Tennessee, Day 2

We woke up day 2 in Nashville ready to see the sights! First stop.....Grand Ole Opry! We knew that the Grand Ole Opry House was closed for tours but we wanted to at least stop and see it from the outside.

We got a little bit lost trying to find the Grand Ole Opry House and ended up driving around The Gaylord Opryland about 5 times! This place was HUGE!


We were so excited to finally make it to the Grand 'Ole Opry House! We only wished we could have gone insde. But we couldn't have asked for better weather to walk around the outside of the building in. It was chilly but the air was crisp and the sun was bright!


Next Stop......The Ryman Auditorium!
On our way in, we saw the CMT building.


The Ryman Auditorium is such a beautiful building right smack dab in the middle of downtown Nashville! We didn't know it at the time, but we had walked right by it the night before.


This building has so much history. It was first built as The Union Gospel Tabernacle and it's first revival was held in 1890. The building was converted for The Grand 'Ole Opry starting in 1943 and continued until 1974 when the Grand 'Ole Opry moved to it's current location. It was restored again in 1994 and continues to host concerts to this day. Artists that have performed at The Ryman include: Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, James Brown, Patsy Cline, Etta James, and Bob Dylan to name a few.

Statue dedicated to Minnie Pearl and Roy Acuff


When I walked into the auditorium, I literally got chills!
Thinking about all the people who have stood on that stage took my breath away.



Exhibit featuring clothing worn by Minnie Pearl.


The Johnny Cash and June Carter Exhibit was my favorite!

I wanna love like Johnny and June
Rings of Fire burnin' with you
I wanna walk the line, walk the line
Until the end of time

I wanna love, love ya that much
Cash it all in, give it all up
And when you're gone, I wanna go too
Like Johnny and June

After touring the Ryman, we went to BB King's Blues Club for lunch before heading on to Gatlinburg.



When we got to Gatlinburg, we took a quick little tour of our cute little cabin.............



And then headed out to celebrate New Year's Eve!

We headed to downtown Gatlinburg to partake in the festivities.

But we were completely worn out so we decided to go back and bring in the new year in the comfort of the cabin.


It was an eventful day, ending in my PJ's with a glass of wine by the fire!
Can it get any better than that??

Tennessee, Day 1

Josh and I decided to take advantage of his break from school over the Christmas holiday and take a trip to Tennessee. We've been wanting to do a road trip to Tennessee for a few years. We've dreamed of renting a cabin in the smokey mountains and enjoying the peaceful views. We were soooo excited to finally get to go! We decided we wanted some company on the trip, so we invited Patrick and Jennifer. It was a blast having them with us to share in the fun!

First stop....Memphis, TN
We stopped in Memphis for lunch at THE NEELY'S BAR-B-QUE!!
I am a big fan of the Food Network, so it was awesome to get to stop at one of The Neely's restaurants.

The barbecue was amazing! Josh and I shared a sampler platter so that we could try each of the meats. I'm pretty sure we ate all of this!!


And I had to try a side of barbecue spaghetti and their homemade cole slaw.
It was delish!

It was such a cute little restaurant. You could tell we were not the only tourists there. I wonder if any of the locals eat there....


Next Stop......Nashville, TN!!!
We continued driving from Memphis on to Nashville and checked into our hotel for the night.
We decided to take a cab downtown to check out the nightlife!




The streets of downtown Nashville were beautiful!


Jennifer & Patrick, downtown Nashville
You can see the snow starting to fall!


First stop, Cadillac Ranch
We stopped in the Cadillac Ranch for some nachos and beer!



On our way to the Wildhorse Saloon



This place was all about the line dancing, which Jennifer & I loved! They had their own line dance instructor out on the dance floor teaching us the moves!


The wild horses running across the ceiling.


Josh and Patrick being silly



Prom Pic haha



We went to a bar called Tootsies


It was a popular spot.


A little too popular.....we had to leave cause it was too crowded.

This is Josh's "it's too crowded, get me outta here" face haha


Our next stop was my favorite! A place called The Stage


It was crowded too, but we stuck around for this one!


The band was awesome! They are called Raisin' Cain and they played everything from Johnny Cash to Eminem! If you request it - they will play it!


This guy sang a few songs too. His name is Lewis Copeland - you should check him out, he's pretty good! I though he looked like a little gnome haha


Jennifer getting a little "smoochie"!


We had an absolute blast at The Stage! Best night out that I've had in a long time. Maybe it was the awesome band? the Nashville environment? or the great company?
......I think it was all of the above!