup very well.  The natural habitats were large and much of the walking paths were covered.  By lunch time we had seen most of everything and found a local place to eat right across from the zoo and all enjoyed cool drinks and a homestyle lunch.

 

The Freys on the Grand Ole Opry stage in Nashville TN 09032011

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The Freys on the Grand Ole Opry stage in Nashville TN 0903201103-Sep-2011 15:13, Canon Canon PowerShot SD700 IS, 2.8, 5.8mm, 0.02 sec

 

Right after lunch we headed to The Grand Ole Opry.  We bought tickets for the backstage tour and only had to wait about 30 minutes for the tour to start.  This tour was really interesting and we were taken through all the dressing rooms, The Family Room, and even were able to take pictures on stage.  It was a really cool venue and we would love to see a show here some day.  After the tour we made plans to meet up with the Mascelli’s for dinner and each went our own way for a couple of hours.  We drove around the outside of the huge Opryland Hotel and then headed back towards our hotel.  Right near our hotel is Centennial Park.  There was a music festival going on in there but we drove in to see The Parthenon.  We spent about an hour exploring this really interesting attraction and then went back to the hotel where the kids and I went out to the pool for a bit while Lori relaxed in the room.

For dinner we met up with the Mascelli’s at the Wild Horse Saloon.  This was a really fun place that had a big stage and a dance floor where they had line dance lessons.  Lori and Hannah got involved in the line dance lessons and Bryan even went out to show off a bit.  The food was good and by the time we were leaving a band was playing on stage.

Inside the Wildhorse Saloon in Nashville TN 09032011d

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Inside the Wildhorse Saloon in Nashville TN 09032011d03-Sep-2011 18:34, Canon Canon PowerShot SD700 IS, 4.0, 14.333mm, 0.067 sec

 
Lori and Hannah line dancing in the Wildhorse Saloon in Nashville TN 09032011d

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Lori and Hannah line dancing in the Wildhorse Saloon in Nashville TN 09032011d03-Sep-2011 18:46, Canon Canon PowerShot SD700 IS, 2.8, 5.8mm, 0.017 sec

 
Bryan dancing in the Wildhorse Saloon in Nashville TN 09032011a

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Bryan dancing in the Wildhorse Saloon in Nashville TN 09032011a03-Sep-2011 19:16, Canon Canon PowerShot SD700 IS, 2.8, 5.8mm, 0.017 sec

 

After dinner we made a short walk down the street and stopped in at the Hard Rock Cafe gift shop so Lori could add to her rather large collection of Hard Rock bears from all around the world.  Nashville was hopping.  It is a very vibrant town with lots to do.  There were a lot of people around, musicians on the street and all the Honky Tonks had bands playing in them.  Weather was coming in the next day so Gary made the good decision to leave early the following day to beat the storms.  We said our good-byes and walked around a bit before heading back to the hotel.

Inside the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville TN 09042011d

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Inside the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville TN 09042011d04-Sep-2011 10:05, Canon Canon PowerShot SD700 IS, 2.8, 5.8mm, 0.017 sec

 
The Freys on the stage in the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville TN 09042011b

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The Freys on the stage in the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville TN 09042011b04-Sep-2011 14:03, Canon Canon PowerShot SD700 IS, 2.8, 5.8mm, 0.017 sec

 

Sunday morning we got up, ate breakfast and headed into town again.  The first stop was the Country Music Hall of Fame where we spent a few hours viewing all the exhibits.  We finished about lunch time and decided to get a pizza at Sbarro just as the rain started.  The Ryman Auditorium was a short walk and we decided to spend the afternoon there.  The Ryman Auditorium has a rich history and was the original home of the Grand Ole Opry.  It was a rainy afternoon but we made the best of it and headed back to the hotel to rest a bit and decide where we were going to go for dinner.  When we got back to the hotel there was loud renovation work going on so we decided to check out and start the drive back home.  This was a good decision as the rain from Tropical Storm Lee started to come in.  We drove through it for about an hour and then it was dry the rest of the way home.  We were back in Illinois a day early and would have Labor Day to relax and recover from the weekend.

Gary and Mary Mascelli in front of the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville TN 09032011

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Gary and Mary Mascelli in front of the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville TN 0903201103-Sep-2011 13:53, Canon Canon PowerShot SD700 IS, 5.6, 5.8mm, 0.003 sec

 

Even though we ended up driving, we had a fun trip to Nashville.  It was great to see Gary and Mary and we hope to be able to catch up with them again soon.  Both Gary and I commented on just how much we miss being able to fly with each other.  Nashville is an exciting and vibrant town.  There is a lot of history and interesting things to see and I’m sure that we will be back someday!

Click here to see all our album of pictures from our weekend in Nashville.

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Comments

We had a great time!! So nice to catch up and spend some time together touring Nashville. Hannah and Bryan are getting so big and they had us laughing, both so good to be around. I can still hear Mary burst out in laughter when Bryan was out there dancing, busting a few moves. Lori and Hannah had that line dancing figured out….Good times!

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