nashville, part 1

Well, we made it back from Nashville late Friday night. We had an AWESOME time in music city. Let me tell you- the Callison family knows how to show off a great city!!

We left our house here in Edmond at 10:00 on Friday night. I had the brilliant idea to drive at night so John Mark would just sleep the whole way and not be confused about day and night. A beautiful plan, if not for one small hitch- John Mark's very loud hatred of the state of Arkansas. It's true- my sweet, perfect child screamed from Fort Smith all the way to Memphis. Once we crossed the Mississippi River into TN, he fell sound asleep.

We arrived at the Callison's house around 7:00 Saturday morning. Micah was a machine and drove pretty much the entire way. We only stopped for gas twice. Of course, he had a screaming baby to help keep him awake... We spent that morning and most of the afternoon resting. Kelly and I did get to shop at the Kroger, which if you listen to country music is a pretty big deal.

Later that afternoon, we visited the Opryland hotel. That place is beautiful and HUGE! I've been to Vegas, and this could easily be on the strip. We took a river boat tour of one wing of the hotel.

And of course, we had to go shopping at the Opry Mills Mall. Micah got to spend some time in the Gibson guitar showcase. He even found the guitar that he sold to buy my engagement ring. He was sweet enough to tell me that it was definitely worth the trade. :o)

The last thing on the agenda for Saturday was our introduction to Nashville's amazing food. Seriously- we didn't eat one bad thing the entire time we were there!! This is our family portrait in the giant rocking chair at Cock of the Walk. We had some great catfish, shrimp and FRIED PICKLES. Fried pickles and sweet tea are definitely on my top 10 list of the greatest things about Nashville. That, and meeting Tanya Tucker... but that's another story I'll save for tomorrow!